INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL SEMINAR I SEMINAR I VOCABULARY RELATED TO THE DEATH PENALTY

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime.

DEATH ROW Death row, in English- speaking countries that have capital punishment, is the place, often a section of a prison, that houses prisoners awaiting execution.

CLEMENCY Leniency or mercy. A power given to a public official, such as a governor or the president, to in some way lower or moderate the harshness of punishment imposed upon a prisoner, without forgiving the crime itself. The act of clemency is a reprieve.

COMMUTING SENTENCE Commutation of a sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional.

PARDON A legal release from the punishment for an unlawful act, given by a government official

ASYLUM A place of safety. The protection, physical and legal, afforded by such a place. A place of protection or restraint for one or more classes of the disadvantaged, especially the mentally ill

INHUMANE cruel and savage, not humane

PRIMITIVE one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity

CRUEL Cruelty is indifference to suffering, and even pleasure in inflicting it.

BRUTAL Brutal means cruel

ATROCIOUS Related to atrocity; horrifyingly wicked

CIVIL/UNCIVIL Civil: of or relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns, as distinct from military or ecclesiastical matters; relating to private relations between members of a community; noncriminal. Uncivil: Not civilized; savage; barbarous; uncivilized.

AMNESTY A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of persons, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. Amnesty is more and more used to express 'freedom' and the time when prisoners can go free.

DETERRENCE Deterrence is the use of punishment as a threat to deter people from offending. Deterrence is often contrasted with retributivism, which holds that punishment is a necessary consequence of a crime and should be calculated based on the gravity of the wrong done.

PREMEDITATED MURDER the unlawful killing of a person, esp. when done deliberately and planned ahead of time

MANSLAUGHTER the unlawful killing of a human being in which there is no prior intent to kill; the unlawful killing of one human being by another without malice aforethought

EXECUTION METHODS -LETHAL INJECTION -HANGING -ELECTRIC CHAIR -FIRING SQUAD -GAS CHAMBER

OTHER TERMS TO KNOW

PAROLE the conditional release of a person from prison prior to the end of the maximum sentence imposed. b. such release or its duration. c. an official document authorizing such a release.

INHUMAN Of or pertaining to inhumanity and the indifferently cruel, sadistic or barbaric behavior it brings.

BARBARIC/BARBARISM (adjective) brutally savage or cruel (noun) savage brutality or cruelty in actions

ATTORNEY A synonym for a lawyer One whose profession is to give legal advice and assistance to clients and represent them in court or in other legal matters.

PROSECUTOR a person, esp. a public official, who institutes legal proceedings against someone. a lawyer who conducts the case against a defendant in a criminal court. Also called prosecuting attorney or district attorney.

BAIL the temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, sometimes on condition that a sum of money be lodged to guarantee their appearance in court. "he has been released on bail"

TO BAIL OUT To secure the release of by providing a sum of money

JURY a body of people (typically twelve in number) sworn to give a verdict in a legal case on the basis of evidence submitted to them in court.

VERDICT the decision made by a jury in a trial.

DEFENDANT a person against whom an action or claim is brought in a court of law.

VENGEANCE the act of doing something to hurt someone because that person did something that hurt you or someone else.

ASSAILANT a person who physically attacks another.

WITNESS a person who sees an event, typically a crime or accident, take place. h?v=vJG698U2Mvo h?v=vJG698U2Mvo

LETHAL Of, relating to, or causing death.

BIAS a tendency toward judging something without full knowledge of it; prejudice

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE Information and testimony presented by a party in a civil or criminal action that permit conclusions that indirectly establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact or event that the party seeks to prove.

RACIAL DISPARITY Racial disparity is the discrimination among people who are not of the same racial backgrounds. This is characterized by denial of their human rights of freedom of expression especially in public places.

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