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Document(s)
Justice Advocates Project
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2012
2012
Multimedia content
More details See the document
The Death Penalty Focus Justice Advocates Project empowers people with firsthand experience of the death penalty system to become advocates for fairness and justice by telling their personal stories to the public. Justice Advocates include the wrongfully convicted and law enforcement professionals, who bring their varied experiences of the flaws and dangers of the death penalty system to the public discourse
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
DNA and the Death Penalty
By Brandon Garrett / Joshua Marquis / CATO Unbound / Jeffrey Kirchmeier / George H. Smith, on 1 January 2012
Article
United States
More details See the document
Essays on the theme of the issue of the DNA and the Death Penalty
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Training Resource: Advocacy Tools in the Fight Against the Death Penalty and Alternative Sanctions that Respect International Human Rights Standards
on 1 January 2011
2011
NGO report
More details See the document
The aim of this resource is to build and strengthen civil society organisation’s (CSOs) knowledge and awareness of advocacy and what advocacy methods are available for the fight against the death penalty and for alternative sanctions that respect international human rights standards. This resource covers issues related to using the media to influence, and how to build coalitions to strengthen your advocacy work.
- Document type NGO report
Document(s)
Training Resource: Reporting on the Death Penalty
on 1 January 2011
NGO report
More details See the document
This resource targets journalists. The aim of this resource is to build and strengthen the knowledge and raise awareness of how to report on the death penalty and alternative sanctions. This training resource has been developed in conjunction with PRI’s partner, Inter Press Service (IPS).
- Document type NGO report
Document(s)
Behind Bars
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2012
2012
Multimedia content
More details See the document
This 2012 documentary film ‘Behind Bars’ was produced under the EU funded project ‘Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty and Alternatives that Respect International Human Rights Standards’.The film reflects the application of life sentence, conditions of lifers and long sentenced prisoners and the State’s attitude towards these offenders in the countries of the South Caucasus.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty Failed Experiment: From Gary Graham to Troy Davis in Context
By Diann Rust-Tierney / McKinney & Associates, on 1 January 2012
Book
United States
More details See the document
A new book published in electronic format, The Death Penalty Failed Experiment: From Gary Graham to Troy Davis in Context by Diann Rust-Tierney, examines the problem of arbitrariness in the death penalty since its reinstatement in 1976. Through an analysis of the cases of Gary Graham and Troy Davis, the author argues that race, wealth and geography play a more significant role in determining who faces capital punishment than the facts of the crime itself.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Arbitrariness,
Document(s)
Death Penalty: Trials and Tribulations
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2012
Multimedia content
Uganda
More details See the document
In Uganda, 28 crimes can attract the death penalty – including robbery, smuggling, acts of treason and terrorism, and non-lethal military sentences, and death sentences continue to be handed out after judicial proceedings which fail to meet international standards for a fair trial. This film produced by PRI’s Ugandan partner the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative provides a moving insight into the situation of prisoners on death row and others serving life sentences in the country.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Uganda
- Themes list Most Serious Crimes, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Freedom Inside The Walls
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2005
2005
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Shot in Benin, Kenya and Malawi ‘Freedom Inside These Walls’ provides disturbing footage of prison conditions inside these countries, which are common to many other prisons in Africa. It highlights the challenges in accessing justice faced by poor people in conflict with the law.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Death Row Conditions, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
No to the Death Penalty
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2008
2008
Multimedia content
Kazakhstan
More details See the document
This film is based on the death penalty in Kazakhstan. The death penalty was formerly a common charge for the most obscene crimes, and was at its greatest prominence in 1995, when 101 males on charges of death sentences were executed by the firing squad.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Kazakhstan
- Themes list Most Serious Crimes, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Final Request
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2012
2012
Multimedia content
More details See the document
This 2012 animation “The Final Request” was produced under the EU funded project ‘Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty and Alternatives that Respect International Human Rights Standards’. The three-minute animation provides a basic overview of the application of the death penalty in the Middle East and North African region.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,
Document(s)
Death penalty abolition, Death penalty as inhuman and degrading treatment
By European Court of Human Rights, on 1 January 2012
International law - Regional body
More details See the document
Factsheet regarding cases concerning the Death Penalty
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list International law,
Document(s)
Moving Away From the Death Penalty: National Experiences
By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , on 1 January 2012
International law - United Nations
More details See the document
Why do states retain the death penalty? Any suggestions that the death penalty has a meaningful deterrent effect have been overstated, with little research supporting such an assertion. The OHCHR is organising a series of global panel discussions on the abolition of the death penalty. This publication is based on the first of these discussions, held at the United Nations in New York on 3 July 2012.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,
Document(s)
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
By United Nations, on 1 January 2012
International law - United Nations
rufrzh-hantesarMore details See the document
In States in which the death penalty continues to be used, international law imposes stringent requirements that must be met for it not to be regarded as unlawful. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur considers the problem of error and the use of military tribunals in the context of fair trial requirements. He also examines the constraint that the death penalty may be imposed only for the most serious crimes: those involving intentional killing. Lastly, he considers the issues of collaboration and complicity, in addition to transparency in respect of the use of the death penalty.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Fair Trial, Most Serious Crimes, Statistics,
- Available languages Записка Генерального секретаряExécutions extrajudiciaires, sommaires ou arbitraires法外处决、即决处决或任意处决Exécutions extrajudiciaires, sommaires ou arbitrairesالإعدام خارج القضاء أو بإجراءات موجزة أو تعسفا
Document(s)
Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
By United Nations, on 1 January 2012
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
In the present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 66/150, the Special Rapporteur addresses issues of special concern and recent developments in the context of his mandate.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list International law, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,
- Available languages التقرير المؤقت للمقرر الخاص المعني بالتعذيب وغيره من ضروب المعاملة أو العقوبة القاسية أو اللاإنسانية أو المهينةПромежуточный доклад Специального докладчика по вопросу о пытках и других жестоких, бесчеловечных или унижающих достоинство видах обращения и наказанияRapport intérimaire du Rapporteur spécial sur la torture et autres peines ou traitements cruels, inhumains ou dégradants酷刑和其他残忍、不人道或有辱人格的待遇或处罚问题特别 报告员的临时报告Informe provisional del Relator Especial sobre la tortura y otros tratos o penas crueles, inhumanos o degradantes
Document(s)
2012 Report – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations, on 3 August 2012
2012
United Nations report
Moratorium
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to its resolution 65/206. It discusses the trend towards abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of a moratorium on execution. The report also reflects on the application of international standards relating to the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. It further discusses the importance of making available relevant information with regard to the use of the death penalty, which can contribute to transparent national debates and international and regional initiatives for the promotion of the universal abolition of the death penalty.
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list Moratorium
- Available languages تقرير 2012 - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامInforme 2012 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRapport 2012 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mortДоклад 2012 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни2012报告 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance
By United Nations, on 1 January 2012
2012
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, provides an overview of his mandate activities since the submission of the previous report to the General Assembly (A/66/156), including his country visits, communications and other activities.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Moratorium ,
- Available languages القضاء على جميع أشكال التعصّب الدينيЛиквидация всех форм религиозной нетерпимостиÉlimination de toutes les formes d’intolérance religieuse消除一切形式宗教不容忍Eliminación de todas las formas de intolerancia religiosa
Document(s)
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2012 Tipping the Scales for Abolition
By Patrick Gallahue / Fifa Rahman / Ricky Gunawan / Harm Reduction International / Karim El Mufti / Najam U Din / Rita Felten, on 1 January 2012
International law - United Nations
More details See the document
There are many routes towards abolition of the death penalty. The courtroom is just one of them, as is the reduction of the number of offences for which the death penalty may be applied. However, considering how clearly international human rights bodies have set out the international norms against these laws, governments should now be forced to defend these international standards against the use of the death penalty.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Drug Offences,
Document(s)
Report on roundtable on the abolition of the death penalty, Madrid October 2012
By International Commission Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2013
2013
NGO report
More details See the document
The purpose of the Round Table was to review developments on the death penalty and to identify legal and political challenges and opportunities for the coming five years. The meeting covered country, regional and thematic questions.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
The Inferno: A Southern Morality Tale
By Joseph Ingle / Westview Publishing, on 1 January 2012
2012
Book
United States
More details See the document
chronicles the compelling story of Philip Workman, who was executed in Tennessee in 2007. The author, a minister of the United Church of Christ who has spent decades working with those on death row, served as Mr. Workman’s pastor and tells the story from his own viewpoint, as well as those of others familiar with the case.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure
By Jody Lyneé Madeira / New York University (NYU), on 1 January 2012
Book
More details See the document
Professor Jody Lynee’ Madeira of the Indiana University School of Law follows the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing to explore whether the families of murder victims obtain closure from an execution. In Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure, Prof. Madeira recounts her wide range of interviews with those who experienced this tragedy first-hand.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
Document(s)
Facing their last moments with a smile: The Chinese women about to be executed for drug smuggling
By Rick Dewsbury / Mail Online, on 1 January 2011
2011
Campaigning
More details See the document
The moving images could show any group of young women as they go about their daily lives in prison. But just hours – and in some cases minutes – after the pictures were taken, each of the four women were led into a concrete yard and executed.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
A-53: SIGNATORIES AND RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOL TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY
By Organization of American States / Department of International Law, on 1 January 2011
Regional body report
esMore details See the document
Estado de Firmas y Ratificaciones del protocolo a la convention americana sobre derechos humanos relativo a la abolicion de la pena de muerte
- Document type Regional body report
- Themes list International law,
- Available languages A-53: ESTADO DE FIRMAS Y RATIFICACIONES, PROTOCOLO A LA CONVENCION AMERICANA SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS RELATIVO A LA ABOLICION DE LA PENA DE MUERTE
Document(s)
The Kentucky Death Penalty Assessment Report: Evaluating fairness and accuracy in state death panlty systems. An Analysis of Kentucky’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices
By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2011
NGO report
More details See the document
This report examines how state death penalty systems are functioning in design and practice and are intended to serve as the bases from which states can launch comprehensive self-examinations, impose reforms, or in some cases, impose moratoria.
- Document type NGO report
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)
Victims, We Care
By Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights / YouTube, on 1 January 2011
2011
Working with...
More details See the document
Victims, We Care
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
Document(s)
Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme A Handbook for Civil Society
By United Nations / Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on 1 January 2008
2008
United Nations report
enrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
Speaking to all civil society actors, including but not only non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Handbook explains how civil society can engage with various United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms.
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages كار با برنامه حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد کتابی برای راهنمایی جامعه مدنيКак работать по Программе ООН в области прав человека Справочник для гражданского обществаTravailler avec le programme des Nations Unies pour les droits de l’homme: un manuel pour la société civile参与联合国人权事务 民间社会手册Trabajando con el Programa de las Naciones Unidas en el ámbito de los Derechos Humanos Un manual para la sociedad civil
Document(s)
كار با برنامه حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد کتابی برای راهنمایی جامعه مدني
By United Nations / Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on 1 January 2008
Arguments against the death penalty
enrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
اين كتاب راهنما خطاب به همه فعالان جامعه مدني، ازجمله سازمان هاي غيردولتي، اما نه فقط آنها، توضيح مي دهد چگونه جامعه مدني مي تواند با نهادها وسازوكارهاي گوناگون حقوق بشرسازمان ملل همكاري كند
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme A Handbook for Civil SocietyКак работать по Программе ООН в области прав человека Справочник для гражданского обществаTravailler avec le programme des Nations Unies pour les droits de l’homme: un manuel pour la société civile参与联合国人权事务 民间社会手册Trabajando con el Programa de las Naciones Unidas en el ámbito de los Derechos Humanos Un manual para la sociedad civil
Document(s)
Abolition of the Death Penalty: China in World Perspective
By Roger Hood / City University of Hong Kong Law Review 1-21, on 1 January 2009
2009
Academic report
More details See the document
This article outlines changes that the author has observed in the debate on the death penalty.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition
By Organization of American States / Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on 1 January 2012
2012
International law - Regional body
esMore details See the document
The report takes into account the standards developed within the Inter-American human rights system to restrict the application of the death penalty over the last 15 year.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Mandatory Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages La pena de muerte en el sistema interamericano de derechos humanos: de restricciones a abolición
Document(s)
Evaluating fairness and accuracy in state death penalty systems: The Missouri Death Penalty Assessment Report
By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2012
NGO report
More details See the document
This study reflect on the aspects of fairness and accuracy as foundation of the American criminal justice system. As the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized, these goals are particularly important in cases in which the death penalty is sought. A system cannot claim to provide due process or protect the innocent unless it offers a fair and accurate system for every person who faces the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Due Process , Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Human rights, capital punishment and the Commonwealth: still behind the curve
By William A. Schabas / Institute of Commonwealth Studies / Commonwealth Advisory Bureau, on 1 January 2012
Article
More details See the document
In this Opinion, Professor Schabas argues that the Commonwealth is behind the curve of the international trend towards the abolition of the death penalty. He analyses the status and use of capital punishment in Commonwealth countries, as compared to all UN member states more broadly.
- Document type Article
- Themes list International law,
Document(s)
Study on the question of the death penalty in Africa
By African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights / Working Group on the Death Penalty in Africa, on 1 January 2011
2011
Book
frMore details See the document
The document broadly looks at the historical, human rights law, and practical aspects of the death penalty. It takes a comprehensive approach to the question of the death penalty, bearing in mind the need to provide the African Commission with sufficient information that will enable it to take an informed position on the matter.
- Document type Book
- Themes list International law, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Etude sur la question de la peine de mort en afrique
Document(s)
Cameron Todd Willingham: Wrongfully Convicted and Executed in Texas
By The Innocence Project, on 1 January 2011
Legal Representation
More details See the document
Tool containing all the documents on Cameron Todd’s case.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Innocence, Country/Regional profiles,
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
More details See the document
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)
Paradise Lost: Purgatory
By Bruce Sinofsky / Joe Berlinger / HBO documentaries, on 1 January 2011
2011
Multimedia content
United States
More details See the document
Joe Berlinger’s third film about the West Memphis 3, Paradise Lost: Purgatory
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
One Iranian lawyer’s fight to save juveniles from execution
By Amnesty International / The Guardian, on 8 September 2020
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)
A Life in the Balance: The Billy Wayne Sinclair Story, A Journey from Murder to Redemption Inside America’s Worst Prison System
By Jodie Sinclair / Billy Wayne Sinclair / Arcade Publishing, on 8 September 2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
Life in the Balance: a book on the Billy Wayne Sinclair Story, A Journey from Murder to Redemption Inside America’s Worst Prison System. The New York Times Book Review called it a “numbing tale of crime, punishment, and redemption.”
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Circumstances of Offense: Robert “Saint” Bailey on Death Row
By Chris Dahl / CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, on 8 September 2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
This book is a first-hand account of the life of Simon City Royals gangster Robert “Saint” Bailey who is currently on Death Row in Raiford, Florida. He killed a law enforcement officer in 2005.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Killer Art: Florida’s Death Row Artists
By Chris Dahl / CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, on 8 September 2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
Art and letters from the men who await death in the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Beyond the Death Penalty: Reflections on Punishment (Maastricht Series in Human Rights)
By Jacques Claessen / Hans Nelen / Intersentia , on 1 January 2012
2012
Book
More details See the document
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
More details See the document
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
More details See the document
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
More details See the document
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
More details See the document
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
More details See the document
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)
Die Free: A True Story of Murder, Betrayal and Miscarried Justice
By K. Cantrell / Amazon Digital Services, on 1 January 2012
Book
United States
More details See the document
A new electronic book by former journalist Peter Rooney offers an in-depth look at the case of Joseph Burrows, who was exonerated from Illinois’s death row in 1996. In Die Free: A True Story of Murder, Betrayal and Miscarried Justice, Rooney explains how Burrows was sentenced to death for the murder of William Dulin based on snitch testimony.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Tools and Tips for Effective e-Activism
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009
2009
Working with...
fresMore details See the document
This booklet provides hints and tips for effective e-activism. It includes chapters about the use of petitions, widgets, email use, letters, social networking sites, blogs, photos and videos as well as becoming an online volunteer.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Outils et Astuces pour un Cybermilitantisme EfficaceHerramientas y Sugerencias pars un Ciberactivismo Eficaz
Document(s)
Writing Wrongs: How to Shift Public Opinion on the Death Penalty with Letters to the Editor
By Nancy Oliviera, on 1 January 2009
Working with...
More details See the document
This booklet explains why it is important to write letters to the editor as a platform for distributing information to the public. It provides a guide to good letter writing.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Deterrence
By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020
2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Deterrence ,
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)
Killing as Punishment: Reflections on the Death Penalty in America
By Hugo Adam Bedau / Northeastern, on 1 January 2004
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)
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)
Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America’s Future
By Bruce Shapiro / Rev. Jesse L. Jackson / Anchor , on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
In this collaborative work, the Jacksons, father (former presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow Coalition) and son (a congressional representative) with Salon.com editor Shapiro, pursue a nationwide conversation on the issues surrounding the death penalty one that begins with the proposal of a moratorium and could lead to the eventual cessation of capital punishment. This book describes a bureaucratic nightmare involving defense lawyers asleep at trial, vengeance-hungry politicos and a problematic, imperfect justice system in which the handing out of death sentences is skewed, both racially and economically. An objective examination of this penal system would be beneficial to all, say the authors: since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976, one in every eight prisoners on death row has been found innocent and released. There are undoubtedly cases, the authors argue, where the proof of innocence didn’t see the light of day in time. Navigating the historical precedents of the death penalty and the reasons why federally mandated executions were restored following a 10-year moratorium imposed in 1967, the authors thoroughly detail legitimate questions regarding what they view as erroneous deterrence theories, scriptural misrepresentation and simple vengeance.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
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)
Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa: A Human Rights Perspective
By Lilian Chenwi / Pretoria University Law Press, on 1 January 2007
2007
Book
More details See the document
In “Towards the abolition of the death penalty in Africa – a human rights perspective”, the author shows that international law increasingly recognises that the imposition and execution of the death penalty constitute violations of human rights. The author locates an emerging international trend towards the abolition of capital punishment in the African context. In doing so, she provides a particular African perspective on the issue. In this rich and informative text, she reflects on the role and impact of relevant UN instruments on African states, and analyses related African regional instruments, domestic law and case-law.
- Document type Book
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
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)
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)
Alternatives to the Death Penalty: The Problems with Life Imprisonment
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2007
2007
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This briefing examines the use of life imprisonment worldwide, including the increasing trend of life imprisonment without the possibility of release, or life without parole (LWOP). Emerging trends indicate an increase in the number of offences carrying the sanction of life imprisonment, a greater prevalence of indeterminate sentencing, a reduction in the use of parole, and the lengthening of prison terms as a whole. The abolition of the death penalty has played a significant role in the increased use of life imprisonment sentences, and LWOP in particular. Conditions of detention and the treatment of prisoners serving life sentences are often far worse than those for the rest of the prison population and more likely to fall below international human rights standards.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,
Document(s)
Alternatives to the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus / Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2008
2008
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence is cheaper to tax-payers and keeps violent offenders off the streets for good. The information is California specific.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,
Document(s)
The High Cost of the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020
2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
A fact sheet on the cost of the death penalty in the United States. Life emprisonment without parole is suggested.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Transparency, Death Penalty, Financial cost,
Document(s)
Racial Disparities
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2009
2009
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that “in 82 percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Discrimination,
Document(s)
America’s Death Penalty: Between Past and Present
By David Garland / Jonathan Simon / Douglas Hay / Michael Meranze / Randall McGowen / New York University (NYU) / Rebecca Mc Lennan, on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
This volume represents an effort to restore the sense of capital punishment as a question caught up in history. Edited by leading scholars of crime and justice, these original essays pursue different strategies for unsettling the usual terms of the debate. In particular, the authors use comparative and historical investigations of both Europe and America in order to cast fresh light on familiar questions about the meaning of capital punishment.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Inadequete Legal Representation
By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Perhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he or she is provided. Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own attorneys. In many cases, the appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid, or lacking the trial experience required for death penalty cases.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
Human Rights and the Death Penalty in the United States
By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 8 September 2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This sheet details what human rights are in relation to the death penalty and the USA. It discusses racism, inadequete legal representation and the unjustifiable cost of the death penalty in the US.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
Document(s)
Racial Bias
By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014
2014
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This webpage provides information on the link between racism and the death penalty in the United States.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Discrimination,
Document(s)
Innocence and the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011
2011
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 139 men and women have been released from death row nationally.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
International Views on the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America – more than 139 nations worldwide – have abandoned capital punishment in law or in practice. This document goes through the death penalty status of countries world wide.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Cut This: The Death Penalty
By ABC7 / YouTube, on 1 January 2010
2010
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
An anti death penalty video which advocates the abolition of the death penalty. The personalities in the video suggest using the money which is currently used on the death penalty for improving the community.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Death Penalty Debate
By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2009
2009
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
During a televised panel discussion on the death penalty on 9th October, Slovenian law professor Dragan Petrovec said victims should play no role in the sentencing of offenders. ”The victim is never objective,” he said. ”Victims can’t be judges.” The discussion, organised by the Council of Europe to mark the European day against the death penalty, also featured Sweden’s Human Rights Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander. Council of Europe’s Head of Department Jeroen Schokkenbroek said the organisation was critical of the United States and Japan over their use of the death penalty . He added that ”dialogue was continuing” with both countries towards ending the practice.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
Document(s)
Execution Facility Tour of North Carolina Death Row
By Scott Langley / YouTube, on 1 January 2010
2010
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This video gives a tour of the death row facilities at North Carolina. It also explores the protocol for execution by lethal injection.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Lethal Injection,
Document(s)
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger on the campaign against the Death Penalty
By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2011
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)
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)
Stop the Death Penalty: Worldwide Abolition Now
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007
Arguments against the death penalty
arfresMore details See the document
This video by Amnesty International talks about how the administration of the death penalty is cruel, often sought after unfair trials and how innocent people have been wrongfully convicted. Voice over by Colin Firth.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Available languages فيديو حول عقوبة الاعدام يسردها الممثل كولن فيرثDiaporama animé sur la peine de mort dans le mondeFotogalería: historias de todo el mundo sobre la pena capital
Document(s)
Oleg Alkaev, former head of Belarus’s death row
By Amnesty International / Daily Motion, on 8 September 2020
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)
Death Penalty Cases: Leading U.S. Supreme Court Cases on Capital Punishment
By David McCord / Barry Latzer / Butterworth-Heinemann, on 1 January 2010
2010
Book
United States
More details See the document
This brand new edition of Death Penalty Cases makes the most manageable comprehensive resource on the death penalty even better. It includes the most recent cases, including Kennedy v. Louisiana, prohibiting the death penalty for child rapists, and Baze v. Rees, upholding execution by lethal injection. In addition, all of the cases are now topically organized into five sections: * The Foundational Cases * Death-Eligibility: Which persons/crimes are fit for the death penalty? * The Death Penalty Trial * Post-conviction Review * Execution Issues The introductory essays on the history, administration, and controversies surrounding capital punishment have been thoroughly revised. The statistical appendix has been brought up-to-date, and the statutory appendix has been restructured. For clarity, accuracy, complete impartiality and comprehensiveness, there simply is no better resource on capital punishment available.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer’s Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty
By Scott Turow / Picador, on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
Turow bases his opinions on his experiences as a prosecutor and, in his post-prosecutorial years, working on behalf of death-row inmates, as well as his two years on Illinois’s Commission on Capital Punishment, charged by the former Gov. George Ryan.Turow presents both sides of the death penalty debate and seems himself to flip sides depending on the argument.Turow’s reflections include: * Thoughts on victims’ rights vs. community rights * Whether execution is a deterrent * The possible execution of an innocent person * If not the death penalty, what to do with the worst offenders
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Stephen Bright v. Death Penalty
By Moblogic TV / YouTube, on 1 January 2008
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)
Determinants of the Death Penalty: A Comparative Study of the World
By Carsten Anckar / Routledge, on 1 January 2004
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)
Litigating in the Shadow of Death
By Lawrence C. Marshall / University of Pittsburgh Law Review, on 1 January 2006
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)
Executing the Mentally Ill: When Is someone Sane Enough to Die?
By Michael Mello / Criminal Justice, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
Mental illness is a phenomenon that knifes across the entire corpus of our criminal justice system. From interrogations and waivers of Miranda rights, to consent to searches and seizures, to plea negotiations and the capacity to stand trial, to calculating sentences and participating in appellate and postconviction proceedings, mental illness warps the machinery of our criminal law and challenges its most cherished assumptions about free will, decisional competence, and culpability. This is so regardless of whether or not life hangs in the balance. But when the stakes are life and death, the structural distortions caused by mental illness become magnified, and the contradictions can rise to constitutional magnitude.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Mental Illness,
Document(s)
Preventing the Execution of the Innocent: Testimony Before the House Judiciary Committee.
By Peter Neufeld / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001
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)
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)
Errors and Ethics: Dilemmas in Death
By Penny J. White / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001
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)
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)
International Law Issues in Death Penalty Defense
By Richard J. Wilson / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003
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)
Congressional Power to Require DNA Testing
By Larry Yackle / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001
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)
Officials’ Estimates of the Incidence of ‘Actual Innocence’ Convictions
By Angie Kiger / Brad Smith / Marvin Zalman / Justice Quarterly, on 1 January 2008
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)
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
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)
America’s Experiment With Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the Ultimate Penal Sanction
By Carol S. Steiker / James R. Acker / Jordan M. Steiker / Richard J. Wilson / Robert Blecker / Stephen B. Bright / Charles S. Lanier / Robert M. Bohm / Carolina Academic Press / Ernest van den Haag / Ruth D. Peterson / William C. Bailey / Jon Sorensen / James Marquart / Victor L., on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
The second edition of America’s Experiment with Capital Punishment is an updated and expanded version of the comprehensive first edition. Chapters, authored by the country’s leading legal and social science scholars, have been revised to include a host of important developments since the 1998 edition. Thus, new evidence and information is presented concerning racial disparities in the administration of the death penalty, wrongful convictions, deterrence, the prediction of future dangerousness, jury decision-making, public opinion about the death penalty, the effects of the capital punishment process on murder victims’ and offenders’ relatives, death row incarceration, the costs of capital punishment, execution methods, and many other issues.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
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
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)
Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution
By Austin Sarat / Princeton University Press, on 1 January 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)
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
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)
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
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)
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
2007
Book
Republic of Korea
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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)
The Death Penalty: An American History
By Stuart Banner / Harvard University Press, on 1 January 2003
2003
Book
United States
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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)
Chinas Death Penalty: History, Law and Contemporary Practices
By Terance D. Miethe / Hong Lu / Routledge, on 1 January 2007
2007
Book
China
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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 Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law
By William A. Schabas / Cambridge University Press, on 1 January 2002
2002
Book
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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)
Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition
By David Garland / Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
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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)
Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition
By William A. Schabas / Peter Hodgkinson / Cambridge University Press, on 1 January 2004
2004
Book
Georgia
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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)
Death by Design: Capital Punishment As a Social Psychological System
By Craig Haney / Oxford University Press, on 1 January 2005
2005
Book
United States
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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,