ABSTRACT
In the United States there is still debate over whether the death penalty constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment,” and thus violates the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. Abolitionists remain in the minority, although it must also be said that the number of death sentences handed down by juries and the number of executions that are actually carried out have both declined precipitously, in large part because of the rising public concern that innocent people have been sent to their death by the state. While the American people and their state representatives continue to wrangle with this issue, let it be said that all other Western democracies have already answered this question: by proscribing capital punishment—based on human rights principles.
