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Death Penalty

Thesis. ?Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders to which no criminals deed, however calculated, can be compared for there to be an equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him, a

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Death Penalty

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    2. Thesis “Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders to which no criminals deed, however calculated, can be compared for there to be an equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him, and who from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life.” – O’Byrne page 198 The death penalty is wrong in both practice and principle and should be abolished in all states

    3. History - International The Death penalty has been practiced in some form or another since the earliest recorded time, in virtually every society around the globe Early History: Hammurabi’s Code, Draconian Code (Athens), Roman Law, Mosaic Law Britain: “Bloody Code” (England/Wales) William the Conqueror (11th C.) Henry VIII (16th C.) 1767: Earliest recorded case of abolition, Tuscany/Austria *Cesar Beccaria, On Crime and Punishment 1863: 1st modern nation-state to abolish death penalty, Venezuela Abolition for ordinary crimes vs. abolition for all crimes

    4. History – United States Criminal law developed directly from Britain’s “Bloody Code” 1692: Salem Witch Trials 1833-1853: Death Penalty Reform Era 1920’s: reemergence of hangings in South 1967: beginning of effective moratorium on capital punishment (lasted 10 years)

    5. History – United States Cont… Furman v. Georgia (1972): Ruled (5-4) that death penalty was unconstitutional, immediate suspension of practice ensued (Violated 8th & 14th Amendments) Law required a degree of constituency in the application of the death penalty “[The death penalty] serves no purpose that life imprisonment could not serve equally well.” –Chief Justice Marshall Gregg v. Georgia (1976): Ruled (7-2) that death penalty was indeed constitutional, so long as a separate sentencing hearing took place mitigating/aggravating circumstances could be heard after jury gave guilty verdict in guilt phase Overturned Furman v. Georgia ruling

    6. Human Rights Agenda “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.” Article 3 UDHR “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment.” Article 5 UDHR Unique from other Human Rights topics “It is not even in principle universally condemned.” O’Byrne (p.190)

    7. Facts and Statistics 2/3 of all countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in either law or practice 90 countries/territories have abolished the death penalty for ALL crimes 11 countries have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes (ex: wartime crimes) 32 countries can be considered abolitionist in practice 133 countries altogether have abolished the death penalty in law or practice 64 countries retain and use the death penalty, but the number of countries that actually execute prisoners in a year is much smaller

    8. Death Sentences and Executions During 2006, 91% of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the United States In 2006, at least 1,591 people were executed in 25 countries At least 3,861 people were sentenced to death in 55 countries Sources suggest between 7,500 and 8,000 people were executed in 2006 The estimated worldwide figure of those currently sentenced to death and awaiting execution is between 19,185 and 24,646 people

    9. Executions in 2006 China (1,010) Iran (177) Pakistan (182) Iraq (65) Sudan (65) United States (53)

    10. International Agreements to Abolish the Death Penalty The Second Optional Protocol to the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by 63 states, 8 others have signed The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty ratified by 8 states, 2 others have signed Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) ratified by 46 European states, signed by one other Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) ratified by 39 European states, signed by 6 others

    11. Countries Policies Abolitionist for all crimes Australia, Canada, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Phillipines, U.K. Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Fiji, Israel, Peru Abolitionist in practice Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka Retentionist Afghanistan, China, Cuba, Guatemala, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Pakistan, Sudan, Thailand, United States

    12. Methods Beheading (Saudi Arabia) Electrocution (United States) Hanging (Egypt, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore, and others) Lethal Injection (China, Guatemala, Thailand, USA) Gassing Shooting (Belarus, China, Somalia, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and others) Stoning (Afghanistan, Iran)

    13. Pro Death Penalty Case Cost Deterrence Justice and Retribution Life punishment vs. Life without parole

    14. Against the Death Penalty http://youtube.com/watch?v=TVMho2cP1NE Case Experts from the American Society of Criminology, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Law and Society Association Cruel and Unusual Executions may actually increase the amount of murders Life without parole Gallup Poll 2006: Life w/o parole 48%, death sentence 47%...this marks the first time in 20 years the death penalty was in second place 200 people have had all charges dismissed because of DNA testing since 1989

    15. Constitutionally Wrong Furman v. Georgia Unequal because not every state has the death penalty Unequal representation (14th Amendment) Poor have no access to expert counsel because Congress cut funding for all death penalty resource centers Texas Court of Appeals upheld three death sentences even when the defense lawyers were sleeping through the trials; the judge remarked, “the constitution doesn’t say the lawyer has to be awake.” Cruel and Unusual (8th Amendment)

    16. Limited Jury Pools 40% of Americans believe they would be disqualified from serving on a jury Juries make the decision on the crucial sentence (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/CoC.pdf) This is a very concerning issue if the juries are not reflecting society as a whole.

    17. Costs The cost of the trial and first stage of appeal alone would be double that of life imprisonment Appeals process has been known to last for 20 years or more Keep them in prison, have to pay juries, countless appeals process, then pay the medical practitioners It is estimated that CA spends $124 million per year on the death penalty with an average of less than one execution per two years!

    18. Conclusions/Solutions Reforms wouldn’t work in fact 2/3 of Americans believe that reforms of the death penalty would not eliminate any of the problems. This is why we believe the death penalty should be abolished altogether

    19. Works Cited http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/CoC.pdf http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/990816/archive_001689.htm http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905684,00.html www.prodeathpenalty.com O’Byrne, Darren. Human Rights. http://www.wesleylowe.com/cp.html#life www.amnestyinternational.org http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=410&scid= http://law.jrank.org/pages/12836/Gregg-v-Georgia.html

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