Dead Man Walking

•History

The death penalty is a form of punishment that involves executing a person after he or she has been found guilty of a crime by his or her legal system. This may be done as an act of retribution, to ensure that the individual cannot commit future crimes, and/or as a deterrent for potential criminals. Most countries have used this form of punishment at some point in modern times for different crimes, putting people to death in a variety of ways that have evolved with society.

Often referred to as capital punishment, executions carried out by a government or ruling monarchy date back as far as humans have been recording history. Some ancient texts indicate that, originally, the death penalty was viewed as a price to pay for a crime rather than a punishment, meaning any person's blood being spilled could make up for the crime. For this reason, the original perpetrator did not necessarily have to be the one executed. Since then, however, it has evolved into a means of punishing the individual, ensuring he or she commits no other crimes, and, in many societies, as a way to bring closure to any people harmed by the criminal's actions. It has also been viewed as a means to deter people from committing more severe crimes, much in the way the threat of jail time is used to instill fear in "minor" criminals.

The first established death penalty laws were initiated in the XVIII century B.C. in the code if king Hammaurabi of Babylon. At the time the death penalty was used as a punishment to 25 different crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, etc. It was also used during the XIV century in Hittite Code; It was part of the VII century B.C. Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the V Century B.C. Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement.

In the XIX hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain.

In the following century, William the Conqueror would not allow persons to be hanged or otherwise executed for any crime, except in times of war. This trend would not last, for in the XVI, under the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed. Some common methods of execution at that time were boiling, burning at the stake, hanging, beheading, and drawing and quartering. Executions were carried out for such capital offenses as marrying a Jew, not confessing to a crime, and treason.

The number of capital crimes in Britain continued to rise throughout the next two centuries. By the 1700s, 222 crimes were punishable by death in Britain, including stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren. Because of the severity of the death penalty, many juries would not convict defendants if the offense was not serious. This lead to reforms of Britain's death penalty. From 1823 to 1837, the death penalty was eliminated for over 100 of the 222 crimes punishable by death.

•Dates

-XVIII century BC in Babylon

-XIX in Hittie code

-VII century BC Draconian code of Athens

-V century BC in the Roman lay of the twelve tablets

-XIX hanging became a way of execution in Britain

-XVI century more than 72,000 people had been executed

-1700's death penalty became a punishment for crimes

-1823-1837 death penalty was eliminated for many crimes

Places

Britain: capital punishment in the UK was used from the creation of the state in 1707 until the practice was abolished in the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom, by hanging took place in 1964, prior to capital punishment being abolished for murder (in 1965 in Great Britain and in 1973 in Northern Ireland). Although not applied since, the death penalty was abolished in all circumstances in 1998. In 2004 the 13th Protocol to the European convention on human rights became binding on the United Kingdom, prohibiting the restoration of the death penalty for as long as the UK is a party to the Convention.

How? With what? Why? Why was it done in public?

Capital punishment in the People's Republic of China: it was usually applied to the offenders of serious and violent crimes, such as aggravated murder, but China maintains in law a number of

...