: ''This article discusses the particulars of prohibition in the [[United States of America]]. For an overview of prohibition throughout the civilized world, see [[Prohibition]].''

'''Prohibition''' in [[United States of America|American]] parlance typically refers to the movement and body of law that prohibited the manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export of intoxicating [[liquor]] within, into, or from the [[United States of America]] from 1920 to 1933. It did not make drinking or serving liquor illegal. It was one of the major reforms of the [[Progressive Era]], and was strongly supported by Evangelicals, who were mobilized by the [[Anti-Saloon League]]

== History ==
see also [[Taverns]]
=== Growth of alcohol consumption ===
Alcoholic beverages have been part of almost every culture since the beginning of recorded [[history]]. But alcohol consumption in colonial America was initially slow to grow. (Beer was a common exception to this, as the colonists and even the early citizens of the Republic preferred beer over the often polluted water.) The colonials and early citizens tended not to forbid alcohol itself but the act of ''intoxicating'' oneself with alcohol.<ref name=Colony>[http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00492/Alcohol_in_America.htm Alcohol in America] at "Prohibition: The Noble Experiment," April 20, 2005 (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

The following Bible verse summarizes the dichotomy of American feelings toward alcohol in America's early years:{{Bible quote|And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;...|book=Ephesians|chap=5|verses=18|version=KJV}}

Alcohol consumption was at a high level in 1850--five times higher than today. Alcohol consumption, primarily of [[whiskey]], rose steadily throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, as whiskey became more plentiful and less expensive.<ref name=DUI>[http://www.dui.com/drunk_driving_research/research/colonial_america.html Alcohol Consumption in America, 1800-55] in the research archive of dui.com (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

After the [[Civil War]], especially with the high levels of [[German Americans|German immigration]], [[beer]] became more popular, until in 1890 beer displaced whiskey as the beverage of choice. The [[saloon]] appeared. At their height, saloons were so numerous that many places had one saloon for every 200 residents.<ref name=OSU>Kerr, Austin (1996), and Shelton, Mitchell (2006), [http://prohibition.osu.edu//default.cfm Temperance and Prohibition], Department of History, [[Ohio]] State University, Columbus, Ohio.</ref> The saloon existed primarily to sell beer and liquor, but some tolerated [[gambling]] and [[prostitution]] as well. Most saloons were sponsored by breweries and run by Irish or German ethnics. In cities, the Irish often made them a base for neighborhood politics.

=== Temperance movements ===
The spectacle of increased liquor consumption, and the unsavory activities associated with its sale, were impetus enough for many concerned citizens. But the bad effects on the men who consumed the highest amounts of liquor were worse. In those times, men were the primary consumers of liquor; women were either not permitted to partake or, more commonly, had little desire to partake. Instead, women observed the bad effects of liquor on their husbands. [[Carrie Nation]]<ref name=Carrie>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574293/Carrie_Nation.html Carrie Nation] at MSN Encarta</ref> became the most famous agitator for a total prohibition against liquor after her first husband died of alcohol-related illnesses. After agitating for various State prohibition laws, she ultimately took the law into her own hands by barging into illegal saloons and using a [[hatchet]] to wreck furniture and beer and whiskey barrels. She was arrested some 30 times, and used the honoraria she earned from lecturing to pay her bail.<ref name=Carrie/>

Even before Carrie Nation began her campaign, politicians everywhere spoke against the consumption of liquor. By 1855, 13 of the 31 states had prohibited liquor entirely; the first prohibition law was passed in [[Maine]] in 1840<ref name=Temperance>[http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Temperance_movement/ Temperance movement] at the Knowledge Rush Encyclopedia</ref>. [[Abraham Lincoln]] famously called liquor "an [[Egypt]]ian [[angel]] of [[death]]."<ref name=MSNPro>[http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie/prohibition.2/ Egyptian Angel of Death]</ref>

In 1873, matters came to a head with the great "Women's War" or "Women's Crusade."<ref name=OSU/> The two most famous organizations formed to have liquor tightly regulated, or prohibited entirely, were the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] and the [[Anti-Saloon League]]. The latter organization began in [[Ohio]] in 1893 but swiftly gained national importance. These organizations had one issue: the outright prohibition on the sale of intoxicating liquor. First content with the passage of new State laws, they eventually set a goal to amend the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] to prohibit intoxicating liquor nationwide. Another key force was the United States Prohibition Party, founded in 1869.<ref name=USPP>[http://www.prohibitionists.org/index.html Partisan Historical Society] (official site)</ref><ref name=USPPKR>[http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/United_States_Prohibition_Party/ United States Prohibition Party] at the Knowledge Rush Encyclopedia</ref>

After 1890 the WCTU and the Prohibition Party remained active but were far less important in the political battle for prohibition than the new [[Anti-Saloon League]]. The League mobilized evangelical ministers and voters state by state.

=== World War I ===
The federal election of 1916 saw the election of enough members of Congress to pass in December 1917 a constitutional amendment banning the manufacture, sale, transport, import, and export of alcoholic beverages. But the [[First World War]] added another impetus to what became known as the "dry movement." Opposition to Germany meant opposition to german culture, which was heavily involved with beer gardens. the German American were the most important opponents of prohibition, and they were silenced during the war. In terms of effiicency, grain was scarce, and drys argued the distillation of grains to make alcohol was a waste of a vital food resource<ref name=DH>Mintz, S. (2003), "Prohibition," in ''Digital History,'' retrieved April 7, 2007 from [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 DigitalHistory.UH.edu]</ref> Indeed, the NIAAA records show a sharp decline in liquor consumption in the five-year period bracketing that war.<ref name=OSU/>

=== Amending the Constitution ===
Passage of the [[Eighteenth Amendment]] in [[Congress]] was swift. In January 20, 1919, the amendment achieved ratification. Pursuant to the amendment's terms, the amendment took effect on January 16, 1920. In October 28, 1920, Congress, acting on its "power to enforce" the amendment, passed the [[National Prohibition Act]] or '''Volstead Act'''<ref name=TIH1028>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct28.html Today in History: October 28] at the [[Library of Congress]]</ref>, named for US [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] [[Andrew J. Volstead]] ([[Republican Party|R]]-[[Minnesota|MN]]),<ref>"[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=45207 Andrew J. Volstead political biography at Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 9/21/2007].</ref> which defined an [[alcoholic beverage]] as anything containing more than 0.5% [[ethanol]] by volume and providing for strict enforcement.

=== Enforcement ===
Enforcement was largely in the hands of the [[Internal Revenue Service]], which is why agents of the still-extant [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms]] are still called "revenuers" today. Arguably the most famous "revenuers" of all time were [[Eliot Ness]], who operated in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], and the team of [[Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith]] in [[New York City]].<ref name=DH/> These were the most dedicated of the 2500 "Prohibition agents" who enforced the law at the height of federal enforcement efforts. Sadly, these men operated on a shoestring national budget ($5 million US at first, later increased to $300 million) and were vastly outmatched in numbers and resources. Worse yet, many politicians still partook of intoxicating liquor themselves, leading to a widespread perception of people in authority as hypocritical.

The latter part of the thirteen years of prohibition saw the rise of [[organized crime|organized criminal gangs]] in virtually every city in the country, and the manufacture of liquor on a small scale at millions of locations.<ref name=WeWantBeer>Miller, Carl H. (2000), [http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/prohibition_1.shtml We Want Beer], retrieved April 7, 2007 from BeerHistory.com</ref> This was the era of "[[speakeasy|speakeasies]]" (liquor-selling establishments that admitted people by invitation only and on the speaking of a [[password]]),<ref name=Hanson>Hanson, David J., [http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/FunFacts/Prohibition.html Prohibition: the Noble Experiment], SUNY-Potsdam, Potsdam, NY (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref> "[[bootlegger]]s" (those who smuggled [[alcoholic drink]] either for their own consumption or for sale), and of a general contempt for the law. [[Al Capone]], the most famous "gangster" in US history, built a vast and sprawling empire on the profits from the distribution of illicit liquor. (Ultimately the IRS obtained evidence of tax evasion against him, and upon conviction on that charge he was sent to prison.

The original Volstead Act provided a medical exception to prohibition, in that a person could have a doctor prescribe alcohol to him.<ref name=RxEx>[http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sanmateo/history/smpro26.htm A 1926 Alcohol Prescription Slip] in the History Archive of San Mateo County</ref> Many willing doctors wrote prescriptions, often on highly dubious premises.<ref name=About>Rosenberg, Jennifer, [http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm Prohibition], About.com (Retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

The government continued to expect cooperation with the authorities to the end, and issued two scathing reports calling for tougher enforcement in 1927<ref name=rep27>[http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/wick/wick1a.html History of Prohibition Enforcement before the Bureau of Prohibition Act of 1927] at the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy</ref> and 1931.<ref name=rep31>[http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/wick/wick1.html Report on the Enforcement of Prohibition Laws in the United States, January 7, 1931] at the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy</ref>

=== Crime and repeal ===
The "speakeasy" (or "blind pig") was an illegal bar operated during prohibition (1920-33, and even longer in some states). Most taverns stopped serving alcohol. Drinkers found out-of-the-way speakeasies that would serve them,. They owners had to buy illegal beer and liquor from criminal syndicates (the most famous was run by [[Al Capone]] in Chicago), and had to pay off the police to look the other way. The result was an overall decrease in drinking and an enormous increase organized crime, gang warfare and civic corruption, as well as a decline in tax revenue.

The [[Great Depression]] dramatically depressed tax revenues for state and local government. The "wet" forces, never dormant nor idle, quickly created a public perception that if only the beverage industry were legitimate once again, many of these suddenly unemployed workers could be gainfully employed once again.<ref name=About/> The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, led by Catholic Democrats, quickly capitalized on this perception and ran candidates for Congress who favored repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment.

In Florida, for example, during 1928-32 a broad coalition of judges, lawyers, politicians, journalists, brewers, hoteliers, retailers, and ordinary wet Floridians joined together to repeal the ban on alcohol. When the federal government legalized near beer and light wine in 1933, the wet coalition launched a successful campaign to legalize these beverages at the state level. Floridians subsequently joined in the national campaign to repeal the 18th Amendment, which succeeded in December 1933. The following November, state voters repealed Florida's constitutional ban on liquor and gave local governments the power to legalize or outlaw alcoholic beverages.<ref> John J. Guthrie, Jr., "Rekindling The Spirits: From National Prohibition to Local Option in Florida: 1928-1935," ''Florida Historical Quarterly'' 1995 74(1): 23-39. 0015-4113 </ref>

Women were influential in the fight to repeal national prohibition, especially through the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). Led by Mrs. Pauline Sabin, the group consisted primarily of middle and upper class women who viewed prohibition as a failure in terms of diminishing the consumption of alcoholic beverages, feared the influence of the speakeasy on the morals of the young, and believed taxes on alcoholic beverages were a needed source of government revenue. The WONPR combated the propaganda of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, supported anti-prohibition candidates for political office, and generally operated in an independent fashion. The group's activities during the late 1920's and early 1930's suggest a revision of the view that the women's movement declined in strength and influence following the adoption of the woman suffrage amendment.<ref> David E. Kyvig, "Women Against Prohibition." ''American Quarterly'' 1976 28(4): 465-482. [ http://www.jstor.org/stable/2712541 in JSTOR]</ref>

Congress did pass the [[Twenty-first Amendment]] and, in an unprecedented move, bypassed the State legislatures and called for the special election of ratification conventions in the several States. Thirty-eight of these conventions--two more than needed--passed repeal in December of 1933. Prohibition was repealed in 1933 and legitimate [[taverns]] reopened in most states.

=== Remaining Prohibitions ===
Repeal did not begin immediately. States retained the right, under the new amendment, to regulate or even prohibit liquor as they saw fit. Although no States prohibit liquor today, different States have different regulations governing its manufacture, sale, and transport. (For example, some States allow the private sales of liquor, while others insist that all liquor be sold in "State Stores" operated by State alcoholic beverage control boards.) Liquor is still prohibited in some counties, even if not State-wide. And practically no State allows minors to purchase, attempt to purchase, consume, or transport intoxicating liquor.

[[Islam]] prohibits the imbibing of alcohol in all its founding documents. This has recently led to the spectacle of Muslim [[taxi]] drivers refusing to pick up fares in the United States who are transporting alcoholic beverages.<ref name=Cabbie>Lyderson, Kari, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501727.html Some Muslim Cabbies Refuse Fares Carrying Alcohol], ''The Washington Post'', Thursday, October 26, 2006; Page A02 (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

== Effects of Prohibition and Repeal ==
A large body of misinformation persists about the effects of prohibition and of its eventual repeal. To begin with, the ''per capita'' consumption of intoxicating liquors declined significantly during this period.<ref name=OSU/><ref name=MSNPro/> In addition, two economists estimated that the prevalence of [[cirrhosis]] of the [[liver]] declined by ten to twenty percent during the Prohibition era.<ref name=cirrhosis>Dills, Angela K., and Miron, Jeffrey A., [http://aler.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/2/285 Alcohol Prohibition and Cirrhosis], ''American Law and Economics Review'', 6(2):285-318, 2004 (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

Crime did rise, and this consisted chiefly of direct flouting of the law and the spectacle of members of rival gangs killing one another in all-out wars for "territories" in the major cities, especially in Chicago. But perceptions of a massive crime wave are grossly exaggerated.<ref name=MSNPro/> Sadly, what is not exaggerated are the reports of widespread contempt for the law and for all authority, and the establishment of powerful [[organized crime]] syndicates in the United States.

One often overlooked effect, not so much of prohibition ''per se'' as of the movement that established it, is [[women's suffrage]]. Women did not seriously agitate for the vote until they had a rallying issue. That issue was prohibition, and the concern of these women was that the men would simply vote to continue to enjoy their liquor, and women would continue to feel the secondary effects of desertion of the home, domestic physical abuse, and neglect of the husband's duty to provide. Ironically, women did not definitively win the vote (the [[Nineteenth Amendment]]) until ''after'' prohibition was already a part of the [[Constitution]].

The NIAAA data compiled by Kerr<ref name=OSU/> clearly show that alcohol consumption sank to a bottom in 1933 and has been rising ever since. Today the ''per capita'' consumption of liquor is higher than ever. So, too, are its bad effects, effects that any person, not merely any specially affected subgroup, may feel under the right circumstances.<ref name=DUI2>National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, [http://www.dui.com/drunk_driving_research/research/alcohol_prohibition.html A Short History of Alcohol Temperance and Prohibition], DUI.com (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

Repeal did not destroy the organized criminal gangs. Instead of selling alcohol, they moved on to other illicit activities. These gangs, of course, persist today.

== Prohibition in Popular Culture ==
At least one [[motion picture]] and one long-running [[television]] series had their basis in the career of [[Eliot Ness]]. Another television project drew its basis from the careers of [[Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith]], though this was clearly a comedy.

[[Al Capone]] has been the subject of many motion picture projects about his life and career. In some of these projects his character is the leading character; in others he is a force-of-nature who affects the lives of others.

CBS-TV had a comedy series in the early 1970's that centered on an illicit bar operator and his mobster cousin in 1920's Chicago. Many other [[television]] and [[motion picture]] projects were set in or shortly after the Prohibition era and sometimes featured bootleggers as minor or major characters. In other projects, some characters would challenge the judgmental attitude of other characters who had lived during the Prohibition era, typically by asking them whether they never took an illicit drink when the sale of liquor was illegal. (Such lines often perpetuated the common misconception that the ''consumption'' of intoxicating liquor by adults, as distinct from its ''manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export'', was unlawful.)

At least one comedy motion picture was made about prohibition's repeal. That project featured a gangster who tried to "go legit" after prohibition ended.

In an episode of [[The Simpsons]], Homer becomes a bootlegger after it is discovered the towns prohibition laws were never repealed.

==The Prohibition Party Today==
The Prohibition Party has continued to sponsor candidates for office. The party divided in 2003 over dissatisfaction with party leader Earl F. Dodge Jr. The smaller faction held its national convention in Dodge's living room and nominated him for a sixth time. This faction appeared on the ballot only in [[Colorado]] and received 140 votes. The larger faction of the party, called the Webb faction, nominated Gene C. Amondson for President. Amondson ran as the Prohibition nominee in [[Louisiana]], where he won 1,566 votes, and in Colorado under the "Concerns of People" Party, receiving 378 votes.<ref>"[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=37927 Gene Amondson political biography at Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 9/20/2007].</ref> Amondson received the most votes for a Prohibition Party nominee since 1988 and was the first Prohibition Presidential nominee to outpoll all other third party candidates in any county since 1960.<ref>Authors unnamed, "[http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-09-prohibition-feud_x.htm Battle brewing for teetotaler vote in Colorado]," ''USA Today'', Gannett Co., Inc., September 9, 2004. Retrieved April 26, 2007.</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Bader, Robert Smith. ''Prohibition in Kansas'' (1986),
* Blocker, Jack S. ''American Temperance Movements: Cycles of Reform'' (1989)
* Blocker, Jack S. ''Retreat from Reform: The Prohibition Movement in the United States, 1890–1913'' (1976)
* Blocker, Jack S. ed. ''Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia'' (2 vol 2003)
* Bordin, Ruth. ''Woman and Temperance: The Quest for Power and Liberty, 1873-1900'' 1981
* Cherrington, Ernest, ed., ''Standard Encyclopaedia of the Alcohol Problem'' 6 volumes (1925-1930), comprehensive international coverage to late 1920s
* Clark; Norman H. ''Deliver Us From Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition.'' 1976. supports prohibition
* Dannenbaum, Jed. "The Origins of Temperance Activism and Militancy among American Women", ''Journal of Social History'' vol. 14 (1981): 235-36.
* Dannenbaum, Jed. ''Drink and Disorder: Temperance Reform in Cincinnati from the Washingtonian Revival to the WCTU.'' (1984). 245 pp.
* Gusfield, Joseph R. "Social Structure and Moral Reform: A Study of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union," ''American Journal of Sociology'' 61,No.3 (1955).
* Pegram, Thomas R. ''Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800–1933'' (1998).
* Timberlake, James H. ''Prohibition and the Progressive Movement, 1900-1920''. 1963.

====notes====
<references/>

[[Category:Prohibition]]
[[Category:Gilded Age]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== See Also ==
* [[Alcoholic drinks]]
* [[Beer]]
* [[Prohibition]]
* [[War On Drugs]]
* [[Whisky]]

== External Links ==
* [http://www.prohibitionists.org The Prohibition Party]

[[Category:Prohibition]]
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
[[Category:Alcoholic Beverages]]
[[category:1920s]]

2013-06-17T06:59:19Z

WilcoxD: /* Australia */

'''Capital punishment''', also known as the death penalty, refers to the custom of executing prisoners who are convicted of certain crimes. Such crimes are known as capital [[crime]]s, and tend to be grave crimes against persons or governments (such as [[premeditation|premeditated]] [[murder]], [[rape]] or [[treason]]).

== In the world today ==
Of the main developed countries, only the [[United States]] and [[Japan]] use formalized capital punishment, though many developed countries give law enforcement greater authority to kill than allowed by the [[United States]]. For emerging countries, [[China]] uses the death penalty and in the non-developed world it is practiced in most [[Sharia]] states (those whose legal systems are based on [[Muslim]] legal philosophy), as well as many others.<ref name="EU">EU: [http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/deathpenalty/EurHRConvProt13Decl.htm Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in all Circumstances]</ref><ref>Encarta: [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461543496/Capital_Punishment_Worldwide.html Capital Punishment Worldwide]</ref>

According to officially released governmental figures, the [[human rights]] organization [[Amnesty International]] estimates that [[Singapore]] has the highest execution rate in the world, at 13.65 hangings per 1,000,000 residents. [[Saudi Arabia]] has the second-highest rate, at 4.65 per 1,000,000.

Based on 2004 figures, China is the world leader in total number of executions with an estimated 3,400. Following China is [[Iran]] with 159 and [[Vietnam]] with an estimated 64 executions. The [[United States]] executed the 5th greatest number of people in the world with a total of 52. <ref>''The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2008 Edition'' 2007, p. 99. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1846680908</ref>

=== Australia ===
Most Australian removed the death penalty in 1984 as a punishment for murder, however at that time it had not been used since 1967. Until 2010 when it was formally prohibited by federal legislation it could still have been used as a punishment for treason during a time of war or the Ashes.

=== United States ===
Capital punishment in the United States is handled on a state-by-state basis; 17 states and the [[District of Columbia]] prohibit the death penalty.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2113102,00.html</ref> But the federal government and the military fully use capital punishment for the most heinous crimes, including treason.

[[Pennsylvania]] has hundreds of people on [[death row]], though only three inmates have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment laws, and all three essentially "volunteered" by dropping their appeals. But other states, such as [[Texas]], execute convicted persons on death row with regularity.<ref>A rare exception in Texas is a man who has been on death row for 31 years. [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deathrow28jan28,1,1271967.story?coll=la-headlines-nation]</ref> Frivolous appeals and overly cautious stays of execution can create a backlog on death rows in many states.

Though the United States suspended the death penalty in 1973, it was reinstated in 1977. 65% of Americans believe putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable, according to a recent poll. But respondents were close to evenly split on whether they would prefer the death penalty (50%) to mandatory life in prison (46%). The death penalty is most favored by age 30+ males who are [[Caucasian]] and [[Republican]].<ref>ABC News/Washington Post poll: [http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/1015a3DeathPenalty.pdf Death Penalty]</ref>

Capital punishment for federal crimes existed for centuries. After the death penalty was suspended by [[judicial activism]] in 1973, the federal government reinstated it again in 1988.<ref>http://www.justice.gov/dag/pubdoc/deathpenaltystudy.htm</ref>

Some studies conducted since the start of the new millennium have consistently shown a deterrence factor in the United States based on use of the death penalty. It has been calculated that each person executed saves the lives of anywhere from 3 to 18 innocent people.<ref>Studies: Death penalty discourages crime http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,280215,00.html</ref> Other studies have shown that as a whole, "death-penalty states" typically have higher murder rates than states that do not have capital punishment, but obviously many other factors influence the overall murder rate, such as poverty and policies toward repeat offenders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1705#STATES%20WITH%20THE%20DEATH%20PENALTY%20V.%20STATES%20WITHOUT|format=HTML|work=Death Penalty Information Center|language=English|title=Deterrence|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref>

===Morality===

Some have questioned how a nation such as the United States that largely identifies itself as [[Christian]] (76.5%) could have 65% of Americans believing putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable<ref>http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm</ref> They question whether or not the [[Bible]] allows such a view.<ref>http://www.itsyourtimes.com/?q=node/3524</ref>. The 6th Commandment is sometimes translated as, "Thou shalt not kill." This translation suggests that executions are a sin. The 6th Commandment is also sometimes translated as, "Thou shalt commit no murder." As murder is defined as "wrongful killing", when following that translation it is possible to argue whether or not judicial executions are murder. In any case, any possible moral justification for humans to met out capital punishment upon other humans is based on exactly two interacting facts: '''1)''' humans in the fallen world already are subject to eventual death by natural means; '''2)''' some offenses (crimes, sins) are biologically so deep that the integrity of the central victim(s) is too compromised to recover by natural means (including, but not limited to, death). Added to those two facts is a third: the maintenance of such offenders is in no way the duty of the offended, so long as the offended is not already so guilty ('let only those who are without hypocracy cast the first stone', or 'a family of thieves cannot selectively punish its members'.) Finally, and most importantly, the 6th Commandment is part of the [[Mosaic Law]] in the [[Old Testament]], which mandates capital punishment for many offenses (see below); therefore, an interpretation of the 6th Commandment as forbidding capital punishment is [[stolen concept|nonsensical]].

==== Methods in the United States ====

[[Lethal injection]] is the official method of capital punishment in almost all of the 38 states that have the death penalty. A few states allow for other methods in some circumstances. Several botched electrocutions in [[Florida]] in the 1990s have effectively put an end to the era of the [[electric chair]], which was the most common means of execution in the United States before 1972. In addition to these two methods of execution, lethal gas, hanging, and shooting have all been used at least twice since 1977. [[Firing squad]]s were conducted in [[Utah]], most recently in 2010. The three hangings took place in [[Washington]] and [[Delaware]], most recently Billy Bailey's 1996 hanging in Delaware. The [[gas chamber]], which has been abandoned because it has been found to normally lead to slow death, has been used in [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[Nevada]], [[Mississippi]], and [[North Carolina]] since 1977. Walter LeGrand's 1999 execution in Arizona's gas chamber will almost certainly be the last of this type.

===France===
The United States has never used the [[guillotine]], which was very popular in [[France]]. The last use of the guillotine in France was in 1977. Thereafter, capital punishment in France was abolished, in 1981.

===Canada===
[[Canada]] does not employ capital punishment, and it has not been a possible sentence in Canadian civilian courts since 1976.

Canada long employed capital punishment as a punishment for [[murder]] or [[treason]], typically executing prisoners by [[long drop hanging|long drop]] [[hanging]] in the case of civilians, and by [[firing squad]] in the case of soldiers or other military. (In particular, 25 soldiers were executed for various crimes during [[World War I]].) Canada had several notorious executioners, particularly [[Arthur B. English]], also known as "Arthur Ellis", after whom [[Arthur Ellis Awards|a Canadian literary award]] for mystery writing is named.

While Canada's use of capital punishment was inherited from the legal system of the [[United Kingdom]], opposition to capital punishment began to arise in the late 1950s, and came to a head in 1959, when [[Steven Truscott]], a 14-year-old boy, was convicted of murder, with a recommendation from the [[jury]] for mercy. The judge passed down a sentence of execution by hanging, then the only legal punishment for murder in Canada.

While Truscott's death sentence would later be commuted in 1960, his case galvanized public opinion, and in 1961 Canada reclassified capital murder, defining it as a murder that involved [[premeditation]], murder during the commission of a violent crime, or the murder of a [[police officer]] or [[prison guard]]. This marked the beginning of the decline of capital punishment in Canada, as the last executions would be in [[December]], 1962. The government of Canada routinely [[commutation|commuted]] any death sentence passed thereafter (indeed, the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] made opposition to capital punishment a part of their [[platform (politics)|platform]]).

In 1976, this [[de facto]] state of affairs became law, when the [[Parliament (Canada)|Canadian Parliament]] abolished the use of capital punishment under the [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]. Executions were still permitted under the [[National Defense Act (Canada)|National Defense Act]] until 1998, when they were similarly abolished.

Currently, Canada's [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]] does not allow the [[extradition]] of criminals who may be executed for their crimes.

===Saudi Arabia===
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery are executed in public with a sword. As of November 25, 2007, Saudi Arabia has beheaded 136 people, 38 people in 2006 and 83 people in 2005. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312768,00.html Saudi Arabia Marks 136th Beheading of 2007], Associated Press, [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]], November 25, 2007</ref>

===European Union===
The death penalty has been abolished in all 27 [[European Union]] member states, and 47 out of the 50 countries in [[Europe]] (only [[Belarus]] still practices it), and [[Russia]] has had an effective moratorium since 1996).<ref>http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT50/001/2007/en/ACT500012007en.html Document - List of abolitionist and retentionist countries (1 January 2007)</ref> The EU has long been against capital punishment, and campaigns for its abolition worldwide. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, legally adopted in the Treaty of Lisbon, bans execution in all member states, and abolition is a condition of acceding to the EU.<ref name="EU" /> EU law also bans detainee transfers in cases where the receiving party may seek the death penalty.

===North Korea===
The [[Associated Press]] has reported that executions and [[torture]] in [[North Korea]] are "worse than [[animal]] slaughter." "One inmate, Choe Kwang Ho, sneaked away from his work for 15 minutes to pick fruit. He was executed, his mouth stuffed with gravel to prevent him from protesting." "If a female inmate got pregnant, he said, she and her lover would be shot to death publicly. Then, An said, prison guards would cut open her womb, remove the fetus and bury it or feed it to guard dogs."<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444672,00.html Executions, Torture in North Korea 'Worse Than Animal Slaughter'], Associated Press, ''Fox News'', October 29, 2008</ref>

==History==
In American history, there was regional variation in the use of the death penalty (with [[The South]] always higher), the execution rate (per million people) dropped steadily between the colonial period and the present, that the number of crimes meriting the death penalty was sharply reduced, and few women were executed, while a disproportionate number of African American, ethnic, and poor men died at the hands of the state. In [[Colonial America]], capital punishment was used more frequently, as it fit into the context of colonial life. Rates of execution were similar to those in England and matched the general violence of colonial life. There were no prisons for long-term incarceration (only jails for brief incarcerations.) Public executions served as communal warnings. By the 1790s, executions began to decline. Many capital offenses were dropped, the methods of execution changed, and long-term incarceration in prison emerged as the preferred alternative punishment. Executions disappeared from the public square except in the cases of [[lynchings]], which grew in numbers in the South after the Civil War. <ref> Allen and Clubb (2008)</ref>
==Religious views of capital punishment==
===Christianity===
==== Biblical View ====
The [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] has several passages that recommend the death penalty for different offenses.

According to the Old Testament, these are the offenses which merit the death penalty:

# Worshiping a false god ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:6-10)
# Sacrificing to false gods ([[Exodus]] 22:20)
# Sacrificing children to Molech ([[Leviticus]] 20:2)
# [[Blasphemy]] (Leviticus 24:16)
# Desecrating the [[Sabbath]] (Exodus31:15)
# False [[Prophecy]] (Deuteronomy 13:5)
# [[Witchcraft]] (Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27)
# Cursing Parents (Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:9)
# Rebellious Sons (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
# Disobedience to judgments by authority established God (Deuteronomy 17:9-13)
# False witness in a capital crime (Deuteronomy 19:16-20)
# [[Murder]] ([[Exodus]] 21:12, 21:15)
# Negligent [[homicide]] Exodus 21:29)
# [[Homosexual]] intercourse ([[Leviticus 18]]:22, 20:13)
# Bestiality (Leviticus 20:15)
# [[Adultery]] (Leviticus 20:10; 19:20)
# Incest (Leviticus 20:11; from Moses onward: [[Genesis]] 19:33,35; 4:17)
# Sex with a woman betrothed to another (Deuteronomy 22:25)
# Un[[chastity]]; marriage under false pretense of virginity (Deuteronomy 22:21-24)
# Daughter of a priest becoming a prostitute (Leviticus 21:9)
# Kidnapping to sell into slavery (Exodus 21:16)
# Coveting and making a wicked thing one's possession (Deuteronomy 7:26; [[Joshua]] 7:15,25)

The term "put to death" or similar explicit terms are usually used in commands mandating capital punishment, though the term "cut off from his people" (Lev. 17:4, etc.) may also denote such,<ref>Dr. John Gill (1690-1771) on Lv. 17:4, 14</ref> and which would increase the number of capital offenses. However, the latter phrase could potentially refer to [[excommunication]] instead. <ref>http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/TheDeathPenalty.html</ref>

Conditions necessary for true conviction:

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death." (Deuteronomy 17:6; cf. Exodus 20:16)

Requirements for Judges:

Lev 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Few people support capital punishment for non-murder offenses, and a number of Christians oppose the death penalty in all cases. Apologist [[JP Holding]] argues that the Bible including the [[New Testament]] nowhere repudiates the use of capital punishment (by the State), but that it does not necessarily mandate its use, either. <ref>http://www.tektonics.org/af/cappun.html</ref>

In Acts 25:11, the [[apostle Paul]] stated, "...if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die", while Romans 13:1-5 states that God has ordained the just use of the sword by the government. (cf. 1 Pet. 2:14)

Some Christians who are opposed to the death penalty cite John 8:3-11, which describes how Christ saved an adulteress from death by stoning by challenging the crowd "let he who has not sinned cast the first stone", which they interpret as saying that man does not have the moral authority to condemn man to death. However, apart from the controversy regarding the canonical status of the passage, it is argued that Jesus is shown to be upholding the law<ref>http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4222897/k.64E4/John_8_is_a_Condemnation_of_Capital_Punishment.htm</ref>, while only stopping the execution of the women by hypocrites, who were themselves convicted of such sins, similar to or including adultery.<ref>John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible</ref><ref>John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</ref> (cf. Matthew 7:5; Romans 2:1) Other Christians argue that the unjust execution of Jesus demonstrates that capital punishment is immoral, though Jesus is not seen opposing the legitimacy of capital punishment itself, and only the unjust use of such power. (Jn. 10:32; 18:23; Acts 25:11) Some Christians claim that the passage was a later addition to the Bible (see article: "[[Adulteress story]]") - if it was a later addition, this might not be an issue to those Christians who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.

==== Roman Catholicism ====

The [[Catholic Church]] has historically supported capital punishment in many circumstances that range from combating heresy to saving lives of potential victims of crime. Traditionally, capital punishment has been endorsed by the Church for reasons beyond preventing additional wrongdoing by the same criminal.

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) explains the historical use by the Church and Catholic nations to executing heretics, and even cremating the remains of heretics, as a way of expunging evil:<ref>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12565a.htm</ref>

:The nations of modern Europe, as they gradually developed, seemed to have agreed upon the necessity of extirpating all influences and agencies which tended to pervert the faith of the people, or which seemed to them to betray the potency of evil spirits. Therefore, the laws of all these nations provided for the destruction of contumacious unbelievers, teachers of heresy, witches, and sorcerers, by fire.

In recent decades, however, officials within the Catholic Church have taken differing stances on the death penalty.

The renowned Modern Catholic Dictionary (1980) by John A. Hardon, S.J., which was given the "imprimatur" (official endorsement) by Joseph T. O'Keefe, Vicar General, Archdiocese of New York (Dec. 13, 1979), describes the Catholic position of capital punishment as follows:

:It is certain from Scripture that civil authorities may lawfully put malefactors to death. ... Christian dispensation made no essential change [to the Old Testament endorsement of the death penalty], as St. Paul expressly says .... [citing Romans 13:4]. Among the errors of the Waldenses condemned by the Church in the early thirteenth century was the proposition that denied the lawfulness of capital punishment (Argentre, ''Collectio de Novis Erroribus'', I, 86). St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) defends capital punishment on the grounds of the common good. ... If even with capital punishment crime abounds, no lesser penalty will suffice. The practice question remains of how effective a deterrent capital punishment is in some modern states, when rarely used or only after long delays. In principle, however, it is morally licit because in the most serious crimes the claims of retribution and deterrence are so demanding that the corrective value of punishment must, if necessary, be sacrificed.

The current official Catholic teaching, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, reads as follows:

:If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

:Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender "today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent."<ref>[John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 56.]http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM</ref>

Other Catholic officials have gone further. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has "called for an end to the use of the death penalty for more than twenty-five years."<ref>http://www.usccb.org/deathpenalty/index.shtml</ref>

This surprising new position is at odds with the historic use by the Church of capital punishment to deal with heretics, and the cremation of the exhumed bodies of heretics. It may have simply reflected the late 20th century repudiation in Europe of all uses of capital punishment.

The Roman Catholic Church generally holds the position of a "Consistent Life Ethic." The Church teaches the protection of life for all humans, from conception to natural death<ref>Paul VI, Humanae Vitae 1968 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html</ref> <ref>John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae 1995 http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0141/_INDEX.HTM</ref> <ref>Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate 2009 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html</ref>. But the Church has never embraced the pacifist position of Quakers in categorically opposing all killing, even to stop, deter, or punish evil.

===Unificationism===

Rev. [[Sun Myung Moon]] said, "Judges sometimes pass death sentences, and yet their verdicts cannot be absolutely right."<ref> [http://www.tparents.org/moon-books/csg-d/CSG-01g.htm Problems with the Existing Doctrines of God]</ref>

== Injustices Caused by Limits on Death Penalty ==

Increasingly arbitrary limits have been placed on use of the death penalty. One arbitrary prohibition established by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] on use of the death penalty is when the murder is committed by someone under the age of 18.<ref>''See [[Roper v. Simmons]]''.</ref> Prior to this Supreme Court ruling, states had statutory minimum ages (at the time of crime) for when the death penalty could be imposed.

The award-winning documentary ''The Thin Blue Line'' portrays the true story of the framing of an innocent drifter because the age of the real murderer was slightly below the legal minimum for imposing the death penalty. The crime was the heinous murder of a police officer during a routine traffic stop, and the outrage at the crime cried out for retribution with the death penalty. But the authorities were legally barred from executing the real murderer, and an adult drifter who was in the wrong place at the wrong time was convicted for it. He served years on death row before being released after the movie was widely seen: he could easily have been killed for a crime he didn't commit. Some would use this as an argument against the death penalty, as mistakes like this are sometimes made in court, but the death penalty ensures that when they happen, their effect is permanent.

== See also ==
*[[Culture of life]]
*[[Guillotine]]
*[[Hanging]]
*[[Lethal injection]]

==Further reading==
* Allen, Howard W. and Jerome M. Clubb. ''Race, Class, and the Death Penalty: Capital Punishment in American History'' (2008) 239 pp. heavily statistical [http://www.amazon.com/Race-Class-Death-Penalty-Punishment/dp/0791474380/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262596245&sr=1-10 excerpt and text search]
* Mandery, Evan J. ''Capital Punishment in America: A Balanced Explanation'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Punishment-America-Explanation-Illuminated/dp/0763733083/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262596245&sr=1-9 excerpt and text search]
* Masur, Louis P. ''Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865'' (1991) [http://www.amazon.com/Rites-Execution-Punishment-Transformation-1776-1865/dp/0195066634/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262596245&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[category:political Terms]]
[[category:law]]
[[Category:Punishment]]

Capital punishment

2013-06-17T06:56:45Z

WilcoxD: /* In the world today */

'''Capital punishment''', also known as the death penalty, refers to the custom of executing prisoners who are convicted of certain crimes. Such crimes are known as capital [[crime]]s, and tend to be grave crimes against persons or governments (such as [[premeditation|premeditated]] [[murder]], [[rape]] or [[treason]]).

== In the world today ==
Of the main developed countries, only the [[United States]] and [[Japan]] use formalized capital punishment, though many developed countries give law enforcement greater authority to kill than allowed by the [[United States]]. For emerging countries, [[China]] uses the death penalty and in the non-developed world it is practiced in most [[Sharia]] states (those whose legal systems are based on [[Muslim]] legal philosophy), as well as many others.<ref name="EU">EU: [http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/deathpenalty/EurHRConvProt13Decl.htm Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in all Circumstances]</ref><ref>Encarta: [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461543496/Capital_Punishment_Worldwide.html Capital Punishment Worldwide]</ref>

According to officially released governmental figures, the [[human rights]] organization [[Amnesty International]] estimates that [[Singapore]] has the highest execution rate in the world, at 13.65 hangings per 1,000,000 residents. [[Saudi Arabia]] has the second-highest rate, at 4.65 per 1,000,000.

Based on 2004 figures, China is the world leader in total number of executions with an estimated 3,400. Following China is [[Iran]] with 159 and [[Vietnam]] with an estimated 64 executions. The [[United States]] executed the 5th greatest number of people in the world with a total of 52. <ref>''The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2008 Edition'' 2007, p. 99. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1846680908</ref>

=== Australia ===
Australia formally removed the death penalty in 1984, however at that time it had not been used since 1967.

=== United States ===
Capital punishment in the United States is handled on a state-by-state basis; 17 states and the [[District of Columbia]] prohibit the death penalty.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2113102,00.html</ref> But the federal government and the military fully use capital punishment for the most heinous crimes, including treason.

[[Pennsylvania]] has hundreds of people on [[death row]], though only three inmates have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment laws, and all three essentially "volunteered" by dropping their appeals. But other states, such as [[Texas]], execute convicted persons on death row with regularity.<ref>A rare exception in Texas is a man who has been on death row for 31 years. [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deathrow28jan28,1,1271967.story?coll=la-headlines-nation]</ref> Frivolous appeals and overly cautious stays of execution can create a backlog on death rows in many states.

Though the United States suspended the death penalty in 1973, it was reinstated in 1977. 65% of Americans believe putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable, according to a recent poll. But respondents were close to evenly split on whether they would prefer the death penalty (50%) to mandatory life in prison (46%). The death penalty is most favored by age 30+ males who are [[Caucasian]] and [[Republican]].<ref>ABC News/Washington Post poll: [http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/1015a3DeathPenalty.pdf Death Penalty]</ref>

Capital punishment for federal crimes existed for centuries. After the death penalty was suspended by [[judicial activism]] in 1973, the federal government reinstated it again in 1988.<ref>http://www.justice.gov/dag/pubdoc/deathpenaltystudy.htm</ref>

Some studies conducted since the start of the new millennium have consistently shown a deterrence factor in the United States based on use of the death penalty. It has been calculated that each person executed saves the lives of anywhere from 3 to 18 innocent people.<ref>Studies: Death penalty discourages crime http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,280215,00.html</ref> Other studies have shown that as a whole, "death-penalty states" typically have higher murder rates than states that do not have capital punishment, but obviously many other factors influence the overall murder rate, such as poverty and policies toward repeat offenders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1705#STATES%20WITH%20THE%20DEATH%20PENALTY%20V.%20STATES%20WITHOUT|format=HTML|work=Death Penalty Information Center|language=English|title=Deterrence|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref>

===Morality===

Some have questioned how a nation such as the United States that largely identifies itself as [[Christian]] (76.5%) could have 65% of Americans believing putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable<ref>http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm</ref> They question whether or not the [[Bible]] allows such a view.<ref>http://www.itsyourtimes.com/?q=node/3524</ref>. The 6th Commandment is sometimes translated as, "Thou shalt not kill." This translation suggests that executions are a sin. The 6th Commandment is also sometimes translated as, "Thou shalt commit no murder." As murder is defined as "wrongful killing", when following that translation it is possible to argue whether or not judicial executions are murder. In any case, any possible moral justification for humans to met out capital punishment upon other humans is based on exactly two interacting facts: '''1)''' humans in the fallen world already are subject to eventual death by natural means; '''2)''' some offenses (crimes, sins) are biologically so deep that the integrity of the central victim(s) is too compromised to recover by natural means (including, but not limited to, death). Added to those two facts is a third: the maintenance of such offenders is in no way the duty of the offended, so long as the offended is not already so guilty ('let only those who are without hypocracy cast the first stone', or 'a family of thieves cannot selectively punish its members'.) Finally, and most importantly, the 6th Commandment is part of the [[Mosaic Law]] in the [[Old Testament]], which mandates capital punishment for many offenses (see below); therefore, an interpretation of the 6th Commandment as forbidding capital punishment is [[stolen concept|nonsensical]].

==== Methods in the United States ====

[[Lethal injection]] is the official method of capital punishment in almost all of the 38 states that have the death penalty. A few states allow for other methods in some circumstances. Several botched electrocutions in [[Florida]] in the 1990s have effectively put an end to the era of the [[electric chair]], which was the most common means of execution in the United States before 1972. In addition to these two methods of execution, lethal gas, hanging, and shooting have all been used at least twice since 1977. [[Firing squad]]s were conducted in [[Utah]], most recently in 2010. The three hangings took place in [[Washington]] and [[Delaware]], most recently Billy Bailey's 1996 hanging in Delaware. The [[gas chamber]], which has been abandoned because it has been found to normally lead to slow death, has been used in [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[Nevada]], [[Mississippi]], and [[North Carolina]] since 1977. Walter LeGrand's 1999 execution in Arizona's gas chamber will almost certainly be the last of this type.

===France===
The United States has never used the [[guillotine]], which was very popular in [[France]]. The last use of the guillotine in France was in 1977. Thereafter, capital punishment in France was abolished, in 1981.

===Canada===
[[Canada]] does not employ capital punishment, and it has not been a possible sentence in Canadian civilian courts since 1976.

Canada long employed capital punishment as a punishment for [[murder]] or [[treason]], typically executing prisoners by [[long drop hanging|long drop]] [[hanging]] in the case of civilians, and by [[firing squad]] in the case of soldiers or other military. (In particular, 25 soldiers were executed for various crimes during [[World War I]].) Canada had several notorious executioners, particularly [[Arthur B. English]], also known as "Arthur Ellis", after whom [[Arthur Ellis Awards|a Canadian literary award]] for mystery writing is named.

While Canada's use of capital punishment was inherited from the legal system of the [[United Kingdom]], opposition to capital punishment began to arise in the late 1950s, and came to a head in 1959, when [[Steven Truscott]], a 14-year-old boy, was convicted of murder, with a recommendation from the [[jury]] for mercy. The judge passed down a sentence of execution by hanging, then the only legal punishment for murder in Canada.

While Truscott's death sentence would later be commuted in 1960, his case galvanized public opinion, and in 1961 Canada reclassified capital murder, defining it as a murder that involved [[premeditation]], murder during the commission of a violent crime, or the murder of a [[police officer]] or [[prison guard]]. This marked the beginning of the decline of capital punishment in Canada, as the last executions would be in [[December]], 1962. The government of Canada routinely [[commutation|commuted]] any death sentence passed thereafter (indeed, the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] made opposition to capital punishment a part of their [[platform (politics)|platform]]).

In 1976, this [[de facto]] state of affairs became law, when the [[Parliament (Canada)|Canadian Parliament]] abolished the use of capital punishment under the [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]. Executions were still permitted under the [[National Defense Act (Canada)|National Defense Act]] until 1998, when they were similarly abolished.

Currently, Canada's [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]] does not allow the [[extradition]] of criminals who may be executed for their crimes.

===Saudi Arabia===
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery are executed in public with a sword. As of November 25, 2007, Saudi Arabia has beheaded 136 people, 38 people in 2006 and 83 people in 2005. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312768,00.html Saudi Arabia Marks 136th Beheading of 2007], Associated Press, [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]], November 25, 2007</ref>

===European Union===
The death penalty has been abolished in all 27 [[European Union]] member states, and 47 out of the 50 countries in [[Europe]] (only [[Belarus]] still practices it), and [[Russia]] has had an effective moratorium since 1996).<ref>http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT50/001/2007/en/ACT500012007en.html Document - List of abolitionist and retentionist countries (1 January 2007)</ref> The EU has long been against capital punishment, and campaigns for its abolition worldwide. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, legally adopted in the Treaty of Lisbon, bans execution in all member states, and abolition is a condition of acceding to the EU.<ref name="EU" /> EU law also bans detainee transfers in cases where the receiving party may seek the death penalty.

===North Korea===
The [[Associated Press]] has reported that executions and [[torture]] in [[North Korea]] are "worse than [[animal]] slaughter." "One inmate, Choe Kwang Ho, sneaked away from his work for 15 minutes to pick fruit. He was executed, his mouth stuffed with gravel to prevent him from protesting." "If a female inmate got pregnant, he said, she and her lover would be shot to death publicly. Then, An said, prison guards would cut open her womb, remove the fetus and bury it or feed it to guard dogs."<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444672,00.html Executions, Torture in North Korea 'Worse Than Animal Slaughter'], Associated Press, ''Fox News'', October 29, 2008</ref>

==History==
In American history, there was regional variation in the use of the death penalty (with [[The South]] always higher), the execution rate (per million people) dropped steadily between the colonial period and the present, that the number of crimes meriting the death penalty was sharply reduced, and few women were executed, while a disproportionate number of African American, ethnic, and poor men died at the hands of the state. In [[Colonial America]], capital punishment was used more frequently, as it fit into the context of colonial life. Rates of execution were similar to those in England and matched the general violence of colonial life. There were no prisons for long-term incarceration (only jails for brief incarcerations.) Public executions served as communal warnings. By the 1790s, executions began to decline. Many capital offenses were dropped, the methods of execution changed, and long-term incarceration in prison emerged as the preferred alternative punishment. Executions disappeared from the public square except in the cases of [[lynchings]], which grew in numbers in the South after the Civil War. <ref> Allen and Clubb (2008)</ref>
==Religious views of capital punishment==
===Christianity===
==== Biblical View ====
The [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] has several passages that recommend the death penalty for different offenses.

According to the Old Testament, these are the offenses which merit the death penalty:

# Worshiping a false god ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:6-10)
# Sacrificing to false gods ([[Exodus]] 22:20)
# Sacrificing children to Molech ([[Leviticus]] 20:2)
# [[Blasphemy]] (Leviticus 24:16)
# Desecrating the [[Sabbath]] (Exodus31:15)
# False [[Prophecy]] (Deuteronomy 13:5)
# [[Witchcraft]] (Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27)
# Cursing Parents (Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:9)
# Rebellious Sons (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
# Disobedience to judgments by authority established God (Deuteronomy 17:9-13)
# False witness in a capital crime (Deuteronomy 19:16-20)
# [[Murder]] ([[Exodus]] 21:12, 21:15)
# Negligent [[homicide]] Exodus 21:29)
# [[Homosexual]] intercourse ([[Leviticus 18]]:22, 20:13)
# Bestiality (Leviticus 20:15)
# [[Adultery]] (Leviticus 20:10; 19:20)
# Incest (Leviticus 20:11; from Moses onward: [[Genesis]] 19:33,35; 4:17)
# Sex with a woman betrothed to another (Deuteronomy 22:25)
# Un[[chastity]]; marriage under false pretense of virginity (Deuteronomy 22:21-24)
# Daughter of a priest becoming a prostitute (Leviticus 21:9)
# Kidnapping to sell into slavery (Exodus 21:16)
# Coveting and making a wicked thing one's possession (Deuteronomy 7:26; [[Joshua]] 7:15,25)

The term "put to death" or similar explicit terms are usually used in commands mandating capital punishment, though the term "cut off from his people" (Lev. 17:4, etc.) may also denote such,<ref>Dr. John Gill (1690-1771) on Lv. 17:4, 14</ref> and which would increase the number of capital offenses. However, the latter phrase could potentially refer to [[excommunication]] instead. <ref>http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/TheDeathPenalty.html</ref>

Conditions necessary for true conviction:

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death." (Deuteronomy 17:6; cf. Exodus 20:16)

Requirements for Judges:

Lev 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Few people support capital punishment for non-murder offenses, and a number of Christians oppose the death penalty in all cases. Apologist [[JP Holding]] argues that the Bible including the [[New Testament]] nowhere repudiates the use of capital punishment (by the State), but that it does not necessarily mandate its use, either. <ref>http://www.tektonics.org/af/cappun.html</ref>

In Acts 25:11, the [[apostle Paul]] stated, "...if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die", while Romans 13:1-5 states that God has ordained the just use of the sword by the government. (cf. 1 Pet. 2:14)

Some Christians who are opposed to the death penalty cite John 8:3-11, which describes how Christ saved an adulteress from death by stoning by challenging the crowd "let he who has not sinned cast the first stone", which they interpret as saying that man does not have the moral authority to condemn man to death. However, apart from the controversy regarding the canonical status of the passage, it is argued that Jesus is shown to be upholding the law<ref>http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4222897/k.64E4/John_8_is_a_Condemnation_of_Capital_Punishment.htm</ref>, while only stopping the execution of the women by hypocrites, who were themselves convicted of such sins, similar to or including adultery.<ref>John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible</ref><ref>John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</ref> (cf. Matthew 7:5; Romans 2:1) Other Christians argue that the unjust execution of Jesus demonstrates that capital punishment is immoral, though Jesus is not seen opposing the legitimacy of capital punishment itself, and only the unjust use of such power. (Jn. 10:32; 18:23; Acts 25:11) Some Christians claim that the passage was a later addition to the Bible (see article: "[[Adulteress story]]") - if it was a later addition, this might not be an issue to those Christians who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.

==== Roman Catholicism ====

The [[Catholic Church]] has historically supported capital punishment in many circumstances that range from combating heresy to saving lives of potential victims of crime. Traditionally, capital punishment has been endorsed by the Church for reasons beyond preventing additional wrongdoing by the same criminal.

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) explains the historical use by the Church and Catholic nations to executing heretics, and even cremating the remains of heretics, as a way of expunging evil:<ref>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12565a.htm</ref>

:The nations of modern Europe, as they gradually developed, seemed to have agreed upon the necessity of extirpating all influences and agencies which tended to pervert the faith of the people, or which seemed to them to betray the potency of evil spirits. Therefore, the laws of all these nations provided for the destruction of contumacious unbelievers, teachers of heresy, witches, and sorcerers, by fire.

In recent decades, however, officials within the Catholic Church have taken differing stances on the death penalty.

The renowned Modern Catholic Dictionary (1980) by John A. Hardon, S.J., which was given the "imprimatur" (official endorsement) by Joseph T. O'Keefe, Vicar General, Archdiocese of New York (Dec. 13, 1979), describes the Catholic position of capital punishment as follows:

:It is certain from Scripture that civil authorities may lawfully put malefactors to death. ... Christian dispensation made no essential change [to the Old Testament endorsement of the death penalty], as St. Paul expressly says .... [citing Romans 13:4]. Among the errors of the Waldenses condemned by the Church in the early thirteenth century was the proposition that denied the lawfulness of capital punishment (Argentre, ''Collectio de Novis Erroribus'', I, 86). St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) defends capital punishment on the grounds of the common good. ... If even with capital punishment crime abounds, no lesser penalty will suffice. The practice question remains of how effective a deterrent capital punishment is in some modern states, when rarely used or only after long delays. In principle, however, it is morally licit because in the most serious crimes the claims of retribution and deterrence are so demanding that the corrective value of punishment must, if necessary, be sacrificed.

The current official Catholic teaching, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, reads as follows:

:If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

:Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender "today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent."<ref>[John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 56.]http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM</ref>

Other Catholic officials have gone further. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has "called for an end to the use of the death penalty for more than twenty-five years."<ref>http://www.usccb.org/deathpenalty/index.shtml</ref>

This surprising new position is at odds with the historic use by the Church of capital punishment to deal with heretics, and the cremation of the exhumed bodies of heretics. It may have simply reflected the late 20th century repudiation in Europe of all uses of capital punishment.

The Roman Catholic Church generally holds the position of a "Consistent Life Ethic." The Church teaches the protection of life for all humans, from conception to natural death<ref>Paul VI, Humanae Vitae 1968 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html</ref> <ref>John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae 1995 http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0141/_INDEX.HTM</ref> <ref>Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate 2009 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html</ref>. But the Church has never embraced the pacifist position of Quakers in categorically opposing all killing, even to stop, deter, or punish evil.

===Unificationism===

Rev. [[Sun Myung Moon]] said, "Judges sometimes pass death sentences, and yet their verdicts cannot be absolutely right."<ref> [http://www.tparents.org/moon-books/csg-d/CSG-01g.htm Problems with the Existing Doctrines of God]</ref>

== Injustices Caused by Limits on Death Penalty ==

Increasingly arbitrary limits have been placed on use of the death penalty. One arbitrary prohibition established by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] on use of the death penalty is when the murder is committed by someone under the age of 18.<ref>''See [[Roper v. Simmons]]''.</ref> Prior to this Supreme Court ruling, states had statutory minimum ages (at the time of crime) for when the death penalty could be imposed.

The award-winning documentary ''The Thin Blue Line'' portrays the true story of the framing of an innocent drifter because the age of the real murderer was slightly below the legal minimum for imposing the death penalty. The crime was the heinous murder of a police officer during a routine traffic stop, and the outrage at the crime cried out for retribution with the death penalty. But the authorities were legally barred from executing the real murderer, and an adult drifter who was in the wrong place at the wrong time was convicted for it. He served years on death row before being released after the movie was widely seen: he could easily have been killed for a crime he didn't commit. Some would use this as an argument against the death penalty, as mistakes like this are sometimes made in court, but the death penalty ensures that when they happen, their effect is permanent.

== See also ==
*[[Culture of life]]
*[[Guillotine]]
*[[Hanging]]
*[[Lethal injection]]

==Further reading==
* Allen, Howard W. and Jerome M. Clubb. ''Race, Class, and the Death Penalty: Capital Punishment in American History'' (2008) 239 pp. heavily statistical [http://www.amazon.com/Race-Class-Death-Penalty-Punishment/dp/0791474380/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262596245&sr=1-10 excerpt and text search]
* Mandery, Evan J. ''Capital Punishment in America: A Balanced Explanation'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Punishment-America-Explanation-Illuminated/dp/0763733083/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262596245&sr=1-9 excerpt and text search]
* Masur, Louis P. ''Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865'' (1991) [http://www.amazon.com/Rites-Execution-Punishment-Transformation-1776-1865/dp/0195066634/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262596245&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]

==References==
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[[category:political Terms]]
[[category:law]]
[[Category:Punishment]]