死刑民意及其内部冲突的调查与分析

我国对死刑民意的调查研究存在着调查对象和分析方法上的缺陷。通过对死刑民意的最新调查和统计分析发现,与主张完全赞成死刑和主张完全废除死刑的人数相比,多数人主张限制和减少死刑的适用。不过调查同时发现,我国民众的死刑观念不仅受到了多种相关因素的影响和制约,而且还存在着明显的内部冲突。这种冲突主要表现为民众对死刑的抽象态度与具体态度之间的冲突以及死刑民意的内部情感冲突。我国可以通过适当的制度设计引导死刑民意的理性发展。     

死刑适用法律效果与社会效果问题研究

法律效果与社会效果相统一是我国当前司法上非常重视．理论上却研究不多的问题，这一问题的研究在死刑案件中更具有典型性、代表性和启示性意义。死刑适用的法律效果与社会效果的评价因素和标准完全不同．对后者的评价并不需要完全以刑事法律的明确规定作为基本依据。也不需要在准确理解和严格遵守刑事法律规定的要求下进行评价．相反。后者是以刑事法律之外的因素作为依据并根据其他标准进行基本的分析评价。在死刑问题上必须注意民意的价值和作用，对于民意进行有效地疏导，为实现死刑适用的社会效果以及为死刑适用社会效果的正确评价创造条件。     

美国死刑制度的宪法法理及其未来——以Kennedy v.Louisiana案为例

美国联邦最高法院在限制死刑的同时保留了死刑。其死刑判决的宪法法理融合了两个要素:一方面,刑事司法的目的就是要让罪犯承担相应的刑事责任,以便实现报应正义;另一方面,宪法又明文禁止残忍与异常的刑罚。结果,联邦最高法院将其死刑法理和与时俱进的文明标准绑在一起,而与时俱进的文明标准又以举国一致的共识这一民意尺度来衡量,所以联邦最高法院最终把美国死刑制度的未来转交给随时可能发生变化的民意。把死刑判决与民意结合在一起,在增加了死刑判决合法性的同时,联邦最高法院也把死刑制度置于一个开放的民主决策体系之中,不肯越过民主程序一举废除死刑。因此,就未来而言,如果民意倾向于废除死刑,美国就有可能废除死刑,如果民意支持更多地适用死刑,也有可能保留死刑,甚至增加死刑的适用。     

关于中国现阶段慎用死刑的思考

"慎用死刑"是契合我国社会发展和法治进步的必然选择。它不仅强调死刑适用的合理性、节制性,还强调死刑适用的慎重性与不得已性,并侧重于对死刑审判的质量提出要求。为切实贯彻慎用死刑之政策,需要在严格掌握死刑适用标准的基础上,合理衡量案件情节,以罪中情节作为决定死刑适用与否的首要依据,以罪前、罪后情节作为其必要补充,并适当参酌舆情民意,努力追求法律效果与社会效果的有机统一。     

论我国死刑改革的罪刑选择及民意引导——基于死刑民意实证调查数据的分析

死刑民意实证调查显示,废除非暴力犯罪死刑适用已经具有相当程度的公众认同和民意基础;在应否用终身刑(无提前释放可能的无期徒刑)作为死刑代替措施的态度上,尚存在民意与理性的悖论;错案的可能存在可作为引导死刑民意的突破口.     

中美两国死刑制度之立法原因比较

中美两国尽管在文化传统、社会制度、经济发展水平等方面均存在较大差异,但在废止或严格限制死刑的世界性潮流面前,对死刑却采取了相似的政策——既保留死刑又限制其适用,其中既有民意因素,也有政治因素。美国现阶段的高犯罪率、南方的私刑传统、历史上未经纳粹统治等因素导致其支持死刑的民意高涨,这对于政治精英、联邦最高法院及地区法官和检察官都有影响;在中国,现阶段社会治安形势恶化、礼法传统与家族主义的深远影响,以及缺少西方启蒙运动洗礼等因素导致民意支持死刑,这对于执政党、立法机关和司法机关,以及法官与检察官个人,都产生了深刻的影响。在政治因素方面,美国联邦与各州的权限划分以及盛行的联邦主义是影响其现行死刑制度的重要原因;在中国,统治者所奉行的"乱世用重典"的治国之策和重刑主义的历史传统、特殊历史时期所形成的"左"的错误,都是影响中国死刑制度的重要原因。对于中美两国死刑制度进行改造,应注意从民意与政治因素方面着手进行。     

俄罗斯死刑的现状及困境

上世纪90年代俄罗斯所处的独特国际、国内政治经济环境,叶利钦个人的政治目的和独特的俄罗斯文化是1996年俄罗斯暂停死刑执行的原因.暂停死刑执行导致的后果是俄罗斯无法履行其全面废止死刑的义务,部分俄罗斯学者对俄宪法法院做出的暂停死刑适用决议的效力产生了怀疑,还产生了经济负担问题.2009年俄宪法法院只能作出继续暂停死刑适用的决议.2010年俄罗斯地铁恐怖袭击事件发生后,更是引起俄罗斯领导层对死刑问题的再次争论.这给我国提供了死刑且不可冒然废止,解决死刑问题应充分尊重民意和正确认识死刑具有的功能的警示.     

死刑适用基本标准之统一——中国死刑发展一种可行视角

当今中国死刑严格限制或废除之路由于与民意发生极大抵触似乎已然陷入了瓶颈状态,而中国《刑法》分则和司法实践对死刑适用基本标准之长期悖逆恰为我们避开民意这一雷区,从立法技术和司法适用自身探寻现阶段死刑严格限制之方法,以便在无震荡或最小震荡情况下达到严格限制死刑之目的,提供了一种可行的视角。     

死刑存废的民意维度——以组织卖淫罪可罚性观念的测量为中心

概率样本数据显示,组织卖淫罪适用死刑的民意支持率极低,这与公共空间所呈现的舆论态势存在较大反差;围绕本罪死刑存废的拉锯过程对进一步推进死刑改革具有重要启示.由政治领袖推动的“突然死亡”式死刑废除模式在我国不具有可行性,而依靠精英话语引导民众支持死刑废除的思路则面临“精英观念缺位”的尴尬.以个罪死刑的民意支持度为依据,逐步废除罪刑失衡的个罪的死刑,是我国死刑改革的必由之路.在这一过程中,要特别防止“沉默的螺旋”等传播现象所导致的“错位民意”对立法与司法的不当影响.以官方人口统计信息为参照获取概率样本,采用匿名电脑调查法和“讲故事法”测量相对敏感的“外指观念”,是进行民意测量时可行且有效的方法.     

对安阳市滑县地区死刑存废的民意调研

近年来,随着许多西方国家死刑废止潮流的袭来,死刑的存废问题再度被推上争论的高峰。而在死刑是存还是废的这一尖锐问题上,除了相关权力机关在立法上能够做出决定外。不得不承认的是,民意对死刑的影响也不容忽视。在我们国家死刑民意究竟是倾向于存还是废?我们通过对安阳市滑县地区进行死刑的民意调研,来研究分析我国死刑民意的倾向。然而在对待死刑民意上,我们不能盲目否定死刑民意,当然也更不能不顾一切地听从民意。我们要辩证地对待死刑民意,正确地引导民众对死刑观念的转变。使符合人类文明的、科学的死刑观在民众心里扎根,只有这样,我国才能汇入不可阻挡的死刑废除的世界潮流。     

The Death Penalty: A Multi-level Analysis of Public Opinion

Considerable research has examined public opinion of the death penalty using simplistic questions such as, “Do you favor or oppose the death penalty.” Simply categorizing people into favoring or opposing capital punishment does little to address the array of factors and circumstances that are part of every murder. We examine variables concerning the nature of homicides from a set of 40 murder vignettes used to gauge respondents’ level of support for capital punishment in murder cases. The data are structured such that vignette responses are nested within individuals, meaning a multi-level analysis is appropriate. We used HLM to explore how vignette-level or homicide related characteristics influence support for the death penalty, as well as how individual-level characteristics condition these factors. Analyses revealed that individual-level variables were non-significant when analyzed independently; however, cross-level interactions indicated significant individual-level influences on homicide-level characteristics as they relate to respondents’ support for the death penalty.     

Capital Punishment in the Era of Globalization: A Partial Test of the Marshall Hypothesis Among College Students

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall’s hypothesis—that knowledge about the death penalty would reduce support for it—has been measured in terms of the public’s receptivity to key arguments for abolition including racial discrimination, lack of deterrent effect, and innocence. The effect of the international contextual argument, however, has gone virtually untested, despite the argument’s increased popularity. This preliminary study examines the impact of the international contextual argument against the death penalty on the opinion of 216 adult American students at a public university in California. The results of this study suggest that student support for the death penalty was decreased by exposure to international contextual information. The research presented in this paper is intended to encourage further investigation into the possibility that American public opinion may be significantly affected by international context.     

Public attitudes towards the death penalty

Responses to a general question regarding the use of the death penalty were compared with the sentences that respondents chose in a set of scenarios describing homicide cases. The percentage of respondents who assigned the death sentence in one or more of the following scenarios was higher than those who favored the death penalty in the abstract question, but there were inconsistencies in the answers. A majority assigned the death penalty only for the most heinous offender described, and the figures were lower for other crimes, even clear cases of first degree murder. At the same time, a manipulation involving information about methods of execution did not affect answers. These results strongly suggest that the abstract questions typically used in public opinion polls do not accurately reflect the public's feelings about use of the death penalty in specific cases. More generally, research on public opinion regarding criminal justice policies should survey a variety of specific circumstances.     

AGE,PERIOD, AND COHORT EFFECTS ON DEATH PENALTY ATTITUDES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1974–2014

In this article, we further the understanding of both changes in public opinion on capital punishment in the United States and changes in the factors associated with public opinion on the death penalty. Support for the death penalty may be motivated by events happening during specific time periods, and it can vary across birth cohorts as a result of cohort‐specific socialization processes, demographic changes, and formative events that are specific to each generation. An explication of the sources of and variation in death penalty attitudes over time would benefit from the accounting for the age of the respondent, the year of the survey response, and the birth cohort of the respondent. We improve on previous research by using multiple approaches including hierarchical age–period–cohort models and data from the General Social Survey (N = 41,474) to examine changes in death penalty attitudes over time and across birth cohorts. The results showed curvilinear age effects, strong period effects, and weak cohort effects on death penalty support. The violent crime rate explained much of the variation in support for the death penalty across periods. The examination of subgroup differences suggests that support for the death penalty is becoming concentrated among Whites, Protestants, and Republicans.     

诉诸舆论的司法：耻辱刑的现代流变及启示

为了保证司法的公正和司法独立,排除公众舆论对审判的影响是必要的.然而,司法如何利用舆论延伸和强化其功能,并未受到国内学界应有的重视.耻辱刑的作用过程就是国家、犯罪人和社会公众之间关于刑罚意义上共通的符号传播互动过程,是国家对社会的法律和舆论的富有效率的双重控制,具有隔离、规范的确认和名誉恢复的功能.从身体刑到犯罪信息的公开披露是古代耻辱刑的现代流变形式.我国应明确规定向社会公布司法判决作为一种刑罚措施,并建立国家判决数据库和复权制度.     

Over-simplification and error in public opinion surveys on capital punishment

Public opinion polls have shown a marked increase in support for capital punishment. Results of a recent poll, which resulted from collaboration between the author and Associated Press, further clarify published findings of public opinion polls and challenge the common wisdom that support for the death penalty is increasing. It was found that only 12 percent of those polled opposed the death penalty in all cases, that 57 percent advocated its use under some circumstances and that 27 percent supported the death penalty for all murder cases. These findings differ little from those reported by Louis Harris in 1973 (Bedau 1982).     

死刑存废的逻辑辩论(可行性问题)

从死刑的必要性考问中得出"应立即进行死刑废止实践"的结论,但是每一种社会实践都离不开一定的具体条件,因此分析死刑废止的现实条件,对废止实践进行可行性研究是死刑存废逻辑辩论的最后环节。从民意、法制统一、暴力犯罪等方面着手分析这一可行性。     

公众认同、政治抉择与死刑控制

限制和废除死刑已经成为席卷全球的当代刑事政策运动与刑罚改革潮流。死刑的存废、去留 ,并不取决于其自身无法辩明的正义性 (或非正义性 )以及无法证实或证伪的威慑性。它在根本上是一个受集体意识的公众认同以及政治领袖的政治意志左右的政策选择问题。集体意识对死刑的广泛认同为死刑制度提供了正当性和合法性资源 ,但集体意识具有两面性 ,是交织着理智与情感、意识与潜意识、理性与非理性、正义与非正义的矛盾统一体。政治领袖要尊重与反映民意 ,更应当善解与引导民意 ,运用政治智慧 ,作出科学的死刑决策 ,使死刑政策、死刑制度与死刑的适用成为一种理性的实践和实践的理性     

“Modern” death qualification

We report on the results of a comprehensive statewide survey of death penalty attitudes in which respondents were categorized in terms of their death-qualified or excludable status under several different Supreme Court doctrines governing the death-qualification process. We found that although changes in public opinion with respect to the death penalty in general have altered the relative sizes of the death-qualified and excludable groups, significant differences remain between them on a number of attitudinal dimensions, no matter which doctrines are employed to define these groups. We discuss the implications of these recent data, especially with respect to the Supreme Court's continued reference to the death-qualified jury as an index of community standards with respect to the death penalty itself.