Capital punishment from a national and biblical perspective

Observer
EARL CAMERON Saturday, October 20, 2012

ONCE again, the nation is making a clarion call for the reactivation of the death penalty. On September 30, 2012, on the front page of one of our papers was the headline, "Hang them - Jamaicans call for death penalty...". Interestingly, even some formerly passive Christian leaders have now joined their voices in calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty. In church recently, I heard a little boy praying that the death penalty be implemented. It touched my heart and caused me to recognise how our nation's children are affected by this wave of violence. If the government fails to reactivate the death penalty, vigilantism will increase and become commonplace. The debate concerning the legitimacy of capital punishment is to a large extent influenced by the apparent tension between the Old and New Testaments. However, there is no disparity between the Testaments on this issue; it's a matter of interpretation. The Mosaic civil laws speak to the matter of justice and the application of the laws in godly and just societies. One principle in this law states that if a person takes the life of another maliciously, his life should also be taken (Exodus 21:12). Jesus later spoke about forgiveness and mercy, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy', but I say unto you, love your enemies..." (Matthew 5:43-44). Jesus was not objecting to punishment for wrongdoing; He magnified the law (see also Matthew 5:21-22). The etymology of three Hebrew words used in scripture, "Ratsach," "Muth," and "Nakah", can give more clarity on the matter. These words are respectively translated "to murder", "to kill", "to strike". The KJV renders Exodus 20:13 as "Thou shall not kill," Ratsach, while the NIV translates it, "You shall not murder." A more accurate rendering of "Ratsach" is taking another's life through malice, hatred or treachery. "Muth" could be best interpreted as God putting His creatures to death. Deuteronomy 32:39 NIV, says, "There is no God beside Me. I put to death and bring to life." Also, "Nakah" speaks to the unintentional death of a person struck by another. "And this is the case of manslayer... Whosoever kills his brother unintentionally, not having hated him in time past." Deuteronomy 19:4, NKJV. Besides, the Bible term "manslayer" is similar to the legal term "manslaughter", used in our courts today. From a biblical perspective, killing suggests that all murder is killing, but not all killing is murder. In Exodus 20:13, the Bible emphatically condemns committing murder; that is, taking a person's life through treachery and malice. However, it does not condemn capital punishment as some would suggest. Embedded in the Mosaic Law are civil laws that speak to killing and murder. Exodus 21:12-14 NKJV, states, "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait, God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbour, to kill him with guile, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die."

Contrary to the thinking of many, the Bible supports killing by the state, but only under certain conditions. The Bible suggests that one should be put to death in the case of premeditated murders, but not in the case of accidental killings, in which case the guilty party can seek refuge - protection from angry mobs or family members who might seek revenge. Murderers who sought refuge in the city of refuge were sent back into the community to be judged by the law. The Bible clearly sets out the punishment for murder. Some might argue that in no case should the state take a life, but mercy and grace do not negate punishment and judgement. Jesus, who personifies mercy and grace, also spoke about judgement that will eventually destroy the wicked at the end of the age. While the Christian church in general does not promote the taking of human life, many Christians believe the state should be proactive in enforcing capital punishment that is at present on the books. Jamaica's dilemma Society has been overtaken by criminals who are unleashing a reign of terror and death upon this nation. Our prisons are jammed with criminals, some of whom are on death row. Are we allowing nothing to happen because we allow organisations like the Privy Council, Amnesty International, and some other human rights groups to tie our hands? We should not allow external or internal forces to dictate how we handle criminals in this country. After all, some of those advocating against the death penalty cannot identify with the level of crime that exists in this country because they have not lived here. Prime Minister, I call upon you and all ministers of government to reactivate the death penalty for murderers without further delay. Dr Earl PW Cameron is associate professor at the School of Religion and Theology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Manchester. earl.cameron@ncu.edu.jm

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Capital-punishment-from-a-national-and-biblicalperspective_12728162#ixzz2BNYRn9Kg

Capital punishment in Jamaica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Capital Punishment in Jamaica is legal. The Jamaican Parliament had placed a moratorium on it until 2009 when it was lifted. Currently, the only crime punishable by death is aggravated murder. The method of execution is hanging. The last person executed in Jamaica was Nathon Foster who was convicted of murder. As of 2009, capital punishment is legal and the executions in Jamaica will resume.

Capital punishment in Jamaica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Capital Punishment in Jamaica is legal. The Jamaican Parliament had placed a moratorium on it until 2009 when it was lifted. Currently, the only crime punishable by death is aggravated murder. The method of execution is hanging. The last person executed in Jamaica was Nathon Foster who was convicted of murder. As of 2009, capital punishment is legal and the executions in Jamaica will resume. [edit]References

Capital punishment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Death penalty" and "Death sentence" redirect here. For other uses, see Death penalty (disambiguation) and Death sentence (disambiguation). "Execution" and "Execute" redirect here. For other uses, see Execution (disambiguation) and Execute (disambiguation). For other uses, see Capital punishment (disambiguation).

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Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (referring to execution by beheading).[1] Capital punishment has in the past been practised by most societies (one notable exception being Kievan Rus);[2] currently 58 nations actively practise it, and 97 countries have abolished it (the remainder have not used it for 10 years or allow it only in exceptional circumstances such as wartime).[3] It is a matter of active controversy in various countries and states, and positions can vary within a single political ideology or cultural region. In the European Union member states, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment.[4] Currently Amnesty International considers most countries abolitionist.[5] The UN General Assembly has adopted, in 2007, 2008 and 2010, non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions, with a view to eventual abolition.[6] Although many nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place, such as the People's Republic of China, India, the United States of America and Indonesia, the four most-populous countries in the world, which continue to apply the death penalty (although in India, Indonesia and in many US states it is rarely employed). Each of these four nations voted against the General Assembly resolutions

Abolitionism
The death penalty was banned in China between 747 and 759. In Japan, Emperor Saga abolished the death penalty in 818 under the influence of Shinto and it lasted until 1156. Therefore, capital punishment was not employed for 338 years in ancient Japan.[41] In England, a public statement of opposition was included in The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards, written in 1395. Sir Thomas More'sUtopia, published in 1516, debated the benefits of the death penalty in dialogue form, coming to no firm conclusion. More recent opposition to the death penalty stemmed from the book of the Italian Cesare Beccaria Dei Delitti e Delle Pene ("On Crimes and Punishments"), published in 1764. In this book, Beccaria aimed to demonstrate not only the injustice, but even the futility from the point of view of social welfare, of tortureand the death penalty. Influenced by the book, Grand Duke Leopold II of Habsburg, famous enlightened monarch and future Emperor of Austria, abolished the death penalty in the thenindependent Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the first permanent abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked capital executions (the last was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. In 2000 Tuscany's regional authorities instituted an annual holiday on 30 November to commemorate the event. The event is commemorated on this day by 300 cities around the world celebrating Cities for Life Day.

Peter Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, by Joseph Hickel, 1769

The Roman Republic banned capital punishment in 1849. Venezuela followed suit and abolished the death penalty in 1854[42] and San Marino did so in 1865. The last execution in San Marino had taken place in 1468. In Portugal, after legislative proposals in 1852 and 1863, the death penalty was abolished in 1867. Abolition occurred in Canada in 1976, in France in 1981, and in Australia in 1973 (although the state ofWestern Australia retained the penalty until 1984). In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed in a formal resolution that throughout the world, it is desirable to "progressively restrict the number of offenses for which the death penalty might be imposed, with a view to the desirability of abolishing this punishment". [43] In the United Kingdom, it was abolished for murder (leaving only treason, piracy with violence, arson in royal dockyards and a number of wartime military offences as capital crimes) for a five-year experiment in 1965 and permanently in 1969, the last execution having taken place in 1964. It was abolished for all peacetime offences in 1998.[44] In the United States, Michigan was the first state to ban the death penalty, on 18 May 1846.[45] The death penalty was declared unconstitutional between 1972 and 1976 based on the Furman v. Georgia case, but the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia case once again permitted the death penalty under certain circumstances. Further limitations were placed on the death penalty in Atkins v. Virginia (death penalty unconstitutional for persons suffering from mental retardation) and Roper v. Simmons (death penalty unconstitutional if defendant was under age 18 at the time the crime was committed). Currently, as of 25 April 2012, 17 states of the U.S. and the District of Columbia ban capital punishment, withConnecticut the most recent state to ban the practice.[46] A 2010 Gallup poll shows that 64% of Americans support the death penalty for someone convicted of murder, down from 65% in 2006 and 68% in 2001.[47][48] Of the states where the death penalty is permitted, Californiahas the largest number of inmates on death row, while Texas has been the most active in carrying out executions (approximately one third of all executions since the practice was reinstated). The latest country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes was Gabon, in February 2010.[49] Human rights activists oppose the death penalty, calling it "cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment". Amnesty International considers it to be "the ultimate denial of Human Rights".[50]

Global distribution

Use of the death penalty around the world (as of February 2011).

Abolished for all offenses (96)

Abolished for all offenses except under special circumstances (9)

Retains, though not used for at least 10 years (34)

Retains death penalty (58)*

*While laws vary among U.S. states, it is considered retentionist because the federal death penalty is still in active use.

See also: Use of capital punishment by country Since World War II there has been a trend toward abolishing the death penalty. In 1977, 16 countries were abolitionist. According to information published by Amnesty International in 2012, 97 countries had abolished capital punishment altogether, 8 had done so for all offences except under special circumstances, and 36 had not used it for at least 10 years or were under a moratorium. The other 57 retained the death penalty in active use.[51] According to Amnesty International, only 21 countries were known to have had executions carried out in 2011. In addition, there are countries which do not publish information on the use of capital punishment, most significantly China, which is estimated to execute hundreds of people each year. At least 18,750 people worldwide were under sentence of death at the beginning of 2012.[52] The use of the death penalty is becoming increasingly restrained in some retentionist countries including Taiwan and Singapore.[58] Indonesia has carried out no executions since 2008, as of 2010.[59] Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States are the onlydeveloped countries that have retained the death penalty. The death penalty was overwhelmingly practised in poor and authoritarian

states, which often employed the death penalty as a tool of political oppression. During the 1980s, the democratisation of Latin America swelled the rank of abolitionist countries. This was soon followed by the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, which then aspired to enter theEU. In these countries, the public support for the death penalty varies.[60] The European Union and the Council of Europe both strictly require member states not to practise the death penalty (see Capital punishment in Europe). On the other hand, rapid industrialisation in Asia has been increasing the number of developed retentionist countries. In these countries, the death penalty enjoys strong public support, and the matter receives little attention from the government or the media; in Chinathere is a small but growing movement to abolish the death penalty altogether.[61] This trend has been followed by some African and Middle Eastern countries where support for the death penalty is high. The state of Israel retains the death penalty only for Nazis convicted of crimes against humanity. [62] The only execution in Israeli history occurred in 1961, when Adolf Eichmann, one of the principal organizers of the Holocaust, was put to death after his trial in Jerusalem. Some countries have resumed practicing the death penalty after having suspended executions for long periods. The United States suspended executions in 1972 but resumed them in 1976, then again on 25 September 2007 to 16 April 2008; there was no execution in India between 1995 and 2004; and Sri Lanka declared an end to its moratorium on the death penalty on 20 November 2004,[63] although it has not yet performed any executions. The Philippines re-introduced the death penalty in 1993 after abolishing it in 1987, but abolished it again in 2006. In 2011, the USA was the only source of executions (43) in the G8 countries or Western Hemisphere.[64] The latest country to move towards abolition is Mongolia. In January 2012, its Parliament adopted a bill providing for the death penalty to be abolished.[65] For further information about capital punishment in individual countries or regions, see: Australia Canada People's Republic of China(excluding Hong Kong and Macau) Europe India Iran Iraq Japan New Zealand Pakistan Philippines Russia Singapore Taiwan United Kingdom United States