What Executioners Can—and Cannot—Teach Us About the Death Penalty

Those who work with the condemned often come to reject the death penalty not only in individual cases, and not only on the ground that it is poorly implemented. They tend to conclude that the punishment is wrong. I argue that the perspective of the executioner helps illuminate the debate about whether to abolish capital punishment, and that indeed the perspective of those who work with the condemned raises the troubling possibility that support for the death penalty can survive only at a great remove. Jeffrie Murphy has also argued that the executioner’s perspective can be useful, but I contend that Murphy asks the wrong question. His essay considers whether an executioner may, under some circumstances, take pride in his work. The better question is whether anyone ought to be asked to do such work. On this latter question, the perspective of the executioner sheds important light. Like Murphy, I draw on works by and about Albert Pierrepoint, the “last hangman” of Britain. I also draw on the perspectives of numerous executioners, wardens, chaplains, and other death row personnel. I argue that their perspectives offer a powerful argument against the main rationale for the death penalty: retribution. If retribution is keyed to the offender’s character as well as his wrongful act, then post-conviction character ought to matter. The executioners’ accounts share a common theme: that death row inmates change over time and hold the potential for redemption.     

致命室性快速心律失常心室肌能量的代谢改变与氧化损伤

目的探讨致命室性快速型心律失常(LVTA)能量代谢相关变化及氧化损伤。方法建立以乌头碱(ACO)注射和冠脉结扎(CAL)心肌缺血诱导的LVTA-心脏性猝死(SCD)SD大鼠模型,以过度麻醉(PI)及冠脉结扎心衰致死(CAL-B)为各自对照,检测心室肌线粒体膜电位(MMP)、活性氧(ROS)、丙二醛(MDA)、磷酸肌酸(PCr)及血清肌钙蛋白I(cTnI)含量,并进行比较。结果成功制备ACO-LVTA及CAL-LVTA大鼠14只及6只。与各自的同行对照比较,ACO-LVTA组及CAL-LVTA组心室肌的ROS及MDA呈升高的趋势,PCr呈下降的趋势,其中CAL-LTVA的MDA显著高于其同行对照(P0.05)。ACO-LVTA组心室肌的MMP低于对照组,但高于CAL处理的两组。CAL-LVTA组血清cTnI高于对照组,且显著高于ACO-LVTA组及其对照与处理前(P0.01),ACO-LVTA组血清cTnI高于对照组与处理前。心肌ROS水平与VT及VF持续时间相关(P0.05),相关系数分别为0.44、0.46。结论发生LVTA后,心室肌MMP及PCr下降、ROS、MDA升高,血清cTnI升高,表明LVTA可导致能量代谢改变及氧化损伤,可能与线粒体功能异常相关。     

液化石油气中毒死亡兔的法医病理学研究

目的观察新西兰兔在液化石油气中毒后不同组织的病理学特征,探讨其在日常法医鉴定工作中的应用价值。方法健康新西兰兔42只,随机分为3组:轻度中毒组6只,中毒死亡组30只,窒息死亡组6只。在中毒和致死过程中进行行为学观察,分析心血中液化石油气浓度,中毒死亡组和窒息死亡组进行大体解剖形态学和组织病理切片观察及心血检验。结果轻度中毒组在吸入少量液化石油气后会表现为呼吸加快、站立、伸舌、磨牙等兴奋的状态;中毒死亡组尸体解剖主要表现皮肤、肌肉呈土黄色,气管、支气管出血明显,肺气肿明显;中毒死亡组心血中可检验出液化石油气成分。结论新西兰兔液化石油气中毒的特征主要表现为皮肤、肌肉呈土黄色,气管、支气管出血明显,心血可检出液化石油气成分。我们推断液化石油气的神经毒性与缺氧可能是液化石油气中毒死亡的机制。     

论我国刑法中各刑种实际刑度之间的不衔接及对策

各刑种实际刑度间的不衔接指的是无期徒刑和有期徒刑之间、死刑中的死缓与无期徒刑之间、死刑立即执行与死缓之间刑罚程度的不衔接。它是我国现行刑法的一个不足之处。刑种间实际刑度的不衔接破坏了刑罚结构的科学性。因此,根据罪刑相当的原则,重新设定各刑种的实际刑度,对于实现它们之间的衔接,以及完善刑法结构都具有重要意义。     

Me Voici,here I Am,Here I Stand,I Can Do No Other

This article offers a Levinasian reading of the case of Airedale N.H.S. Trust v Bland (1993). My contention is that the judicial reasoning that gave rise to the decision that Anthony Bland should die was driven by an ontological imperative I submit from a Levinasian perspective the decision was ethically indefensible because it failed to recognise Anthony Bland as the other. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

死刑价值认识

不同的死刑价值观 ,往往会导致不同的死刑立法、司法及理论构造选择。迷信死刑者主张“治乱世用重典” ,认为死刑的威慑力足以以暴制暴、以毒攻毒 ;人权主义者则对死刑提出种种诘责 ,认为死刑是不必要的 ,只会宣扬与鼓励暴力 ,甚至是一种社会公共谋杀。对两种死刑价值认识进行综合评述之后 ,作者认为 ,对死刑的价值评判应基于一国具体的国情 ,中国的“保留死刑 ,少杀慎杀”死刑政策是对死刑价值进行理性认识之后正确的、必然的抉择。     

死刑的司法与立法限制--量刑情节的制约

立足云南省死刑适用的司法实践,结合实务部门判处死刑考虑的量刑情节,对如何从实际数量上减少死刑适用并进而从立法上减少死刑罪名提出一些实用性思路.     

Postmortem Analysis of Electrogram Records from an Implantable Cardioverter‐Defibrillator (ICD) in the Reconstruction of a Road Traffic Accident

The case of a 69‐year‐old man, equipped with an ICD and suffering from several chronic cardiac diseases, who died in a car accident, was presented. We analyzed electrogram records from the ICD explanted from the body during the autopsy, which showed that the driver had suffered from malignant ventricular arrhythmia—ventricular fibrillation (VF). A thorough analysis of the details of the accident, as well as the timing of VF and the rhythm observed after the discharge of the ICD showed that the direct cause of the accident was the episode of arrhythmia resulting in a loss of consciousness. Therefore, the presented case illustrates the usefulness of postmortem analysis of electrogram records from ICDs in the reconstruction of road traffic accidents. In such cases, if the victims are implanted with ICDs, it should be a routine procedure performed by forensic pathologists.     

Reasons for South Korean attitudes towards the death penalty: exploring the nexus between strong public support and history of misapplication

As of this writing, South Korea (officially, the Republic of Korea) is an abolitionist-in-practice nation; capital punishment is legal, but no death sentences have been carried out since a moratorium was enacted in 1997. Public support for the death penalty has decreased over time; however, the factors that determine support for or opposition to the death penalty of the South Korean general public are largely unknown. Using survey data from a nationwide sample of 416 respondents, this study examined the potential predictors for public attitudes towards capital punishment support. A majority of survey respondents (83%) supported the death penalty, a higher percentage than recent surveys of the South Korean general public. The deterrence and retribution perspectives were positively related to death penalty support, while crime severity, neighbourhood safety, the brutalisation effect, and innocence were negatively related. This study provides the first multivariate analysis of factors associated with South Korean attitudes towards the death penalty.     

Bone Area Histomorphometry

Quantifying the amount of cortical bone loss is one variable used in histological methods of adult age estimation. Measurements of cortical area tend to be subjective and additional information regarding bone loss is not captured considering cancellous bone is disregarded. We describe whether measuring bone area (cancellous + cortical area) rather than cortical area may improve histological age estimation for the sixth rib. Mid‐shaft rib cross‐sections (n = 114) with a skewed sex distribution were analyzed. Ages range from 16 to 87 years. Variables included: total cross‐sectional area, cortical area, bone area, relative bone area, relative cortical area, and endosteal area. Males have larger mean total cross‐sectional area, bone area, and cortical area than females. Females display a larger mean endosteal area and greater mean relative measure values. Relative bone area significantly correlates with age. The relative bone area variable will provide researchers with a less subjective and more accurate measure than cortical area.