DEFINING THE DEATH PENALTY

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DEFINING THE DEATH PENALTY

• When the state executes a person (usually one of
  its citizens)
• According to the optional protocol of the ICCPR
• (International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights)

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Thesis

• Within our presentation, there were two
  contradictory viewpoints
• First, the view that the death penalty should be
  globally abolished and not used as punishment for
  any crime whatsoever.
• Second, the view that the death penalty should
  be retained, but only used under extreme
  circumstances. Further, the decision to use the
  death penalty should be made by the sovereign
  state, not the global community.

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A BRIEF HISTORY

• In practice since recorded times
• Worldwide use has decreased
• 138 Countries have abolished the practice

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THE DEATH PENALTY INTERNATIONAL LAW

• Not universally condemned
• Articles 3 5 of the UDHR
• 3 - Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
  security of person
• 5 - No one shall be subjected to torture or to
  cruel, inhuman or
• degrading treatment or punishment
• Articles 6 7 of the ICCPR

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ARTICLE 6 OF THE ICCPR
I - Every human being has the inherent right to
life. This right shall be protected by law. No
one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life. II - In countries which have not
abolished the death penalty, sentence of death
may be imposed only for the most serious
crimes... This penalty can only be carried out
pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a
competent court. IV - Anyone sentenced to death
shall have the right to seek pardon or
commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or
commutation of the sentence of death may be
granted in all cases. V Sentence of death
shall not be imposed for crimes committed by
persons below eighteen years of age and shall not
be carried out on pregnant women.
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ARTICLE 7 OF THE ICCPR
No one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
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THE DEATH PENALTY INTERNATIONAL LAW

• Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
• Protocol to the American Convention on Human
  Rights
• Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human
  Rights
• Resolution 62/149

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A FEW QUESTIONS

• Of the 59 countries that use the death penalty,
  how many executed at least
• one of their citizens last year?
• China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the
  United States total what percentage of all
  executions in 2008?
• Which countries still use electrocution to
  execute prisoners?
• What region of the world committed the most
  executions last year?
• How many countries in the Americas used the
  death penalty last year?
• How many countries abolished the death penalty
  in 2008?

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STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• The death penalty has not been proven to have a
  deterrent effect on crime,
• leaves no possibility for rehabilitation, expends
  resources of the state,
• and it is a continuation of a culture of
  violence
• Amnesty International Clip

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PROGRESS TOWARD GLOBAL ABOLITION

• Abolitionist countries for all crimes 92
• Abolitionist countries for ordinary crimes only
  10
• Abolitionist countries in practice 36

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LEGAL STATUS BY REGION

• Europe and Central Asia are almost free of the
  death penaltyOnly Belarus still carries out
  executions.
• The African Commission on Human and Peoples
  Rights adopted a resolution to observe a
  moratorium.
• Some Arab states issued a declaration with the
  UN and NGOs to abolish the death penalty and
  amend the Arab Charter on Human Rights to end
  juvenile executions.

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PROGRESS TOWARD U.S. ABOLITION

• The 37 executions in 2008 were the fewest since
  1995
• Prisoners on death row had sentences commuted to
  life imprisonment
• Four were released on grounds of innocence
• Abolition bills being introduced in numerous
  states
• New Mexico recently repealed the death penalty
• New Hampshires House of Representatives passed
  an abolition
• bill last week

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LETHAL INJECTION

• Introduced by the United States, but also used
  by China, Guatemala, Taiwan,
• and Thailand
• First used in 1982
• Has been used over 900 times in the US
• Seen as most humane form of execution

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES A BRIEF HISTORY

• Furman v. Georgia (1972) death penalty ruled
  unconstitutional in the U.S.
• Moratorium on executions in U.S. ended in 1977
• Early 1980s marked the switch to adoption of
  lethal injection as primary means of execution in
  most states

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES STATISTICS

• 35 U.S. states use the death penalty
• Public Opinion 2006 Gallup Poll
• U.S. support for the death penalty at 65
• Down from 80 from a 1994 poll

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES STATISTICS

• States with most executions since 1976
  reinstatement
• Texas 435
• Virginia 103
• Oklahoma 89
• Florida 67
• Missouri 66

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES METHODS

• Execution Methods in U.S. used since 1976
• 985 Lethal Injection
• 155 Electrocution
• 11 Gas Chamber
• 3 Hanging
• 2 Firing Squad

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES CRUEL UNUSUAL
PUNISHMENT

• 8th Amendment Excessive bail shall not be
  required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
  and unusual punishment inflicted.

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES DEATH PENALTY AS
DETERRENT

• Survey of criminologists
• 84 of respondents said that capital punishment
  doesnt act as a deterrent to murder
• Higher crime rates in U.S. states that have the
  death penalty than those that dont
• South has highest murder rate and accounts for
  80 of U.S. executions
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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES FACTORS COST

• TEXAS Death penalty cases cost average of 2.3
  million
• 3 times the cost of incarcerating someone at the
  highest level of security for 40 years
• CALIFORNIA Death penalty costs 114 million
  more than what it costs to keep convicts in
  prison for life
• Taxpayers have paid 250 million for each of the
  states executions
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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES FACTORS
DISCRIMINATION

• University of North Carolina study 3.5 times
  more likely to receive a death
• sentence if the victim of the alleged crime was
  white.
• 96 of states where there have been examinations
  of discrimination and the
• death penalty found instances of race of
  defendant or race of victim discrimination or
  both
• 98 of prosecutors are white in death penalty
  cases, 1 of prosecutors are black 

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CASE STUDY THE UNITED STATES FACTORS EXECUTION
OF INNOCENTS

• Since 1973 over 120 people have been released
  from death row in the U.S. with evidence of their
  innocence.
• 1973-1999 Average of 3.1 exonerations per year.
• 2000-2007 Average of 5 exonerations per year.
• Anthony Porter Clip
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MORAL ARGUMENT

• AGAINST The death penalty is the ultimate
  denial of human rights. It is the premeditated
  and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the
  state. Amnesty International website
• FOR Killings are, under ordinary
  circumstances, a violation of rights. Capital
  punishment may be required, not prohibited
  simply because and to the extent that it
  minimizes rights violations. Private murders also
  violate rights... Cass R. Sunstein Adrian
  Vermeule, Stanford Law Review (2005)
• Government as a Moral Agent

 
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EFFECTIVE DETERRENT ?

• Analysis has supported both sides of Capital
  Punishment argument
• The overall results of the meta-analysis
  supported the deterrent effect of executions, but
  the evidence for a deterrent effect depended on
  the type of study carried out. Bijou Yang
  David Lester, Journal of Criminal Justice (2008)
• Results suggest that capital punishment has a
  deterrent effect, and that executions have a
  distinct effect which compounds the deterrent
  effect. Hashem Dezhbakhsh Joanna M.
  Shepherd, Economic Enquiry (Oxford Journal 2006)

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EFFECTIVE DETERRENT ?

• In the long-run we find that real income and
  the conditional probability of receiving the
  death sentence are the main factors explaining
  variations in the homicide rate. Paresh Narayan
  Russell Smyth, Applied Economics (2006)
• One of the principal findings is that the
  homicide commission rate is significantly and
  negatively correlated with the perceived risk of
  punishment, which provides empirical support for
  the deterrence hypothesis. Harold J. Brumm and
  Dale O. Cloninger, Journal of Economic Behavior
  and Organization (1996)
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ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY CASE STUDY -
ILLINOIS

• January 2000 George Ryan, Governor of Illinois
  declares moratorium on executions
• January 2003 Governor commutes death sentences
  of all on death row
• It is found that these actions are coincident
  with the increased risk of homicide incurred by
  the residents of Illinois over the 48 month
  post-event period for which data were available.
  The increased risk produced an estimated 150
  additional homicides during the post-event
  period. Dale O. Cloninger Roberto Marchesini,
  Applied Economics (2006)

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ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY CASE STUDY -
SINGAPORE

• Hard line stance on all crimes
• Death Penalty supported by 95 of population
  (Singapore Straits-Times, 2006)
• Capital Punishment for
• Murder, Treason, Drug Trafficking, Posession of
  Unauthorized Firearms
• Method Almost exclusively hanging
• Result Low Homicide rate 0.9457 out of
  100,000
• Compare to U.S. rate 9.1 out of 100,000

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ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY DISCRIMINATION
STATISTICS

• RAND CORPORATION STUDY
• Findings support the view that decisions to
  seek the death penalty were driven by heinousness
  of crimes rather than by race. Stephen P. Klein,
  Richard A. Berk, Laura J. Hickman (2006)
• White murderers received the death penalty
  slightly more often (32) than non-white
  murderers (27)
• Study found murderers of white victims received
  the death penalty more often (32) than murderers
  of non-white victims (23)

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ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY CASE STUDY
ROBERT BONZAI VICKERS
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ARGUMENT AGAINST GLOBAL ABOLITION STATE
SOVEREIGNTY

• The death penalty is primarily a criminal
  justice issue, and therefore is a question for
  the sovereign jurisdiction of each country. The
  right to life is not the only right, and it is
  the duty of societies and governments is to
  decide how to balance competing rights against
  each other. Vapu Menon, Singapores Permanent
  Representative to United Nations, in letter to
  the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary
  or arbitrary executions.