Financial Costs

The death penalty is not now, nor has it ever been, a more economical alternative to life imprisonment. A murder trial normally takes much longer when the death penalty is at issue than when it is not. Litigation costs —including the time of judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and court reporters, and the high costs of briefs —are all borne by the taxpayer.

Inevitability of Error

In 1975,only a year before the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of capital punishment, two African-American men in Florida were released from prison after twelve years awaiting execution for the murder of two white men. Their convictions were the result of coerced confessions, erroneous testimony, of an alleged eyewitness, and incompetent defense counsel. Though a white man eventually admitted his guilt, a nine-year legal battle was required before the governor would grant them a pardon. Had their execution not been stayed while the constitutional status of the death penalty was argued in the courts, these two innocent men probably would not be alive today.

Barbarity

The latest mode of inflicting the death penalty, enacted into law by nearly two dozen American states, is lethal injection, first used in Texas in 1982.It is easy to overstate the humaneness and efficacy of this method. There is no way of knowing that it is really painless. As the U.S. Court of Appeals observed, there is "substantial and uncontroverted evidence ...that execution by lethal injection poses a serious risk of cruel, protracted death....Even a slight error in dosage or administration can leave a prisoner conscious but paralyzed while dying, a sentient witness of his or her own asphyxiation."

Futility

Gangland killings, air piracy, drive-by shootings, and kidnapping for ransom are among the graver felonies that continue to be committed because some individuals think they are too clever to get caught. Political terrorism is usually committed in the name of an ideology that honors its martyrs; trying to cope with it by threatening terrorists with death penalty is futile.

DEBATE

There is no room for capital punishment in a civilized society.

Divide into groups - pro and con — and conduct a debate on the necessity of capital punishment.

Appoint the 'Chair' of the debate who will give the floor to the speakers of both teams.

Use the active vocabulary from the Unit.

Grammar exercises

I. Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the form of the Gerund and its function

1. A British police officer is subject to the law and may be sued or prosecuted for any wrongful act, commited in carrying out duties.

2. The Government’s strategy or dealing with crime is also concerned with ensuring that public confidence in the criminal justice system is maintained and that proper balance between the rights of the citizen and the needs of the community as a whole is maintained.

3. With continuing concern in Britain over rising crime rates, public expenditure on the law and order programme reflects the special priority, gemen by the Government to these services.

4. He was fined for being drunk in charge of a car.

5. You should be ashamed of youeself for behaving so badly.

6. He put off making a decision till he had more information.

7. It’s no good/use arguing.

8. He was accused of having deserted his ship.

9. The safe showed no signs of having been touched.

10. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 requires arrangements to be made for obtaining the views of people in the area about the policing of it and for obtaining their co-operation with the police in preventing crime.

11. The number of civilian support Staff has been growing as forces secure economics by replacing police officers with civilians where posts do not require police power and training.

12. The defendant cannot be questioned without consenting to swear as a witness in his or her own defence.

13. The Court of Appeal issues guidance to the lower courts on sentencing issues when points of principle have arisen on individual cases, which are the subject of appeal.

14. The police must caution a person whom there are grounds to suspect of an offence before any questions are put for the purpose of obtaining evidence.

15. Police may issue cautions, and in Scotland the procurator fiscal may warn, instead of prosecuting.