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ISSUE
RELATED ORGANIZATIONS
American
Bar Association:
Detailed information explaining the ABA's opposition
to the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders
and individuals who are mentally ill.
American
Civil Liberties Union:
The ACLU resource page on the death penalty. Includes
links to numerous reports and information on the the use
of capital punishment in the U.S.
Campaign
to End the Death Penalty:
Site devoted to ending the death penalty and protecting
human rights. Encourages involvement in and awareness
of the battle against the death penalty.
Death
Penalty Information Center:
Explores the death penalty and the way it relates
to American law and society. Provides history and offers
articles and polls.
Ethics
Updates:
Site with statistics on death penalty and history
of capital punishment cases tried in the American Supreme
Court. Links to other sites related to the death penalty.
Justice
Center Site from University of Alaska:
Begins with a look at the death penalty in Alaska
then broadens in scope by considering the history of the
death penalty in the US.
Legal
Information Institute:
List of court rulings on the death penalty as well
as general legal background on capital punishment.
Moratorium 2000
National
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:
A U.S.-based coalition of nearly 150 national, state,
and local organizations seeking the
abolition of the death penalty.
Penal
Reform International:
This organization promotes humane treatment of prisoners,
alternatives to prison sentences,
and the abolition of the death penalty.
Bibliography
and Publication Links:
Amnesty
International:
Amnesty International publications and news releases
related to the use of the death penalty
(all documents since 1996).
The
Death Penalty in 1999: Year End Report:
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that executions
in the USA have reached a record high, but that the number
of cases of innocence has resulted in a number of challenges
to the use of the death penalty.
Death Row:
Published annually by Bobit Publishing Company and
Police Magazine. Includes complete listing of inmates
living on death row.
Killing
with Prejudice: Race and the Death Penalty in the
USA
Amnesty International says skin color influences who lives
and dies in the US judicial
system.
On
the Wrong Side of History:
Children and the Death Penalty in the United States
A review of the use of the death penalty against children
in the U.S. It includes
recommendations. From Amnesty International.
U.N.
Safeguards:
Full text of U.N. safeguards guaranteeing protection
of the rights of those facing the death penalty;
adopted by the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
U.N.
Second Optional Protocol:
Full text of the U.N. Second Optional Protocol to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
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Each year in the United States, about 250 people are added to death row,
thirty-five of which are executed. In 1967, a moratorium was placed on
the death penalty as the Supreme Court debated its constitutionality.
The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the US
today. Between 1972 and 1976, capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court because it was considered cruel and unusual punishment.
In 1976 the Court ruled that, in certain cases, the death penalty was
a legitimate punishment, and now, it is practiced in all but thirteen
states and the District of Columbia.
Those who defend the use of the death penalty feel that while prisons
are used to reform criminals, in certain cases-when guilt is unmistakable
and the accused has a history of violent behavior-that society has the
right to demand the ultimate punishment. However, the use of this form
of punishment violates an individual's most basic right to life. It is
irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. Additionally, despite
one being carried out every 3.5 days-the current rate of executions in
the U.S.-a plague of violent crime continues, proving that the death penalty
is not working as a deterrent either. Is the death penalty just one more
way to get revenge in a society that is already consumed with violence?
Sources: Speakout.com and Amnesty International
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