Lecture 13: The Death Penalty

Question 1

the death penalty

Answer 1

The death penalty is the state-sanctioned execution of a person as punishment for a crime

Question 1

Difference between the death penalty and capital punishment

Answer 1

• Death penalty: the legal process of sentencing someone to death
• Capital punishment: the actual execution of the sentence

Question 2

the government that abolished the death penalty

Answer 2

• The Pierre Trudeau government (Liberal Party) officially abolished the death penalty in 1976 through Bill C-84
• The bill replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole for at least 25 years for first-degree murder

Question 3

Steven Truscott case

Answer 3

• Steven Truscott, a 14-year-old boy, was convicted of the rape and murder of his 12-year-old classmate, Lynne Harper, in Clinton, Ontario.
• He was sentenced to death by hanging, making him the youngest person ever sentenced to death in Canada.
• Due to public outcry, his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1960.
• In 2007, after new forensic evidence emerged, he was acquitted and declared wrongfully convicted.
• His case highlighted the risk of executing innocent people and was a key argument in Canada’s abolition of the death penalty.

Question 4

reasons for abolishing the death penalty

Answer 4

1. lack of evidence for deterrence
2. international human rights trends
3. political leadership

Question 5

lack of evidence for deterrence of the death penalty

Answer 5

showed that the death penalty was not a stronger deterrent to crime than life imprisonment

Question 6

International human rights trends

Answer 6

the global movement against the death penalty was growing, and Canada wanted to align with other Western democracies that were abolishing it

Question 7

political leadership and the death penalty

Answer 7

• Pierre Trudeau and Justice Minister Ron Basford pushed for abolition, arguing that a civilized society should not use execution as punishment
• The Parliamentary Vote was 130-124 to abolish the death penalty: it was a very close vote, showing there was still significant debate

Question 8

last cases of capital punishment in Canada

Answer 8

• Ronald Turpin: a petty criminal convicted of killing a Toronto police officer during a traffic stop
• Arthur Lucas: an American-born man convicted of murdering an FBI informant in Toronto
• Both men were sentenced to death by hanging at the Don Jail in Toronto in 1962
• Lucas was likely innocent: he allegedly had no involvement in the crime, but because he had a criminal past, he was not granted leniency
• Just 5 years late, Canada placed a moratorium (legal pause) on executions, leading to full abolition in 1976

Question 9

2 stages of abolition of the death penalty in Canada

Answer 9

• 1976: Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government officially abolished the death penalty for civilian crimes (ex. Murder) with Bill C-84
• 1998: Jean Chretien’s Liberal government removed the last legal traces of the death penalty from the National Defence Act, which still allowed executions for military crimes (ex. Treason, mutiny)

Question 10

U.S. v. Burns (2001)

Answer 10

• Accused: Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay
  Crime: In 1994, the two Canadians were accused of triple murder in Washington State, USA
• Legal Issue: The United States requested their extradition (transfer to the U.S. for trial), where they faced the death penalty if convicted
• Canada’s Dilemma: Should Canada hand them over to the U.S. without asking for assurances that they wouldn’t face execution?

Question 11

U.S. v. Burns Supreme Court Ruling (2001)

Answer 11

• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 9-0 that Canada cannot extradite individuals to countries with the death penalty unless there is a guarantee they won’t be executed
• The Court stated that extraditing someone without such guarantees violates Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the right to life, liberty, and security of the person

Question 12

U.S. v. Burns (2001) impact

Answer 12

• Established that Canada would not support capital punishment, even indirectly
• Strengthened Canada’s international human rights stance against the death penalty
• This ruling set a legal precedent that still applies today—anyone extradited from Canada must be protected from execution

Question 13

George Stinney Jr.

Answer 13

George Stinney Jr. was a 14-year-old Black boy who was wrongfully convicted and executed in 1944 in South Carolina for the alleged murder of two white girls, Betty June Binnicker (11) and Mary Emma Thames (7)

Question 14

Key facts of the George Stinney Jr. case

Answer 14

• Stinney was arrested, interrogated without a lawyer or parents, and allegedly “confessed” under coercion
• His trial lasted only two hours, and the all-white jury convicted him in just 10 minutes
• He was executed via electric chair, making him the youngest person executed in the U.S. in the 20th century
• No physical evidence linked him to the crime
• In 2014, his conviction was overturned, with the court acknowledging the trial was a miscarriage of justice

Question 15

applying Durkheim to the death penalty

Answer 15

• Does the death penalty serve as a moral reinforcement for society, maintaining social order and reinforcing collective values?
• Durkheim argued that punishment is not just about deterrence but about reaffirming societal norms.
• Does capital punishment reinforce social solidarity by showing what is considered unacceptable?
• Could executions serve as a “ritual” that strengthens social cohesion, or does it weaken it by normalizing state violence?

Question 16

applying Marx to the death penalty

Answer 16

• Is the death penalty a tool of class oppression, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups?
• Marx viewed law and punishment as instruments of the ruling class to control the poor
• Does the death penalty primarily target the working class and racial minorities while protecting the elite?
• If capital punishment were truly impartial, would we see more wealthy individuals sentenced to death?
• How does corporate power influence public opinion on punishment and crime severity?

Question 17

applying Weber to the death penalty

Answer 17

• How does the death penalty reflect the state’s monopoly on violence and rational-legal authority?
• Weber argued that modern states claim the legitimate use of force
• Does capital punishment demonstrate the power of the bureaucratic legal system?
• How does the role of lawyers, judges, and legal procedures shape whether executions are seen as “just”?
• Does the death penalty lose legitimacy if wrongful convictions are discovered?

Question 18

applying Foucault to the death penalty

Answer 18

• Is the death penalty about punishment, or is it about demonstrating state power over life and death?
• Foucault argued that punishment evolved from spectacular executions (public hangings) to disciplinary surveillance (prisons)
• Does the death penalty resemble older, sovereign forms of power rather than modern disciplinary methods?
• How does the shift toward life imprisonment and surveillance-based justice reflect changes in power dynamics?
• Could mass incarceration be the “modern” alternative to execution, serving the same function in controlling populations?