Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Islam And The Death Penalty, William A. Schabas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Capital punishment is not practiced by a majority of the world's states. Anti-capital punishment domestic policies have led to an international law of human rights that emphatically prohibits cruel and inhuman punishment. International concern for the abolition of capital punishment has prompted Islamic states that still endorse and practice the death penalty to respond with equally compelling concerns based on the tenets of Islamic law. Professor William A. Schabas suggests that Islamic states view capital punishment according to the principles embodied in the Koran. Islamic law functions on the belief that all people have a right to life unless the …

Religious Organizations And The Death Penalty, Robert F. Drinan

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Over the past several years, many questions have been raised concerning the application and effectiveness of the death penalty. Ironically, the Catholic Church, a long-time supporter of the death penalty, has become one of the most vocal critics of the death penalty. In this Essay, Father Robert F. Drinan documents the Church's new-found opposition to the death penalty, and discusses the influence the Church will have on the future of the death penalty.

God And The Executioner: The Influence Of Western Religion On The Use Of The Death Penalty, Davison M. Douglas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In this Essay, Professor Douglas conducts an historical review of religious attitudes toward capital punishment and the influence of those attitudes on the state's use of the death penalty. He surveys the Christian Church's strong support for capital punishment throughout most of its history, along with recent expressions of opposition from many Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups. Despite this recent abolitionist sentiment from an array of religious institutions, Professor Douglas notes a divergence of opinion between the "pulpit and the pew" as the laity continues to support the death penalty in large numbers. Professor Douglas accounts for this divergence by …

Religious Neutrality And The Death Penalty, Arnold H. Loewy

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Cases involving the Establishment of Religion Clause predominantly emphasize religious neutrality. Believing this to be normatively correct, Professor Loewy argues for religious neutrality in capital punishment cases. In accordance therewith, he would uphold religious peremptory challenges where a juror's religious belief is related to her death penalty perspective. Professor Loewy agrees with the courts'general willingness to disallow religion as an aggravating factor while allowing it as a mitigating factor. This dichotomy comports with the neutrality principle because aggravating factors, in general, are limited whereas mitigating factors are unlimited.

The Role Of Organized Religions In Changing Death Penalty Debates, Michael L. Radelet

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In his Article, Professor Michael L. Radelet describes a global decline in the use of the death penalty, the United Nation's progressively stronger stance against executions, and a growing opposition to capital punishment in the United States. This decrease is attributed to both empirical studies casting doubt on the death penalty's efficacy in promoting its stated underlying goals, and to the increasingly vocal stance of religious leaders morally opposed to capital punishment. Nevertheless, the decline in other justifications for capital punishment has been met with increasing reliance on retribution as the primary argument in its support. Professor Radelet argues that …

Capital Punishments And Religious Arguments: An Intermediate Approach, Samuel J. Levine

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Determining the place and use of capital punishment in the American legal system is a challenging affair and one that is closely associated with and determined by religion's role in American legal decision-making. Both capital punishment and religion are controversial issues, and tend to challenge legal scholars and practitioners about whether they should function together or alone as valid parts of the legal system in the United States. Professor Levine argues that religious arguments should be employed to interpret and explain American legal thought when the need or proper situation arises. He uses capital punishment as an example of how …

Transcript Of Speech On Religions's Role In The Administration Of The Death Penalty, Pat Robertson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Punishment At All Costs: On Religion, Convicting The Innocent, And Supporting The Death Penalty, Robert L. Young

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Paper explores the impact of the belief structure among white fundamentalist denominations on the support for the death penalty. Professor Robert L. Young observes that the tenets of fundamentalism, as well as the great extent that fundamentalists conform to the positions of their clergy, support this link between fundamentalism and a punitive orientation toward wrongdoers. Professor Young explains that members in white fundamentalist churches, to a greater extent than others, are inclined toward a negative view of human nature, which in turn leads to the belief that letting the guilty go free is a more serious mistake than convicting …

Colombia: The Political Psychology Of Fusarium Oxysporum, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents a brief outline of caveats associated with the employment of fusarium oxysporum to eradicate coca and opium poppy production. These caveats are based on an analysis developed by Dr. Archie Dickey, an environmental biologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona, USA.

Trends. The Double Edged Sword Of Transparency In Criminal And Civil Law: The Case Of Euthanasia, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the decriminalization of euthanasia in The Netherlands, and the issue of transparency.

Some Doubts About Argument By Hypothetical, Paul H. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

In his paper, Why the Successful Assassin Is More Wicked than the Unsuccessful One, Leo Katz "pick[s] up the gauntlet [Sandy] Kadish throws down" to offer a nonconsequentialist justification for giving significance to resulting harm and, in particular, to justify the common practice of punishing attempts less than the completed offense. In one sense, I may not be the ideal person to serve as critic. I am not one of those who, like Kadish and others, does not believe in the significance of resulting harm in assessing blameworthiness (people whom Katz calls the "luck- skeptics" but to whom I will …

Ibpp Research Associates: Botswana, Ditso Anneleng

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses educational and legal issues surrounding students from Botswana enrolled in an alleged fake educational institution - African Media University in South Africa.

Self-Defense: The Equalizer, David B. Kopel, Linda Gorman

David B Kopel

Experiments in tightening gun-control laws have eroded the right of self defense and failed to stop serious crime. Studies Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

The Evolving Police Power: Some Observations For A New Century, David B. Kopel, Glenn Harlan Reynolds

David B Kopel

A review of state and federal courts decisions on the scope of state police powers suggests that the shift from the more restrictive sic utere principle to the more open salus populi principle may be reversing, with courts -- at least in cases involving sex and marriage -- taking a much more skeptical view of government objectives and justifications.

Of Enchantment: The Passing Of The Ordeals And The Rise Of The Jury Trial, Trisha Olson

Trisha Olson

No abstract provided.

Ld 1028 - Protection Of Indian Archaeological Sites : Report To The Standing Committee On Appropriations And Financial Affairs, Maine Historic Preservation Commission

Maine Collection

LD 1028 - Protection of Indian Archaeological Sites : Report to the Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs.

Arthur Spiess, Archaeologist, Maine Historic Preservation Commission with Representative Donald Soctomah, January, 2000.

Contents: Introduction / The Resource / The Problem / Synopsis of Existing Laws / Discussions with Law Enforcement / Site Monitoring or Stewardship / Discussion / Recommendations / Appendix A - Text of 27 MRSA 371-378 as Amended to Date / Appendix B - Written Comments from State Agencies on LD 1028 Consultation / Appendix C - Archaeological Site Monitoring Materials

The Moral Metaphysics Of Causation And Results, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Framed: Utilitarianism And Punishment Of The Innocent, Guyora Binder, Nicholas J. Smith

Journal Articles

This paper is a defense of utilitarian penology, against the familiar retributivist charge that it promotes framing the innocent, and other charges similarly depending on the notion that utilitarianism encourages officials to deceive the public. Our defense proceeds from the striking fact that utilitarianism's critics do not cite textual evidence that the originators of utilitarian penology in fact endorsed punishing the innocent or deceiving the public. Instead, critics claim that these unsavory policies follow logically from the premises of utilitarianism. Our argument, in brief, is that the charge of framing the innocent rests on a misunderstanding of utilitarian penology. We …

Rationality And Responsibility, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Inefficiency Of Mens Rea, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Positivism And The Notion Of An Offense, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

All Faculty Scholarship

While the United States Supreme Court has developed an elaborate constitutional jurisprudence of criminal procedure, it has articulated few constitutional doctrines of the substantive criminal law. The asymmetry between substance and procedure seems natural given the demise of Lochner and the minimalist stance towards due process outside the area of fundamental rights. This Article, however, argues that the "positivistic" approach to defining criminal offenses stands in some tension with other basic principles, both constitutional and moral. In particular, two important constitutional guarantees depend on the notion of an offense: the presumption of innocence and the ban on double jeopardy. Under …

When The Rule Swallows The Exception, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Why The Successful Assassin Is More Wicked Than The Unseccessful One, Leo Katz

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.