Moving Towards Abolition:
Internationally
- https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-12&chapter=4&clang=_en
- Ratified by 27 countries
- Signed by 7 more
- Total abolition
- Retain during wartime
Overview:
Moving Towards Abolition:
Nationally
Overview:
- Humaneness
- United States most humane
- Justification
- Deterrence is biggest justifiation- but is that accurate?
- Criticisms
- Wrongful Convictions
- Unsuccessful Attempts
- Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
- Woodson v. North Carolina (1976)
- Coker v. Georgia (1977)
- Ford v. Wainwright (1986)
- Atkins v. Virgina (2002)
- Roper v. Simmons (2005)
- Bucklew v. Precyth (2019)
- Types of Crimes
- Typically violent
- Types of Criminals
- Typically men
- Race Issue in the U.S.
- Death Row Wait Times
- 15-20 year average in the U.S.
- Around 10 Internationally
The United States:
China:
- 25 executions carried out in 2018.
- 29 states have abolished.
- Only appropriate for the actual act of taking a human life.
- Number of executions decreasing, incarceration levels increasing.
- Policies vary by state.
- 68 offenses subject to Death Penalty.
- Non-violent crimes included.
- Official death count is a state secret.
- Juvenile death penalty outlawed in 1997 with new Criminal Code.
- Code also established "proportionality" concept.
Iraq:
Japan:
- Subject to a large amount of crimes
- Not all violent
- "Deterrence to acts of terrorism"
- "Demanded by 'traditional values of Islam'"
- Studies show the increasing number of executions has had no effect.
Egypt:
- Allowed for 17 offenses:
- Usually limited to homicide
- Up to judge's discretion
- Japan & U.S. only developed countries to carry out executions on a "regular basis"
- Geopolitical position major factor
Saudi Arabia:
- Sharia law is major impediment in abolition.
- Impossible to gather exact statistics.
- Egyptian Constitution makes no reference to the Death Penalty.
- Special Courts rely on religious interference.
- Beheading and stoning are still being used as methods of execution.
- 134 people have been executed as of Oct. 30, 2019. (Yes, as of last week.)
- Most executions are for non-violent, drug-related offenses.
- Number of executions has risen in the past 5 years.
- Still a Monarchy.
Religious Backgrounds:
- United States- Christianity
- China- Buddhism
- Japan- Shinto
- (Death dealt with Buddhist)
- Iraq- Islam (Shia)
- Saudi Arabia- Islam (Sunni)
- Egypt- Islam (Sunni)
Economic Effect:
The United States and Japan are the only developed countries that still perform executions on a "regular basis."
Geopolitical position can have overwhelming effect on International Influence.
History:
- 20 countries performed executions in 2018
- 2,531 death sentences imposed in 54 countries in 2018
- 45 death sentences in the U.S.
- Half of these were from TX alone
- Lethal injection is the most frequent method of execution in the United States as of 1976.
- Electrocution, Hanging, Beheading, and Stoning are other methods still being used around the World.
- Japan hanged 13 men in 2018 for crimes committed in 1995.
- The last public execution in the U.S. was in 1936.
- Now, there is a limited group of people who can witness executions.
- Public executions are still being held in Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Somalia.
Capital Punishment Around the World
Constitutional Reference:
- The 8th & 14th Amendment
- China's Criminal Law
- Article 31 of Japan Constitution
- Article 26 of Saudi Arabia Constitution
- Article 19 of Iraq Constitution
- Eighth
- Article 73 of Iraq Constiution
- Eighth
Lauren Wood