One of the anomalies of capital punishment is its
persistence in the US, in contradiction to claims to respect human rights
and a culture of democracy. The reasons
for the persistence are complex and certainly related to a historical culture
of violence which reigns in that country.
Unfortunately, US adherence to the death penalty gives credence to
claims by many remaining retentionist countries that their practice is
acceptable by human rights standards. Be that as it may, statistics for the
death penalty reveal that in 2014 death sentences in the US have reached a 40
year low (72) while executions, in steady decline since 1999, were the lowest
in 20 years (35). 80% of these executions were in the states of Missouri (10),
Texas (10), and Florida (8); 3 were in Oklahoma, 2 in Georgia, 1 each in
Arizona and Ohio. One can say that the death penalty is now applied, not in the
US in general, but in certain aberrant states.
Two factors may be identified as contributing to the decline
of executions on the US. The first is that the drugs used in inflicting the
punishment are no longer available, especially sodium thiopental, a fast acting
general anesthetic, used to make execution painless. Export of this component
of the drug cocktail used in executions has been banned for export by European
Union decree. US executioners have been forced to replace the sodium
thiopental by locally made equivalents.
The result has been several protracted executions that led to terrible agony of
the person being executed. The sensibility of citizens was outraged and such
cruel and unusual punishment met with increasing disapproval.
Another factor in the decrease has been the execution of the
mentally defective. A Supreme Court ruling in 2002 held that execution of those
having an IQ level of approximately 70 was unconstitutional due to diminished
responsibility. Nevertheless, states strongly favouring capital punishment
continued to execute borderline cases. However, an increased distaste for
execution of the young and mentally defective is helping to lower rates of
killing by the state.
It is our hope that Thailand takes note of this trend, cease
using US practice as a model, and hasten the day of renouncing capital
punishment totally and forever.
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