As Californians debate whether to execute Stanley Tookie Williams, North Carolina this morning put to death the 1,000th person since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty almost three decades ago.

Kenneth Lee Boyd, 57, was executed by lethal injection in Raleigh, N.C. at 2 a.m. local time, after Gov. Mike Easley rejected a request for clemency.

<##IMAGE##>"Having carefully reviewed the facts and circumstances of these crimes and convictions, I find no compelling reason to grant clemency and overturn the unanimous jury verdicts affirmed by the state and federal courts," Easley said in a statement posted on the state"s website.

Boyd, a Vietnam veteran, was sentenced in 1994 for killing his wife, Julie Curry Boyd, and father-in-law, Thomas Dillard Curry, on March 4, 1988 in Stoneville, N.C. At the time, Boyd was separated from his wife, who was living with her mother and father, according to the governor"s office.

Opponents of the execution staged a candlelight vigil in Raleigh, hoping to prevent the execution. One of those protesting the sentence was Alan Gell, who spent time on death row after he was convicted of murder in 1995. A second jury in 2004 freed Gell after questions arose about witnesses" statements that could have exonerated him.

"I think that it"s bad that this state has to be the one to set the milestone when it"s a state that"s riddled with flaws in its justice system," Gell told Reuters at the vigil.

The North Carolina execution was a milestone that again focused attention on the use of the death penalty, a punishment that has been widespread since colonial times in the United States, but also one that has come under increasing attack in recent years.

A variety of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, have questioned whether executions deter criminals, as supporters of capital punishment have maintained. Proponents also argue that execution is a legitimate punishment while opponents contend it is cruel and unusual, as well as immoral.

Many of these issues continue to be litigated through the state and federal court systems.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death penalty, saying it violated the 8th Amendment"s ban on cruel and unusual punishment because the penalty was imposed in an arbitrary and capricious manner. In that case, Furman vs. Georgia, the high court denied Georgia"s guidelines, and invalidated hundreds of death sentences around the country.

Four years later, the high court in Gregg vs. Georgia, brought back the death penalty, ruling that new sentencing guidelines were constitutional. Since 1976, 38 states have instituted the death penalty. The federal government and the military also have death penalties.

The largest number of executions since 1976 have occurred in southern states, led by Texas with 355 executions during that period. California, which has the largest number of inmates on death row at 650, has among the fewest who have been executed.

California has executed 11 inmates since 1976, according to state statistics on the California Department of Corrections website.

But three executions could occur in California by the end of February. The first is Williams, who is scheduled to die Dec. 13.

Williams, one of the founders of the Crips, has been at the center of a spirited campaign to urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant the convicted murderer clemency. The governor has scheduled a clemency hearing for next week.

Williams was convicted of the shootings of Albert Owens, who was killed during a robbery of a 7-Eleven store on Feb. 27, 1979, and of motel owners Yen-I Yang and Thsai-Shaic Yang and their daughter, Yee Chen Lin, at the Brookhaven Motel on South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles 12 days later.

Williams maintains his innocence. But his appeal for clemency lies on his transformation while in prison. He has argued in interviews from his cell in San Quentin that he has changed his life since his gang days, writing children"s books and warning youths of the perils of gang violence.

His cause has attracted people from all over the world, and has led to nominations for Nobel Prizes. Williams" supporters include civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Hollywood celebrities such as Jamie Foxx. Another backer, the NAACP, has been holding a two-week multi-city crusade to persuade the governor to grant clemency.

Law enforcement officials, including Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca have strongly opposed clemency.

Williams is a "coldblooded killer" who has "left his mark forever on our society by co-founding one of the most vicious, brutal gangs in existence, the Crips," according to the letter the three officials sent Schwarzenegger to counter Williams" clemency petition.

"Despite the overwhelming nature of the evidence against him, and despite the nonexistence of any credible defense, Stanley Williams steadfastly refused to take any responsibility for the brutal, destructive and murderous acts he committed," according to the statement. "Without such responsibility, there can be no redemption, there can be no atonement, and there should be no mercy."