Watch: Myth #10 - The death penalty is not political

MYTH

The death penalty is not political.

FACT

The death penalty is often driven by politics rather than a desire to repair social problems and bring justice.

• Politicians in the US, from prosecutors to presidents, choose symbol over substance in their support of the death penalty. Campaign rhetoric becomes legislative policy with no analysis of whether the expense is really in the interest of the people.

Research shows the existence of gubernatorial election cycles in state executions, suggesting that election year political considerations play a role in determining the timing of executions. Analysis indicates that states are approximately 25% more likely to conduct executions in gubernatorial election years than at any other time. Elections, especially in the US South, also appear to dictate the probability that African-American defendants will be executed more often than white defendants. 

These findings raise concerns that state executions may fail to meet the constitutional requirements defined by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gregg v. Georgia. Gregg held that the death penalty was not "cruel and unusual punishment" as long as it was applied judiciously and carefully.

• The "strike hard" policy in China parades alleged criminals in public, with details of the crime they committed.  Public sentencing is attended by thousands of people.  In 1996, 1,000 people were executed in only two months' time.

Executions are also driven by economics. Organs are taken from the executed and sold. Families are often not informed of the execution, leaving them in a state of utter despair and hopelessness. Could the booming transplant industry be in fact, the other hidden factor driving the death penalty?

• In the Middle East, the death penalty is considered necessary to protect government interests, rather than society's.

Iran's parliament has just approved a bill making it criminal to publish web blogs and sites that would “spread mischief” or “undermine the authority of the State”. The new law currently considered would allow the death penalty for “offensive bloggers”, a way to gain control over the blogging phenomenon.
Watch related video here. 

“Spreading mischief or undermining authority” includes many different offences, such as homosexuality, which is punishable by hanging. Watch a video here.

• In sixteen countries across Asia, drug smuggling is punishable by death.  Asia is under enormous pressure from the West to crack down on the drug trade which is mostly funded by consumers in Western countries.

However, those who produce and sell the drugs rarely face prosecution. The mules trafficking the drugs – usually because of a combination of economic duress and coercion – end up facing the ultimate punishment.

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