Capital Punishment in the United States of America

Capital Punishment in the United States of America

Description

In Christian theology, there is a biblical injunction which dictates that “to whom much is given, much is required; to whom much more is given, much more will be required.” This moral construct comes to mind when one examines violations of human rights in a nation as wealthy and influential as the United States. Despite the fact that the U.S. frequently pursues vigorous and aggressive policies relating to human rights violations in other countries, it remains one of the world’s biggest human rights offenders in relation to capital punishment. There are few places in the world where the enthusiasm for executions is more pronounced, where questions of unfairness, race and economic discrimination in capital sentencing are more persistent, and where the lack of compliance with international law and standards is more vexing. Since the death penalty was resurrected in 1976, there have been over 550 executions in the United States. Most of these executions have taken place in the last ten years when support for capital punishment has generated greater political resonance and federal courts have retreated from the kind of oversight and review of death cases that existed in the early 1980s. In the last year of the 20th century, the world’s “leading democracy” will probably execute close to 100 of its residents. Almost all of them will be poor, a disproportionately high number will belong to racial minorities with crime victims who are white, many of the executed will be mentally ill, some will have been juveniles at the time their crimes occurred, and there is not meaningful assurance that all of the executed will be guilty of the crimes for which they have been convicted.

Source Publication

The Death Penalty: Condemned

Source Editors/Authors

International Commission of Jurists

Publication Date

2000

Capital Punishment in the United States of America

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