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Document(s)
The Executioner’s Song
By Norman Mailer / Vintage , on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
Norman Mailer tells Gary Gilmore’s story, and those of the men and women caught up in his procession toward the firing squad, with implacable authority, steely compassion, and a restraint that evokes the parched landscapes and stern theology of Gilmore’s Utah.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
MVFHR Asia Speech Tour in Korea & Japan
By Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights / YouTube, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
Japan
enMore details See the document
MVFHR is an organization formed by a group of victim’s family members. They have traveled across the ocean all the way down to Korea, Japan, and Taiwan to share their stories and views on the death penalty with the local victim’s family members, attorneys, and human rights organizations.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Japan
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
- Available languages MVFHR 飄洋過海來看你:看見被害人 20100704 台北信義誠品
Document(s)
One Iranian lawyer’s fight to save juveniles from execution
By Amnesty International / The Guardian, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
More details See the document
As part of Amnesty International’s 2012 death penalty campaign the Guardian and animators from Sherbet tell in this short animation fim the extraordinary story of Mohammad Mostafaei, a lawyer who has saved 20 of the 40 juveniles he has defended from execution in Iran. Actor Paul Bettany speaks the lawyer’s words.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Portuguese : História de uma execução
By Fabian Biasio / Swissinfo, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
United States
More details See the document
Reportagem de Fabian Biasio sobre a execução de um assassino esquizofrênico no Texas. Em 2003, o fotógrafo acompanhou Tina Morris durante a semana que precedia a execução do seu irmão, James Colburn.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families, Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2009 (and the first six months of 2010)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
enMore details See the document
THE SITUATION TODAY The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than ten years, was again confirmed in 2009 and the first six months of 2010. There are currently 154 countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 96 are totally abolitionist; 8 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 6 have a moratorium on executions in place and 44 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2009 (E DEI PRIMI SEI MESI DEL 2010)
Document(s)
Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition
By David Garland / Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, on 8 September 2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
This book offers a fresh perspective on why the death penalty endures in the United States when so many other countries in the Western world have already abolished it. The book seeks to understand the persistence of the death penalty in the U.S. as a social fact, using sociological, historical and legal analyses to explain the unique and peculiar manner in which the death penalty is applied. Garland concludes that the death penalty has survived in the United States because it is deeply connected to the fundamentally American institutions of local autonomy and popular democracy.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2009 (E DEI PRIMI SEI MESI DEL 2010)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
enMore details See the document
LA SITUAZIONE AD OGGI : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2009 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2010. I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 154. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 96; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 8; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 6; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 44.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2009 (and the first six months of 2010)
Document(s)
Oleg Alkaev, former head of Belarus’s death row
By Amnesty International / Daily Motion, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
Belarus
frMore details See the document
Colonel Oleg Alkaev, who was Director of remand prison (SIZO)6 No. 1 in Minsk and ordered a number of executions. He gave this testimony to Amnesty International, a member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Belarus
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Oleg Alkaev, ex-directeur du couloir de la mort biélorusse
Document(s)
Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2008 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2009)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
enMore details See the document
La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2008 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2009. I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 151. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 96; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 8; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 5; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 42.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2008 (and the first six months of 2009)
Document(s)
Ross, Colin Campbell Eadie (1892 – 1922)
By Australian Dictionary of Biography , on 8 September 2020
Academic report
Australia
More details See the document
The raped, strangled and naked body of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke was found in a right-of-way off nearby Gun Alley. The press, notably the Herald under (Sir) Keith Murdoch, fanned public outrage, pressured police for an arrest and matched the government’s initial reward, which was quickly raised from £250 to £1000. Ross, one of many people routinely interviewed, was arrested and remanded. The police, relying on the information of dubious characters, including the fortune-teller ‘Madame Ghurka’, claimed that Ross had confessed to violating and choking the girl. The Herald prejudiced his trial by publishing his photograph and printing the names and addresses of the jury. George Maxwell, appearing for Ross with T. C. Brennan, described the Crown witnesses as ‘disreputables’, mercenaries whose evidence was contradictory and untrustworthy.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Australia
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2007 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2008)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
enMore details See the document
La Moratoria Onu delle esecuzioni : Il 18 dicembre 2007, la 62ª Assemblea Generale delle Nazioni Unite ha approvato con 104 voti a favore, 54 contrari e 29 astensioni una Risoluzione che chiede agli Stati membri di “stabilire una moratoria delle esecuzioni, in vista dell’abolizione della pena di morte.”
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2007 (and the first six months of 2008)
Document(s)
Film: “The Execution of Wanda Jean”
By Liz Garbus / New Video Group, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
United States
More details See the document
In THE EXECUTION OF WANDA JEAN, award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus continues her investigations into the American criminal justice system with the compelling story of convicted murderess Wanda Jean Allen
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU’ IMPORTANTI DEL 2006 (e dei primi sette mesi del 2007)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
enMore details See the document
La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata anche nel 2006 e nei primi sette mesi del 2007. I paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 146. Di questi, i paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 93; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 9; 1 paese, la Russia, in quanto membro del Consiglio d’Europa è impegnato ad abolirla e, nel frattempo, attua una moratoria delle esecuzioni; quelli che hanno introdotto una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 4; i paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono cioè sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni, sono 39.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2006 (and the first seven months of 2007)
Document(s)
Italian : La condanna a morte di Saddam Hussein. Riflessioni sul divieto di pena capitale e sulla “necessaria sproporzione” della pena nelle gross violations
By Massimo Donini / Diritti Umani E Diritto Internazionale, on 8 September 2020
Article
Iraq
More details See the document
L’articolo prende in considerazione la condanna a morte di Saddam Hussein e sottolinea come il principio di compensazione che sta alla base di numerosi ragionamenti a favore della pena di morte sia del tutto inapplicabile nel caso di violazioni dei diritti umani quali quelle compiute dal dittatore iracheno. Partendo da questa constatazione l’autore passa poi a descrivere come il valore di una persona non sia legato solamente alle proprie gesta e conclude che la pena di morte vada rifiutata proprio a causa dell’impossibilità di misurare la distanza tra il valore della vita di una persona e le sue azioni.
- Document type Article
- Countries list Iraq
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Portuguese : PENA DE MORTE: SOLUÇÃO DA VIOLÊNCIA OU VIOLAÇÃO DO DIREITO À VIDA?
By Jean Frederick Silva e Souza / Revista Direito e Liberdade, on 8 September 2020
Article
Brazil
More details See the document
Visa o presente artigo a destacar a preocupação do homem com a criminalidade, procurando encontrar meios que possam minimizá-la. Objetiva tornar o assunto objeto de discussão. O tema, dividido em subtemas, procura, no contexto da História, demonstrar como foi tratado esse assunto, verificando a constatação do problema, tomando como medida a paz social. Trata, também, dos aspectos constitucionais sobre o direito à vida, e da sua importância para o ser humano. Detém-se este trabalho à inconstitucionalidade da pena de morte em nosso país, através de uma análise da doutrina a mais científica possível, capaz de conduzir à conscientização inalienada sobre o tema em pauta. Este texto jurídico demonstra que a pena capital não é a solução para a violência, mas uma forma de violar o nosso maior direito, a vida.
- Document type Article
- Countries list Brazil
- Themes list Right to life,
Document(s)
APYN Death Penalty Quizz
By Asia Pacific Youth Network, on 1 January 2009
2009
Campaigning
More details See the document
Quizz on the death penalty by the Asia Pacific Youth Network
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Wounds That Do Not Bind: Victim-based Perspectives on the Death Penalty
By James R. Acker / David R. Karp / Carolina Academic Press, on 1 January 2006
2006
Book
United States
More details See the document
This book examines how family members and advocates for victims address the impact of capital punishment. The book presents the personal stories of victims’ family members and their interactions with the criminal justice system. It also examines the relevant areas of legal research, including the use of victim impact evidence in capital trials, how capital punishment affects victims’ family members, and what is known about addressing the needs of the survivors after a murder.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
Document(s)
Jeremy Irons talks about the death penalty
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007
2007
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This video features Jeremy Irons who speaks about the death penalty and arguements commonly made for it.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Step by Step : Journey of Hope
By Journey of Hope / YouTube, on 1 January 2007
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This is a video following the Journey of Hope in Texas, a group lobbying for abolition in Texas.They tour Texas giving talks on the death penalty and they promote a message of love and not retribution. This video includes testimonies from murder victim families and exonerees.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2005 (AND THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2006)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2006
2006
NGO report
enMore details See the document
The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2005 and the first half of 2006. There are currently 142 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 90 are totally abolitionist; 10 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observing a moratorium on executions; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 37 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIù IMPORTANTI DEL 2005 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2006)
Document(s)
Taking Capital Punishment Seriously
By Franklin E. Zimmering / David T. Johnson / Asian Journal of Criminology, on 1 January 2006
Article
More details See the document
Although Asia is the most important region of the world when it comes to capital punishment, it is also one of the most understudied. This article identifies four research questions that deserve attention from students and scholars who believe taking capital punishment seriously requires studying Asia seriously too. What are the empirical contours of capital punishment in contemporary Asia? What are the histories of capital punishment in Asia? Can Western theories of capital punishment explain patterns and changes in Asia? And what is the future of capital punishment in Asia? If researchers take the trouble to explore these questions, the death penalty will not only become an interesting window into law and society in Asia, but Asia will prove to be an instructive window into the death penalty—the gravest real-life problem in the law.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
STRENGTHENING THE DEFENCE IN DEATH PENALTY CASES IN THE PEOPLE´S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Empirical Research into the Role of Defence Councils in Criminal Cases Eligible for the Death Penalty
By Hans Jörg Albrecht / Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, on 1 January 2006
Article
China
More details See the document
This project examines the role of defence councils in Chinese criminal proceedings that can end up with the imposition of the death penalty. It aims to review the problems defence lawyers face in such proceedings, the defence strategies they apply and to examine whether the assignment of a defence lawyer makes a difference in the outcome of a criminal trial. Moreover, the project explores what can and should be done to empower defence councils to effectively represent suspects and accused in death penalty eligible cases.The objective of the study is to shed light on the problems experienced by criminal defence councils when defending capital crime cases and to generate information on how death penalty cases are processed through the Chinese system of justice as well as the determinants of the outcomes death penalty eligible criminal cases.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
Litigating in the Shadow of Death
By Lawrence C. Marshall / University of Pittsburgh Law Review, on 1 January 2006
Article
United States
More details See the document
One gets the strong sense that Professor White believed that the key to changing or abolishing the death penalty in the United States was to educate policymakers and the public about its practical operation. This, of course, was Justice Thurgood Marshall’s hypothesis in Furman v. Georgia: that the widespread support that the death penalty enjoys in the country is a product of mass ignorance about how it is applied. Professor White did not simply posit the theory, he dedicated much of his life to the mission of educating the public about the inequities of the American death penalty. This final book does that in an extraordinarily effective way by combing together studies of illustrative cases, analysis of the lawyers’ roles and dilemmas, and cogent explanations of the state of the law.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Just Punishment
By Kim Beamish / Liz Burke Films, on 1 January 2006
Multimedia content
Australia
More details See the document
In December 2005 Van Nguyen, a 24 year-old Australian, was hanged by the state of Singapore for heroin trafficking. Filmed across two years, ‘Just Punishment’ tells the remarkable story behind the fight to save his life.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Australia
- Themes list Foreign Nationals,
Document(s)
Chinas Death Penalty: History, Law and Contemporary Practices
By Terance D. Miethe / Hong Lu / Routledge, on 1 January 2007
2007
Book
China
More details See the document
This book examines the death penalty within the changing socio-political context of China. The authors’ treatment of China’s death penalty is legal, historical, and comparative. In particular, they examine; the substantive and procedures laws surrounding capital punishment in different historical periods the purposes and functions of capital punishment in China in various dynasties changes in the method of imposition and relative prevalence of capital punishment over time the socio-demographic profile of the executed and their crimes over the last two decades and comparative practices in other countries. Their analyses of the death penalty in contemporary China focus on both its theory – how it should be done in law – and actual practice – based on available secondary reports/sources.
- Document type Book
- Countries list China
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN BRIEF 2004 (and up to September 15, 2005)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2005
2005
NGO report
enfrMore details See the document
The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2004 and the first half of 2005. There are currently 138 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 86 are totally abolitionist; 11 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observing a moratorium on executions; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 35 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years). Since the beginning of 2004, 3 countries have passed from retention to an extent of abolition, whereas 5 countries have advanced within the categories of the abolitionist group.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU’ IMPORTANTI DEL 2004 (e dei primi mesi del 2005)LES FAITS LES PLUS IMPORTANTS DE 2004 (ET DES PREMIERS NEUF MOIS DE 2005)
Document(s)
New Claims about Executions and General Deterrence: Déjà Vu All Over Again?
By Richard Berk / Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, on 1 January 2005
Article
United States
More details See the document
A number of papers have recently appeared claiming to show that in the United States executions deter serious crime. There are many statistical problems with the data analyses reported. This paper addresses the problem of “influence,” which occurs when a very small and atypical fraction of the data dominate the statistical results.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Deterrence ,
Document(s)
The cultural lives of capital punishment: comparative perspectives
By Sangmin Bae / David T. Johnson / Virgil K.Y. Ho / Evi Girling / Agata Fijalkowski / Julia Eckert / Christian Boulanger / Austin Sarat / Stanford University Press / Botagoz Kassymbekova / Shai Lavi / Jürgen Martschukat, on 1 January 2005
Book
China
More details See the document
They undertake this “cultural voyage” comparatively—examining the dynamics of the death penalty in Mexico, the United States, Poland, Kyrgyzstan, India, Israel, Palestine, Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea—arguing that we need to look beyond the United States to see how capital punishment “lives” or “dies” in the rest of the world, how images of state killing are produced and consumed elsewhere, and how they are reflected, back and forth, in the emerging international judicial and political discourse on the penalty of death and its abolition.
- Document type Book
- Countries list China
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Death by Design: Capital Punishment As a Social Psychological System
By Craig Haney / Oxford University Press, on 1 January 2005
Book
United States
More details See the document
In Death by Design, research psychologist Craig Haney argues that capital punishment, and particularly the sequence of events that lead to death sentencing itself, is maintained through a complex and elaborate social psychological system that distance and disengage us from the true nature of the task. Relying heavily on his own research and that of other social scientists, Haney suggests that these social psychological forces enable persons to engage in behavior from which many of them otherwise would refrain. However, by facilitating death sentencing in these ways, this inter-related set of social psychological forces also undermines the reliability and authenticity of the process, and compromises the fairness of its outcomes. Because these social psychological forces are systemic in nature –built into the very system of death sentencing itself –Haney concludes by suggesting a number of inter-locking reforms, derived directly from empirical research on capital punishment, that are needed to increase the fairness and reliability of the process.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty
By Judith W. Kay / Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., on 1 January 2005
Book
United States
More details See the document
In Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty, Judith Kay goes beyond the hype and statistics to examine Americans’ deep-seated beliefs about crime and punishment. She argues that Americans share a counter-productive idea of justice–that punishment corrects bad behavior, suffering pays for wrong deeds, and victims’ desire for revenge is natural and inevitable. Drawing on interviews with both victims and inmates, Kay shows how this belief harms perpetrators, victims, and society and calls for a new narrative that recognizes the humanity in all of us.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families
By Elizabeth Beck / Oxford University Press / Sarah Britto / Arlene Andrews, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
The stories of parents, siblings, children, and cousins chronicled in this book-vividly illustrate the precarious position family members of capital offenders occupy in the criminal justice system. They live in the shadow of death, crushed by trauma, grief, and helplessness. In this penetrating account of guilt and innocence, shame and triumph, devastating loss and ultimate redemption, the voices of these family members add a new dimension to debates about capital punishment and how communities can prevent and address crime.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
When the State No Longer Kills: International Human Rights Norms and Abolition of Capital Punishment
By Sangmin Bae / State University of New York Press, on 1 January 2007
Book
Republic of Korea
More details See the document
This book tries to explain what leads a state to abolish capital punishment or impose a moratorium, by offereing in-depth analyses of four countries: Ukraine, South Africa, South Korea and the United States. Focusing on the role of political leadership and domestic political institutions, Bae clarifies the causal mechanisms that lead to state compliance or noncompliance with the norm.
- Document type Book
- Countries list Republic of Korea
- Themes list Moratorium ,
Document(s)
Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution
By Austin Sarat / Princeton University Press, on 1 January 2005
2005
Book
United States
More details See the document
In this compelling and timely work, Austin Sarat provides the first book-length work on executive clemency. He turns our focus from questions of guilt and innocence to the very meaning of mercy. Starting from Ryan’s controversial decision, Mercy on Trial uses the lens of executive clemency in capital cases to discuss the fraught condition of mercy in American political life. Most pointedly, Sarat argues that mercy itself is on trial. Although it has always had a problematic position as a form of “lawful lawlessness,” it has come under much more intense popular pressure and criticism in recent decades. This has yielded a radical decline in the use of the power of chief executives to stop executions.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Clemency,
Document(s)
Ray Krone
By Amnesty International / YouTube, on 1 January 2008
2008
Legal Representation
More details See the document
Ray Krone was on death row in Arizona State Prison for two years (and eight years in prison) before he was freed after DNA tests proved his innocence in 2002.Mr. Krone became the 100th death row inmate to be proven innocent in the United States of America since 1973. Mr. Krone was twice convicted for a murder he did not commit. Mr. Krone tell his story in this video.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Death Penalty in Korea: From Unofficial Moratorium to Abolition?
By Kuk Cho / Asian Journal of Comparative Law, on 1 January 2008
Article
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
More details See the document
This article provides an overview of the legal regime governing the death penalty and the on-going debate on the death penalty in Korea. It begins by briefly reviewing international treaties that call for the abolition of the death penalty, contrasting them with the retentionist trend in most Asian countries. It then reviews the major decisions of the Korean Supreme Court and the Korean Constitutional Court. It also discusses recent moves in the National Assembly and the National Human Rights Commission to abolish the death penalty. It suggests that the Korean death penalty debate has potentially significant implications for its retentionist Asian neighbours grappling with similar issues.
- Document type Article
- Countries list Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Document(s)
Death Penalty: The Political Foundations of the Global Trend Towards Abolition
By Eric Neumayer / Human Rights Review, on 1 January 2008
Article
More details See the document
The death penalty is like no other punishment. Its continued existence in many countries of the world creates political tensions within these countries and between governments of retentionist and abolitionist countries. After the Second World War, more and more countries have abolished the death penalty. This article argues that the major determinants of this global trend towards abolition are political, a claim which receives support in a quantitative cross-national analysis from 1950 to 2002. Democracy, democratisation, international political pressure on retentionist countries and peer group effects in relatively abolitionist regions all raise the likelihood of abolition. There is also a partisan effect, as abolition becomes more likely if the chief executive’s party is left wing-oriented. Cultural, social and economic determinants receive only limited support. The global trend towards abolition will go on if democracy continues to spread around the world and abolitionist countries stand by their commitment to press for abolition all over the world.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
Officials’ Estimates of the Incidence of ‘Actual Innocence’ Convictions
By Angie Kiger / Brad Smith / Marvin Zalman / Justice Quarterly, on 1 January 2008
Article
United States
More details See the document
Evidence indicates that the conviction and imprisonment of factually innocent persons occur with some regularity. Most research focuses on causes, but the incidence of wrongful convictions is an important scientific and policy issue, especially as no official body gathers data on miscarriages of justice. Two methods are available for discovering the incidence of wrongful conviction: (1) enumerating specific cases and (2) having criminal justice experts estimate its incidence. Counts or catalogues of wrongful conviction necessarily undercount its incidence and are subject to accuracy challenges. We surveyed Michigan criminal justice officials, replicating a recent Ohio survey, to obtain an expert estimate of the incidence of wrongful conviction. All groups combined estimated that wrongful convictions occurred at a rate of less than 1/2 percent in their own jurisdiction and at a rate of 1-3 percent in the United States. Defense lawyers estimate higher rates of wrongful conviction than judges, who estimate higher rates than police officials and prosecutors. These differences may be explained by professional socialization. An overall wrongful conviction estimate of 1/2 percent extrapolates to about 5,000 wrongful felony convictions and the imprisonment of more than 2,000 innocent persons in the United States every year.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Against the death penalty: international initiatives and implications
By Richard C. Dieter / Sangmin Bae / Seema Kandelia / William A. Schabas / Lilian Chenwi / Peter Hodgkinson / Roger Hood / Lina Gyllensten / Nicola Machean / Jane Marriott / Julian Killingley / Quincy Whitaker / Jon Yorke (ed) / Ashgate Publishing Limited / Rachael Stokes, on 1 January 2008
Book
China
More details See the document
This edited volume brings together leading scholars on the death penalty within international, regional and municipal law. It considers the intrinsic elements of both the promotion and demise of the punishment around the world, and provides analysis which contributes to the evolving abolitionist discourse.The contributors consider the current developments within the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the African Commission and the Commonwealth Caribbean, and engage with the emergence of regional norms promoting collective restriction and renunciation of the punishment. They investigate perspectives and questions for retentionist countries, focusing on the United States, China, Korea and Taiwan, and reveal the iniquities of contemporary capital judicial systems. Emphasis is placed on the issues of transparency of municipal jurisdictions, the jurisprudence on the ‘death row phenomenon’ and the changing nature of public opinion. The volume surveys and critiques the arguments used to scrutinize the death penalty to then offer a detailed analysis of possible replacement sanctions.
- Document type Book
- Countries list China
- Themes list International law,
Document(s)
Myth of the hanging tree: stories of crime and punishment in territorial New Mexico
By Robert J. Torrez / University of New Mexico Press, on 1 January 2008
Book
United States
More details See the document
The haunting specter of hanging trees holds a powerful sway on the American imagination, conjuring images of rough-and-tumble frontier towns struggling to impose law and order in a land where violence was endemic. In this thoughtful study, former New Mexico State Historian Robert Torrez examines several fascinating criminal cases that reveal the harsh and often gruesome realities of the role hangings, legal or otherwise, played in the administration of frontier justice. At first glance, the topic may seem downright morbid, and in a sense it is, but these violent attempts at justice are embedded in our perception of America’s western experience. In tracing territorial New Mexico’s efforts to enforce law, Torrez challenges the myths and popular perceptions about hangings and lynching in this corner of the Wild West.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Hanging,
Document(s)
Stephen Bright v. Death Penalty
By Moblogic TV / YouTube, on 1 January 2008
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Renowned capital defense attorney Stephen Bright discusses the death penalty in light of recent Supreme Court decisions.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
End the Death Penalty, Mike Farrell on Meet the Bloggers
By Meet the Bloggers / YouTube, on 1 January 2008
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Meet the Bloggers talks about the death penalty with two anti death penalty campaigners. The cases of Troy Davis and Montell Johnson are discussed and issues such as discrimination, retribution, the cost of the death penalty, religion and sentencing alternatives are touched upon. Short clips on the Death Penalty in Mexico, Amnesty Internationals campaign and how you can help fight the death penalty are all discussed here.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Mpagi Edward Edmary
By Amnesty International / YouTube, on 1 January 2008
Legal Representation
More details See the document
Mpagi Edward Edmary from Uganda spent over 18 years on death row, accused of killing a man who was later found to be alive.Mr. Mpagi’s family successfully campaigned for his release, providing evidence that the alleged victim was still alive. Sentenced to death for murder in 1982, the Attorney General proved that the man Mr Mpagi was accused of murdering was still alive in 1989. However it was not until 2000 when a nine member presidential committee released Mr Mpagi, deciding he was innocent.Held for many years in the Luzira Upper Prison, Mr. Mpagi taught his fellow inmates to read and write. He became one of the longest serving inmates and a prison elder. Mr. Mpagi is now an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and is a committed religious leader. A graduate from a Catholic Diocese he regularly tours prisons providing inspiration and hope to prisoners.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Deciding Death
By Corinna Barrett Lain / Duke Law Journal, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
When the Supreme Court is deciding death, how much does law matter? Scholars long have lamented the majoritarian nature of the Court’s Eighth Amendment “evolving standards of decency” doctrine, but their criticism misses the mark. Majoritarian doctrine does not drive the Court’s decisions in this area; majoritarian forces elsewhere do. To make my point, I first examine three sets of “evolving standards” death penalty decisions in which the Court implicitly or explicitly reversed itself, attacking the legal justification for the Court’s change of position and offering an extralegal explanation for why those cases came out the way they did. I then use political science models of Supreme Court decisionmaking to explain how broader social and political forces push the Court toward majoritarian death penalty rulings for reasons wholly independent of majoritarian death penalty doctrine. Finally, I bring the analysis full [*pg 2] circle, showing how broader sociopolitical forces even led to the development of the “evolving standards” doctrine. In the realm of death penalty decisionmaking, problematic doctrine is not to blame for majoritarian influences; rather, majoritarian influences are to blame for problematic doctrine. The real obstacle to countermajoritarian decisionmaking is not doctrine, but the inherently majoritarian tendencies of the Supreme Court itself.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Fight for Life on Death Row (Greg Tomson)
By 60 Minutes / CBS News, on 1 January 2008
2008
Legal Representation
More details See the document
This video explores the case of Greg Tomson who killed a 28 year woman. Originally he was seen as competent to stand trial, now his defense who are appealing his case, are trying to show that Tomson was not mentally stable when he committed the crime and also that he does not understand why the state is seeking the death penalty against him.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
No to the Death Penalty, No to Revenge
By YouTube, on 1 January 2008
Working with...
More details See the document
A murder victim’s family member talks out about her opposition to the death penalty.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Report : Third World Congress Against the Death Penalty
By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2008
NGO report
frMore details See the document
Participants in the Third World Congress Against the Death Penaltyin Paris have repeated again and again that the universal abo-lition of the death penalty is underway. The work carried outin Paris 2007 has clearly shown it: an irreversible downwardtrend in the number of death sentences and executions is vis-ible worldwide. Above all an increasing number of nations haveabandoned this useless and cruel practice.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
- Available languages Actes : 3e Congrès mondial contre la peine de mort
Document(s)
The Grass Beneath His Feet: The Charles Victor Thompson Story
By Roger Rodriguez / AuthorHouse, on 1 January 2008
Book
United States
frMore details See the document
Nothing produced a glow in his eyes like the wonders of nature provoking his every curiosity. Everything about nature appealed to his meticulous character and his childhood was invested at Medina Lake, chasing down fireflies, and fishing. There was nothing he liked better than fried perch and eggs for breakfast. So how does such an innocent boy end up on death row in what most agree is the most relentless state for executing murders? The Grass Beneath His Feet recounts the life of Charles Victor Thompson, who after falling in love; found himself in a disturbing chain of events that would change his life forever. This re-telling of his story is extracted directly from the journals of Charles Victor Thompson himself where his childhood, his true love, and his ultimate escape from death row are revealed. For this first time, readers can enjoy the intimate details of the escape that shocked the entire nation. America?s Most Wanted, CNN, The World News all wanted to know the same question: How did this man manage to escape from the most notorious death row system in the country? The Grass Beneath His Feet also introduces Charles to the people, not as a murderer, but as a man fighting to prove that there were many flaws in his legal process that kept him from proving that he does not meet criteria for capital punishment. Prepare to embark on a journey into a life at death row through the eyes of Charles Victor Thompson and run next to him as a child and an escapee as he took in the beauty of nature and the South Texas sun with the grass beneath his feet.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Les pieds nus dans l'herbe: L'histoire de Charles Thompson
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2006 (and the first seven months of 2007)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2007
2007
NGO report
enMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU' IMPORTANTI DEL 2006 (e dei primi sette mesi del 2007)
Document(s)
The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions
By Helen Prejean / Vintage , on 1 January 2005
2005
Book
United States
More details See the document
She tells the story of two inmates she came to know as a spiritual adviser. Dobie Williams, a poor black man with an IQ of 65 from rural Louisiana, was executed after being represented by incompetent counsel and found guilty by an all-white jury based mostly on conjecture and speculation. Joseph O’Dell was convicted of murder after the court heard from an inmate who later admitted to giving false testimony for his own benefit. O’Dell received neither an evidentiary hearing nor potentially exculpatory DNA testing and was executed, insisting on his innocence the whole while. Besides exploring the shaky cases against them, Prejean describes in vivid detail the thoughts and feelings of Williams and O’Dell as their bids for clemency fail and they are put to death. The second part of the book details “the machinery of death,” the legal process that Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, dismayed at the inequities of the death penalty, cited as his reason for resigning and that current justice Antonin Scalia has boasted of being a part of.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
By UK Film Council, on 1 January 2005
Multimedia content
United Kingdom
More details See the document
Motion picture on the life and times of Albert Pierrepoint – Britain’s most prolific hangman.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United Kingdom
- Themes list Public debate, Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2007 (and the first six months of 2008)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2008
2008
NGO report
enMore details See the document
The U.N. Moratorium on Executions : On December 18, 2007, with 104 votes in favour, 54 votes against and 29 abstentions, the United Nations 62nd General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a Resolution that calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to “Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2007 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2008)
Document(s)
The most important facts in 2000
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2000
2000
NGO report
enMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : Sintesi dei fatti più rilevanti del 2000
Document(s)
Predictors of Miscarriages of Justice in Capital Cases
By Talia Roitberg Harmon / Justice Quarterly, on 1 January 2001
2001
Article
United States
More details See the document
Prior research on wrongful convictions in capital cases focused primarily on qualitative methods designed to provide in-depth descriptive analyses of these cases. In contrast, this study is a quantitative comparison between 76 documented cases from 1970 to 1998, in which prisoners were released from death row because of “doubts about their guilt,” and a matched group of inmates who were executed. Through the use of a logistic regression model, significant predictors of cases that result in a release from death row as opposed to an execution, are identified. The final section of this study focuses on policy implications that may decrease the risk of error in capital cases. Additional lines of research are suggested in an effort to increase understanding of miscarriages of justice in such cases.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Racial Disparity and Death Sentences in Ohio
By Marian R. Williams / Jefferson E. Holocomb / Journal of Criminal Justice, on 1 January 2001
Article
United States
More details See the document
The use of the death penalty has resulted in a number of studies attempting to determine if its application is consistent with the guidelines established by the United States Supreme Court. In particular, many studies have assessed whether there are racial disparities in the imposition of death sentences. This study examined the imposition of death sentences in Ohio, a state largely ignored by previous research and that, until 1999, had not executed an inmate since 1963. Drawing from previous studies that have examined the issue in other states, this study assessed the likelihood that a particular homicide would result in a death sentence, controlling for race of defendant and victim and other relevant factors. Results indicated both legal and extralegal factors (including race of victim) were significant predictors of a death sentence, supporting many previous studies that concluded that race plays a role in the imposition of the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
When the State Kills: Capital Punishment and the American Condition
By Austin Sarat / Princeton University Press, on 1 January 2001
Book
United States
More details See the document
Is capital punishment just? Does it deter people from murder? What is the risk that we will execute innocent people? These are the usual questions at the heart of the increasingly heated debate about capital punishment in America. In this bold and impassioned book, Austin Sarat seeks to change the terms of that debate. Capital punishment must be stopped, Sarat argues, because it undermines our democratic society.Sarat unflinchingly exposes us to the realities of state killing. He examines its foundations in ideas about revenge and retribution. He takes us inside the courtroom of a capital trial, interviews jurors and lawyers who make decisions about life and death, and assesses the arguments swirling around Timothy McVeigh and his trial for the bombing in Oklahoma City. Aided by a series of unsettling color photographs, he traces Americans’ evolving quest for new methods of execution, and explores the place of capital punishment in popular culture by examining such films as Dead Man Walking, The Last Dance, and The Green Mile.Sarat argues that state executions, once used by monarchs as symbolic displays of power, gained acceptance among Americans as a sign of the people’s sovereignty. Yet today when the state kills, it does so in a bureaucratic procedure hidden from view and for which no one in particular takes responsibility. He uncovers the forces that sustain America’s killing culture, including overheated political rhetoric, racial prejudice, and the desire for a world without moral ambiguity. Capital punishment, Sarat shows, ultimately leaves Americans more divided, hostile, indifferent to life’s complexities, and much further from solving the nation’s ills. In short, it leaves us with an impoverished democracy.The book’s powerful and sobering conclusions point to a new abolitionist politics, in which capital punishment should be banned not only on ethical grounds but also for what it does to Americans and what we cherish.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Capital Punishment at the United Nations: Recent Developments
By Ilias Bantekas / Peter Hodgkinson / Criminal Law Forum, on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
More details See the document
The article discusses the difficulties and controversies surrounding the 1999 Draft Resolution on the Death Penalty to the United Nations General Assembly.
- Document type Article
- 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)
Death by hanging
By Nagisa Oshima, on 1 January 1968
1968
Multimedia content
Japan
More details See the document
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Japan
- Themes list Hanging, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Reflections on the guillotine: An essay on capital punishment
By Albert Camus, on 1 January 1957
1957
Book
enfrzh-hantMore details See the document
- Document type Book
- Themes list Beheading, Death Penalty,
- Available languages Italian : Riflessioni sulla pena di morteRéflexions sur la guillotine思索斷頭台
Document(s)
Of Crimes and Punishment
By Cesare Beccaria-Bonesana / Philip H. Nicklin, on 1 January 1764
1764
Book
enenfrzh-hantesMore details See the document
This is a highly thought-provoking work where Beccaria-Bonesana has explained his ideas against the use of torture and capital punishments. He has produced a humanitarian spirit in the dispensation of laws. This work is important as the views expressed here, were not regarded either in his times or now.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages German : Über Verbrechen und StrafenItalian : Dei delitti e delle pene-Consulte criminaliDes délits et des peines论犯罪与刑罚De Los Delitos Y De Las Penas
Document(s)
America Without the Death Penalty: States Leading the Way
By John F. Galliher / Larry W. Koch / Northeastern / Teresa J. Guess, on 1 January 2002
2002
Book
United States
More details See the document
Twelve states and the District of Columbia do not impose the death penalty. The authors, all sociology professors at American universities, use the case-study method to examine why this is so. The factors they consider include murder rates, the history of executions, economic circumstances, public opinion, mass media, population diversity, and each state’s abolition of the death penalty. They also examine the role of a state’s social, cultural, and economic leaders in public debate on capital punishment. The states studied are Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, and West Virginia, though there is also some discussion of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Media reports and government documents were reviewed and legislators, civil servants, journalists, death-penalty activists, and others interviewed. Throughout, the authors express an abolitionist point of view, stating “We hope this book will provide practical information to those interested in furthering death penalty abolition in the United States and throughout the world.”
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Premeditated: meditations on capital punishment
By Malaquias Montoya / University of Notre Dame, on 1 January 2004
2004
Working with...
More details See the document
Meditations on Capital Punishment, Recent Works by Malaquias Montoya features recently created silkscreen images and paintings, and related research dealing with the death penalty and penal institutions.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2003
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2004
NGO report
enMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIU´ IMPORTANTI DEL 2003 (e dei primi mesi del 2004)
Document(s)
White Female Victims and Death Penalty Disparity Research
By Stephen Demuth / Marian R. Williams / Jefferson E. Holocomb / Justice Quarterly, on 1 January 2004
Article
United States
More details See the document
Empirical studies of the death penalty continue to find that the race and gender of homicide victims are associated with the severity of legal responses in homicide cases even after controlling for legally relevant factors. A limitation of this research, however, is that victim race and gender are examined as distinct and independent factors in statistical models. In this study, we explore whether the independent examination of victim race and gender masks important differences in legal responses to homicides. In particular, we empirically test the hypothesis that defendants convicted of killing white females are significantly more likely to receive death sentences than killers of victims with other race-gender characteristics. Findings indicate that homicides with white female victims were more likely to result in death sentences than other victim race-gender dyads. We posit that this response may be unique and result in differential sentencing outcomes.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Discrimination,
Document(s)
Religion and the Death Penalty: A Call for Reckoning
By John D. Carlson / Erik C. Owens / Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company / Eric P. Elshtain / J. Budziszewski / E. J. Dionne / Avery Cardinal Dulles / Stanley Hauerwas / Frank Keating / Gilbert Meilaender / David Novak, on 1 January 2004
Book
More details See the document
This important book is sure to foster informed public discussion about the death penalty by deepening readers’ understanding of how religious beliefs and perspectives shape this contentious issue. Featuring a fair, balanced appraisal of its topic, Religion and the Death Penalty brings thoughtful religious reflection to bear on current challenges facing the capital justice system.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Religion ,
Document(s)
Determinants of the Death Penalty: A Comparative Study of the World
By Carsten Anckar / Routledge, on 1 January 2004
Book
More details See the document
Determinants of the Death Penalty seeks to explain the phenomenon of capital punishment – without recourse to value judgements – by identifying those characteristics common to countries that use the death penalty and those that mark countries which do not. This global study uses statistical analysis to relate the popularity of the death penalty to physical, cultural, social, economical, institutional, actor oriented and historical factors. Separate studies are conducted for democracies and non-democracies and within four regional contexts. The book also contains an in-depth investigation into determinants of the death penalty in the USA.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Debating the death penalty: should America have capital punishment? : the experts on both sides make their case
By Hugo Adam Bedau / Stephen B. Bright / Joshua K. Marquis / Bryan Stevenson / Louis P. Pojman / Alex Kozinski / Paul G. Cassell / Oxford University Press / George Ryan, on 1 January 2004
Book
United States
More details See the document
This book contains contributions from judges, attorneys, and academicians on both sides of the death penalty question. The grounds advanced for justification of capital punishment–including deterrence, retribution, and closure for victims’ families–are considered. Whether life imprisonment is adequate to address these concerns is also debated. Other issues include whether racial minorities or indigent defendants are disproportionately executed, whether the penalty is otherwise arbitrarily applied, and what risks exist regarding the execution of an innocent person.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition
By William A. Schabas / Peter Hodgkinson / Cambridge University Press, on 1 January 2004
Book
Georgia
More details See the document
The editors of this study isolate the core issues influencing legislation so that they can be incorporated into strategies that advise governments in changing their policy on capital punishment. What are the critical factors determining whether a country replaces, retains or restores the death penalty? Why do some countries maintain the death penalty in theory, but in reality rarely invoke it? These questions and others are explored in chapters on South Korea, Lithuania, Georgia, Japan and the British Caribbean Commonwealth, as well as the U.S.
- Document type Book
- Countries list Georgia
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Killing as Punishment: Reflections on the Death Penalty in America
By Hugo Adam Bedau / Northeastern, on 1 January 2004
Book
United States
More details See the document
Drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of the field, Bedau addresses topics such as strong public suppport for the death penalty, wrongful convictions, the disappearance of executive clemency, constitutional arguments surronding the Eight Amendment, and procedural reforms under consideration that move toward abolition.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Resource Guide for Managing Capital Cases
By Molly Treadway Johnson / Federal Judicial Center / Laural L. Hooper, on 1 January 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 Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law
By William A. Schabas / Cambridge University Press, on 1 January 2002
2002
Book
More details See the document
This extensively revised third edition covers developments since publication of the second edition in 1997. It includes consideration of the UN human rights system, international humanitarian law, European human rights law and Inter-American human rights law. New chapters address capital punishment in African human rights law and international criminal law. An extensive list of appendices contains many of the essential documents for the study of capital punishment in international law.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
SUMMARY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2002
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2003
2003
NGO report
enMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIU´ IMPORTANTI DEL 2002
Document(s)
Chinese Executions: Visualising their Differences with European Supplices
By Bourgon J / European Journal of East Asian Studies, on 1 January 2003
Article
China
More details See the document
European executions obeyed a complex model that the author proposes to call ‘the supplice pattern’. The term supplice designates tortures and tormented executions, but it also includes their cultural background. The European way of executing used religious deeds, aesthetic devices and performing arts techniques which themselves called for artistic representations through paintings, theatre, etc. Moreover, Christian civilisation was unique in the belief that the spectacle of a painful execution had a redemptive effect on the criminals and the attendants as well. Chinese executions obeyed an entirely different conception. They were designed to show that punishment fitted the crime as provided in the penal code. All details were aimed to highlight and inculcate the meaning of the law, while signs of emotions, deeds, words, that could have interfered with the lesson in law were prohibited. In China, capital executions were not organized as a show nor subject to aesthetic representations, and they had no redemptive function. This matter-of-fact way of executing people caused Westerners deep uneasiness. The absence of religious background and staging devices was interpreted as a sign of barbarity and cruelty. What was stigmatised was not so much the facts that their failure to conform to the ‘supplice pattern’ that constituted for any Westerner the due process of capital executions.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND ELITE POLITICS: DISSENSUS AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN AMERICA
By Judith Randle / Studies in Law, Politics and Society, on 1 January 2003
Article
United States
More details See the document
Drawing from televised debates over capital punishment on CNN’s Crossfire from February 2000 to June 2002, I argue that Teles’s (1998) theory of “dissensus politics” is useful in understanding the U.S.’s preservation of capital punishment as well as current divisions in death penalty sentiment within the U.S. I pose the retention of capital punishment as the product of rival elites who are unwilling to forsake capital punishment’s moral character (and often the political benefits it offers), and who consequently ignore an American public that appears to have reached a measured consensus of doubt about the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty: An American History
By Stuart Banner / Harvard University Press, on 1 January 2003
Book
United States
More details See the document
Law professor Stuart Banner tells the story of how, over four centuries, dramatic changes have taken place in the ways capital punishment has been administered and experienced. Banner moves beyond the debates, to give us an unprecedented understanding of capital punishment’s many meanings. As nearly four thousand inmates are now on death row, and almost one hundred are currently being executed each year, the furious debate is unlikely to diminish. The Death Penalty is invaluable in understanding the American way of the ultimate punishment.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
NGO Media Outreach: Using the Media as an Advocacy Tool
By Coalition for the International Criminal Court, on 1 January 2003
Working with...
More details See the document
A guide for NGOs to use media effectively. This guide explains the importance of media, how to create contacts, how to prepare a media outreach campaign, how to deliver a campaign to the media and how to use available resources to support your media campaign.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2001
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2002
2002
NGO report
enMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2001
Document(s)
Europe as an International Actor: Friends Do Not Let Friends Execute: The Council of Europe and the International Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty
By Sangmin Bae / International Politics, on 1 January 2008
2008
Article
Ukraine
More details See the document
This article investigates the way in which the Council of Europe enforced the norm against capital punishment in Europe. The Council of Europe, through both moral persuasion and centripetal pressure, compelled its member states to adopt the regionally promoted human rights standard. Ukraine, where the very last execution in Europe took place, accepted the norm after a number of years of resistance and in the face of public opposition to abolition. It was possible because of the adamant role of the Council of Europe in attempting to build a death penalty-free zone in Europe and Ukraine’s strategic will to be integrated within the European regional community.
- Document type Article
- Countries list Ukraine
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
Executed Taiwan airman Chiang Kuo-ching innocent
By Cindy Sui / BBC, on 1 January 2011
2011
Legal Representation
More details See the document
A Taiwanese air force private executed 14 years ago for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl was innocent after all, a military court has ruled.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger on the campaign against the Death Penalty
By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2011
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This podcast is interview with the Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger. She talksabout murder victims’ families, deterrence, a moratorium on executions and the trend towards abolition.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Give up Tomorrow
By Michael Collins / Thoughtful Robot Production, on 1 January 2011
Legal Representation
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Reflecting schisms of race, class, and political power at the core of the Philippines’ tumultuous democracy, clashing families, institutions, and individuals face off to convict or free Paco, accused of the rape and murder of two chinese-philipino women.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Military court exonerates Chiang Kuo-ching
By Rich Chang / Taipei Times, on 1 January 2011
Legal Representation
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A military court yesterday acquitted Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), who was executed for the rape and murder of a girl 15 years ago, in a posthumous trial.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Death penalty ‘traumatises jail warders’
By Daily Nation, on 1 January 2011
Arguments against the death penalty
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The men who lead death row inmates to the gallows are traumatised on surrendering a prisoner to the hangman. This was told at a meeting of judges, commissioners of prisons and legal practitioners from East Africa on the death penalty in Nairobi.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Retribution, Death Row Conditions, Sentencing Alternatives,
Document(s)
Living with murder, the video documentary: Meet those touched by Detroit homicide
By Suzette Hackney / Kathy Kieliszewski / Romain Blanquart / Detroit Free Press, on 1 January 2011
Legal Representation
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More than 3,300 people have been murdered in the City of Detroit since 2003. In this Detroit Free Press documentary, meet some of the families who have lost loved ones to homicide, are searching for justice and trying to come to terms with their losses.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list FRONTPAGE
Document(s)
Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong
By Brandon L. Garrett / Harvard University Press, on 1 January 2011
Book
United States
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Very few crimes committed in the United States involve biological evidence that can be tested using DNA. Convicting the Innocent makes a powerful case for systemic reforms to improve the accuracy of all criminal cases.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance
By Wilbert Rideau / Knopf, on 1 January 2011
Book
United States
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A death row inmate finds redemption as a prison journalist in this uplifting memoir. In 1961, after a bungled bank robbery, Rideau was convicted of murder at the age of 19 and received a death sentence that was later commuted to life in prison.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
Make Me Believe
By Dax-Devlon Ross / Outside the Box Publishing, on 1 January 2011
Book
United States
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A Crime Novel Based on Real Events, follows the discoveries and dangerous encounters of a fictional author investigating the case of Toronto Patterson, the last juvenile defendant executed in Texas.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Juveniles,
Document(s)
Randall Adams, 61, Dies; Freed With Help of Film
By Douglas Martin / New York Times, on 1 January 2011
Legal Representation
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Randall Dale Adams, who spent 12 years in prison before his conviction in the murder of a Dallas police officer was thrown out largely on the basis of evidence uncovered by a filmmaker, died in obscurity in October in Washington Court House, Ohio. He was 61.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Dead Reckoning: Executions in America
By Greg Mitchell / Sinclair Books , on 1 January 2011
Book
United States
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The fast-paced new book, “Dead Reckoning,” offers a critical overview of capital punishment in America, along with a vivid discussion of current issues central in today’s debate, based on many interviews. Along the way, Mitchell turns to a wide cast of notable abolitionists, from Charles Dickens and Mark Twain to Albert Camus and Christopher Hitchensو and Steve Earle.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
The Last Word: Rewriting the American death penalty
By Lawrence O’Donnell / MSNBC, on 1 January 2011
Campaigning
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Sept. 22: The execution of Troy Davis drew an unprecedented amount of media attention. But where was the outrage over Derrick Mason who was put to death in Alabama today? MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has more in the Rewrite.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Fair Trial, Innocence, Arbitrariness,
Document(s)
Incendiary: the Willingham case
By Steve Mims / Joe Bailey Jr. / Yokel, on 1 January 2011
Legal Representation
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This film, by Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr., is just what its title implies: a match being lit to a tinderpile of flimsy evidence that led to the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas in 2004 after his 1992 conviction for setting the fire that killed his three babies.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Injustice: Life and Death in the Courtrooms of America
By Clive Stafford Smith / Harvill Secker, on 1 January 2012
2012
Book
United States
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A new book by Clive Stafford Smith, a British lawyer who has defended death row inmates in the U.S., offers an in-depth view of capital punishment in America. In Injustice: Life and Death in the Courtrooms of America, Stafford Smith examines the case of Kris Maharaj, a British citizen who was sentenced to death in Florida for a double murder, to expose problems in the justice system.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Innocence,
Document(s)
Cruel and Unusual: The American Death Penalty and the Founders’ Eighth Amendment
By John D. Bessler / Northeastern, on 1 January 2012
Book
United States
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While shedding important new light on the U.S. Constitution’s “cruel and unusual punishments” clause, Bessler explores the influence of Cesare Beccaria’s essay, on Crimes and Punishments, on the Founders’ views, and the transformative properties of the Fourteenth Amendment, which made the Bill of Rights applicable to the states.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
Beyond the Death Penalty: Reflections on Punishment (Maastricht Series in Human Rights)
By Jacques Claessen / Hans Nelen / Intersentia , on 1 January 2012
Book
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This book contains a selection of papers that were presented during the multidisciplinary conference “Beyond the Death Penalty: Reflections on Punishment,” organized by the Maastricht Center for Human Rights. The aim of the conference was to reflect on punishment from a variety of angles and to give some food for thought to the contemporary debate on crime and punishment. After a first cluster of chapters with a strong focus on capital punishment, an intriguing mixture of topics in relation to punishment is presented, including chapters on the populist context of contemporary crime control, reconciliation and rehabilitation, prison life, and efficiency and effectiveness.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,
Document(s)
Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong
By Raymond Bonner / Stated First Edition, on 1 January 2012
Book
United States
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The book that helped free an innocent man who had spent twenty-seven years on death row. In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, mentally retarded black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim’s body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
Death Watch Diary
By Robert Towery / Amazon Digital Services, on 1 January 2012
Book
United States
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Robert Towery was denied clemency by the state of Arizona on Friday March 2, 2012 and was executed on Thursday March 8th in Florence, Arizona. He was 47 years old. The last 35 days of his life, Robert was placed on “Death Watch” where his every move was recorded and chronicled by prison officials. Robert kept a diary and he sent his writings to his attorneys. Robert authorized his lawyers to release his diary after his execution.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
The Second Execution of Romell Broom
By Michael Verhoeven / Michael Verhoeven, on 1 January 2012
Multimedia content
United States
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On September 15, 2009, the State of Ohio tried to execute Romell Broom and failed. Ohio claims it has a right to try again. This film explores the legal and moral questions surrounding this unique case.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Lethal Injection,
Document(s)
In This Timeless Time: Living and Dying on Death Row in America
By Univerity if North Carolina / Diane Christian, on 1 January 2012
Book
United States
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In this comprehensive, well-crafted book, published in association with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, SUNY-Buffalo professors Jackson and Christian build upon the photographs and interviews from death row in Texas that yielded their 1979 book and documentary Death Row
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Phenomenon,
Document(s)
Deterrence and the Death Penalty
By The National Academies Press / John V. Pepper, on 1 January 2012
Book
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Many studies during the past few decades have sought to determine whether the death penalty has any deterrent effect on homicide rates. Researchers have reached widely varying, even contradictory, conclusions. Some studies have concluded that the threat of capital punishment deters murders, saving large numbers of lives; other studies have concluded that executions actually increase homicides; still others, that executions have no effect on murder rates. Commentary among researchers, advocates, and policymakers on the scientific validity of the findings has sometimes been acrimonious.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Deterrence ,
Document(s)
ENHANCING EU ACTION ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN ASIA
By Roger Hood / European Parliament / DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION, on 1 January 2012
Article
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This paper has three objectives. First, it provides an analysis of the state-of-play regarding the death penalty in Asia. Second it reports on EU human rights dialogues. Third, it suggests policies that might help to support initiatives in Asian countries aimed both at restraining the use of the death penalty and securing its complete abolition.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,