Inching forward standing still—Human rights USA

Death Penalty dies in 16, lives in 34

Re-reporting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

“One area of law more than any other besmirches the constitutional vision of human dignity. . . . The barbaric death penalty violates our Constitution. Even the most vile murderer does not release the state from its obligation to respect dignity, for the state does not honor the victim by emulating his murderer.

“Capital punishment’s fatal flaw is that it treats people as objects to be toyed with and discarded. . . . One day the Court will outlaw the death penalty — permanently.”  [U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan (1996)]

Well over two thousand people (2,390) in 2008 met their deaths by state executions in 25 of the world’s nations, according to Amnesty International. Leading the nations still executing people was China with more than half of those people. The next leading execution nations were Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States of America, Pakistan, and Iraq.

In 1977, only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. As of December 2009, the Amnesty report says, that figure stands at 95 and more than two thirds of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Of the 58 retentionist countries, only 18 are known to have carried out executions in 2009.

Yesterday, the governor of the U.S. state of Illinois signed into law a measure abolishing capital punishment in that state. Gov. Patrick Quinn also commuted sentences of 15 inmates who had been sentenced to death during a moratorium.  After a series of wrongful convictions leading to a decade-long moratorium on executions, the death penalty issue had troubled people of Illinois.

Around the world, “two-thirds of countries no longer use the death penalty,” reports Amnesty. “Death sentences in the United States of America have plunged in the last decade to their lowest levels since the country resumed judicial killing in 1977.” The decline is thought to be due in part “to public and political awareness of the number of wrongful convictions that have been discovered in capital cases.”

The 16 abolitionist U.S. states now including Illinois “are: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia is also abolitionist.


“The remaining 34 states have the death penalty — as does the federal government and the U.S. military.”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun (1994) —

“Rather than continue to coddle the Court’s delusion that the desired level of fairness has been achieved and the need for regulation eviscerated, I feel morally and intellectually obligated to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed.…

“If we had deliberately set out to create a chaotic system, we couldn’t have come up with anything worse.” 

Sources and notes

William Joseph Brennan Jr. (b. 1906, Newark, New Jersey; d. 1997, Arlington, Virginia) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1956–90).

Appointed to the Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Brennan, articulate defender of the Bill of Rights, is regarded as a leading liberal and broad-themed interpretivist—a justice unusually willing to acknowledge that ‘we current justices read the Constitution in the only way that we can— as 20th-century Americans.’ Brennan, William.  (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica

Harry Andrew Blackmun (b. 1908, Nashville, Illinois; d. 1999, Arlington, Virginia) Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1970-1994)

Blackmun frequently argued that U.S. citizens have a fundamental right ‘to be left alone’ by their government. While Blackmun’s opinions rarely expanded the legal rights of those accused of criminal acts, they provided an increased right to privacy on the part of ordinary citizens.

Blackmun was a staunch supporter of the First Amendment, of the strong separation of church and state, and of affirmative action. At the end of his legal career, Justice Blackmun shifted his opinion on the constitutionality of the death penalty because of his growing belief that the death penalty was applied in an inherently random and arbitrary fashion. He retired from the bench in 1994. Blackmun, Harry A.  (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica

Death Penalty Information Center by Richard C. Dieter, Esq. Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center June 1996, http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/592

“What killed Illinois' death penalty — It wasn’t the question of morality but the question of accuracy that led state to abolish capital punishment,”  March 10, 2011,  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-death-penalty-history20110309,0,2336421.story

“Illinois Gov. Quinn signs bill banning death penalty” (Andrew Stern and Mary Wisniewski),

March 9, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/us-illinois-death-penalty-idUSTRE72861120110309

Patrick Quinn

Governor of State of Illinois, 2009-present (Last Elected: 11/02/2010 ); Assumed Office of Governor, State of Illinois, Upon Governor Rod Blagojevich’s Removal From Office, January 29, 2009; Lieutenant Governor, State of Illinois, 2002-2009; Illinois State Treasurer, 1991-1995; Commissioner, Cook County Board of Tax Appeals, 1982

Founder of Coalition for Political Honesty, 1975; Oversees, Ceasar Chavez Service Learning Project; Healy Smiles Campaign; Oversees, Illinois Main Street; Project Child Safe

Chair, Illinois Delegation, Bi-National Great Lakes Commission; Chair, Blackout Solutions Task Force; Broadband Deployment Council; Chair, Governor’s Rural Affairs Council; Illinois Affordable Housing Task Force; Illinois Biofuels Investment and Infrastructure Working Group; Illinois Green Government Coordinating Council; Oversees, Illinois Rain Garden Initiative; Chair, Illinois River Coordinating Council; Chair, Mississippi River Coordinating Council; Chair, Special Task Force on the Condition and Future of the Illinois Energy Infrastructure

JD, Northwestern University School of Law

Bachelor’s degree in International Economics, Georgetown University

Contact Information: Capitol Website: http://www.illinois.gov/govhtt ...

Capitol Webmail: http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/P ...

http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=33437

http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=33437 

Governor Pat Quinn (IL)

“Figures on the death penalty” — Amnesty International has been monitoring developments around the use of the death penalty and campaigning for its abolition for more than three decades. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/illinois-abolishes-death-penalty-2011-03-10

In 2009, 18 countries around the world were known to have carried out death sentences and at least 56 to have imposed death sentences.

Abolitionist and retentionist countries

More than two-thirds of the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. The numbers are as follows:

Abolitionist for all crimes: 95

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only: 9

Abolitionist in practice: 35

Total Abolitionist in law or practice: 139
Retentionist: 58

Countries in the four categories: abolitionist for all crimes, abolitionist for ordinary crimes only, abolitionist in practice and retentionist

1. ABOLITIONIST FOR ALL CRIMES
Countries whose laws do not provide for

the death penalty for any crime:

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome And Principe, Senegal, Serbia (including Kosovo), Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela

2. ABOLITIONIST FOR ORDINARY CRIMES ONLY
Countries whose laws provide for the death penalty only for exceptional crimes such as crimes under military law or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances:

Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Fiji, Israel, Kazakstan,  Latvia, Peru

3. ABOLITIONIST IN PRACTICE
Countries retaining the death penalty for ordinary crimes such as murder but can be considered abolitionist in practice in that they have not executed anyone during the past 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.  The list also includes countries which have made an international commitment not to use the death penalty:

Algeria, Benin, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo (Republic of), Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nauru, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tonga, Tunisia, Zambia

The Russian Federation introduced a moratorium on executions in August 1996 but carried out executions in the Chechen Republic in the period 1996-1999

4. RETENTIONIST

Countries and territories that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes:

Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe

Countries which have abolished the death penalty since 1976, showing that in the past decade, an average of over three countries a year have abolished the death penalty in law or, having done so for ordinary offences, have gone on to abolish it for all offences.

COUNTRIES THAT HAVE ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY SINCE 1976

1976: Portugal abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1978: Denmark abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1979: Luxembourg, Nicaragua and Norway abolished the death penalty for all crimes

Brazil, Fiji and Peru abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
1981: France and Cape Verde abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1982: The Netherlands abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1983: Cyprus and El Salvador abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
1984: Argentina abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
1985: Australia abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1987: Haiti, Liechtenstein and the German Democratic Republic  abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1989: Cambodia, New Zealand, Romania and Slovenia  abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1990: Andorra, Croatia, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Mozambique, Namibia and Sao Tomé and Príncipe abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1992: Angola, Paraguay and Switzerland abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1993: Guninea-Bissau, Hong Kong and Seychelles abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1994: Italy abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1995: Djibouti, Mauritius, Moldova and Spain abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1996: Belgium abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1997: Georgia, Nepal, Poland and South Africa abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Bolivia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
1998: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1999: East Timor, Turkmenistan and Ukraine abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Latvia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
2000: Cote D'Ivoire and Malta abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Albania abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
2001: Bosnia-Herzegovina abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Chile abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
2002: Cyprus and Yugoslavia (now two states Serbia and Montenegro abolished the death penalty for all crimes
2003: Armenia abolished the death penalty for all crimes
2004: Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal and Turkey abolished the death penalty for all crimes
2005: Liberia and Mexico abolished the death penalty for all crimes
2006: Philippines abolished the death penalty for all crimes
2007: Albania, Cook Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Rwanda abolished the death penalty for all crimes Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
2008: Uzbekistan and Argentina abolish the death penalty for all crimes
2009: Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes

See also, though not up to date: World Statistics: The Death Penalty Worldwide, Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html; The Death Penalty Worldwide — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html#ixzz1GDyLUoNX

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html

_________________________________________


Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

_________________________________________