Death Penalty

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y Introduction y History y Methods y Botched Executions y Innocence y Reducing y y y y

y Records y Surviving Executions y Religious views y In arts and media y Philosophy

Crime(Chart) Murder Rates Deterrence Discrimination Costs

y Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the

killing of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head.

y Execution of criminals and political opponents has been

used by nearly all societies both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. In most places that practice capital punishment it is reserved for murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, incest and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy in Islamic nations (the formal renunciation of the State religion). In many countries that use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.

The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment and execution. Usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included formal apology, compensation or blood feuds.

A blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organised religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished." However, in practice, it is often difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest.

Severe historical penalties include breaking wheel, boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, disembowelment, crucifixion, impalement, crushing (including crushing by elephant), stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment, sawing, decapitation, scaphism, or necklacing.

Anarchist guillotined in France in 1894

Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context and compensation system. Compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material (e.g. cattle, slave) compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, or transfers of property or blood money or in some case an offer of a person for execution. The person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals. Blood feuds could be regulated at meetings, such as the Viking things. Systems deriving from blood The Christian Martyrs' Last feuds may survive alongside more advanced legalPrayer, by systems Jean-Leon Gerome (1883) Roman or be given recognition by courts (e.g. trial by combat). Colosseun One of the more modern refinements of the blood feud is the duel.

y 16th Century BC: First death sentence occurs in y y y y y y y

Egypt. 7th Century BC: Draconian Code of Athens provided the death penalty for all crimes. 399 BC: Greek philosopher Socrates is executed by being forced to drink poison 29 AD: crucifixion of Jesus Christ 1279: 289 Jews were hanged 1531: Boiling to death was accepted as a death penalty 1840: failed attempt to abolish the death penalty 1852-1853: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin abolish the death penalty

y 1907: Kansas uses the Maine Law and abolishes y y y y y

all slavery 1924: First execution by cyanide gas took place in Nevada 1930: Mrs. Eva Dugan was the first female to be executed in Arizona(sound button) 1965: Iowa, New York, West Virginia, and Vermont ended the death penalty 1987: Since this year, there have been 8 cases of innocent people being executed. 1989: U.S. Court ruled that people that are retarded, but legally sane can receive the death penalty.

Death Penalty M ethods Method Hanging 3 deaths since 1976 2 deaths since 1976 Firing Squad

2 states Lethal Injection is an alternative.

2 states Lethal Injection is an alternative.

Lethal Injection

Electrocution

Gas Chamber

781 deaths since 1976

37 states and the U.S. Gov.

152 since 1976

10 states Nebraska is the only state that requires this method.

11 deaths since 1976

5 states Lethal Injection is an alternative

August 10, 1982 Virginia Frank J. Coppola was executed by means of electrocution. His head and one of his legs caught on fire. April 22, 1983 Alabama John Evans was executed by means of electrocution. The execution lasted 14 minutes and left Evans charred and smoldering. Apparently, the electrodes in Evans had caught in fire.

June 28, 2000 Missouri Bert Leroy Hunter was executed by means of lethal injection. He had unusual reactions to the lethal drugs. He coughed repeatedly and gasped for air. He had violent convulsions. He suffered a violent and agonizing death. November 7, 2001 Georgia Jose High was executed by means of lethal injection. The execution lasted one hour and nine minutes. It took the doctors 39 minutes to find a usable vein. Eventually, the first Needle was stuck in High s hand and the second between his shoulder and his neck.

March 10, 1992 Oklahoma Robyn Lee Parks was executed by means of lethal injection.He suffered a violent reaction to the drugs. Two minutes after the drugs had been injected, the muscles in Robyn s jaw, neck, and abdomen began to react spasmodically for about 45 seconds. He continued to gasp and violently gag until he died 11 minutes after the drugs had been injected.

One problem with the death penalty is that there is no guarantee that the convicted is guilty.

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 Percent 5 6 7

Chart explanation 1=Reducing Drug Abuse 2=more jobs 3=Simplifying court rules 4=longer sentencing 5=More police officers 6=Reducing guns 7=Expanding death penalty The majority of the police chiefs in the U.S. do not believe that the death penalty reduces crime.

The South contains over 80% of the nation s executions, yet it has the highest murder rate. The Northeast has under 1% of all executions, yet the Northeast has the lowest murder rate.
8

6

4

Murder Rates per 100,000

2

0 South West Midwest Northeast National

90

84% of former and present presidents of the country s top academic criminological societies say that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to murder.

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Yes No No Opinion Percent

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Black Hispanic White Other Race Executed

98% of the chief district attorneys in death penalty states are white. 1% are black. Blacks receive the death penalty at a 38% higher rate. 96% of the states where there were reviews of race and death penalty, there was a pattern of race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both.

In New York, it costs approximately $23 million per person. In Tennessee, the death penalty trials cost 48% more than a life sentence trial. In Kansas, the investigation cost is 3x greater. The trial cost is 16x greater. The appeal cost is 21x greater. 1982-1997: Throughout the U.S., the extra cost of capital trials was $1.6 billion. In Indiana, the total cost of the death penalty is 38% greater than the total cost of life without parole.

y The most executions took place between 1990-1999

when over 17,500 people were executed in China. y In the United States, Texas is the state that has the most executions. Since 1976, Texas is accountable for 399 executions.

Joseph Samuel was sentenced to hang for murder in Australia on Sept. 1, 1803. The execution failed when the rope broke. On the second attempt, the rope stretched so far that his feet touched the ground. The third attempt failed when the second replacement rope broke. Samuel was reprieved. Another man named John Lee, also survived three hangings. This occurred in Exeter, Devon(UK) in 1885 when the trap door failed to open all three times.

Buddhism y There is disagreement among Buddhists as to whether or not Buddhism forbids the death penalty. The first of the Five Precepts (Panca-sila) is to abstain from destruction of life. Chapter 10 of the Dhammapada states: y Everyone fears punishment; everyone fears death, just as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Everyone fears punishment; everyone loves life, as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Chapter 26, the final chapter of the Dhammapada, states, "Him I call a brahmin who has put aside weapons and renounced violence toward all creatures. He neither kills nor helps others to kill." These sentences are interpreted by many Buddhists (especially in the West) as an injunction against supporting any legal measure which might lead to the death penalty.

y However, as is often the case with the interpretation of

scripture, there is dispute on this matter. Historically, most states where the official religion is Buddhism have imposed capital punishment for some offenses. One notable exception is the abolition of the death penalty by the Emperor Saga of Japan in 818. This lasted until 1165, although in private manors executions continued to be conducted as a form of retaliation. Japan still imposes the death penalty, although some recent justice ministers have refused to sign death warrants, citing their Buddhist beliefs as their reason. Other Buddhist-majority states vary in their policy. For example, Bhutan has abolished the death penalty, but Thailand still retains it, although Buddhism is the official religion in both.

Judaism y The official teachings of Judaism approve the death penalty in principle but the standard of proof required for application of death penalty is extremely stringent, and in practice, it has been abolished by various Talmudic decisions, making the situations in which a death sentence could be passed effectively impossible and hypothetical. A capital case could not be tried by a normal Beit Din of three but can only be adjudicated by a Sanhedrin of a minimum of twenty-three.Forty years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, i.e. in 30 CE, the Sanhedrin effectively abolished capital punishment, making it a hypothetical upper limit on the severity of punishment, fitting in finality for God alone to use, not fallible people.

y Most followers of Judaism either oppose the death penalty

altogether or support it only in extreme cases with absolute proof, such as well-documented cases of genocide. y In law schools everywhere, students read the famous quotation from the 12th century legal scholar, Maimonides, y "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death." Maimonides argued that executing a defendant on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof, until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice." Maimonides was concerned about the need for the law to guard itself in public perceptions, to preserve its majesty and retain the people's respect.

Islam
y Scholars of Islam hold it to be permissible but the victim or the family of

the victim has the right to pardon. In Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), to forbid what is not forbidden is forbidden. Consequently, it is impossible to make a case for abolition of the death penalty, which is explicitly endorsed. y Sharia Law or Islamic law may require capital punishment, there is great variation within Islamic nations as to actual capital punishment. Apostasy in Islam and stoning to death in Islam are controversial topics. Furthermore, as expressed in the Qur'an, capital punishment is condoned. Although the Qur'an prescribes the death penalty for several hadd (fixed) crimes including rape murder is not among them. Instead, murder is treated as a civil crime and is covered by the law of qisas (retaliation), whereby the relatives of the victim decide whether the offender is punished with death by the authorities or made to pay diyah (wergild) as compensation.

y "If anyone kills person

unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land it would be as if he killed all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people" (Qur'an 5:32). "Spreading mischief in the land" can mean many different things, but is generally interpreted to mean those crimes that affect the community as a whole, and destabilise the society. Crimes that have fallen under this description have included: (1) Treason, when one helps an enemy of the Muslim community; (2) Apostasy, when one leaves the faith; (3) Land, sea, or air piracy; (4) Rape; (5) Adultery; (6) Homosexual behaviour.

Christianity y Although some interpret that Jesus' teachings condemn the death penalty in The Gospel of Luke and The Gospel of Matthew regarding Turning the other cheek, and John 8:7 in which Jesus intervenes in the stoning of an adulteress, rebuking the mob with the phrase "may he who is without sin cast the first stone", others consider Romans 13:3-4 to support it. Also, Leviticus 20:2-27 has a whole list of situations in which execution is supported. Christian positions on this vary.[88] The sixth commandment (fifth in the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches) is preached as 'Thou shalt not kill' by some denominations and as 'Thou shalt not murder' by others. As some denominations do not have a hard-line stance on the subject, Christians of such denominations are free to make a personal decision.

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Literature The Gospels describe the execution of Jesus Christ at length, and these accounts form the central story of the Christian faith. Depictions of the crucifixion are abundant in Christian art. Valerius Maximus' story of Damon and Pythias was long a famous example of fidelity. Damon was sentenced to death (the reader does not learn why) and his friend Pythias offered to take his place while Damon went to say his last farewells. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce originally published in 1890. The story deals with the hanging of a Confederate sympathiser during the American Civil War. Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities ends in the climactic execution of the book's main character. Victor Hugo's The Last Day of a Condemned Man (Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné) describes the thoughts of a condemned man just before his execution; also notable is its preface, in which Hugo argues at length against capital punishment. Anaïs Nin's anthology Little Birds included an erotic depiction of a public execution. William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch also included erotic and surreal depictions of capital punishment. In the obscenity trial against Burroughs, the defense claimed successfully that the novel was a form of anti-death-penalty argument, and therefore had redeeming political value.

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Film, television, and theatre Capital punishment has been the basis of many motion pictures, including Seed, Dead Man Walking based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, The Green Mile, The Life of David Gale and Dancer in the Dark. The stage play (and later film) The Exonerated by Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank The HBO series Oz focused on counter-perspectives for/against the death penalty. Prison Break is a 2005 television series, whose protagonist attempts to save his brother from execution by devising a plan that will help them escape from prison. The Film Let Him Have It Is the True Story of a Young Understood Male, who after being controversially accused, is executed by hanging. Polish filmmaker Krzystof Kieslowski's 1988 film A Short Film About Killing offers a stark look into the event of a cold-blooded murder and the eventual hanging of the killer. The Stoning of Soraya M. is a 2009 film about a girl who is subjected to capital punishment by stoning. The Execution of Gary Glitter a 2009 film in a fictional UK where capital punishment has been reinstated. Fourteen days in may is a BBC documentary film about a man condemned to death. Later evidence reveals his innocence.

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Music "16 on Death Row", a song from 2Pac's Posthumous Album R U Still Down? (Remember Me) "Women's Prison", song from Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose album "25 Minutes to Go" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and sung by Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison and The Brothers Four. "The Mercy Seat" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (also performed by Johnny Cash) describes a man being executed via the electric chair who maintains his innocence until he is about to die, when he admits to his guilt. "Ride The Lightning" by Metallica is also about a man being executed via an electric chair, although he is not ultimately culpable, as through insanity or loss of autonomy. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden is about a man about be executed by hanging. In "Green Green Grass of Home", the singer who is apparently returning home is actually awaiting his execution. "Shock rock" star Alice Cooper will use three different methods of capital punishment for his stage shows. The three are the guillotine, the electric chair (retired) and hanging (first method, then retired, then used on the 2007 tour). Freedom Cry is an album of songs performed by condemned prisoners in Uganda, recorded by prisoners' rights charity African Prisons Project and available online.[103] "Gallows Pole" is a centuries old folk song, popularised by Lead Belly, which has seen several cover versions. Led Zeppelin covered the song in the 70's, and was subsequently revived by Page and Plant during their No Quarter acoustic tours.

y Two wrongs don t y The death penalty y A dollar spent is a

make a right. is legalized murder. dollar lost.

y Person commits a crime. y Person is arrested for it. y Person is sent to court and found guilty. He gets the death y y y y

penalty. Wrong#1: The person committed a crime. Wrong#2: He is being killed for it. Wrong#1+Wrong#2=2 Wrongs(Not a right) 2 Questions: Do you believe in the death penalty? Do you believe 2 wrongs make a right? If you say yes to one question and no to the other, then you have just contradicted yourself.

y Would you choose to take the life of a person who is no

longer a threat?
y As citizens, our choices and our actions matter. What we

choose, what we do, becomes who we are.
³Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal¶s deed, however calculated, can be compared. For there to be an equivalency, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date on which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months.´ ±Albert Camus, ³Reflections on the Guillotine´

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