Talk:Capital punishment

the entire "Global Distribution" section should be deleted, especially the "freedom" map, except for the last two paragraphs

What is this map and chart showing which countries are "free" and "not free" doing in an article about capital punishment? The effect is to say, "The United States may allow capital punishment but it's still a free country", which is very POV and irrelevant.In all 60 states Capital Punishment is illegal unless authorized by the government.

If someone doesn't delete it soon, I will. 68.198.150.179 (talk) 01:26, 6 August 2009 (UTC)captcrisis

I disagree, I personally believe that the 'freedom' rating/map shows which DP states are democratically free and which are not. I would therefore argue that it stay. --Île_flottante~Floating island ^Talk 03:10, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Which DP countries are "democratically free" (a partly subjective evaluation) and which are not, might be worth one sentence (as opposed to a map and chart which are so prominent). It is not relevant to this article unless you also want to also include other, possibly more relevant factors such as economic status, overpopulation, or the extent of religious fundamentalism. And it has nothing to do with the title of the topic: Global Distribution of the death penalty. One expects to see, right away, a map showing DP countries. Instead one sees a map of the "free world". 69.121.6.97 (talk) 13:57, 6 August 2009 (UTC)captcrisis

It does seem a little odd that the first image in this section doesn't show the actual (more or less) current distribution of DP usage. David Underdown (talk) 14:12, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps the section should be summerised and a new article Death penalty in relation to freedom rating ought be written? --Île_flottante~Floating island ^Talk 19:49, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

The section has been there for a long time, but the chart & map had been recently added. It does seem to be out-of-place for an article such as the this, since the level of "freedom" has no obvious relevance to a state's status of it's DP. If there was a valid source pointing to a research done that does show a correlation, then ok, but otherwise as said above, it may bring other subjects that shows no real direct relationship to capital punishment in itself. The addition then should be removed, since it currently stands to be original work at the moment. That-Vela-Fella (talk) 18:00, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm glad someone has already started this discussion. What does the "freedom map" have to do with anything? Put the freedom map in Freedom House, this is Capital punishment. --65.127.188.10 (talk) 00:32, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

"Global Distribution" is a worthwhile section but the freedom map is not relevant. Removed. --Uncle Bungle (talk) 00:40, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Edit out BNP

The BNP is primarily a nationalist party, citing them as a "pro-death penalty" source is about as disingenuous as citing the KKK as a "Christian organization" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jlvandruff (talk • contribs) 01:32, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

But the thing is that the BNP supports the DP and the KKK is a christian organisation... --Île_flottante~Floating island ^Talk 08:27, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

I do not understand why the BNP are included either, they are a fringe organisation with a couple of MEPs and a few thousand members. Should we also mention every religious sub group (with far larger memberships)?- where does one stop? or is this an attempt to boost their google rankings? The included link doesn't even take you the part of the site where they (briefly)mention Capital Punishment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.185.90 (talk) 07:03, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree. The BNP is given WP:UNDUE-weight. --4wajzkd02 (talk) 07:16, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Music

Bohemian Rhapsody should be added to the list of songs that have to do with the death penalty.

Er, how? I don't think there is any reference to capital punishment in it. It starts "mam, I just killed a man, put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he's dead. Mama, my life had just begun and now I've gone and thrown it all away". That is because he is condemned, that he has condemned himself. Not that he is going to do the short walk. SimonTrew (talk) 13:57, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Cuba missing on the list of countries

Please include Cuba on the list of countries where capital punishment is applied. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.70.114.99 (talk) 13:22, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

You can do it yourself, if you have the information. SimonTrew (talk) 13:55, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

No he can't; the article has been semi-protected since at least February. -- 67.98.206.2 (talk) 21:50, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Unclear what table represents

The table in the Global Distribution section is not explained. What do the numbers represent? It's not clear. If someone knows, please fix it. Otherwise it should be deleted. omc (talk) 19:16, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Drug Related Offences

I think there should be some sort of a note next to the US under the Drug Related Offences category. The current note makes it sound as if it would be possible to place someone on death row for a drug related offence, but there have been 2 Supreme Court cases that I know of limiting imposition of the death penalty to crimes actually causing a death. 97.114.94.180 (talk) 23:59, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

"Our concern here is limited to crimes against individual persons. We do not address, for example, crimes defining and punishing treason, espionage, terrorism, and drug kingpin activity, which are offenses against the State." From the Supreme Court's opinion in Kennedy JCO312 (talk) 07:53, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Cost

"In 2009, eleven state legislatures considered bills to end capital punishment and its high costs were part of these debates." Ridgeway, James (2009-10-21). "The Death Penalty's Big Tab". Mother Jones. The expensive nature of the punishment doesn't seem to be covered in the article. -- 67.98.206.2 (talk) 21:46, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

State legislators of which states of which country? --Île_flottante~Floating island ^Talk 17:46, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

If you read the link that was given, you'd know it was in the USA. Anyways, I thought the expenses were already covered in the debate section of the article, although it could be expended further if needed. That-Vela-Fella (talk) 10:37, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Death penalty for pedophiles

In recent years, several U.S. states have examined proposals to extend capital punishment to certain aggravated cases of pedophilia. It might be a good idea to mention this in the article somehow, since there are significant cases where the death penalty is extended beyond direct condemnations for murder. [1][2][3][4] ADM (talk) 15:25, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I believe the supreme court of America ruled that a death sentence can only be passed in a crime in which a life has been lost. --Île_flottante~Floating island ^Talk 17:43, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

That is not the case. See, for example the U.S. Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, which provides

... constitutional procedures for imposition of the death penalty for 60 offenses under 13 existing and 28 newly-created Federal capital statutes, which fall into three broad categories: (1) homicide offenses; (2) espionage and treason; and (3) non-homicidal narcotics offenses.</blockqote>[emphasis added]
--4wajzkd02 (talk) 07:18, 25 October 2009 (UTC)