INDEX



Document(s)

The Myth of Autonomy Rights

By Kathryn E. Miller, on 20 July 2022


2022

Article

United States


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Supreme Court rhetoric, scholarly discussion, blackletter law, and ethical rules have perpetuated a myth that individual rights protect the autonomy of defendants within the criminal legal system. To expose this myth, I examine six rights that the Court has enshrined as essential decision points for criminal defendants due to the rights’ purported expressive and consequential functions: (1) the right to self-representation; (2) the right to plead guilty; (3) the right to waive a jury; (4) the right to testify; (5) the right to waive appeals; and (6) the right to maintain innocence at a capital trial. I conclude that each of these rights fails to protect defendant autonomy.

I then argue that genuine displays of autonomy under the criminal legal system take the form of resistance to the law, legal advocates, and the legal system. Thus, the autonomy of criminal defendants occurs not because of law but in spite of it. As such, scholarly discussions of the personal autonomy of criminal defendants should focus not on rights and rules but on acts of resistance. The current autonomy rights discourse is harmful because it obscures the system’s defects by framing discussions around individual rights instead of structural limitations. This lends itself to solutions involving procedural tinkering to better actualize individual rights instead of radical structural reform or abolition. By obscuring these structural defects and stressing the system’s protective qualities, the autonomy rights discourse presents the system not only as legitimate, but as functional, and potentially even successful. As such, a new scholarly frame is warranted: autonomy as resistance to law and the legal system. By illuminating the ways in which autonomy in the criminal legal system resembles autonomy under the American institution of slavery, the autonomy as resistance frame exposes the need for radical structural change and facilitates a reimagining of the criminal legal system.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

: Factsheet for Lawyers – 2020 World Day

on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

fr
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On the occasion of the 2020 World Day, focusing on the right to access to counsel, Reprieve and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty released a facthsheet for defense lawyers.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2016: trends confirm global movement toward restricted use of the death penalty

By Cornell Law School, on 8 September 2020


Article


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The number of abolitionist countries continued to grow in 2016, but national crises have created a political climate that heightens the risk that the death penalty will be reintroduced in a handful of abolitionist nations.The Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide assesses the evolutions of the worldwide situation of the death penalty in 2016.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Member organizations, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Oral Statement: 56th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights

By FIACAT, on 8 September 2020


Article


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During the 56th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, Gambia, 21 April – 7 May 2015, the FIACAT made an oral statement as they would like to would like to congratulate on the actions taken by the Committee for the prevention of torture in Africa since the 55th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR. Nevertheless, FIACAT remains greatly concerned by the number of cases of torture documented by its members (ACATs) and the impunity which torturers enjoy.

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

Document(s)

Database Center for North Korean Human Rights – Briefings on public execution

By Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


Article

Republic of Korea


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NKDB hosts a monthly English language briefing and discussion on North Korean human rights every month with embassy officials, NGO staff, and NKDB staff as guests

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Republic of Korea
  • Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

A Tale of Two (and Possibly Three) Atkins: Intellectual Disability and Capital Punishment Twelve Years after The Supreme Court’s Creation of a Categorical Bar

By John H. Blume / Sheri Lynn Johnson / William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, on 8 September 2020


Article

United States


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The article, with three co-authors, examines empirically the capital cases decided by the lower courts since the United States Supreme Court created the categorical ban against the execution of persons with intellectual disability twelve years ago in the Atkins decision.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

Italian : Lucca Comics & Games: Amnesty International Italia presenta Precious, un gioco di ruolo sulla pena di morte

By Amnesty International - Italy, on 8 September 2020


Article

Italy


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Il 1° novembre, nel corso della fiera Lucca Comics & Games 2014 verrà presentato Precious. La cosa più preziosa il primo gioco di ruolo sulla pena di morte, realizzato dall’Associazione Coyote Press con la collaborazione di Amnesty International Italia. La meccanica del gioco è accompagnata da un ampio saggio sul tema della pena capitale, realizzato dal Coordinamento pena di morte di Amnesty International Italia, che presenta dati e statistiche sul tema, casi per i quali si è attivata, spunti di informazione e discussione – dalla campagna contro la pena di morte ai diversi paradossi che questa porta con sé, la deterrenza, la discriminazione razziale e sociale, la negazione dei diritti. Il saggio è seguito da 10 ritratti di persone reali, coinvolte a vario titolo sul tema: condannati a morte, sostenitori della pena capitale, abolizionisti e attivisti per i diritti umani.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Italy
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Greek : НОВЫЕ ТЕНДЕНЦИИ РАЗВИТИЯ УГОЛОВНОГО ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬСТВА В КИТАЕ

By Пан Дунмэй / Институт изучения России Хэйлунцзянского университета, on 8 September 2020


Article

China


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Бурное социально-экономическое развитие КНР в последние годы обусловило изменения, произошедшие в современном китайском обществе, что, в свою очередь, повлекло необходи- мость изменения уголовного законодательства Китая.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list International law,

Document(s)

BN at 6 – Our Stories, Our Miracles: Sentenced to Death, An Innocent Man Steps Out After 24 Years in Prison – Olatunji Olaide shares his story of Survival, Freedom & Hope

By Adeola Adeyemo / Bellanaija, on 8 September 2020


Article

Nigeria


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Olatunji Olaide was wrongfully arrested and subsequently sentenced to death. He shares the harrowing experience of his time in prison and his survival and freedom with BN and how he kept his head high in the face of the storm.We hope that you are inspired by it.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Nigeria
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Execution Watch: Mitt Romney’s ‘Foolproof’ Death Penalty Act and the Politics of Capital Punishment

By Russell G. Murphy / Suffolk University Law Review, on 8 September 2020


Article

United States


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This article presents a legal and political analysis of the 2003 – 2005 effort of Governor Mitt Romney to make the death penalty available as a sentencing option in Massachusetts.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public debate,