The Death Penalty

Capital punishment in the UK at common law -early Norman times – felonies (castration or blinding) -by the 13th century – all felonies (death by hanging, being drawn and quartered for treason) -in the 17th century – 50 offences

under statute -the ”Bloody Code” – 220 crimes to be punished with death in England -e.g. theft of goods valued at 12 pence, being in the company of Gypsies for a month -however, often not carried out for minor offences (murder, robbery and burglary always) commuted or respited = about death sentences, 7000 executions

Reform Sir Samuel Romilly – pickpocketing – judges allowed to commute the sentence except for murder and treason – theft – civilian capital crimes reduced to: murder, treason, espionage, arson in royal dockyards and piracy with violence – public executions abolished – beheading and quartering executed traitors stopped

-Childrens Act 1908 – juveniles under – recommendation for suspension of capital punishment for 5 years – pregnant women – minimum age for capital punishment – clause within the Criminal Justice Bill called for an experimental 5-year suspension

– Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (”whether the liability to suffer capital punishment should be limited or modified”) -their report recommended abolition from an ethical standpoint but made no mention of possible miscarriages of justice -Homicide Act 1957 – distinction between capital and non-capital homicide

Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act suspended the death penalty for murder in England, Scotland and Wales for 5 years and substituted a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment – the Act became permanent – the death penalty for murder abolished in Northern Ireland -vote held every subsequent year in Parliament to restore the death penalty

1998 -complete abolition of the death penalty (6th protocol of the ECHR) -last death sentence – Liam Holden, 1973, Northern Ireland -last execution – Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans, 1964, England – the UK acceded to the 13th protocol which prohibits the death penalty under all circumstances

Capital punishment in the USA legal sentence in 32 states -Michigan, Alaska and Hawaii never had the death penalty -abolition from in some states abolition is not retroactive

Furman v Georgia the Supreme Court considered a group of consolidated cases -the lead case involved an individual convicted under Georgia's death penalty statute, which featured a "unitary trial" procedure in which the jury was asked to return a verdict of guilt or innocence and, simultaneously, determine whether the defendant would be punished by death or life imprisonment -the Supreme Court struck down the impositions of the death penalty in each of the consolidated cases as unconstitutional -executions suspended

The Supreme Court Atkins v Virginia (2002) -the execution of mentally retarded inmates is "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment Roper v Simmons (2005) -abolished executions for persons under the age of 18 at the time of the crime

Offences murder (aggravating circumstances) treason use of a weapon of mass destruction espionage terrorism certain violations of the Geneva Convention - last execution for offence other than murder or conspiracy to murder (1964, robbery, Alabama) -Uniform Code of Military Justice (desertion, mutiny, spying, assault upon a commanding officer)

Legal process 1.Sentencing 2.Direct review (legal appeal) outcomes: a)affirm the judgment, let the sentence stand b)reverse the judgment, nullify the sentence, order a new capital sentencing hearing c)acquit the defendant of the crime for which they received the death penalty and order him sentenced to the next most severe punishment 3. State collateral review

4. Federal habeas corpus -to ensure that state courts, through the process of direct review and state collateral review, have done at least a reasonable job in protecting the prisoner's federal constitutional rights 5. the Section 1983 challenge - the Supreme Court approved the use of Section 1983 (Civil Rights Act 1871) as a vehicle for challenging a state's method of execution as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment

Method historically: burning, crushing, breaking on wheel, bludgeoning, hanging in chains, hanging, firing quad, electric chair, gas chamber now: electrocution, death by firing squad, hanging, gas chamber and lethal injection

Abolitionist v retentionist countries Total abolitionist in law or practice: 140 Retentionist: 58 (China, India, Japan, Singapore, the USA) 2013 – at least 778 (80% in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia) (+ thousands executed in China) = 37 countries 22

Thank you!