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DEFINING THE DEATH PENALTY

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Title: DEFINING THE DEATH PENALTY


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DEFINING THE DEATH PENALTY
  • When the state executes a person (usually one of
    its citizens)
  • According to the optional protocol of the ICCPR
  • (International Covenant on Civil and Political
    Rights)

3
Thesis
  • Within our presentation, there were two
    contradictory viewpoints
  • First, the view that the death penalty should be
    globally abolished and not used as punishment for
    any crime whatsoever.
  • Second, the view that the death penalty should
    be retained, but only used under extreme
    circumstances. Further, the decision to use the
    death penalty should be made by the sovereign
    state, not the global community.

4
A BRIEF HISTORY
  • In practice since recorded times
  • Worldwide use has decreased
  • 138 Countries have abolished the practice

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THE DEATH PENALTY INTERNATIONAL LAW
  • Not universally condemned
  • Articles 3 5 of the UDHR
  • 3 - Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
    security of person
  • 5 - No one shall be subjected to torture or to
    cruel, inhuman or
  • degrading treatment or punishment
  • Articles 6 7 of the ICCPR

7
ARTICLE 6 OF THE ICCPR
I - Every human being has the inherent right to
life. This right shall be protected by law. No
one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life. II - In countries which have not
abolished the death penalty, sentence of death
may be imposed only for the most serious
crimes... This penalty can only be carried out
pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a
competent court. IV - Anyone sentenced to death
shall have the right to seek pardon or
commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or
commutation of the sentence of death may be
granted in all cases. V Sentence of death
shall not be imposed for crimes committed by
persons below eighteen years of age and shall not
be carried out on pregnant women.
8
ARTICLE 7 OF THE ICCPR
No one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
9
THE DEATH PENALTY INTERNATIONAL LAW
  • Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
  • Protocol to the American Convention on Human
    Rights
  • Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human
    Rights
  • Resolution 62/149

10
A FEW QUESTIONS
  • Of the 59 countries that use the death penalty,
    how many executed at least
  • one of their citizens last year?
  • China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the
    United States total what percentage of all
    executions in 2008?
  • Which countries still use electrocution to
    execute prisoners?
  • What region of the world committed the most
    executions last year?
  • How many countries in the Americas used the
    death penalty last year?
  • How many countries abolished the death penalty
    in 2008?

11
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
  • The death penalty has not been proven to have a
    deterrent effect on crime,
  • leaves no possibility for rehabilitation, expends
    resources of the state,
  • and it is a continuation of a culture of
    violence
  • Amnesty International Clip

12
PROGRESS TOWARD GLOBAL ABOLITION
  • Abolitionist countries for all crimes 92
  • Abolitionist countries for ordinary crimes only
    10
  • Abolitionist countries in practice 36

13
LEGAL STATUS BY REGION
  • Europe and Central Asia are almost free of the
    death penaltyOnly Belarus still carries out
    executions.
  • The African Commission on Human and Peoples
    Rights adopted a resolution to observe a
    moratorium.
  • Some Arab states issued a declaration with the
    UN and NGOs to abolish the death penalty and
    amend the Arab Charter on Human Rights to end
    juvenile executions.

14
PROGRESS TOWARD U.S. ABOLITION
  • The 37 executions in 2008 were the fewest since
    1995
  • Prisoners on death row had sentences commuted to
    life imprisonment
  • Four were released on grounds of innocence
  • Abolition bills being introduced in numerous
    states
  • New Mexico recently repealed the death penalty
  • New Hampshires House of Representatives passed
    an abolition
  • bill last week

15
LETHAL INJECTION
  • Introduced by the United States, but also used
    by China, Guatemala, Taiwan,
  • and Thailand
  • First used in 1982
  • Has been used over 900 times in the US
  • Seen as most humane form of execution

16
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES A BRIEF HISTORY
  • Furman v. Georgia (1972) death penalty ruled
    unconstitutional in the U.S.
  • Moratorium on executions in U.S. ended in 1977
  • Early 1980s marked the switch to adoption of
    lethal injection as primary means of execution in
    most states

17
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES STATISTICS
  • 35 U.S. states use the death penalty
  • Public Opinion 2006 Gallup Poll
  • U.S. support for the death penalty at 65
  • Down from 80 from a 1994 poll

18
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES STATISTICS
  • States with most executions since 1976
    reinstatement
  • Texas 435
  • Virginia 103
  • Oklahoma 89
  • Florida 67
  • Missouri 66

19
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES METHODS
  • Execution Methods in U.S. used since 1976
  • 985 Lethal Injection
  • 155 Electrocution
  • 11 Gas Chamber
  • 3 Hanging
  • 2 Firing Squad

20
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES CRUEL UNUSUAL
PUNISHMENT
  • 8th Amendment Excessive bail shall not be
    required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
    and unusual punishment inflicted.

21
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES DEATH PENALTY AS
DETERRENT
  • Survey of criminologists
  • 84 of respondents said that capital punishment
    doesnt act as a deterrent to murder
  • Higher crime rates in U.S. states that have the
    death penalty than those that dont
  • South has highest murder rate and accounts for
    80 of U.S. executions
  •  

22
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES FACTORS COST
  • TEXAS Death penalty cases cost average of 2.3
    million
  • 3 times the cost of incarcerating someone at the
    highest level of security for 40 years
  • CALIFORNIA Death penalty costs 114 million
    more than what it costs to keep convicts in
    prison for life
  • Taxpayers have paid 250 million for each of the
    states executions
  •  

23
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES FACTORS
DISCRIMINATION
  • University of North Carolina study 3.5 times
    more likely to receive a death
  • sentence if the victim of the alleged crime was
    white.
  • 96 of states where there have been examinations
    of discrimination and the
  • death penalty found instances of race of
    defendant or race of victim discrimination or
    both
  • 98 of prosecutors are white in death penalty
    cases, 1 of prosecutors are black 

24
CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES FACTORS EXECUTION
OF INNOCENTS
  • Since 1973 over 120 people have been released
    from death row in the U.S. with evidence of their
    innocence.
  • 1973-1999 Average of 3.1 exonerations per year.
  • 2000-2007 Average of 5 exonerations per year.
  • Anthony Porter Clip
  •  

25
MORAL ARGUMENT
  • AGAINST The death penalty is the ultimate
    denial of human rights. It is the premeditated
    and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the
    state. Amnesty International website
  • FOR Killings are, under ordinary
    circumstances, a violation of rights. Capital
    punishment may be required, not prohibited
    simply because and to the extent that it
    minimizes rights violations. Private murders also
    violate rights... Cass R. Sunstein Adrian
    Vermeule, Stanford Law Review (2005)
  • Government as a Moral Agent

 
26
EFFECTIVE DETERRENT ?
  • Analysis has supported both sides of Capital
    Punishment argument
  • The overall results of the meta-analysis
    supported the deterrent effect of executions, but
    the evidence for a deterrent effect depended on
    the type of study carried out. Bijou Yang
    David Lester, Journal of Criminal Justice (2008)
  • Results suggest that capital punishment has a
    deterrent effect, and that executions have a
    distinct effect which compounds the deterrent
    effect. Hashem Dezhbakhsh Joanna M.
    Shepherd, Economic Enquiry (Oxford Journal 2006)

27
EFFECTIVE DETERRENT ?
  • In the long-run we find that real income and
    the conditional probability of receiving the
    death sentence are the main factors explaining
    variations in the homicide rate. Paresh Narayan
    Russell Smyth, Applied Economics (2006)
  • One of the principal findings is that the
    homicide commission rate is significantly and
    negatively correlated with the perceived risk of
    punishment, which provides empirical support for
    the deterrence hypothesis. Harold J. Brumm and
    Dale O. Cloninger, Journal of Economic Behavior
    and Organization (1996)
  •  

28
ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY CASE STUDY -
ILLINOIS
  • January 2000 George Ryan, Governor of Illinois
    declares moratorium on executions
  • January 2003 Governor commutes death sentences
    of all on death row
  • It is found that these actions are coincident
    with the increased risk of homicide incurred by
    the residents of Illinois over the 48 month
    post-event period for which data were available.
    The increased risk produced an estimated 150
    additional homicides during the post-event
    period. Dale O. Cloninger Roberto Marchesini,
    Applied Economics (2006)

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ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY CASE STUDY -
SINGAPORE
  • Hard line stance on all crimes
  • Death Penalty supported by 95 of population
    (Singapore Straits-Times, 2006)
  • Capital Punishment for
  • Murder, Treason, Drug Trafficking, Posession of
    Unauthorized Firearms
  • Method Almost exclusively hanging
  • Result Low Homicide rate 0.9457 out of
    100,000
  • Compare to U.S. rate 9.1 out of 100,000

31
ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY DISCRIMINATION
STATISTICS
  • RAND CORPORATION STUDY
  • Findings support the view that decisions to
    seek the death penalty were driven by heinousness
    of crimes rather than by race. Stephen P. Klein,
    Richard A. Berk, Laura J. Hickman (2006)
  • White murderers received the death penalty
    slightly more often (32) than non-white
    murderers (27)
  • Study found murderers of white victims received
    the death penalty more often (32) than murderers
    of non-white victims (23)

32
ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY CASE STUDY
ROBERT BONZAI VICKERS
33
ARGUMENT AGAINST GLOBAL ABOLITION STATE
SOVEREIGNTY
  • The death penalty is primarily a criminal
    justice issue, and therefore is a question for
    the sovereign jurisdiction of each country. The
    right to life is not the only right, and it is
    the duty of societies and governments is to
    decide how to balance competing rights against
    each other. Vapu Menon, Singapores Permanent
    Representative to United Nations, in letter to
    the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary
    or arbitrary executions.
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