INDEX

The main aim of this article is to explore the problem of wrongful convictions in Japanese criminal justice by focusing on the case of Hakamada Iwao, who was sentenced to death in 1968 and released in 2014 because of evidence of his innocence.

• Document type Article
• Countries list Japan
• Themes list Fair Trial, Innocence,

The release of Hakamada Iwao from death row in March 2014 after 48 years of incarceration provides an opportunity to reflect on wrongful convictions in Japanese criminal justice. My approach is comparative because this problem cannot be understood without asking how Japan compares with other countries: to know only one country is to know no country well. Comparison with the United States is especially instructive because there have been many studies of wrongful conviction there and because the U.S. and Japan are the only two developed democracies that retain capital punishment and continue to carry out executions on a regular basis. On the surface, the United States seems to have a more serious problem with wrongful convictions than Japan, but this gap is more apparent than real. To reduce the problem of wrongful convictions in Japanese criminal justice, reformers must confront a culture of denial that makes it difficult for police, prosecutors, and judges to acknowledge their own mistakes.

• Document type Article
• Countries list Japan
• Themes list Fair Trial, Innocence,

Imprisoned by the Past: Warren McCleskey and the American Death Penalty examines the long history of the American death penalty and its connection to the case of Warren McCleskey, revealing how that case marked a turning point for the history of the death penalty. In this book, Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier explores one of the most important Supreme Court cases in history, a case that raised important questions about race and punishment, and ultimately changed the way we understand the death penalty today.

• Document type Book
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Fair Trial,

This Sky News Report discusses the administration of the death penalty in China; Innocent people who have been put to death, stealing the organs of the executed and the nature of the death penalty in China.

• Document type Arguments against the death penalty
• Available languages Peine de mort en Chine

Italian Poster 2014

• Document type Campaigning
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

Japanese Poster 2014

• Document type Campaigning
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

This report assesses whether race influences the administration of capital punishment in Washington State, and if so, where in the process it matters.

• Document type Academic report
• Themes list Discrimination, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

This educational guide accompany the documentary Juan Melendez 6446.

• Document type Working with...
• Themes list Innocence, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Juan Melendez-6446 portrays the story of a New York born Puerto Rican immigrant who was accused of murder in the state of Florida, a crime he did not commit. Juan Melendez was sentenced to death in a trial that only lasted 5 days. He was on death row for 17 years, 8 months and 1 day, until his exoneration on January 3, 2002.

• Document type Working with...

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, Death Penalty,