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| U.S. Edges Closer to Europe in Attitude Toward Capital Punishment, Experts Say | |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| On the eve of World War I, a laborer in Algiers robbed and killed a farm family, including young children, in a bloody frenzy. A farm worker in French Algeria, Lucien Camus, was outraged. | On the eve of World War I, a laborer in Algiers robbed and killed a farm family, including young children, in a bloody frenzy. A farm worker in French Algeria, Lucien Camus, was outraged. |
| “It was generally thought that decapitation was too mild a punishment for such a monster,” the writer Albert Camus, his son, observed much later. | “It was generally thought that decapitation was too mild a punishment for such a monster,” the writer Albert Camus, his son, observed much later. |
| The elder Camus felt compelled to witness the public execution. Afterward, his wife recounted, he “came rushing home, his face distorted, refused to talk, lay down for a moment on the bed, and suddenly began to vomit.” Instead of thinking of the dead children, “he could think of nothing but that quivering body that had just been dropped onto a board to have its head cut off.” | The elder Camus felt compelled to witness the public execution. Afterward, his wife recounted, he “came rushing home, his face distorted, refused to talk, lay down for a moment on the bed, and suddenly began to vomit.” Instead of thinking of the dead children, “he could think of nothing but that quivering body that had just been dropped onto a board to have its head cut off.” |
| Ambivalence about legally administered death, sponsored by the state with bureaucratic detachment but not always precisely carried out, has long run much deeper among Europeans than among Americans, and has led to its abolition or suspension over the past century in nearly all democracies and every European or Central Asian country but Belarus. | Ambivalence about legally administered death, sponsored by the state with bureaucratic detachment but not always precisely carried out, has long run much deeper among Europeans than among Americans, and has led to its abolition or suspension over the past century in nearly all democracies and every European or Central Asian country but Belarus. |
| Their divergent attitudes toward capital punishment are among the most striking differences between Europe and the United States, where nearly two-thirds of the states still allow the death penalty. | Their divergent attitudes toward capital punishment are among the most striking differences between Europe and the United States, where nearly two-thirds of the states still allow the death penalty. |
| A series of developments have now created new pressure to scale back or eliminate the death penalty in the United States, including problems carrying out executions through lethal injection, convictions that have proved improper, and court fights over whether inmates with limited intellectual capacity should be subject to capital punishment. Last Thursday, a federal judge stayed an execution set for this week in Missouri. Three other executions are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in different states. | A series of developments have now created new pressure to scale back or eliminate the death penalty in the United States, including problems carrying out executions through lethal injection, convictions that have proved improper, and court fights over whether inmates with limited intellectual capacity should be subject to capital punishment. Last Thursday, a federal judge stayed an execution set for this week in Missouri. Three other executions are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in different states. |
| The question now is whether the United States is at the beginning of a process that will lead it closer to Europe and most other democracies in ending the practice or is just sorting out how to deal with temporary impediments to execution. | The question now is whether the United States is at the beginning of a process that will lead it closer to Europe and most other democracies in ending the practice or is just sorting out how to deal with temporary impediments to execution. |
| “The first thing that happens is a radical downsizing in the scale of the use of capital punishment,” said Franklin E. Zimring, a law professor and death penalty specialist at the University of California, Berkeley, describing the typical process through which nations move toward ending the death penalty. Through most of the last century, “there was a strategic withdrawal from capital punishment as business-as-usual in European nations, long before abolitions started to spread.” | “The first thing that happens is a radical downsizing in the scale of the use of capital punishment,” said Franklin E. Zimring, a law professor and death penalty specialist at the University of California, Berkeley, describing the typical process through which nations move toward ending the death penalty. Through most of the last century, “there was a strategic withdrawal from capital punishment as business-as-usual in European nations, long before abolitions started to spread.” |
| After peaking in 1999 at 98, executions in the United States have fallen steadily, to 39 last year. The latest one, involving an Oklahoma inmate in April, became an example of the problems surrounding lethal injection. A drug designed to render the man unconscious for a painless death failed when a vein collapsed, and witnesses said he continued mumbling and moving his limbs in evident agony. He suffered a seizure and died of a heart attack several minutes later. | After peaking in 1999 at 98, executions in the United States have fallen steadily, to 39 last year. The latest one, involving an Oklahoma inmate in April, became an example of the problems surrounding lethal injection. A drug designed to render the man unconscious for a painless death failed when a vein collapsed, and witnesses said he continued mumbling and moving his limbs in evident agony. He suffered a seizure and died of a heart attack several minutes later. |
| That underscored the struggles that death-penalty states are having with lethal injection, particularly after European manufacturers, in recent years, stopped providing the drugs for executions. Some American states are now contemplating a return to the electric chair or even firing squads, two methods with their own troubled histories. | That underscored the struggles that death-penalty states are having with lethal injection, particularly after European manufacturers, in recent years, stopped providing the drugs for executions. Some American states are now contemplating a return to the electric chair or even firing squads, two methods with their own troubled histories. |
| Then last month, the Supreme Court again narrowed the scope of allowable executions, holding that a simple I.Q. score of 70 was too blunt a standard for determining whether inmates had the intellect to defend themselves and accept ultimate responsibility for their actions. Previously, the court had barred capital punishment for some rapists, for the insane and for juvenile offenders, marking a slow but steady retreat from the ultimate penalty. | Then last month, the Supreme Court again narrowed the scope of allowable executions, holding that a simple I.Q. score of 70 was too blunt a standard for determining whether inmates had the intellect to defend themselves and accept ultimate responsibility for their actions. Previously, the court had barred capital punishment for some rapists, for the insane and for juvenile offenders, marking a slow but steady retreat from the ultimate penalty. |
| In an ABC-Washington Post poll released earlier this month, 60 percent of respondents said they backed the death penalty, down from a high of 80 percent in 1994. But for the first time in that poll, Americans given a choice between the death penalty and life in prison for convicted murderers preferred life, by 52 percent to 42 percent. | In an ABC-Washington Post poll released earlier this month, 60 percent of respondents said they backed the death penalty, down from a high of 80 percent in 1994. But for the first time in that poll, Americans given a choice between the death penalty and life in prison for convicted murderers preferred life, by 52 percent to 42 percent. |
| The debate on both sides of the Atlantic has revolved around similar issues: possibly innocent defendants, unequal application of the death penalty “and the barbarity of some executions,” said Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. | The debate on both sides of the Atlantic has revolved around similar issues: possibly innocent defendants, unequal application of the death penalty “and the barbarity of some executions,” said Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. |
| Abolition came sooner in European countries, death-penalty experts say, partly because of revulsion over the wartime use of capital punishment, especially in Germany, and because of differences in justice and political systems. | Abolition came sooner in European countries, death-penalty experts say, partly because of revulsion over the wartime use of capital punishment, especially in Germany, and because of differences in justice and political systems. |
| In most European countries, judges and prosecutors are appointed rather than publicly elected — a crucial distinction because many people favor the death penalty as a form of personal justice. And under multiparty parliamentary systems, some scholars say, socially divisive issues can more easily be managed without the fear, prevalent in a two-party system, of either side’s being tarred as “soft on crime.” | In most European countries, judges and prosecutors are appointed rather than publicly elected — a crucial distinction because many people favor the death penalty as a form of personal justice. And under multiparty parliamentary systems, some scholars say, socially divisive issues can more easily be managed without the fear, prevalent in a two-party system, of either side’s being tarred as “soft on crime.” |
| “In most places in Europe, the death penalty is abolished by passing a law,” said Anthony J. McGann, a political science professor at the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland, who has analyzed abolition patterns. “Passing such a law in the United States would require the House and Senate to agree, and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate,” which he called “almost unthinkable.” | “In most places in Europe, the death penalty is abolished by passing a law,” said Anthony J. McGann, a political science professor at the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland, who has analyzed abolition patterns. “Passing such a law in the United States would require the House and Senate to agree, and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate,” which he called “almost unthinkable.” |
| Change in Europe, often led by public intellectuals like Camus, gained steam from the backing of international groupings such as the Council of Europe and the European Union. They pressed countries like Lithuania and Poland to abandon the death penalty as a condition for membership. | Change in Europe, often led by public intellectuals like Camus, gained steam from the backing of international groupings such as the Council of Europe and the European Union. They pressed countries like Lithuania and Poland to abandon the death penalty as a condition for membership. |
| France banned the guillotine only in 1981, under a new Socialist government, a century and a half after Victor Hugo inveighed against “those state crimes that go by the name of legal executions.” | France banned the guillotine only in 1981, under a new Socialist government, a century and a half after Victor Hugo inveighed against “those state crimes that go by the name of legal executions.” |
| Like other countries that dropped capital punishment upon abandoning authoritarian governments — Argentina, Brazil, Haiti and the Philippines — Germany did so in 1949, but only after executing Nazi war criminals. | Like other countries that dropped capital punishment upon abandoning authoritarian governments — Argentina, Brazil, Haiti and the Philippines — Germany did so in 1949, but only after executing Nazi war criminals. |
| England once required the death penalty for more than 200 crimes, under its “Bloody Code.” But the abolition cause was bolstered in the last century by the case of Timothy John Evans, an intellectually feeble Welshman executed in 1950 for allegedly murdering his wife and infant daughter. A neighbor, John Christie, a witness against Mr. Evans, later confessed to those killings and others. | England once required the death penalty for more than 200 crimes, under its “Bloody Code.” But the abolition cause was bolstered in the last century by the case of Timothy John Evans, an intellectually feeble Welshman executed in 1950 for allegedly murdering his wife and infant daughter. A neighbor, John Christie, a witness against Mr. Evans, later confessed to those killings and others. |
| Then came Derek Bentley, who was hanged in 1953 for a murder in which an accomplice pulled the trigger. Mr. Bentley, who had suffered serious head injuries in a wartime bombing, had I.Q. scores near 70, the level the United States Supreme Court contemplated in its recent case. | Then came Derek Bentley, who was hanged in 1953 for a murder in which an accomplice pulled the trigger. Mr. Bentley, who had suffered serious head injuries in a wartime bombing, had I.Q. scores near 70, the level the United States Supreme Court contemplated in its recent case. |
| He and Mr. Evans were pardoned posthumously. But only in 1964 did a Labour Party majority suspend, then end, the death penalty. | He and Mr. Evans were pardoned posthumously. But only in 1964 did a Labour Party majority suspend, then end, the death penalty. |
| Stark publicity surrounding wrongful convictions has led some American states, including Illinois, to halt executions. Sentencing practices have also changed crucially, said Stephen B. Bright, president of the nonprofit Southern Center for Human Rights. | Stark publicity surrounding wrongful convictions has led some American states, including Illinois, to halt executions. Sentencing practices have also changed crucially, said Stephen B. Bright, president of the nonprofit Southern Center for Human Rights. |
| Juries in capital cases were often presented in the past with a choice between death and life with the possibility of parole, meaning jurors had to weigh responsibility for a convicted killer eventually going free. Now, a more palatable option is often added — life without possibility of parole. | Juries in capital cases were often presented in the past with a choice between death and life with the possibility of parole, meaning jurors had to weigh responsibility for a convicted killer eventually going free. Now, a more palatable option is often added — life without possibility of parole. |
| New death sentences have fallen dramatically since the mid-1990s, experts note. The total death-row population fell to 3,100 last year from about 3,600 in 2000, but poor blacks and Hispanics are still disproportionately sentenced and executed. That has been a persistent sore point, contributing to a 1972 Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended executions for years, until states tightened procedures. | New death sentences have fallen dramatically since the mid-1990s, experts note. The total death-row population fell to 3,100 last year from about 3,600 in 2000, but poor blacks and Hispanics are still disproportionately sentenced and executed. That has been a persistent sore point, contributing to a 1972 Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended executions for years, until states tightened procedures. |
| In all, 18 states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty, six in recent years. Still, some specialists see final abolition as distant. | In all, 18 states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty, six in recent years. Still, some specialists see final abolition as distant. |
| “When every state gets to decide for itself whether to have the death penalty, it’s hard to coordinate national abolition,” said Andrew Hammel, assistant professor for American law at Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, who worked with condemned prisoners while at the nonprofit Texas Defender Service. “Liberal states will give it up; the conservative Deep South won’t.” | “When every state gets to decide for itself whether to have the death penalty, it’s hard to coordinate national abolition,” said Andrew Hammel, assistant professor for American law at Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, who worked with condemned prisoners while at the nonprofit Texas Defender Service. “Liberal states will give it up; the conservative Deep South won’t.” |
| But Mr. Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center sees it differently. “The death penalty is suffering from the accumulated weight of so many problems,” he said, “that it is probably doomed to extinction.’’ | But Mr. Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center sees it differently. “The death penalty is suffering from the accumulated weight of so many problems,” he said, “that it is probably doomed to extinction.’’ |