United States of America v. Burns

The Death Penalty Around the World About 140 countries have abolished the death penalty 50 countries have it on the books but don’t use it 36 countries continue to use the death penalty 22 of these countries carried out executions in 2013

But democratic countries? Japan and the U.S are the only 2 industrial democracies that use the death penalty In the U.S. it is for serious felonies 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional 1976, reinstated the death penalty (coincidently same year Canada abolished) Death penalty continues in 34 states

Some statistics on the U.S.A executions 1930s saw the most executions with almost 170 per year Since 1976, there have been 1394 executions, only 15 were women 98% of executions and death row inmates are male 2013, there were 39 executions in the U.S 3035 people remain on death row today

BUT….THIS ALL CHANGED……WITH US V. BURNS!!!!!! Extradition Due to the relative ease of crossing the border, occasionally persons who commit death penalty crimes in the U.S will flee to Canada Once captured, they resist extradition to the US In 1991, S.C.C. in the Charles Ng case decided that extradition from Canada would be allowed in cases where the death penalty was a possibility BUT….THIS ALL CHANGED……WITH US V. BURNS!!!!!!

Facts of the case… Atif Rafay and Sebastian Burns (18 years old), friends who attended West Vancouver High School together Rafay’s family relocated to Bellevue, Washington (midway during grade 12 year). He decided to finish school in Vancouver July 7th, 1994 – Burns and Rafay travelled by bus to visit Rafay’s family 6 days later (2 a.m.), Burns made a 911 call from the Rafay home reporting the deaths (parents and sister)

Facts continued… They claimed they were out at a movie and dinner and returned to the gruesome scene Police suspected triple murders Large amount of blood found, hair in shower matched burns Before they could be arrested, they bolted to Vancouver and started spending inheritance money Family estate value: ½ a million dollars and life insurance pushed that higher

The teens confessed to RCMP in B.C. Confession The teens confessed to RCMP in B.C. With confession in hand, proceedings to extradite them to face trial in Washington began Took 6 years (changed the Canadian law of extradition for criminals facing the death penalty in the United States)

Extradition Treaty subject to the Charter Under treaty between Canada and U.S.A, federal minister of Justice in Canada can approve extraditions Minister may seek assurances the fugitives would not get the death penalty A vote demonstrated that capital punishment violates the principles of fundamental justice Section 7  “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person…”

Where are they now? Within a month of the S.C.C decision, Rafay and Burns were extradited to Washington Prosecutor in charge promised he would not seek the death penalty for the 2 accused Convicted of 3 counts of aggravated murder and sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole

How they responded to incarceration Rafay  advocates for prison education programs and has published an essay where he talks about the decline of his life behind bars Burns  he has struggled in jail where he has had many infractions. He has been assaulted by inmates and has been penalized for fighting and stealing. Suffered an eating disorder and mental health problems. He has refused to eat, has been force fed, spends most of his time in solitary confinement.