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The Death PenaltyThe Death Penalty WorldwideAccording to Amnesty International, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty. In 2011, 21 countries around the world were known to have carried out executions and at least 63 to have imposed death sentences. Twenty-one countries carried out executions in 2011, compared to 28 a decade ago. Once again, China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States were the five biggest executioners in the world.Death Penalty Outlawed (year) Albania (2000)Andorra (1990)Angola (1992)Argentina (2008)Armenia (2003)Australia (1984)Austria (1950)Azerbaijan (1998)Belgium (1996)Bhutan (2004)Bosnia-Herzegovina (1997)Bulgaria (1998)Burundi (2009)Cambodia (1989)Canada (1976)Cape Verde (1981)Colombia (1910)Cook Islands (2007)Costa Rica (1877)C?te d'Ivoire (2000)Croatia (1990)Cyprus (1983)Czech Republic (1990)Denmark (1933)Djibouti (1995)Dominican Republic (1966)Ecuador (1906)Estonia (1998)Finland (1949)France (1981)Gabon (2010)Georgia (1997)Germany (1949)Greece (1993)Guinea-Bissau (1993)Haiti (1987)Honduras (1956)Hungary (1990)Iceland (1928)Ireland (1990)Italy (1947)Kyrgyzstan (2007)Kiribati (1979)Latvia (2012)Liechtenstein (1987)Lithuania (1998)Luxembourg (1979)Macedonia (1991)Malta (1971)Marshall Islands (1986)Mauritius (1995)Mexico (2005)Micronesia (1986)Moldova (1995)Monaco (1962)Montenegro (2002)Mozambique (1990)Namibia (1990)Nepal (1990)Netherlands (1870)New Zealand (1961)Nicaragua (1979)Niue (n.a.)Norway (1905)Palau (n.a.)Panama (1903)Paraguay (1992)Philippines (2006)Poland (1997)Portugal (1867)Romania (1989)Rwanda (2007)Samoa (2004)San Marino (1848)S?o Tomé and Príncipe (1990)Senegal (2004)Serbia (2002)Seychelles (1993)Slovakia (1990)Slovenia (1989)Solomon Islands (1966)South Africa (1995)Spain (1978)Sweden (1921)Switzerland (1942)Timor-Leste (1999)Togo (2009)Turkey (2002)Turkmenistan (1999)Tuvalu (1978)Ukraine (1999)United Kingdom (1973)Uruguay (1907)Uzbekistan (2008)Vanuatu (1980)Vatican City (1969)Venezuela (1863) De Facto Ban on Death Penalty (year) Algeria (1993)Benin (1987)Brunei (1957)Burkina Faso (1988)Cameroon (1997)Central African Republic (1981)Congo (Republic) (1982)Eritrea (n.a.)Gambia (1981)Ghana (n.a.)Grenada (1978)Kenya (n.a.)Korea, South (1997.)Laos (n.a.)Liberia (n.a.)Madagascar (1958)Malawi (n.a.)Maldives (1952)Mali (1980) Mauritania (1987)Morocco (1993)Myanmar (1993)Nauru (1968)Niger (1976)Papua New Guinea (1950)Russia (1999)Sierra Leone (1998)Sri Lanka (1976)Suriname (1982)Swaziland (n.a.)Tajikistan (n.a.)Tanzania (n.a.)Tonga (1982)Tunisia (1990)Zambia (n.a.) Death Penalty Permitted AfghanistanAntigua and BarbudaBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelizeBotswanaChadChina (People's Republic)ComorosCongo (Democratic Republic)CubaDominicaEgyptEquatorial GuineaEthiopiaGuatemalaGuineaGuyanaIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqJamaicaJapanJordanKuwaitLebanonLesothoLibyaMalaysiaMongoliaNigeriaNorth KoreaOmanPakistanPalestinian AuthorityQatarSt. Kitts and NevisSt. LuciaSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSomaliaSouth SudanSudanSyriaTaiwanThailandTrinidad and TobagoUgandaUnited Arab EmiratesUnited StatesVietnamYemenZimbabwe States Which Do Not Have an Enforceable Death Penalty (year) Alaska (1957)Connecticut (2012)Hawaii (1957)Illinois (2011)Iowa (1965)Maine (1887)Maryland (2013)Massachusetts (1984)Michigan (1846)Minnesota (1911)New Jersey (2007)New Mexico (2009)New York (2007)North Dakota (1973)Rhode Island (1984)Vermont (1964)West Virginia (1965)Wisconsin (1853)The District of Columbia Total Number of Executions Since 1930NOTE: During this period of time, the Federal System executed 36 inmates. Military authorities carried out an additional 160 executions between 1930 and 1961. 1 Texas: 676 2 Georgia: 405 3 New York: 329 4 North Carolina: 306 5 California: 305 6 Florida: 234 7 South Carolina: 198 8 Ohio: 196 9 Virginia: 190 10 Alabama: 170 11 Mississippi: 162 12 Louisiana: 160 13 Pennsylvania: 155 14 Arkansas: 145 15 Oklahoma: 143 16 Missouri: 128 17 Kentucky: 105 18 Illinois: 102 19 Tennessee: 95 20 New Jersey: 74 21 Maryland: 73 22 Arizona: 60 23 Indiana: 58 24 Washington: 51 25 Colorado: 48 26 Nevada: 41 27 West Virginia: 40 27 District of Columbia: 40 29 Massachusetts: 27 30 Delaware: 26 31 Connecticut: 22 32 Oregon: 21 33 Utah: 19 34 Iowa: 18 35 Kansas: 15 36 Montana: 9 36 New Mexico: 9 38 Wyoming: 8 39 Nebraska: 7 40 Idaho: 4 40 Vermont: 4 42 New Hampshire: 1 42 South Dakota: 1DEATH ROW INMATES BY STATETotal Number of Death Row Inmates as of April 1, 2013: 3,108 California 731Florida 412Texas 298Penn. 198Alabama 197N. Carolina 161Ohio 147Arizona 126Georgia 95Louisiana 88Tennessee 84Nevada 80Oklahoma 58S. Carolina 52Missouri 48Mississippi 46Arkansas 38Oregon 37Kentucky 34Delaware 18Idaho 13Indiana 13Nebraska 11Connecticut** 11Virginia 10Kansas 10Utah 9Washington 8U.S. Military 5Maryland*** 5Colorado 4South Dakota 3Montana 2New Mexico* 2Wyoming 1New Hampshire 1 Los Angeles Times Study Finds California Spends $250 Million per Execution (2005)Key Points:- The California death penalty system costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year beyond the cost of simply keeping the convicts locked up for life. (This figure does not take into account additional court costs for post-conviction hearings in state and federal courts, estimated to exceed several million dollars.)- With 11 executions spread over 27 years, on a per execution basis, California and federal taxpayers have paid more than $250 million for each execution.- It costs approximately $90,000 more a year to house an inmate on death row, than in the general prison population or $57.5 million annually.- The Attorney General devotes about 15% of his budget, or $11 million annually to death penalty cases. - The California Supreme Court spends $11.8 million on appointed counsel for death row inmates.- The Office of the State Public Defender and the Habeas Corpus Resource Center spend a total of $22.3 million on defense for indigent defendants facing death.- The federal court system spends approximately $12 million on defending death row inmates in federal court.- No figures were given for the amount spent by the offices of County District Attorneys on the prosecution of capital cases, however these expenses are presumed to be in the tens of millions of dollars each year.Hugo Adam BedauAustin Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Tufts UniversityExcerpts from “The Case Against The Death Penalty”(Copyright 1997, American Civil Liberties Union)Persons who commit murder and other crimes of personal violence either may or may not premeditate their crimes.When crime is planned, the criminal ordinarily concentrates on escaping detection, arrest, and conviction. The threat of even the severest punishment will not discourage those who expect to escape detection and arrest. It is impossible to imagine how the threat of any punishment could prevent a crime that is not premeditated....Most capital crimes are committed in the heat of the moment. Most capital crimes are committed during moments of great emotional stress or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, when logical thinking has been suspended. In such cases, violence is inflicted by persons heedless of the consequences to themselves as well as to others....If, however, severe punishment can deter crime, then long-term imprisonment is severe enough to deter any rational person from committing a violent crime.The vast preponderance of the evidence shows that the death penalty is no more effective than imprisonment in deterring murder and that it may even be an incitement to criminal violence.Death-penalty states as a group do not have lower rates of criminal homicide than non-death penalty states....On-duty police officers do not suffer a higher rate of criminal assault and homicide in abolitionist states than they do in death-penalty states. Between l973 and l984, for example, lethal assaults against police were not significantly more, or less, frequent in abolitionist states than in death-penalty states. There is ‘no support for the view that the death penalty provides a more effective deterrent to police homicides than alternative sanctions. Not for a single year was evidence found that police are safer in jurisdictions that provide for capital punishment.’ (Bailey and Peterson, Criminology (1987))Prisoners and prison personnel do not suffer a higher rate of criminal assault and homicide from life-term prisoners in abolition states than they do in death-penalty states. Between 1992 and 1995, 176 inmates were murdered by other prisoners; the vast majority (84%) were killed in death penalty jurisdictions. During the same period about 2% of all assaults on prison staff were committed by inmates in abolition jurisdictions. Evidently, the threat of the death penalty ‘does not even exert an incremental deterrent effect over the threat of a lesser punishment in the abolitionist states.’ (Wolfson, in Bedau, ed., The Death Penalty in America, 3rd ed. (1982))Actual experience thus establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the death penalty does not deter murder. No comparable body of evidence contradicts that conclusion.”The Death Penalty by H.L. MenckenOf the arguments against capital punishment that issue from uplifters, two are commonly heard most often, to wit:1. That hanging a man (or frying him or gassing him) is a dreadful business, degrading to those who have to do it and revolting to those who have to witness it.2. That it is useless, for it does not deter others from the same crime.The first of these arguments, it seems to me, is plainly too weak to need serious refutation. All it says, in brief, is that the work of the hangman is unpleasant. Granted. But suppose it is? It may be quite necessary to society for all that. There are, indeed, many other jobs that are unpleasant, and yet no one thinks of abolishing them--that of the plumber, that of the soldier, that of the garbage-man, that of the priest hearing confessions, that of the sand-hog, and so on. Moreover, what evidence is there that any actual hangman complains of his work? I have heard none. On the contrary, I have known many who delighted in their ancient art, and practiced it proudly.In the second argument of the abolitionists there is rather more force, but even here, I believe, the ground under them is shaky. Their fundamental error consists in assuming that the whole aim of punishing criminals is to deter other (potential) criminals--that we hang or electrocute A simply in order to so alarm B that he will not kill C. This, I believe, is an assumption which confuses a part with the whole. Deterrence, obviously, is one of the aims of punishment, but it is surely not the only one. On the contrary, there are at least half a dozen, and some are probably quite as important. At least one of them, practically considered, is more important. Commonly, it is described as revenge, but revenge is really not the word for it. I borrow a better term from the late Aristotle: katharsis (catharsis). Katharsis, so used, means a salubrious discharge of emotions, a healthy letting off of steam. A school-boy, disliking his teacher, deposits a tack upon the pedagogical chair; the teacher jumps and the boy laughs. This is katharsis. What I contend is that one of the prime objects of all judicial punishments is to afford the same grateful relief (a) to the immediate victims of the criminal punished, and (b) to the general body of moral and timorous men.These persons, and particularly the first group, are concerned only indirectly with deterring other criminals. The thing they crave primarily is the satisfaction of seeing the criminal actually before them suffer as he made them suffer. What they want is the peace of mind that goes with the feeling that accounts are squared. Until they get that satisfaction they are in a state of emotional tension, and hence unhappy. The instant they get it they are comfortable. I do not argue that this yearning is noble; I simply argue that it is almost universal among human beings. In the face of injuries that are unimportant and can be borne without damage it may yield to higher impulses; that is to say, it may yield to what is called Christian charity. But when the injury is serious Christianity is adjourned, and even saints reach for their side arms. It is plainly asking too much of human nature to expect it to conquer so natural an impulse. A keeps a store and has a bookkeeper; B. B steals $700, employs it in playing at dice or bingo, and is cleaned out. What is A to do? Let B go? If he does so he will be unable to sleep at night. The sense of injury, of injustice, of frustration will haunt him like pruritus. So he turns B over to the police, and they hustle B to prison. Thereafter A can sleep. More, he has pleasant dreams. He pictures B chained to the wall of a dungeon a hundred feet underground, devoured by rats and scorpions. It is so agreeable that it makes him forget his $700. He has got his katharsis.The same thing precisely takes place on a larger scale when there is a crime which destroys a whole community’s sense of security. Every law-abiding citizen feels menaced and frustrated until the criminals have been struck down--until the communal capacity to get even with them, and more than even, has been dramatically demonstrated. Here, manifestly, the business of deterring others is no more than an afterthought. The main thing is to destroy the concrete scoundrels whose act has alarmed everyone, and thus made everyone unhappy. Until they are brought to book that unhappiness continues; when the law has been executed upon them there is a sigh of relief. In other words, there is katharsis.I know of no public demand for the death penalty for ordinary crimes, even for ordinary homicides. Its infliction would shock all men of normal decency of feeling. But for crimes involving the deliberate and inexcusable taking of human life, by men openly defiant of all civilized order--for such crimes it seems, to nine men out of ten, a just and proper punishment. Any lesser penalty leaves them feeling that the criminal has got the better of society--that he is free to add insult to injury by laughing. That feeling can be dissipated only by a recourse to katharsis, the invention of the aforesaid Aristotle. It is more effectively and economically achieved, as human nature now is, by wafting the criminal to realms of bliss.The real objection to capital punishment doesn’t lie against the actual extermination of the condemned, but against our brutal American habit of putting it off so long. After all, every one of us must die soon or late, and a murderer, it must be assumed, is one who makes that sad fact the cornerstone of his metaphysic. But it is one thing to die, and quite another thing to lie for long months and even years under the shadow of death. No sane man would choose such a finish. All of us, despite the Prayer Book, long for a swift and unexpected end. Unhappily, a murderer, under the irrational American system, is tortured for what, to him, must seem a whole series of eternities. For months on end he sits in prison while his lawyers carry on their idiotic buffoonery with writs, injunctions, mandamuses, and appeals. In order to get his money (or that of his friends) they have to feed him with hope. Now and then, by the imbecility of a judge or some trick of juridic science, they actually justify it. But let us say that, his money all gone, they finally throw up their hands. Their client is now ready for the rope or the chair. But he must still wait for months before it fetches him.That wait, I believe, is horribly cruel. I have seen more than one man sitting in the death-house, and I don’t want to see any more. Worse, it is wholly useless. Why should he wait at all? Why not hang him the day after the last court dissipates his last hope? Why torture him as not even cannibals would torture their victims? The common answer is that he must have time to make his peace with God. But how long does that take? It may be accomplished, I believe, in two hours quite as comfortably as in two years. There are, indeed, no temporal limitations upon God. He could forgive a whole herd of murderers in a millionth of a second. More, it has been done. ................
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