Current Events: The Death Penalty

Three days before World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Oregon Supreme Court published an opinion that, according to advocates and experts, could empty the state’s death row. In 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed SB 1013, which narrowed the category of capital crimes, and more specifically what constitutes «aggravated murder»; aggravated murder being the only crime in Oregon which may hold with it capital punishment. At the time the bill was being considered many Oregon legislators explicitly stated that they did not believe the legislation would apply retroactively to those individuals currently on Oregon’s death row. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled otherwise. The court concluded, “… although the legislature did not make SB 1013 retroactive as to sentences imposed before its effective date, maintaining defendant’s death sentence would violate Article I, Section 16” of the Oregon Constitution, which addresses cruel and unusual punishment.

The Oregon Supreme Court ruling also comes right on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of his intention to advance a worldwide abolition of capital punishment. In 2022 France steps into the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. With this new role, Macron stated that France will organize a meeting to bring together countries still utilizing the death penalty and seek to convince their leaders of the merits and importance of abolishing capital punishment. Currently, over 70% of the world’s countries have abolished capital punishment in either practice or by law, and within recent history the trend sees countries moving away from the punishment. The United States can be seen as an outlier amongst many of its democratic country allies, as it continues its application of the death penalty.

Yet even within the United States, the death penalty is a contested issue. Currently, 26 states have abolished the practice through legislation, court rulings, or a formal moratorium on executions (Oregon falling into the latter category). Virginia became the twenty-sixth state to abolish capital punishment, passing a bill earlier this year and pushing the number of states in the union without the death penalty into the majority. As of this post’s publication, the United States has executed approximately 1,536 people since 1976.

This week’s Current Events resources explore the death penalty and the debate around its practice and history. The resources shared provide information, history and context to the issue of capital punishment within the state of Oregon, at the national level, and on an international scale.

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Essential Questions, Vocabulary & Extend the Resources:

What are the arguments for and against the use of capital punishment? Which do you think are the strongest?
How does the United States’ relationship with the death penalty compare to the rest of the world?
How does the Supreme Court determine the constitutionality of the death penalty? What documents and precedents do they refer to?
What role does federalism play in the implementation and banning of capital punishment within the United States?
What role does public opinion play on the implementation and banning of capital punishment?
How has the perception of the death penalty changed throughout the course of both U.S. and human history?

Click here for a hardcopy of the Essential Questions & Death Penalty Vocabulary

Click here for a hardcopy of the Extend the Resources handout with suggested lesson activities and extensions