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Document(s)

Death by Geography: A County By County Analysis of the Road to Execution in California

By Natasha Minsker / Romy Ganschow / American Civil Liberties Union / Jeff Gillenkirk / Elise Banducci, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report


More details See the document

California’s death penalty is arbitary, unnecessary and a waste of critical resources. Whilst the vast majority of California’s counties have largely abandoned execution in favor of simply sentencing people to die in prison, 10 counties continue to aggressively sentence people to execution, accounting for nearly 85 percent of death sentences since 2000. California’s death penalty has become so arbitary that the county border, not the facts of the case, determines who is sentenced to execution and who is simply sentenced to die in prison. Pursuing executions provides no identifiable benefit to these counties but costs millions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The death penalty in China today: Kill fewer, kill cautiously

By Susan Trevaskes / Asian Survey, on 1 January 2008


Article

China


More details See the document

While the PRC death penalty debate has been an ongoing and highly contentious issue in the international human rights arena, death sentence policy and practice in China has remained relatively static since the early 1980s. Events in late 2006 and early 2007 have now dramatically changed the landscape of capital punishment in China. This paper analyses the recent debate on the death penalty in terms of the shifting power relationships in China today. The Supreme People’s Court wants to strictly limit the death penalty to only the ‘most heinous’ criminals while the politburo on the other hand, wants to maintain the two-decade old ‘strike hard’ policy which encourages severe punishment to be meted out to a wider range of serious criminals.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Public debate,

Document(s)

Public Opinion on the Death Penalty in China: Results from a General Population Survey Conducted in Three Provinces in 2007/08

By Shenghui Qi / Dietrich Oberwittler / Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, on 1 January 2008


Article

China


More details See the document

The present project is concerned with the significant role that public opinion plays in the debate surrounding the death penalty and criminal policy in the People’s Republic of China, including possible public reaction to any planned abolishment of the death penalty. How is public opinion on the death penalty exhibited in China? What influence does public opinion on the death penalty have on legislative and judicial practice in China? The principal goal of the project is to analyze the links that exist between public opinion, criminal policy, legislation and legal practice, and to initiate attitudinal changes amongst political and legal actors as well as the public at large. A further objective is to guide Chinese criminal law reform, particularly with regard to a possible reduction in the number of capital offences, against the background of the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

Position Paper No. 2 on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

By Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, on 1 January 2007


2007

Government body report


More details See the document

This paper outlines the case for abolition of the death penalty in Kenya from a human rights perspective, including the position of the National Commissionon the subject. It seeks to persuade the public, and policy makers on the need to abolish capital punishment. Informed by the various theories of punishmentand human rights principles, the paper addresses arguments by the proponents of the death penalty; builds a case for abolition of the death penalty; andfi nally makes recommendations to policy makers and other stakeholders for necessary action towards abolition of the death penalty.

  • Document type Government body report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Death penalty for Drug Offences: A Violation of International Human Rights Law

By Rick Lines / Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

The report calls for an end to the use of the death penalty for drug offences around the world, and concludes that the on-going execution of drug offenders is a violation of international human rights law. The report emphasises how the harms faced by people who use drugs do not only include health harms such as HIV and hepatitis C infections, but also the effects of repressive law enforcement activities.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Execution by lethal injection – a quarter century of state poisoning

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

es
More details See the document

Any potential increase in executions or lobbying for the death penalty as a result of the use of lethal injection is of serious concern. The increased pressure on medical professionals to participate in executions also raises serious ethical and human rights issues. This paper reviews developments with respect to lethal injection executions over the past decade.

Document(s)

China: The Olympics Countdown: Repression of activists overshadows death penalty and media reforms

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

Amnesty International remains deeply concerned that several senior Chinese officials continue to use ‘strike hard’ policies to constrain the legitimate activities of a range of peaceful activists, including journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders. This report updates concerns in these areas, illustrated by the experiences of several individuals who have been detained or imprisoned in violation of their fundamental human rights. The failure of the Chinese authorities to address the legal and institutional weaknesses that allow such violations to flourish continues to hamper efforts to strengthen rule of law in China.

Document(s)

Unjust and unfair: The death penalty in Iraq

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

arfres
More details See the document

Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in August 2004 more than 270 people have been sentenced to death in Iraq. Iraq now figures among the countries with the highest numbers of executions reported in 2006. Amnesty International is concerned that many of those sentenced to death by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq did not receive a fair trial. Amnesty International calls on the Iraqi government to immediately establish a moratorium on executions with a view to total abolition of the death penalty.

Document(s)

Death Penalty: Stop the state killing

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This document focuses on the significant developments and events – both negative and positive – in the struggle against the death penalty in 2006. It includes steps towards abolition; horrific state killings; executions after unfair trials, including that of Saddam Hussein; the growing global campaign for abolition, and the political courage needed to rid the world of judicial state killing.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty V. Human Rights: Why Abolish the Death Penalty?

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In this document Amnesty International calls on the UN General Assembly, 62nd session, (2007) to adopt a resolution affirming the right to life and stating that abolition of the death penalty is essential for the protection of human rights and to report on the implementation of the moratorium to the next session of the UNGA. It also calls on retentionist countries to establish a moratorium on executions and to respect international standards that guarantee the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty.

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2006 (and the first seven months of 2007)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2006 and the first six months of 2007. There are currently 146 countries and territories that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these, 93 are totally abolitionist, 9 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observes a moratorium on executions, 4 have a moratorium on executions in place and 39 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. – no executions have taken place in the last ten years).

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Indiana’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Indiana’s death penalty system, the Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues, which follow a preliminary chapter on Indiana death penalty law (for a total of 13 chapters). Each of the issue chapters begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then reaches conclusions about the extent to which the State of Indiana complies with the ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Ohio’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Ohio’s death penalty system, the Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues, which follow a preliminary chapter on Ohio death penalty law (for a total of 13 chapters). Each of the issue chapters begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then reaches conclusions about the extent to which the State of Ohio complies with the ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Pennsylvania’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Pennsylvania’s death penalty system, the Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’scapital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. Following a preliminary chapter on Pennsylvania’s death penalty law, the Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the relevant law and concludes with a discussion of the extent to which the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in compliance with the ABA’s Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Tennessee’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Tennessee’s death penalty system, the Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency proceedings; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. Following a preliminary chapter on Tennessee’s death penalty law, the Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these twelve issues. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then concludes the extent to which the State of Tennessee is in compliance with the ABA’s Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

Mental Illness and the Death Penalty in North Carolina

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

As this report lays bare, entrenched obstacles within the criminal justice system impede efforts to recognize those with severe mental illness and to treat them fairly. As detailed in this report, these obstacles include the fact that: 1, mentally ill offenders, because of their impairments, often undermine their own defenses in a variety of ways that contribute directly to their convictions, death sentences and executions; 2, although state law exclusively defines mental illness as a mitigating factor for sentencing purposes, juries often perceive mental illness as an aggravating (rather than mitigating) factor. 3, the law governing mental illness in the context of the death penalty does not often align itself with clinical realities; thus mental health experts must often answer legal questions that do not conform to their medical analyses.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

The Persistent Problem of Racial Disparities in The Federal Death Penalty

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

This paper details the profoundly troubling evidence that racial disparities continue to plague the modern federal death penalty. Of the next six federal inmates scheduled for execution, all are African-American defendants. Defendants of color make up the majority of federal death row and the majority of modern federal executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Minorities, Discrimination,

Document(s)

CHINA’S DEATH PENALTY REFORMS

By Bonny Ling / Si-si Liu / Cliff Ip / Human Rights In China, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

The Chinese authorities have introduced reforms to the death penalty system aimed at “killing fewer, and killing carefully.” Key systemic challenges remain, however, in ensuring that the criminally accused are not arbitrarily deprived of their inherent right to life.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The death penalty in the Arab world: Study on the death penalty in some Arab countries

By Arab Penal Reform Organization APRO, on 1 January 2007


NGO report

ar
More details See the document

The essence of the death penalty is the eradication of life for the condemned. Death penalty was a common practice in ancient heavenly religions, especially in times dominated by the idea of religious revenge. Additionally, it was implemented in a brutal and cruel way accompanied by terrible methods of torture. The death penalty has not been controversial in the old legislation; it has been recognized by scholars without attempting to justify it, as governors and legislators apply it without resistance from thinkers and philosophers. In the modern era, controversy has arisen about the feasibility and legality of the death penalty as a form of social reaction to the offender. The eighteenth century is marked by philosophical ideas which attacked the prevailing penal systems, as studies and research have appeared on the social and anthropological causes of crime. Thus, two intellectual trends have appeared on the horizon: those in favor of retaining the death penalty, and those demanding its abolishment. Each trend has its reasons and pretexts supporting their thoughts concerning the death penalty. Hence, the study analyses and examines “The Death Penalty in the Arab World” through a series of distinctive research methods, addressing the death penalty in ten Arab countries. The following is presented according to a signal research plan that includes: crimes punishable by death, and procedural guarantees on the death penalty and its adequacy, as well as putting forward many proposals and recommendations on the abolishment of the death penalty. This study includes the death penalty in ten Arab countries: Bahrain – Egypt – Jordan – Iraq – Lebanon- Morocco- Palestine – Saudi Arabia – Syria- Yemen. —- Go to first document in English.

Document(s)

Slow march to the gallows: Death penalty in Pakistan

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Anne-Christine Habbard, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

Pakistan ranks among the countries in the world which issue the most death sentences: currently, over 7,400 prisoners are lingering on death row. In recent years, Pakistan has witnessed a significant increase in charges carrying capital punishment, in convictions to death, as well as in executions. The HRCP and FIDH find that the application of death penalty in Pakistan falls far below international standards. In particular, they find that, given the very serious defects of the law itself, of the administration of justice, of the police service, the chronic corruption and the cultural prejudices affecting women and religious minorities, capital punishment in Pakistan is discriminatory and unjust, and allows for a high probability of miscarriages of justice, which is wholly unacceptable in any civilised society, but even more so when the punishment is irreversible. At every step, from arrest to trial to execution, the safeguards against miscarriage of justice are weak or non-existent, and the possibility that innocents have been or will be executed remains frighteningly high.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process , Discrimination,

Document(s)

China: Death penalty log in 1999

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report


More details See the document

The attached Log gives available details of death sentences and executions occurring in China throughout 1999.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 1999

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This paper is an attempt to cover developments during 1999 and provide information current at the end of the year concerning the death penalty worldwide, different aspects of its use and attempts to abolish it or reduce its application.

Document(s)

Ghana: Briefing on death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

As the Presidential elections approach in Ghana, Amnesty International is renewing its call for steps towards abolishing the death penalty, after seven years without any executions. This document describes the current use of the death penalty, giving details of those currently under sentence of death and describing the death penalty under Ghanaian law and international law

Document(s)

The most important facts in 2000

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2000


NGO report

en
More details See the document

This is the fourth consecutive year that Hands off Cain is publishing its report on the death penalty. The events registered in 2000 reveal a positive trend towards abolition.As of 31/12/2000, there were 123 abolitionist countries of various types: 77 were fully abolitionist, 12 were abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 30 were de facto abolitionist (they haven´t carried out a death sentence in at least ten years), 2 were engaged in abolishing the death penalty as members of the Council of Europe, 2 had a legal moratoria on executions. Seventy three states retained the death penalty.

Document(s)

Unequal, Unfair and Irreversible: The Death Penalty in Virginia

By Laura LaFay / American Civil Liberties Union / Virgina, on 1 January 2000


NGO report


More details See the document

This report examines four key aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and race. During its preparation, another issue became apparent: the state’s record keeping.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the U.S.

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 1999


1999

NGO report


More details See the document

This report examines the sequence of recent events that has increasingly placed the death penalty in the international spotlight. Some of these events are direct challenges to the practice of capital punishment in the U.S. Others are changes in the balance of death penalty practices and attitudes around the world. The report looks at the ways in which the international community has sought to limit the application of the death penalty, and the U.S.’s response to these initiatives. It also explores the world-wide trend towards complete abolition of the death penalty and the U.S. reaction. Although much of the official U.S. response to international criticism has been denial, the report looks at some local and unofficial actions, which indicate a different direction. Finally, the report notes the present and potential costs the U.S. is facing for adhering to the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Eyewitness Evidence: A guide for law enforcement

By US Department of Justice, on 1 January 1999


Working with...


More details See the document

This Guide combines research and practical perspectives. The growth of social science research into the eyewitness process coincided with parallel efforts of law enforcement agencies to improve their own procedures. This Guide benefits from the inclusion of the diverse perspectives of TWGEYEE members; the group included not only researchers but also prosecutors, defense lawyers, and working police investigators from departments of all sizes and from all regions. This Guide represents a combination of the best current, workable police practices and psychological research.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Northwestern Death Penalty Project

By Northwestern University Centre on Wrongful Convictions, on 1 January 1998


1998

Working with...


More details See the document

The Center on Wrongful Convictions is dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice. The Center has three components: representation, research, and community services. Center faculty, staff, cooperating outside attorneys, and Bluhm Legal Clinic students investigate possible wrongful convictions and represent imprisoned clients with claims of actual innocence. The research component focuses on identifying systemic problems in the criminal justice system and, together with the community services component, on developing initiatives designed to raise public awareness of the prevalence, causes, and social costs of wrongful convictions and promote reform of the criminal justice system. In addition, the community services component helps exonerated former prisoners cope with the difficult process of reintegration into free society.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

China: The death penalty in China: breaking records, breaking rules

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 1997


1997

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In China last year, approximately 17 people were sentenced to death each day, every day of the year. This report examines the record versus the rhetoric in 1996. It examines the death penalty in practice during this year’s “Strike Hard Anti-Crime Campaign” which highlights legal inadequacies and institutionalized abuses long discussed by domestic critics.

Document(s)

An Introduction to Advocacy Training Guide

By Ritu R. Sharma / SARA Project, on 1 January 1997


Lobbying


More details See the document

The Guide should be useful to people in all sectors who wish to improve policies and programs through advocacy.

  • Document type Lobbying
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

PROTOCOL TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

By Organization of American States, on 1 January 1990


1990

Regional body report

es
More details See the document

Article 1The States Parties to this Protocol shall not apply the death penalty in their territory to any person subject to their jurisdiction.

Document(s)

Earl Washington’s Ordeal

By Eric M. Freedman / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

I offer an account of the ordeal of Earl Washington, who—having come within days of execution—was released from prison on February 12, 2001, after DNA evidence of his innocence finally proved conclusive to the Virginia authorities. I do so for two reasons. First, I believe, both as a member of his legal team and a scholar, that history deserves an accurate account of the events. Second, more broadly, I believe that the case exemplifies many of the phenomena that contribute to the injustice of the death penalty in America today.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Beyond Reason: The Death Penalty and Offenders with Mental Retardation

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

Twenty-five U.S. states still permit the execution of offenders with mental retardation and should pass laws to ban the practice without delay. The United States appears to be the only democracy whose laws expressly permit the execution of persons with this severe mental disability.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Mandatory Justice: Eighteen Reforms to the Death Penalty

By The Constitution Project, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

One major goal of these recommendations is to create additional safeguards against the endemic tendency of decision-makers in the criminal justice system to “pass the buck.” The system is far too lax in catching errors and injustices in part because many of those who might catch these errors and injustices do not fully understand their own duty to ensure that a death sentence is the appropriate punishment. Several of these recommendations are addressed to those who occupy critical roles in the capital punishment system, including the defense attorney, the prosecutor, the jury, the trial judge, and the reviewing courts. They emphasize that each, individually, has the responsibility to ensure, to the best of his or her ability, that justice is done.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

JURY INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING DEADLOCK IN CAPITAL SENTENCING

By Laurie B. Berberich / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

Questions regarding the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous decision are often asked of judges and similar uninformative responses are generally given. Is ignoringjuror concerns the proper method for handling jury inquiries about the result of juror non-unanimity in capital sentencing? Or should courts inform capital juries up-front of the consequences of their failure to reach a unanimous verdict?

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

PROBING “LIFE QUALIFICATION” THROUGH EXPANDED VOIR DIRE

By John H. Blume / Sheri Lynn Johnson / Brian Threlkeld / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

It turns out that voir dire in capital cases is woefully ineffective at the most elementary task—weeding out unqualified jurors.Empirical evidence reveals that many capital jurors are in fact unqualified to serve. Moreover, the ineffectiveness of the process is far from even-handed. A juror is not “death-qualified” if she would always vote against a death sentence, regardless of the circumstances, and a handful of the jurors who actually serve in capital cases are in fact unqualified for this reason.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Death Sentencing in Black and White: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Jurors’ Race and Jury Racial Composition

By William J. Bowers / Marla Sandys / Benjamin D. Steiner / University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

Do black jurors view a crime or its appropriate punishment differently than their white counterparts? Are their perspectives influenced by the race of the defendant or victim? Are blacks on white-dominated capital juries intimidated or coerced into voting for the death penalty?

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Physicians Willingness to Participate in the Process of lethal Injection for Capital Punishment

By Joan Weiner / Brian M. Aboff / Neil J. / Farber / Annals of Internal Medecine 135(10), 884-888 / Elizabeth B. Davis / E. Gil Boyer / Peter A. Ubel, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

Occasionally, physicians’ personal values conflict with their perceived societal duties. One example is the case of lethal injection for the purpose of capital punishment. Some states require that such lethal injections be performed by physicians. At the same time, leading medical societies have concluded that physicians should avoid participating in capital punishment. Physicians’ attitudes toward involvement in capital punishment may depend on how they balance their responsibilities to individuals against their duties to society. Other factors may include a desire to provide a more painless death for the prisoner or concern over the competency of other health care personnel. In a previous survey, we found that a majority of physicians condoned involvement of their fellow physicians in capital punishment. For the current study, we conducted another survey to ascertain physicians’ attitudes about their own involvement in capital punishment, as well as factors associated with these attitudes.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Lethal Injection,

Document(s)

The Innocence Protection Act of 2001

By Senator Patrick Leahy / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

The goal of our bill is simple, but profoundly important: to reduce the risk of mistaken executions. The Innocence Protection Act proposes basic, common-sense reforms to our criminal justice system that are designed to protect the innocent and to ensure that if the death penalty is imposed, it is the result of informed and reasoned deliberation, not politics, luck, bias, or guesswork. We have listened to a lot of good advice and made some refinements to the bill since the last Congress, but it is still structured around two principal reforms: improving the availability of DNA testing, and ensuring reasonable minimum standards and funding for court-appointed counsel.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Preventing the Execution of the Innocent: Testimony Before the House Judiciary Committee.

By Peter Neufeld / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

There have been at least sixty-seven postconviction DNA exonerations in the United States. Our Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law has either assisted or been the attorney of record in thirty-nine of those cases, including eight men who served time on death row. For all of these men, existing appellate remedies failed to catch the mistakes and correct the injustice. In one third of the exonerations, bad lawyering contributed to their convictions yet in only one case was ineffective assistance of counsel recognized by an appellate court. Mistaken eyewitness identification was a critical factor in almost 90% of the unjust convictions yet not a single trial or appellate court found the eyewitness testimony to be unreliable.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Errors and Ethics: Dilemmas in Death

By Penny J. White / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

In the last five years, the death penalty has become a frequent topic of discussion. While discussion of such an emotive topic is not unusual for any period in history, the tenor of the recent dialogue is unusual. For the most part, the discussion centers around the problems with capital punishment, particularly its inaccuracy and unfairness. This Article begins in Part II with a discussion of recent claims about the frequency of errors in capital cases. Part III enumerates and discusses the factors generally thought to be the cause of the errors. Part IV details new rules recently adopted in one jurisdiction in an effort to eliminate the errors. Part IV also suggests that these new rules, though worthwhile, are actually a reiteration of long-standing ethical obligations of judges and lawyers, the breach of which is responsible for many of the errors. Part V recommends additional remedies which the bench and the bar must take if there is a true commitment to providing a fair, just, and reliable system for determining who the government is entitled to kill.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Congressional Power to Require DNA Testing

By Larry Yackle / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

Many states fail to conduct, or even to permit, DNA testing of biological materials in circumstances in which the results might exonerate convicts under sentence of death. Senator Patrick Leahy thinks that Congress should enact a statute requiring states to provide for testing when it promises to reveal the truth. Leahy’s idea is sensible as a matter of policy. I mean in this Article to argue that it is also constitutionally feasible.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Death without Justice: A Guide for Examining the Administration of the Death Penalty in the United States

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2001


Working with...


More details See the document

This guide was created because of the growing flaws in the adminstration of the death penatly, it provides a guide to the death penalty administration process and vulnerable populations in death row administration.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Choosing Mercy: A Mother of Murder Victims Pleads to End the Death Penalty

By Antoinette Bosco, on 1 January 2001


Working with...


More details See the document

Written in the spirit of “Dead Man Walking,” this book by Antoinette Bosco conveys both the powerful personal experience of a mother whose son was murdered and a wealth of information about the criminal justice system in America. (Orbis Books, 2001)

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Public opinion, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Zambia: Time to abolish the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

This report aims at focusing attention on the country’s use of the death penalty, particularly as Zambia does not apply international standards for fair trials in its use of the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

By United Nations, on 1 January 1966


1966

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Article 61. 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.2. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court.3. When deprivation of life constitutes the crime of genocide, it is understood that nothing in this article shall authorize any State Party to the present Covenant to derogate in any way from any obligation assumed under the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.4. 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.5. 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.6. Nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant.

Document(s)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By United Nations, on 1 January 1948


1948

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” Article 3 – Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Document(s)

AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS “PACT OF SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA”

By Organization of American States, on 8 September 1969


1969

United Nations report

es
More details See the document

Article 4. Right to Life1. Every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.

Document(s)

AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

By African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, on 8 September 1981


1981

United Nations report

fr
More details See the document

ARTICLE 4Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.ARTICLE 5Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status. All forms of exploitation and degradation of man, particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited.

Document(s)

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty

By United Nations, on 1 January 1989


1989

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The States Parties to the present Protocol,Believing that abolition of the death penalty contributes to enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights,Recalling article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December 1948, and article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted on 16 December 1966,Noting that article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights refers to abolition of the death penalty in terms that strongly suggest that abolition is desirable,Convinced that all measures of abolition of the death penalty should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life,Desirous to undertake hereby an international commitment to abolish the death penalty,Have agreed as follows:Article 11. No one within the jurisdiction of a State Party to the present Protocol shall be executed.2. Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.

Document(s)

Convention on the Rights of the Child

By United Nations, on 1 January 1989


United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Article 37States Parties shall ensure that:(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.

Document(s)

Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty

By United Nations, on 1 January 1984


1984

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Approved by Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 19841. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, capital punishment may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, it being understood that their scope should not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences.

Document(s)

Mental retardation and the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


2001

NGO report


More details See the document

This paper attempts to summarise the issues arising from the practice of executing prisoners who have mental retardation. It draws mainly on the US experience but makes reference to other jurisdictions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 2000

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


NGO report

arfres
More details See the document

This paper covers events around the exercise of the death penalty during the year 2000, including such subjects as significant national and international court cases and decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the mentally ill and those with mental retardation; its use against the `innocent’ and against women; medical and religious perspectives and public opinion polls and surveys.

Document(s)

Poster World Day 2003

By World coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2003


2003

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details See the document

Poster World Day 2003

Document(s)

Resource Guide for Managing Capital Cases

By Molly Treadway Johnson / Federal Judicial Center / Laural L. Hooper, on 1 January 2004


2004

Working with...


More details See the document

The purpose of this resource guide is to provide judges who are assigned capital cases with information about how other judges have handled these cases and an idea of what to expect as the case proceeds. The guide does not prescribe how such cases should be handled, and any examples of case-management approaches discussed should be considered illustrative.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Japan: A Practice Unworthy of a Democracy

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Sharon Hom / Etienne Jaudel / Richard Wild, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report

enfr
More details See the document

Despite the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations’ efforts towards improving the defence system, Japanese prisoners – especially those sentenced to death – do not receive a fair trial.The Daiyo Kangoku practice is one amongst several practices which allows suspects to be detained in police stations for 23 days, contravening the rules of a fair trial. Confessions, which can be obtained through strong pressure, give police the basis for accusation. Furthermore, the conditions on death row themselves amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments: Once the death sentence has been delivered, the prisoner is held in solitary confinement. Detainees have extremely limited contact with families and lawyers and meetings are closely monitored. Above all, prisoners live with the constant fear of never knowing if today will be their last day. The prisoner is informed that the execution will take place on the very same day, and family members are notified the following day.

Document(s)

The exclusion of child offenders from the death penalty under general international law

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In October 2002 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held that “a norm of international customary law has emerged prohibiting the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years at the time of their crime” and that “this rule has been recognized as being of a sufficiently indelible nature to now constitute a norm of jus cogens”. This paper examines the evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against child offenders (people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18) is prohibited under customary international law and as a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens).

Document(s)

Poster World Day 2003

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2003


2003

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition


More details See the document

Poster for the world day against the death penalty 2003

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

The death penalty in Africa

By Dirk van Zyl Smit / African Human Rights Law Journal, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article


More details See the document

This article examines the situation of the death penalty in Africa. It does so byaddressing three main questions: First, to what extent is the death penalty inAfrica in fact an issue about which one should be particularly concerned?Second, what are the restrictions on the death penalty in Africa? Third, whatis to be done to strengthen the restrictions on the death penalty in Africa? Inaddition, the article examines the question whether article 4 of the AfricanCharter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its related provisions will inspirethe abolition of the death penalty. It is suggested that challenging mandatorydeath sentences, advancing procedural challenges, open debate onalternatives to the death penalty, and improving the national criminaljustice system will strengthen restrictions on the death penalty in Africa. Thearticle concludes that positive criminal justice reform rather than moralisticcondemnation is the most effective route to the eventual abolition of thedeath penalty in Africa.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

West Africa: Time to abolish the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

This doument summarizes each of the 16 ECOWAS countries’ legislation on the death penalty, provides information on the most recent executions and convictions and notes the view currently taken by the governments concerned. Two thirds have already abolished the death penalty

Document(s)

Chad, Death Penalty: ending a moratorium, between security opportunism and settling of scores

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Mahfoudh Ould Bettah / Isabelle Gourmelon / Olivier Foks, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

The report is damning, showing a system of justice which attaches little importance to regional and international instruments for the protection of human rights ratified by Chad. The case was conducted with a haste wholly incompatible with the respect for the right to a fair trial – proceedings exclusively for the prosecution, confessions obtained under torture, refusal to take account of evidence brought by the defence during the investigation, no lawyer present during the investigation stage. This iniquitous trial proves the hypothesis that justice has been manipulated in order to hide the true nature of a crime and the identity of its perpetrators, whilst securing the executions of persons judged undesirable.

Document(s)

Nigeria: The death penalty and women under the Nigerian penal systems

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

The recent extension in parts of Nigeria of the death penalty to areas many consider to be private aspects of life has focused the debate on both the appropriateness of the death penalty in general and on the use of the criminal justice system as a way to regulate sexual behaviour. Amnesty International Believes that the death penalty in its application in Nigeria in particular violates women’’s human rights to access to justice, according to international human rights law and standards, and has a discriminatory effect on women in certain cases and for certain crimes. This becomes especially serious in cases of capital punishment which is severely affecting women from deprived socio-economic backgrounds and remote areas.

Document(s)

Arab Charter on Human Rights

By League of Arab States, on 1 January 2004


Regional body report

arfr
More details See the document

Article 51. Every human being has the inherent right to life.2. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.Article 6Sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes inaccordance with the laws in force at the time of commission of the crime and pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.Article 71. Sentence of death shall not be imposed on persons under 18 years of age, unlessotherwise stipulated in the laws in force at the time of the commission of the crime.2. The death penalty shall not be inflicted on a pregnant woman prior to her deliveryor on a nursing mother within two years from the date of her delivery; in all cases, the best interests of the infant shall be the primary consideration.

Document(s)

Indonesia: A briefing on the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


NGO report

en
More details See the document

This briefing follows the first executions in Indonesia in more than three years. Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey, an Indian national convicted of drug-trafficking in 1994, was executed by firing squad. Two Thai nationals, Saelow Prasert (m) and Namsong Sirilak (f), who had been sentenced to death in the same case, were executed on 1 October 2004. A total of at least 54 people are currently believed to be under sentence of death in Indonesia, 30 of them for drug-related offences. Amnesty International is concerned that these recent developments reflect an increasing willingness by the authorities to use the death penalty to address crime, in particular drug-trafficking. The organization is also concerned about calls to expand the number of crimes for which the death penalty may be imposed.

Document(s)

STOP CHILD EXECUTIONS! Ending the death penalty for child offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18, yet some countries continue to execute child offenders or sentence them to death. Although executions of child offenders are few compared to the total number of executions in the world, they represent a complete disregard by the executing states of their commitments under international law, and an affront to all notions of morality and decency when it comes to the protection of children – one of the most vulnerable groups in society. This document describes the use of the death penalty against child offenders worldwide and its prohibition under international law.

Document(s)

Protecting the right to life against the Death Penalty. Written observations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Legislative or Other Measures Denying Judicial or Other Effective Recourses to Challenge the Death Penalty.

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


NGO report

es
More details See the document

This document contains Amnesty International’s written observations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on legislative or other measures denying judicial or other effective recourse to challenge the death penalty; in the matter of a request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (article 64(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights) and in the matter of legislative measures concerning the mandatory imposition of the death penalty and related matters.

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2003

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2004


NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide situation concerning the death penalty has once again registered a trend towards abolition in the past year. The countries or territories that to different extents have decided to give up the practice of capital punishment total 133, including the first months of 2004. Of these 81 have abolished the death penalty completely; 14 have abolished it for ordinary crimes; 1, Russia, as a member of the Council of Europe is committed to abolish it and in the meanwhile apply a moratorium on executions; 5 are observing moratoriums and 32 countries are de facto abolitionist, not having carried out executions for at least 10 years.

Document(s)

Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2004


NGO report


More details See the document

This report catalogs the emergence of innocence as the most important issue in the long-simmering death penalty debate. The sheer number of cases and the pervasive awareness of this trend in the public’s consciousness have changed the way capital punishment is perceived around the country. The steady evolution of this issue since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 has been accelerated in recent years by the development of DNA technology, the new gold standard of forensic investigation. This science, along with a vigorous re-investigation of many cases, has led to the discovery of a growing number of tragic mistakes and freed inmates. The evidence in this report presents a compelling case for many Americans that the risks associated with capital punishment exceed acceptable bounds. One hundred and sixteen people have been freed from death row after being cleared of their charges, including 16 people in the past 20 months. These inmates cumulatively spent over 1,000 years awaiting their freedom. The pace of exonerations has sharply increased, raising doubts about the reliability of the whole system.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

The Forgotten Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States Through the Experiences of Women

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2004


NGO report


More details See the document

This report — the first-ever national survey of women currently on Death Row — found that women who have been sentenced to death are often subjected to harsh living conditions, including being forced to live in virtual isolation, and many are sentenced for crimes that don’t result in a death sentence for men.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Women,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Lesotho: The Law and Practice

By Moses O A Owori / British Institute of International and Comparative Law, on 1 January 2004


NGO report


More details See the document

The first part of the paper looks at the national law governing the death penalty vis-à-vis international standards; the second part of the paper identifies the problems one encounters at the pretrial, trial and post trial stages and examines the attempts to solve some of these problems; the final part looks at present trends in the application of the death penalty and draws tentative conclusions as to the future prospects of the death penalty in Lesotho.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2002

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This paper covers significant events concerning the death penalty during the year 2002. Other subjects covered in this paper include significant judicial decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the innocent; reductions in the scope of the death penalty; moratoria and commutations; and moves to restrict appeals in capital cases.

Document(s)

SUMMARY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2002

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2003


NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The practice of the death penalty has drastically diminished in the past few years. Today the countries or territories that have abolished it or decline to apply it number 130. Of these: 78 are totally abolitionist; 14 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 2 are committed to abolition as members of the Council of Europe and in the meanwhile observe a moratorium; 6 countries are currently observing a moratorium and 30 are de facto abolitionist, not having executed any death sentences in the past ten years.

Document(s)

Paralegals in Rwanda A Case Study by Penal Reform International

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2002


2002

Working with...


More details See the document

Paralegals are becoming an increasingly important part of the criminal justice system in developing countries. By ensuring more people are aware of their rights within the prison system and can therefore represent themselves and follow up on their cases, paralegals contribute towards a reduction in numbers in pre-trial detention.

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

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2001

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2002


NGO report

en
More details See the document

The year 2001 has confirmed the accelerated trend towards the abolition of the death penalty on course for the past ten years. In 2001 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became totally abolitionist, Chile abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, Ireland removed all references to the death penalty from its constitution, Burkina Faso joined the group of de facto abolitionists not having carried out any executions for more than ten years, and Lebanon has imposed a moratorium on executions.

Document(s)

Recommendations on the Capital Punishment System

By Japan Federation of Bar Associations, on 1 January 2002


NGO report

en
More details See the document

This report details the reasons for the Japan Federation of Bar Associations recommendation that an immediate moratorium on death sentences takes place.

Document(s)

ICCPR Case Law on Detention, the Prohibition of Cruel Treatment and Some Issues Pertaining to the Death Row Phenomenon

By Eva Rieter / Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, on 1 January 2002


Article


More details See the document

This paper discusses some case law on detention issues by the Human Rights Committee (HRC) that supervises the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as HRC case law on the so-called “death row phenomenon,” which involves forcing a person to live under conditions that spawn intense fear, distress, and the virtual destruction of the personality while awaiting execution.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Phenomenon,

Document(s)

The Political Sociology of the Death Penalty: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis

By Jason T. Carmichael / David Jacobs / American Sociological Review, on 1 January 2002


Article

United States


More details See the document

Despite the interest in the death penalty, no statistical studies have isolated the social and political forces that account for the legality of this punishment. Racial or ethnic threat theories suggest that the death penalty will more likely be legal in jurisdictions with relatively large black or Hispanic populations. Economic threat explanations suggest that this punishment will be present in unequal areas. Jurisdictions with a more conservative public or a stronger law and order Republican party should be more likely to legalize the death penalty as well. After controlling for social disorganization, region, period, and voilent crime, panel analyses suggest that minority presence and economic inequality enhance the likelihood of a legal death penalty. Conservative values and Republican strength in the legislature have equivalent effects; A supplement time-to-event analysis supports these conclusions. The results suggest that a political approach has explanatory power because threat effects expressed through politics and effects that are directly political invariable account for decisions about the legality of capital punishment.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The Needs of the Wrongfully Convicted: A Report on a Panel Discussion

By Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority's Research & Analysis Unit / Northwestern University School of Law, on 1 January 2002


Working with...


More details See the document

This report has been prepared for Governor Ryan’s Commission on Capital Punishment to provide additional information on those who have been wrongfully convicted of murder and subsequently incarcerated. It is hoped that this information is useful in the Commission’s consideration of possible improvements in the way criminal justice agencies and allied entities meet the needs of those who have been wrongfully convicted.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Paralegal Aid Clinics: A handbook for paralegals working in prisons

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2002


Working with...


More details See the document

The Paralegal Advisory Service (PAS) trainers manual for conducting paralegal aid clinics (PLCs) inside prison has been written for paralegal facilitators who will conduct PLCs in prisons aimed principally at remand prisoners

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

Document(s)

English speaking Caribbean: State Killing in the English speaking Caribbean: a legacy of colonial times

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002


NGO report


More details See the document

This report seeks to answer the arguments put forward by the proponents of capital punishment in the English Speaking Caribbean and examines the shortcomings in the administration of the death penalty in the region.The paper primarily focuses on Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the two countries with the largest death row populations in the region. However, details of other counties are given and the themes and problems illustrated in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are prevalent in the other nations of the ESC.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

Children and the death penalty: Executions worldwide since 1990

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

The document details cases of child offenders executed since 1990 and cites the relevant international standards. Two tables are appended: a list of cases and a table of the 113 countries which provide for the death penalty but exclude its use of the death penalty against child offenders. There are also appendices giving the text of the resolution on “The death penalty in relation to child offenders” adopted by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in August 2000 and extracts from the resolution on “The question of the death penalty” adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 2002.

Document(s)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Indecent and internationally illegal: The death penalty against child offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002


NGO report


More details See the document

This report gives details of the national picture of the execution of juveniles, looking particularly at how two key decisions of the US Supreme Court have widened the gap between the USA and most other countries on this issue. The report examines the arguments used by those who oppose the execution of juvenile offenders and provides an overview of the international situation on the use of the death penalty against child offenders.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles,

Document(s)

Broken Justice: The Death Penalty in Virginia

By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Virginia, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report


More details See the document

In April of 2000, the ACLU of Virginia published its first report on the status of the death penalty in Virginia. Since that time, a remarkable number of changes have taken place on this issue both in Virginia and throughout the country, which necessitated a second edition of the report. The first report examined four aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and the role of race. This report will look at those four areas and also add several other issues: the problem of prosecutorial misconduct in capital cases, the problem of executing mentally retarded offenders, the question of executing juvenile offenders and the danger of executing wrongfully convicted persons, as shown by the growing number of individuals who have been exonerated while on death row.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Guiding Hand of Counsel’ and the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases

By Robin M. Maher / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

The ABA has long been concerned with the provision of effective counsel for all criminal defendants, especially for those facing the death penalty. In 1989, the ABA first published its Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Counsel in Death Penalty Cases, which detailed the kind of competent, effective legal representation that all capital defendants were entitled to receive. Earlier this year, after a two-year effort drawing upon the expertise of a broad group ofdistinguished and experienced judges, lawyers, and academics, the ABA House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved revisions to those Guidelines to update and expand upon the obligations of death penalty jurisdictions to ensure due process of law and justice. “These Guidelines are not aspirational.” They articulate a national standard of care and the minimum that should be required in the defense of capital cases.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Juvenile Death Penalty: Is It Cruel and Unusual in Light of Contemporary Standards

By American Bar Association / Adam Caine Ortiz, on 1 January 2003


NGO report


More details See the document

Reviews the use of the death penalty on juveniles in light of contemporary standards.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles,

Document(s)

REPORT ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

By Bar Human Rights Committee, on 1 January 2003


NGO report


More details See the document

The purpose of the Report is to assist the Honourable Court by describing the criminal justice process in Trinidad as it applies to those accused of murder. As a criminal defence and constitutional law attorneys in Trinidad, we have been asked to address, in particular, some of the shortcomings apparent in the Trinidadian criminal justice system and certain related constitutional issues. The Report deals with the following issues: a. The constitutional history and sources of law in Trinidad; b. The law of murder in Trinidad; c. An overview of criminal procedure; d. The stages of the criminal process in murder cases; e. The mandatory death penalty; f. The prerogative of mercy.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Ten Years of Payne: Victim Impact Evidence in Capital Cases

By John H. Blume / Cornell Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

Part I of this Article will discuss the Court’s prior decisions in Booth and Gathers, and Parts II and III will briefly attempt to clarify the parameters of the Payne holding. Part IV of this Article will survey the current legal landscape of state and federal practice regarding the admissibility of VIE and argument. Finally, this Article will offer in conclusion some brief perspectives on several unresolved issues in this particularly thorny (and misguided) area of capital punishment jurisprudence.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

Making the Last Chance Meaningful: Predecessor Counsel’s Ethical Duty to the Capital Defendant

By Lawrence J. Fox / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

The thesis of this paper is that lawyers who have represented clients in capital murder cases at trial and appeal—not unlike all criminal trial and initial appeal counsel, but more urgently because of the circumstances—continue to owe important obligations to their former clients. These obligations have been just recently included in the latest version of the American Bar Association’s Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death PenaltyCases: In accordance with professional norms, all persons who are or have been members of the defense team have a continuing duty to safeguard the interests of the client and should cooperate fully with successor counsel. This duty includes, but is not limited to: A. maintaining the records of the case in a manner that will inform successor counsel of all significant developments relevant to the litigation; B. providing the client’s files, as well as information regarding all aspects of the representation, to successor counsel; C. sharing potential further areas of legal and factual research with successor counsel; and D. cooperating with such professionally appropriate legal strategies as may be chosen by successor counsel. It is my hope that this article will demonstrate that these Guidelines reflect not just best practice, but actual ethical mandates that trial counsel, like Bryan Saunders, owe their former clients as those clients negotiate the jurisprudential maze known as habeas corpus.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

The Professional Obligation to Raise Frivolous Issues in Death Penalty Cases

By Monroe H. Freedman / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

Lawyers are generally familiar with the ethical rule forbidding frivolous arguments, principally because of sanctions imposed under rules of civil procedure for making such arguments. Not all lawyers are aware, however, of two ways in which the prohibitions of frivolous arguments are restricted in both the rules themselves and in their enforcement. First, the ethical rules have express limitations with respect to arguments made on behalf of criminal defendants, and courts are generally loath to sanction criminal defense lawyers. Second, the term “frivolous” is narrowed, even in civil cases, by the way it is defined and explained in the ethical rules and in court decisions.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

A New Profession for an Old Need: Why a Mitigation Specialist Must be Included on the Capital Defense Team

By Pamela Blume Leonard / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

The fundamental task of the mitigation specialist is to conduct a comprehensive social history of the defendant and identify all relevant mitigation issues. The 2003 revised edition of the American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases recognizes the mitigation specialist as an “indispensable member of the defense team throughout all capital proceedings.” What are the particular responsibilities and contributions of a mitigation specialist and what makes them so essential to the capital defense team as to warrant this long overdue recognition by the ABA Guidelines?

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

The Defense Team in Capital Cases

By Jill Miller / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

Fairness for those defendants facing the ultimate punishment of death requires that they be afforded zealous advocacy by competent counsel, and that counsel be provided with the resources necessary to effectively represent their clients. Stating that “[o]ur capital system is haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die,” Governor Ryan cited many deficiencies in the justice system in Illinois, including poor lawyering and inadequate resources for defense counsel, in arriving at his decision to commute all death sentences. Over the years the imposition of the death penalty has too often been a function of unqualified counsel or counsel who lacked the resources, including time, funding, and provision of investigative, expert and supportive services, to competently represent their clients, rather than a reasoned decision based on the circumstances of the crime and the background and character of the defendant.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the United States

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Antoine Bernard, on 1 January 2002


2002

NGO report


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The report indicates that most of the people sentenced to capital punishment, especially the poor and indigent, did not benefit from a fair trial, and that the conditions of detention – which is very long – constitute “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments”. Furthermore, the FIDH fears that the possible moratoriums on the executions considered by several States only aims at improving the criminal procedures prior to the executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Why an Independent Appointed Authority Is Necessary to Choose Counsel for Indigent People in Capital Punishment Cases

By Ronald J. Tabak / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

The revised ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases require that an agency “independent of the judiciary” be responsible for “ensuring that each capital defendant in the jurisdiction receives high quality legal representation.” This independent agency “and not the judiciary or elected officials should select lawyers for specific cases.” These mandates reflect two realities that have become overwhelmingly clear: (1) judges—whether initially elected, subject to retention elections, or appointed—are subject to political pressures in connection with capital punishment cases; and (2) lawyers whom judges have appointed in capital punishment cases have frequently been of far lower quality than could have been selected.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

International Law Issues in Death Penalty Defense

By Richard J. Wilson / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

This short article will explore some additional issues regarding the relationship between international law and the death penalty. First, it will discuss some additional aspects of the representation of foreign nationals in capital cases. Second, it will discuss additional instances in which defense counsel can make international law arguments, regardless of the client’s nationality. Third, because international law issues are new to most lawyers in the United States, even those who are seasoned in capital litigation, it will suggest some alternative ways in which international law arguments can be made. The conclusion will put theUnited States experience with the death penalty into the broader context of world practice on the death penalty.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2003


Working with...


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The objective of these Guidelines is to set forth a national standard of practice for the defense of capital cases in order to ensure high quality legal representation for all persons facing the possible imposition or execution of a death sentence by any jurisdiction. These Guidelines apply from the moment the client is taken into custody and extend to all stages of every case in which the jurisdiction may be entitled to seek the death penalty, including initial and ongoing investigation, pretrial proceedings, trial, post-conviction review, clemency proceedings and any connected litigation.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Human Rights and Vulnerable Prisoners (pages 121-132)

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2003


Working with...

fafres
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This manual is a resource for those who deliver training and workshops on human rights in prisons. It explores the fundamentals of good prison management, focusing specifically on international standards for the treatment of prisoners and the special needs of vulnerable categories of prisoner.

Document(s)

Evidence Does Not Support Death Penalty As Deterrent

By Sacramento Bee, on 1 January 2012


Article

United States


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Ever since California added the death penalty to its penal code in the 1870s, supporters have argued that the threat of executions would make potential murderers think twice before committing heinous crimes.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Index of Paralegal Services in Africa

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2012


Book


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This Index of Paralegal Services in Africa is the latest resource in PRI’s paralegal series. It lists paralegal services, paralegal networks and university legal clinics in 21 African countries and, where the information was available, provides contact details, a summary of the main services offered, a list of donors and examples of important results achieved.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Fair Trial,