the situation in Italy

 

and in America

 

 

 photo from flickr 

 

 

Introduction La pena di morte in Italia Un po' di storia La disputa contro la pena di morte L' ergastolo The death penalty in the USA Historical background Legal aspects Preliminary tool: A brief introduction to American sources of law American legal system on death penalty Methods of execution Controversial issues about the death penalty Is the death penalty a real deterrent for crimes?  Does the capital punishment cost less than life imprisonment?  Are many innocent people sentenced to death? Comparison between Italy and the United States (Confronto fra l'Italia e gli StatiUniti) L'opinione degli Italiani Americans' opinion

 

Introduction

 

The aim of this wiki page is to analyse a very controversial issue: the death penalty. Knowing that this practice is not adopted by both countries, we decided to develop a contrastive analysis of the situation in the US and in Italy; our purpose was to understand the reasons why the first country still maintains this kind of sentence, while the second one chose to abolish it.

The first section deals with the abolition of the death penalty in Italy, its substitution with the "ergastolo" (that is, life imprisonment) and the Italian struggle against this practice. The second section explains the process of introduction of the capital punishment in the American judicial system, the methods of execution and the most debated issues concerning this topic. The last section provides a comparison between American and Italian public opinion.

 

Alessandra, Artem, Elena and Sara

 

 

 

 

 

La pena di morte in Italia

 

 

 

Un po' di storia

 

Oggi la pena di morte non esiste in Italia. Anche l'Italia è uno dei paesi dove la pena di morte e' stata abolita. All'epoca l'Italia non era unificata, ma era composta da un gran numero di piccoli stati. Il primo di questi paesi dove la pena di morte e' stata abolita fu il Granducato di Toscana (durante il regno di Leopoldo II), il 30 novembre 1786. Pero' quando l'Italia e' stata unificata ed il Regno d'Italia e' stato proclamato nel 1860, la pena di morte ancora esisteva, ad eccezione della Toscana. La pena di morte venne abolita nel 1889 anche nel Regno d'Italia. Questo venne approvato da entrambe le Camere con l'appoggio del ministro Zanardelli. Comunque la pena di morte ancora esisteva nel codice penale militare e coloniale.

Nel 1926 la pena di morte fu reintrodotta da Mussolini, per punire coloro che avessero attentato alla vita o alla libertà della famiglia reale o capo del governo e per vari reati contro lo stato. Il Codice Rocco, entrato in vigore il 1 luglio 1931, aumentò il numero dei reati contro lo stato punibili con la morte e reintrodusse la pena di morte per alcuni gravi reati comuni.

Quando la Costituzione Italiana venne approvata il 27 dicembre 1947, la pena di morte venne abolita per tutti i crimini civili e militari solo durante il periodo di pace. Nel 1994 la pena di morte e' stata abolita dal codice penale militare.^[1][2]

 

 

 

 

La disputa contro la pena di morte

 

Oggi l'Italia e' un leader della campagna globale per abolire la pena di morte. Lo scopo di questa campagna e' un divieto a livello mondiale. L'Italia chiede all'unione Europea l'approvazione  della risoluzione per approvare la moratoria universale contro le esecuzioni.  Ci sono anche le organizzazioni non governative come Nessuno tocchi Caino (HOC - Hands Off Cain) che lottano contro la pena di morte e danno il loro appoggio all'iniziativa Italiana. Tuttavia e' troppo difficile promuovere questa idea all'interno dell'ONU (Nazioni Unite), perche' molti paesi membri del ONU, in particolare gli Stati Uniti, ed altri che, pur non aderendovi, rimangono comunque molto influenti (come la Cina) approvano la pratica delle esecuzioni e si oppongono fortemente contro la decisone italiana. Inoltre alcuni membri dell'EU non vogliono fare pressione su paesi influenti come Iran ed Arabia Saudita. Anche in Europa ci sono alcuni paesi che vogliono reintrodurre la pena di morte, nonostante la diversa opinione dell'EU. Ad esempio, il nuovo Primo Ministro della Polonia ha dichiarato di voler restaurare la pena di morte come un deterrente, perche' sostiene che adesso c'e' molto crimine in Polonia. La Bielorussia, dopo aver aderito alla moratoria, ha effettuato due esecuzioni nel 2005. Poichè  l'unanimita' e' un valore basilare su cui si fonda l' Unione Europea, il disaccordo intorno a questo problema e' una sfida per tutti paesi.^[3]

 

 

 

 photo from flickr 

 

 

 

L' ergastolo

 

In Italia l'ergastolo sostituisce la pena di morte. E' la massima pena prevista nell'ordinamento giuridico italiano. Il termine "ergastolo" viene dalla Roma Antica dove ergastoli erano i campi di lavoro per schiavi puniti. Ergastolo e' un periodo di tempo indeterminato. Dopo 10 anni (8 anni in caso di una buona condotta) ai prigionieri viene concesso un permesso per lavorare fuori la prigione durante una giornata, o trascorrere 45 giornate all'anno a casa. Dopo 26 anni in prigione (21 in caso di buona condotta) il governo puo' assegnare la liberta' ai prigionieri. ^[4] E' Il Tribunale di Sorveglianza ad analizzare caso per caso ogni provvedimento. I prigionieri che sono stati condannati per l'accusa di legami con la mafia o con i terroristi, o coloro che non vogliono cooperare con le forze dell'ordine, non possono ricevere la riduzione della pena. Pero' l'affermazione al perdono non e' semplice (vedi Art. 176 del Codice Penale Italiano). Un carcerato che ha ricevuto due ergastoli o piu' deve trascorrere da 3 mesi a 6 anni in isolamento (dipende dal caso specifico).

Nel 1994 la Corte Costituzionale ha deciso che i minorenne (18 anni o meno) non possono ricevere ergastolo perche' questo e' troppo crudele.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The death penalty in the USA

 

 

 

 Today among the 50 states, the death penalty is abolished in 13 states and 5 more states have not carried out any executions recently. 

 

 

 

 image from amnesty international usa 

 

Historical background

 

First of all we must say that capital punischment is a legal process which ends the life of a felon. In the United States, nowadays, it is employed rarely and is practiced only in cases involving murder. The history of capital punishment in the U.S. begins in the colonies whose laws were based on the laws of their home countries. It was carried over into the U.S. law and into the laws of most of the U.S. states and territories. The methods of execution and the crimes for which criminals would be subjects to the penalty vary by jurisdiction and have varied widely throughout time. Some jurisdictions have banned it, others have suspended its use, but others are trying to expand its applicability.

 

A brief history of the death penalty in the U.S. starts from 1930, when death penalty statistics began to be collected on a regular basis. This history emphasizes death penalty statistics and the constitutional history of the death penalty, and is based primarily on the annual capital punishment bulletins of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.

 

Britain influenced America's use of the death penalty more than any other country. When European settlers came to the new world, they brought the practice of capital punishment. The first known execution in the territory now known as the United States of America was of Captain George Kendall, who was shot by a firing squad in Jamestown in December 1607 (other sources say sometime in 1608), accused of sowing discord and mutiny (some sources say he was also accused of spying against the British for Spain). In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians. The next known execution, also in the Colony of Virginia, was of Daniel Frank, put to death in 1622 for the crime of theft. Since then the death penalty has almost always been a feature of the criminal justice system, first in the American colonies and then, after independence, in the U.S.

 

From 1930, the first year for which statistics are readily available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, to 1967, 3,859 persons were executed under civil jurisdiction in the United States. During this period of nearly half a century, over half of those (54%) executed were black, 45 percent were white, and the remaining one percent were members of other racial groups -- American Indians (a total of 19 executed from 1930-1967), Filipino (13), Chinese (8), and Japanese (2). The vast majority of those executed were men; 32 women were executed from 1930 to 1967.

 

Three out of five executions during that period took place in the southern U.S. The state of Georgia had the highest number of executions during the period, totalling 366. Texas followed with 297 executions; New York with 329; California with 292; and North Caroline with 263. Most executions were for the crime of murder; 455 prisoners (12%) were executed for rape; 70 prisoners were executed for other offenses.

 

By the end of the 1960s, all but 10 states had laws authorizing capital punishment, but strong pressure by forces opposed to the death penalty resulted in an official moratorium on executions for several years, with the last execution during this period taking place in 1967. Prior to this, an average of 130 executions per year occurred.

^[5] 

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 struck down state death penalty laws, a ruling that also brought federal executions to a halt. In 1976, the court reinstated the death penalty after the adoption of new procedures. From 1982 to 1999, 250 to 350 persons were annually sentenced to death but in the last three years the number of death sentences has dropped dramatically.

 

 

 

 

Then, the number of executions has gradually increased as appeals have become exhausted. In 1999, the number reached 100 but it has dropped since 2004.

 

 

As for the percentage of people who were executed, there are deep racial differences in the aplication of the death penalty. As the table below clearly shows, as to perpetrators, any discimination would be equivalent to the overall discrimination in the criminal justice system. African-American receive the death sentence at a rate far greater than their proportion of the general population or of the prison population.

 

 

But as to victims, there is a discriminatory pattern. The death penalty is far more likely imposed on an African-American if the victim is white. Speaking about minors as subjects to the death penalty, they were really subjects to it in the majority of states where the death penalty is still practiced. Fortunatly, on March 1st, 2005, the U.S Supreme Court abolished the death penalty for minors. 

 

^[6] 

 

 

 

 

Legal aspects

 

Preliminary tool: A brief introduction to American sources of law

 

 

The United States Constitution, signed in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ratified in 1789, established the U.S. government, and its power is still valid. In 1791 United States of America adopted, as amendment of the Constitution, the United States Bill of Rights, whose aim is to guarantee the "essential rights and liberties omitted in the crafting of the original document"^[7].

 

The American Constitution is the most important source of law and it cannot be contradicted by other legal sources. It moreover fixes the limits of the federal and state law, and together with the latter supersede the so-called common law, in which court decisions have regulating power for the matters on which neither the Constitution nor the Congress have ruled yet. If a law contrasts the Constitution, the Supreme Court has the power to declare it unconstitutional and start an abolition process.

 

 

The Constitution gave the power to the Congress to enact statutes on various matters, which have been gathered in the United States Code. Under the constitutional and federal principles, the fifty American states have their own constitution, are given the power to decree and have their body of case law interpreting state law meaning.^[8]

American legal system on death penalty

 

During the 1980s many states and the Congress progressively reduced capital punishments in order to be in line with previous decisions of the Supreme Court. However, in 1994 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, also known as Biden crime law, enlarged the cases in which death penalty is authorized.

 

Death penalty is considered, by 37 American states and under federal and military law, the proper punishment for serious crimes, which the most are felonies (i.e. murder, forcible rape, armed robbery). Due to the American federal system, each state and territory apply its set of rules and regulations which affect the way judicial process displays as well as the equivalence between criminal offense and punishment. Punishment for penal crimes can consist in fines, imprisonment or death when the violation breakes against a "criminal statute enacted by the Congress, a state legislature, or some other public authority"^[9]. For these reasons, felonies can be differently identified according to the federal, military or state law considered, and the consequent punishment given. In general, however, capital sentences are subsequent to conventional crimes against the person with a certain degree of violence, and political crimes constituting offense against the government (i.e. treason).

 

In time of war, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Military court can opt fot death penalty. An unanimous conviction of a death-eligible offense must be reached by a group of at least five military members; punishment, once sentenced, can be reduced by the convening authority. Actually death sentences are "imposed by military courts-martial or military tribunals and approved by the President of the United States"^[10]. Last military execution took place on 04/13/1961, when U.S. Army Private John A. Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.^[11]

 

 Death penalty is applied following the mens rea principle, which refers to intentionality standing behind the felony committed. Within the Law of the United States, crimes are distinguished on the basis of the mens rea element because negligence or accident causing harm is, in the eyes of the state, an action less serious than an intentional one. Thus, the accidental killing of a person will not be called murder but more likely “negligent homicide”; if the killing is provoked by a sane individual with malice aforethought the murder will be called “in the first degree”; there will be probably a “murder in the second degree” for a killing under alcoholic or drug effects. When dealing with death penalty the role of the mens rea principle is important because states differ capital punishment applications depending on the degree of intentionality and the presence of aggravating circumstances.^[12]

 

 

Alabama	Intentional murder with 18 aggravating factors (Ala. Stat. Ann. 13A-5-40(a)(1)-(18)).	New Hampshire	Six categories of capital murder (RSA 630:1, RSA 630:5). Amended the capital statute to increase the minimum age of eligibility for a death sentence from 17 to 18 years at the time the offense was committed (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 630:1,V), effective 1/1/2006.
Arizona	First-degree murder accompanied by at least 1 of 14 aggravating factors (A.R.S 13-703(F)).	New Jersey	Murder by one's own conduct, by solicitation, committed in furtherance of a narcotics conspiracy, or during the commission of the crime of terrorism (NJSA 2C:11-3C). NOTE: On December 17, 2007, the New Jersey death penalty was abolished.
Arkansas	Capital murder (Ark. Code Ann. 5-10-101) with a finding of at least 1 of 10 aggravating circumstances; treason.	New Mexico	First-degree murder with at least 1 of 7 statutorily-defined aggravating circumstances (Section 30-2-1 A, NMSA).
California	First-degree murder with special circumstances; train wrecking; treason; perjury causing execution.	New York	First-degree murder with 1 of 13 aggravating factors (NY Penal Law Sec. 125.27). NOTE: On June 24, 2004, the New York death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional.
Colorado	First-degree murder with at least 1 of 17 aggravating factors; treason.	North Carolina	First-degree murder (NCGS 14-17).
Connecticut	Capital felony with 8 forms of aggravated homicide (C.G.S. 53a-54b).	Ohio	Aggravated murder with at least 1 of 10 aggravating circumstances (O.R.C. secs. 2903.01, 2929.02, and 2929.04).
Delaware	First-degree murder with at least 1 aggravating circumstances.	Oklahoma	First-degree murder in conjunction with a finding of at least 1 of 8 statutorily-defined aggravating circumstances; sex crimes against a child under 14 years of age. Added as a capital offense sex crimes against a child under 14 years of age when the offender has a previous conviction for a similar offense (Okla. Stat. Ann. 10 § 7115), effective 7/1/2006.
Florida	First-degree murder; felony murder; capital drug trafficking; capital sexual battery.	Oregon	Aggravated murder (ORS 163.095).
Georgia	Murder; kidnapping with bodily injury or ransom when the victim dies; aircraft hijacking; treason.	Pennsylvania	First-degree murder with 18 aggravating circumstances.
Idaho	First-degree murder with aggravating factors; aggravated kidnapping, perjury resulting in death.	South Carolina	Murder with 1 of 12 aggravating circumstances (§ 16-3-20(C)(a)); criminal sexual conduct with a minor with 1 of 9 aggravators (§ 16-3-655). Added as a capital offense second and subsequent offenses of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor who is less than 11 years of age (§16-3-655). Lawmakers also added as an aggravating factor murder committed by a person deemed a sexually violent predator under South Carolina law (§16-3-20(C)(a)(12). Both changes were effective 7/1/2006.
Illinois	First-degree murder with 1 of 21 aggravating circumstances.	South Dakota	First-degree murder with 1 of 10 aggravating circumstances. Amended the definition of aggravated kidnapping to eliminate death as a possible sentence (SDCL 22-19-1), effective 7/1/2006.
Indiana	Murder with 16 aggravating circumstances (IC 35-50-2-9).	Tennessee	First-degree murder with 1 of 15 aggravating circumstances (Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 39-13-204).
Kansas	Capital murder with 8 aggravating circumstances (KSA 21-3439, KSA 21-4625).	Texas	Criminal homicide with 1 of 9 aggravating circumstances (TX Penal Code 19.03).
Kentucky	Murder with aggravating factors; kidnapping with aggravating factors (KRS 32.025).	Utah	Aggravated murder (76-5-202, Utah Code Annotated).
Louisiana	First-degree murder; aggravated rape of victim under age 13; treason (La. R.S. 14:30, 14:42, and 14:113). Revised the definition of aggravated rape as a capital-eligible offense to include any offense involving victims under age 13. (2006 La. Sess. Law, Act 178), effective 8/15/2006.	Virginia	First-degree murder with 1 of 13 aggravating circumstances (VA Code 18.2-31).
Maryland	First-degree murder, either premeditated or during the commission of a felony, provided that certain death eligibility requirements are satisfied.	Washington	Aggravated first-degree murder.
Mississippi	Capital murder (97-3-19(2) MCA); aircraft piracy (97-25-55(1) MCA).	Wyoming	First-degree murder.
Montana	Capital murder with 1 of 9 aggravating circumstances (Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-303); aggravated sexual intercourse without consent (Mont. Code Ann. § 45-5-503).	Nebraska	First-degree murder with a finding of at least 1 statutorily-defined aggravating circumstance.
Nevada	First-degree murder with at least 1 of 15 aggravating circumstances (NRS 200.030, 200.033, 200.035).

 

Data taken from DPIC website. Tab contents: Crimes involving death penalty punishment, as well as the relative law code for each DP applying state. Note that: " In 2008 the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the use of the electric chair as a method of execution violates the Nebraska Constitution. With no alternative methods of execution on the books, Nebraska is practically without a death penalty".^[13]

 

 

Methods of execution

 

In the cases involving federal law and state law, of the 37 states applying death penalty, five methods of execution are prescribed: electrocution, firing squad, hanging, lethal gas and lethal injection. Although the greater number of states practicing lethal injection, twenty jurisdictions have alternative methods of execution, depending on the inmate’s choice, the sentence, the date of execution, or the possibility that the former method is found unconstitutional. States applying lethal gas, hanging, or firing squad provide lethal injection as an alternative method of execution. Until recently, Nebraska was the sole state applying electrocution as the only method of execution, without prescribing an alternative method; in 2008 the Supreme Court judged the electrocution unconstitutional to the Constitution of Nebraska. Actually, without an alternative method of execution, Nebraska cannot apply capital punishment^[14].

 

Electrocution

This procedure started in 1888 in the state of New York, and in 1890 William Kemmler was the first man put to death through electric chair. This method of execution was the most used during 1930-1980.

Before the electrocution takes place the inmate is settled on a diaper and his/her skin is shaved where the electrodes will be placed. The offender enters the execution chamber and is set on chair made of oak, with leather straps to secure the inmate to the right position. The inmate's arms, legs, chest, and thighs are tied to the chair. A mask is put on the inmate's face and the electrodes are attached to the head and legs. During the first bolt, which usually takes from half a minute to a minute, 1700 to 2400 volts of electricity are sent through the inmate’s body. If needed, a second shock or more are provided if the inmate hasn't died yet. After the first shock witnesses watching would probably see smoke coming from the areas where the electrodes were attached. When the execution ends, the body is so hot that blisters if touched, and organs have to cool before the autopsy can take place. As a matter of fact, the executed inmate's body receives a third degree burns and turns black where the electrodes were placed. After autopsy, many medical examiners refer that the brain of the inmate seems to be cooked^[15].

 

photo from flickr  

 

 

 

Firing Squad

Idaho is the only state allowing firing squad as the method of execution, proving Lethal Injection as an alternative.

In the room where the shooting takes place, the inmate is bound to a special chair which is settled on a pan whose function is to gather the inmate's blood. Sandbags behind the chair prevent the bullets from ricocheting, and absorb some of the blood. Dark sheets cover the sandbags. About 20 feet far from the chair, there is a wall behind which riflemen stand and eventually shoot from an hole in it. Witnesses can attend the execution from two rooms edging the execution area. When the time comes, the inmate, dressed in dark blue, is tied to che chair with restraints on the hands, feet, chest and neck. After the o says their last words, the command is given, and all 6 riflemen simultaneously fire their 30 calibre rifles. The command target to a black hood on the inmate's head and a white circle on their chest, in the heart area. One of the shooters is given a blank round, but none of them knows to whom; in effect, none of the shooters will know who shot the fatal shot. When execution is done correctly, the inmate quickly dies from blood loss. However, if all the shooters miss the heart the inmate dies much slower.

Last execution with this method, took place in Utah in 1996, by the inmate John Albert Taylor’s own choosing^[16].

 

 

 

photo from flickr 

 

 

Hanging

Hanging, the oldest method of execution of U.S., was briefly substituted by electrocution after 1890s.

A day before the execution date, the inmate is weighed, and a sandbag of the same weight is made. During the execution rehearsal, the sandbag is used to figure out the length of the rope, which must have the right measure to break the inmate's neck so to guarantee a quick death. The rope is boiled and stretched so that it does not spring back up after the inmate's drop. Once the inmate says his last words a hood is put to cover up his head. The rope is then put around the inmate's neck with the noose placed behind the left ear so that the neck will snap. The trap door is then opened.

Last hanging occurred in 1998. Actually, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Washington allow this method of execution alternatively to lethal injection^[17].

 

 

photo from flickr 

Lethal Gas

In 1924 Nevada started to adopt lethal gas because it was believed to be a more humane method to execute the felons.

After the inmate is led into the airtight chamber, he is settled on one of the two chairs placed in the middle of the chamber, and bound with restraints on his/her chest, waist, arms and ankles. The door is then sealed. At the right moment, executioners outside the chamber turn keys to start the deadly substance going. "Under the chair there is a bowl with sulfuric acid. A switch gives free small cyanide balls to fall into the acid and making deadly hydrogen cyanide from it."^[18] It takes from six to eighteen minutes for the death to be declared. After the poisonous gas is released, the inmate should take fast and deep breath to fall unconscious; if he/she catches their breath death will take longer and will be painful. The poisonous gas make the body unable to absorb oxygen; the inmate dies for suffocation. After the execution, ammonia is pumped into the chamber in order to take up the lethal gas. For safety, half an hour later, executioners enter the chamber and remove the body. The dead inmate hair should be cut in order to remove possible poisonous particles still active.

In Arizona in 1999 took place last capital execution with lethal gas.^[19]

 

 

 photo from flickr 

 

 

Lethal Injection

Since 1977 Oklahoma has been the first state opting for lethal injection. However, only in 1982, first execution with lethal injection took place in Texas. Out of 1,004 executions on record in the United States 863 were by means of lethal injection.

The inmate is led into the execution chamber and strapped onto the execution table. Two intravenous catheters (IV) are inserted in the inmate's arms after swabbed and sterilized with alcohol; the second IV supplies if the former fails.

Alabama	Effective 7/1/02, lethal injection will be administered unless the inmate requests electrocution.
Arizona	Authorizes lethal injection for persons sentenced after 11/15/92; those sentenced before that date may select lethal injection or lethal gas.
Arkansas	Authorizes lethal injection for persons whose offense occurred on or after 7/4/83; those who committed their offense before that date may select lethal injection or electrocution.
California	Provides that lethal injection be administered unless the inmate requests lethal gas.
Colorado	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Connecticut	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Delaware	Lethal Injection is the sole method. Hanging was an alternative for those whose offense occurred prior to 6/13/86, but as of July 2003 no inmates on death row were elligible to choose this alternative and Delaware dismantled its gallows.
Florida	Allows prisoners to choose between lethal injection and electrocution
Georgia	Lethal injection is the sole method. (On October 5, 2001, the Georgia Supreme Court held that the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment and struck down the state's use of the method)
Idaho	Authorizes firing squad only if lethal injection is "impractical".
Illinois	Lethal injection is the state's method. However, it authorizes electrocution if lethal injection is ever held to be unconstitutional.
Indiana	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Kansas	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Kentucky	Authorizes lethal injection for those convicted after March 31, 1998; those who committed the offense before that date may select lethal injection or electrocution
Louisiana	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Maryland	Authorizes lethal injection for those whose capital offenses occurred on or after 3/25/94; those who committed the offense before that date may select lethal injection or lethal gas.
Mississippi	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Missouri	Authorizes lethal injection or lethal gas; the statute leaves unclear who decides what method to use, the inmate or the Director of the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Montana	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Nebraska	Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Currently, there is no other method in place.
Nevada	Lethal injection is the sole method.
New Hampshire	Authorizes hanging only if lethal injection cannot be given.
New Mexico	Lethal injection is the sole method.
North Carolina	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Ohio	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Oklahoma	Authorizes electrocution if lethal injection is ever held to be unconstitutional and firing squad if both lethal injection and electrocution are held unconstitutional.
Oregon	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Pennsylvania	Lethal injection is the sole method.
South Carolina	Allows prisoners to choose between lethal injection and electrocution
South Dakota	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Tennessee	Authorizes lethal injection for those whose capital offense occurred after December 31, 1998; those who committed the offense before that date may select electrocution by written waiver.
Texas	Lethal injection is the sole method.
Utah	Authorizes firing squad if lethal injection is held unconstitutional. Inmates who selected execution by firing squad prior to May 3, 2004, may still be entitled to execution by that method.
Virginia	Allows prisoners to choose between lethal injection and electrocution
Washington	Provides that lethal injection be administered unless the inmate requests hanging.
Wyoming	Authorizes lethal gas if lethal injection is ever held to be unconstitutional.
U.S. Military	Lethal injection is the sole method
U.S. Government	The method of execution of Federal prisoners for offenses under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is that of the state in which the conviction took place. If the state has no death penalty, the judge must choose a state with the death penalty for carrying out the execution. For offenses under the 1988 Drug Kingpin Law, the method of executions is lethal injection.

Data taken from the DPIC website (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Capital Punishment 2006; updated by DPIC). Tab of contents: Methods of execution for each state of the United States of America. Alternative methods included, as well.

 

 

 

 

Controversial issues about the death penalty

 

The capital punishment has been a contentious issue for a very long time. The phrase "an eye for an eye" written in the Exodus21:23–27 exorted a person who had taken the eye of another in a fight to give his own eye in compensation; on the other hand, Gandhi's wise response "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" sums up the main assumption underlying the contemporary abolitionist movement.

 

The controversy on the death penalty concerns basically three main points: the capacity of the capital punishment to effectively deter crimes; the costs of this kind of sentence compared with those of life imprisonment; the risk of executing innocent people.

1. Is the death penalty a real deterrent for crimes?

What people think in brief

Abolitionists	Anti-abolitionists
NO	YES
It doesn't deter people acting under the influence of drugs and / or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear and rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime (such as robbery), those who suffer from mental illness or mental retardation and do not full understand the gravity of their crime	It deters people by the threat of being executed for the crime they committed and prevent criminals from commiting it again

• the period of imprisonment is often reduced to just a certain number of years in most of the countries;
• relapse into crime after being released is very common. ^[23]
   

Who’s right? Actually, if we look at FBI data, we find that “the murder rate in non-Death Penalty states has remained consistently lower than the rate in States with the Death Penalty”. It seems that in many cases people affected by psychopathologies find in the risk of being caught and sentenced a powerful incentive to commit a murder or another violent crime: death would thus act not as a deterrent, but as a catalyzer.^[24]

 

 

 

Data from Amnesty international USA seems to indicate that the dealth penalty is not a deterrent for murders. ^[25]

 

 

 

2.  Does the capital punishment cost less than life imprisonment? 

What people think in brief

Abolitionists	Anti-abolitionists
NO	YES
Capital trials and procedures for executions cost much more than a no matter how long period of conviction	it is cheaper to execute a criminal than maintaining him in jail compelling citizens to pay the costs of conviction

 

 

Once again, American public opinion is split. According to the data provided by several nation-wide surveys (such as December2003 Survey by the Kansas Legislative Post Audit), “the estimated cost of a death penalty case is 70% more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case. Death penalty case costs were counted through to execution (median cost $1.26 million). Non-death penalty case costs were counted through to the end of incarceration (median cost $740,000)”. ^[26]

 

Opponents of capital punishment base their claim on the following reasons: