American and European Union Approaches to the Death Penalty: America Should Consider a New Perspective

Katie R Hill

Resumen


The United States and the European Union have totally opposite views on the death penalty. The United States has reinterpreted and analyzed capital punishment and its application to the Constitution consistently through history. The European Union, nearly since its inception, has firmly held the death penalty is wrong and cannot be utilized without depriving defendants of basic human rights. These two unions have similar values and priorities, especially when it comes to human rights. However, the explanation for such diverse approaches to the death penalty is not yet clear. Given the United States relationship with the European Union, it is important that we consider international perspectives in forming our own approach. Consideration of the European Union approach will help the United States justice system, economic system, and foreign and domestic relations.

Palabras clave


death penalty, human rights

Texto completo:

PDF (Português (Brasil))

Referencias


Cong. Ch. 9 §§ 1-14 (1790).

U.S.C.A. § 3591

Stat. 487 (1897).

U.S. 303 (1899).

About the European Commission, European Commission,

http://ec.europa.eu/about/ (last visited April 8, 2013).

Authorized methods, Death Penalty Information Center,

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

(last visited April 8, 2013).

Branch v. Texas, 447 S.W.2d 932 (Tex. 1969).

Charles Alan Wright, et al., History—The Colonial Experience,

Fed. Prac. & Proc. Evid. §6344 (2012).

Charter of Fundamental Rights, Official Website for the

European Union, http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_social_policy/antidiscrimination_relations_with_civil_society/l33501_en.htm

(last visited April 6, 2013).

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms, April 11, 1950.

The Council of Europe, a death penalty free area, Council

of Europe, http://hub.coe.int/what-we-do/humanrights/death-penalty

(last visited April 8, 2013).

Death Penalty Abolition Worldwide, Amnesty International,

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/international-death-penalty/death-penaltystatistics-2010

(last visited April 8, 2013).

Death Penalty Archive, Delegation of the European

Union to the United States, http://www.euintheus.

org/what-we-do/policy-areas/democracy-and-humanrights/torture-and-capital-punishment/death-penalty/

(last visited April 8, 2013).

EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, European Commission,

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/

charter/ (last visited April 8, 2013).

EU Policy on Death Penalty, European Union External

Action, http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/adp/index_en.htm

(last visited April 8, 2013).

The European Atomic Energy Community Treaty,

March 25, 1957.

The European Council-an official institution of the EU, European

Council, http://www.european-council.europa.eu/the-institution.aspx?lang=en

(last visited April 8,

.

The European Economic Community Treaty, March

, 1957.

European Union External Action, A Guide for

Americans: The European Union, 4 (2012) http://

www.euintheus.org/resources-learning/eu-guide-foramericans/.

Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File, Death

Penalty Information Center (March 12, 2013), http://

www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ESPYyear.pdf.

Frederick C. Millett, Will the United States Follow England (and the Rest of the World) in Abandoning Capital Punishment?,

Pierce L. Rev. 547, 644 (2008).

Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972).

Gordon Barclay & Cynthia Tavares, International comparisons

of criminal justice statistics 2000, Table 1.1 (2002)

http://www.iprt.ie/files/international/international_

comparisons_of_criminal_justice_statistics_2000.pdf.

Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 227 (1976).

Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).

Guido Bohsem, Europe to Ban Sale of Vital Lethal Injection

Drug to U.S., TIME.com (Dec. 15, 2011) http://www.

time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2102266,00.html.

Harold Hongju Koh, Paying “Decent Respect” to World Opinion

on the Death Penalty, 35 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1085,

(2002).

History of Delegation, Delegation of the European

Union to the United States, http://www.euintheus.

org/who-we-are/history-of-the-delegation/ (last visited

April 8, 2013).

The history of the European Union, 1945-1959, http://

europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/ (last visited April 8,

.

The history of the European Union, 1960-1969, http://

europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/ (last visited April 8,

.

The history of the European Union, 1970-1979, http://

europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/ (last visited April 8,

.

The history of the European Union, 1980-1989, http://

europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/ (last visited April 8,

.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

Dec. 16, 1966.

Jackson v. Georgia, 171 S.E.2d 501 (Ga. 1969).

Jurisdictions with no recent executions, Death Penalty Information

Center (March 12, 2013), http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/jurisdictions-no-recent-executions.

Marylin J. Raisch, Treaties Establishing the European Union,

American Society of International Law, http://

www.asil.org/erg/?page=eu#id.70mqtqmqxhqd (last

visited April 8, 2013).

McGautha v. California, 402 U.S. 183 (1971).

Member countries of the European Union, Official Website

for the European Union, http://europa.eu/abouteu/countries/member-countries/

(last visited April 8,

.

Newton M. Curtis, The Death Penalty Undesirable and Not

Sustained by Divine Authority, reprinted in Voices Against

Death 143 (Phillip English Mackey, ed., 1976).

Official Website for the European Union, http://

europa.eu/index_en.htm (last visited April 8, 2013).

Ordinary legislative procedure, European Parliament,

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/

en/0080a6d3d8/Ordinary-legislative-procedure.html

(last visited April 8, 2013).

Organisation and work, European Parliament,

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/

en/0025729351/Organisation-and-work.html (last visited

April 8, 2013).

Rebecca Trail, The Future of Capital Punishment in the United

States: Effects of the International Trend Towards Abolition

of the Death Penalty, 26 Suffolk Transnat’l L. Rev.

, 105 (2002).

Senate Bill 19 to Repeal the Death Penalty Introduced,

American Civil Liberties Union (March 12, 2013),

http://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/senate-bill19-repeal-death-penalty-introduced.

Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535, 541(1942).

States With and Without the Death Penalty, Death Penalty

Information Center (March 12, 2013), http://www.

deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty.

Stuart Banner, Death Penalty: An American History

(Harvard University Press 2003). This enumerated

list included treason, willful murder, piracy, forgery, robbery,

and rape.

Treaty on European Union, Feb. 7, 1992.

Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958).

U.S. Const. amend. I

U.S. Const. amend. V.

U.S. Const. amend VI

U.S. Const. amend. VIII

U.S. Const. amend. XIII

U.S. Const. amend. XIV, sec. 1

US Response to EU Statement at Organization for Security

and Cooperation in Europe, Delegation of the European

Union to the United States, http://www.euintheus.

org/what-we-do/policy-areas/democracy-and-humanrights/torture-and-capital-punishment/death-penalty/

death-penalty-archive-2011/ (last visited April 6, 2013).

United States v. Jackson, 390 U.S. 570 (1968).

Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 (1968).




DOI: https://doi.org/10.5102/rdi.v10i2.2329

ISSN 2236-997X (impresso) - ISSN 2237-1036 (on-line)

Desenvolvido por:

Logomarca da Lepidus Tecnologia