Hey Jan Just a humble note to your dialogue about justice in our most esteemed nations. By the way: Congratulations on creating the most successful headline on this list yet :) I changed mine for the sake of variation.
The law-stuff: 1. - It is a fact that no innocent person has recieved capital punishment in Denmark (or the Netherlands I believe to be able to guarantee) for at least the last 100 years. - However as the below source suggests, the same cannot be said about the US: "... Opponents of capital punishment also argue that the finality of capital punishment does not allow for the correction of error should a person be falsely convicted. In In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases, Michael Radelet, Hugo Adam Bedau, and Constance Putnam studied hundreds of cases where there is some indication of an erroneous conviction. They found evidence that at least 400 persons have been falsely convicted of murder (Radelet 271). Of these cases, 23 were executed (Radelet 272-3), and another 27 were saved at the last moment, sometimes minutes before the scheduled execution (Radelet 275-6). ..." Note that no time-frame has been stated on this homepage (this problem may be remedied by looking up the homepage's source). Its interesting to notice that although many more innocents may have been falsely convicted in DK or NL, none have had to die for the court's mistake. The same does not apply for at least 23 US-citizens. Which of the two cases are worse? Source: http://www.globaldialog.com/~theoacme/cappun2.html 2. The fact that there is actually a prize awarded in the US for the most rediculous lawsuit (and ensuing conviction - if that's the proper word here) - which was actually highlighted on this list about a month ago, serves to seriously undermine the statement that a jury of 12 unqualified people are more likely to reach the right conclusion in a case. I realise, though, that this argument may be countered since similar cases may be found in either of the two european countries. Its just that over here such cases are more of exceptions to the norm, whereas it seems to have become a bit of a phenomenon in the US. Please correct me on this if I'm wrong :) My primary way of learning of the US is TV (and this list). 3. Jan (I think) stated at one time that the European model might suffer from the fact that judges and lawyers have "seen it all". I must admit that this sometimes seems to be true (and this is where I'll veer from objectivity and provide an example from my experience). In one case a person I know had her door kicked in by her ex-boyfriend, who, in front of numerous witnesses, dragged her outside by her hair and smashed her face completely up. I went to see the trial to satisfy my need for justice and found that it was actually three trials compiled into one. For forcing his way into the victims apartment, assaulting her, drunk driving, fleeing the scene after ramming another car under the influence of alcohol, beating up three guys who decided to follow him and attacking a police officer and his dog, this guy was sentenced to four (4!) months of prison and has his driver's license removed for 10 years (an extension of a similiar 3-year sentence, he already had). Now, that's rediculous. It wasn't even the first time he was in court. I was outraged. He should have been put away for at least four years. [Sponsored by:] _____________________________________________________________________________ The newest lyrics on the Net! http://lyrics.astraweb.com Click NOW!
