Poster #64 - Death Penalty Resurrections

• In Event: Poster Session I (posters 1 - 79)

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that once a country abolishes the death penalty or places a moratorium on its use, the sentence does not return. And yet, there are examples of death penalty resurrections. In this poster, I propose three hypotheses about death penalty resurrections: (1) The return of the death penalty happens against the backdrop of a conflict between government branches; (2a) there is a surge of public support for the death penalty that is (2b) supported by a dramatic and heinous recent criminal event; (3a) the resurrected death penalty is limited to a "gateway crime"--a subcategory of heinous crimes mimicking the recent event; and (3b) after the reinstatement of the death penalty, its application broadens beyond the "gateway crime." The poster presents a few patterns of resurrection from several countries: The Philippines, Brazil, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, and offers support for hypotheses (1) and (2) and only mixed confirmation for hypothesis (3).

Author

• Hadar Aviram, UC Law San Francisco