A tradition that's hard to overturn

The death penalty in America hasn't spared any section of people. Among the condemned and convicted there have been people with mental disorders, children under the age of 15, the elderly, women, people whose crime was not even conclusively proven, and other people falsely accused. In one particular case (Herrera v. Collins) a verdict was announced, and even new evidence of the innocence of the accused doesn't warrant a new trial

America is the only ‘western country' which uses the death penalty and still holds firmly to the tradition of this most severe punishment. The country has a long tradition of using it. As far back as 1608, the first person (Captain George Kendall) was executed, and that was more or less when the executions began. It has really become a part of the American legislative, social and penitentiary system. All throughout history, the only thing that has changed is the manner of death penalty execution: from shooting and hanging at the time of the cowboys, to the latest methods of killing.

Without evidential support

William Kemmler was the first person killed in the electric chair in 1890. At the beginning of the 20th century (1924) a method of killing with cyanide was introduced, and then gas chambers were constructed in which the death penalty was executed. After the introduction of this method, the number of death penalties taking place doubled. In the year 1977, the State of Oklahoma was first to introduce execution by lethal injection and in 1982 Charles Brooks was the first victim killed in that way. In this long lasting history of the death penalty, there were many interesting verdicts and legislations brought from the lowest to the highest in Federal Courts.

In 1972, the death penalty was revoked, but the American people could not endure long without it, therefore it was re-introduced in 1977. Over this long period of time, the death penalty in America has not spared anyone. Among those who have been eliminated were people suffering with mental disorders, children under the age of 15, elderly people, women, people whose guilt has not been fully established, people under false accusations and verdicts, and many others. In one particular case (Herrera v. Collins) a verdict was reached, and even the new evidence of the innocence of the accused is not enough to bring about a new trial. Even when the death penalty didn't have the general support of the population - as for example back in 1966 when public opinion in favour of the death penalty rated below 40 percent - it still remained a law. In many cases, members of a jury who declared themselves to be against the death penalty weren't permitted to participate on the grounds that they wouldn't be able to “come to an objective judgement.”

In the period of the last 50 years, the death penalty has been eliminated in all of Europe , even in Russia (1999). It was also abolished in the South African Republic, in the State of New York (2004), and in the Ukraine which statistically rated highly among the countries known for the number of public executions. Although recent studies have proved that hundreds were killed innocently, and the latest DNA method has even proved the innocence of people awaiting execution - this law still stands, and stands very firmly.

The contradictions surrounding the history of this tradition are many. One such contradiction is the statement made by one of the nine supreme judges, Ruth Ginsberg, declaring in 2001 that people who have good lawyers in the court process do not get the death penalty! According to this, justice, i.e. guilt or innocence, depends on the capabilities of the lawyer and not at all on the generally acceptable facts. So the United States of America “ proudly stands” at the top of the world's records for public executions (year of 2006) among other interesting countries as China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen, Vietnam, Jordan, Mongolia and Singapore.

The full article can be found on pages 62-65 of Vol 2
2007 issue.