lecture 4.2 death penalty Flashcards
what is considered the ultimate in expressive acting out?
the death penalty
uk effective abolition of death penalty in what year?
1965
what country is only western democracy with the DP?
US
what countries have the death penalty?
majority of people in the world live in countries with DP
- china
- iran
- saudi arabia
- iraq
- pakistan
where was the death penalty abolished?
european countries
what year was DP abolished netherlands?
1860
what year was DP abolished norway?
1876
what year was DP abolished sweden?
1910
what year was DP abolished UK?
1965 (1969, 1999)
what year was DP abolished france?
1977
why was DP abolished in european coutnries ?
incompatible with the ECHR and EU membership
how many states in US retained death pentalty?
27/50 + federal and military
how many executions since 1976 in US?
1562
how many women had DP in us?
17 women - 1%
how many black people had DP in US?
34%
how many latino or other ethnic minority had DP in US?
10%
how many white people had DP in US?
76%
what percent of DP were conducted by lethal injection in US?
89%
top 5 states for DP in US?
Texas
oklahoma
virginia
florida
missouri
how many executions since 1976 in texas?
580
37%
how many executions since 1976 in oklahoma?
120
8%
how many executions since 1976 in virginia?
what happened in 2021?
113
abolished DP in 2021
how many executions since 1976 in florida?
99
how many executions since 1976 in missouri?
90
how many executions + death sentences in 1999 in US?
98 executions
279 death sentences
how many executions + death sentences in 2022 in US?
18 executions
20 death sentences
how many people on death row in US?
what percent in california?
2414 people
29% in california
furman v georgia 1972 declared DP too severe if:
- degrading to human dignity
- torture
- obviously inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion
- capricious and discriminatory
- clearly and totally rejected throughout society
- patently unnecessary
- national moratorium
gregg v georgia 1976: supreme court upheld revised statutes of DP such as:
- bifurcated sentencing process
- aggravating vs mitigating features
- requires system of appeals
what was the bifurcated sentencing process in gregg v georgia?
- eligibility in principle
- selection specifically: this offender
why does the US have exceptionalism to the DP?
- political and historical reasons for retention
- or is the US culturally distinctive?
what did garland say about political and historical reasons for retention of DP?
‘not because of any peculiarly punitive attitudes or any deep-seated cultural commitment but because the political mechanisms for nation-wide abolition do not exist’
how is the US culturally distinctive for having the DP?
- culture of violence and revenge: vigilante values and lynching
- cultural representation as simplistic good vs evil, leading to closure
- parallels with 2nd amendment?
populism: how are pro DP politicians reflecting public opinion
importance of symbolic toughness
- until recently few successful candidates for president, governor, or district attorney support abolition
what happened in 1988 with populism and the DP
bush, dukakis, horton
- liberal, weak dukakis supported furlough policy for rehabilitation
- disastrous final tv debate
what happened in 2020 with populism and the DP?
and 2022?
Little discussed by biden openly opposed to federal executions
2022 = 3 gubernatorial elections won by candidates pledging not to sign death warrants
what issues affected public opinion for DP?
- botched executions
- political and public support reduced when LWOP available
- 40 years in prison three times cheaper than death row/ execution
how did botched executions happen?
using combination of
- sodium thiopental
- pancuronium bromide
- potassium chloride
morales v hickman 2006
provided qualified physician or alter procedure
- suspension as implemented
baze v rees 2008
contrary to 8th amendment only if ‘present a substantial or objectively intolerable risk of harm’
glossip v gross 2015
can only challenge method of execution if known and available alternative, which prisoner can choose
glossip v gross 2015
can only challenge method of execution if known and available alternative, which prisoner can choose
when was the longest execution ?
2022
took 3 hours to insert IV
In the gallup poll 2022 what percent were in favour of DP and what percent opposed?
55% in favour
43% opposed
1920s UK and the DP
comparative european research suggested no deterrent effect; no post abolition crime wave
1939 UK CJ bill clause to consider abolition of DP in what trials
- nuremberg trials 1945-46 distaste
what happened in CJA 1948
3 things
Sydeny silverman amendment
- passed in commons; rejected in lords
1. deterrent effect
2. pose WW2 crime explosion and loosening of morals
3. criminal law must reflect public opinion
gallup poll UK 1947 for DP
what percent retain
what percent abolish
69% retain
24% abolish
timeline of populism and emerging public unease of UK views on DP?
- timothy evans 1950
- posthumous pardon 1966 - derek bentley 1953
-posthumous pardon 1998
- christopher craig only 16 - ruth ellis 1955
- national trauma
statutes that caused emerging public unease in DP
- homiocide act 1957 - voluntary manslaughter
- murder (abolition of the death penalty) act 1965
- but majority of public support for retention
1966 moors murderers outcry
british social attitudes surveys 1983 and 2015
1983: 75% in favour of reintroduction
2015: 48% in favour - first recorded UK majority against capital punishment
the death penalty invites reflection on what society hopes to achieve in what?
hopes to achieve in punishing the most serious offenders, and the limits of acceptability to punishment
in the US the DP has been associated with
political acting out of symbolic toughness
how likely is supreme court initiating abolition
remains very unlikely
but moratorium by default is occuring where
occuring state by state
