Just days after the trap doors swung open in Baghdad, snuffing the life of Saddam Hussein in a state-ordered execution, one lone U.S. state flung open the flood gates on a topic that separates the U.S. from many of its Western counterparts: the Death Penalty. And just this week Italy called for a global moratorium, urging the United Nations to address the issue.
Abolished in almost 90 countries, including France, England and Mexico, capital punishment has been legal in the United States since 1976 when it was reinstated after a brief halt, putting it in the company of China, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran on this matter.
Methods
For those shocked by the hanging method of Saddam, it’s an option for execution in Washington and a possibility in New Hampshire. In Idaho there’s potential for a firing squad. (In these cases lethal injection—the most common form—trumps the other forms, which are administered only in special situations.)
History
In 1972, the Supreme Court deemed the death penalty unconstitutional. Individual states subsequently redesigned their laws to work around the ruling, with 38 making it legal and 12, plus Washington, D.C., opting out.
Since then, three states have instituted moratoriums (Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland) and some states halted its use last year after a botched lethal injection took over 30 minutes to kill the condemned. Now, a New Jersey panel is recommending an end to the practice there, citing lack of deterrence, costs and “evolving standards of decency.”
The big picture
Last year marked the lowest number of death sentences delivered in the U.S.since reinstatement, and about 120 people have been exonerated in 33 years. If New Jersey did abolish the death penalty, it would be the first state to do so since ’76. Still, a 2006 Gallup poll shows Americans divided 50-50 over the death penalty for murder when a life sentence is offered as an alternative.
Talk back > What are your thoughts?
What do you think about the death penalty? Should the convicted be able to choose between a life or death sentence?
