Capital Punishment in US
Capital punishment- or the death penalty- originates from the Latin word capitalis, which literally translates to “regarding the head,” referencing how capital crimes were originally punished by the severing of the head.
Capital punishment has been abolished in most major industrialized nations; however, the United States, which consequently has the highest crime rate in the world, still employs it as a method of punishment. North Carolina’s violent crime rate is the 18th highest in the country, and the Tar Heel State’s use of capital punishment ranks it in 5th place in the nation.

Colonists brought the practice of capital punishment with them from England where English Common Law ruled that criminals committing murder, robbery, arson, and practicing witchcraft, to name four examples, were eligible for the death penalty. Capital punishment was one of the few sentences that was available to the colonists in the event of a serious crime since small local jails were incapable of holding criminals for long periods of time.

English Common Law paired with the 1663 Charter of the Carolinas governed the administration of capital punishment within the colony of North Carolina. In North Carolina the first documented legal execution occurred on August 26, 1726, when George Sennecca was hanged for a murder committed in Chowan County.

Over time North Carolina colonial legislature passed legislation, including the 1771 Johnston Riot Act, that defined punishable-by-death crimes. As late as 1817, twenty-eight crimes including burglary and counterfeiting could warrant the death penalty in the Tar Heel State.

In 1868 North Carolina adopted a revised state constitution that made major changes to the definition and prosecution of capital crimes. The number of crimes punishable by death was limited to four: murder, arson, rape and burglary. The Constitution further stipulated that executions thereafter were to take place privately within the walls of a central state penitentiary. In 1893, further reforms were adopted and the crime of murder was divided into two degrees, with only first-degree murder being punishable by death.

In 1909 the North Carolina General Assembly outlawed hanging and passed legislation making electrocution the state’s official method of execution. The legislation also removed the power to execute criminals away from local governments and transferred it to the state.

One 1917 execution prompted some North Carolinians to question whether electrocution was “cruel and unusual punishment” and if it was therefore an unconstitutional action. That year Rufus Satterfield was electrocuted for over six minutes before deemed dead. Senator Charles Peterson, a medical doctor, from Mitchell County proposed a bill that would replace electrocution with lethal gas as the state’s official method of execution. Dr. Peterson argued that lethal gas was a more human method of execution. The bill passed unanimously on May 1, 1935.

When the U.S. Supreme Court started hearing an array of cases from 1967-1972, the question whether capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment was addressed. Most of the wording from the decisions was vague, and made states wary of enforcing the death penalty. In the 1972 the Court finally explicitly ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional.

From 1967-1977 there were no executions anywhere in the U.S and in North Carolina no executions took place from 1962-1983.

Although the Supreme Court had ruled that the death penalty was a cruel and unusual form of punishment, many states including North Carolina passed laws overruling that decision and many juries still wanted to sentence criminals to death. This nationwide reluctance to adhere to the Supreme Court decision reflected that many people in America did not believe that capital punishment was in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment.

In 1976, the Supreme Court rectified the situation. and Justice Powell noted that, “capital punishment is an expression of society’s moral outrage at particularly offensive conduct.” However the Court set strict limitations to when the death penalty could be administered.

One example of this is where the U.S. Supreme Court overturned North Carolina’s mandatory death sentence for convicted felons of first-degree murderers in 1976. The Court ruled that mandatory death sentences were unconstitutional and that juries must have the option to choose between death and imprisonment.

In 1983, death row inmates in North Carolina were given the option to choose death by lethal injection instead of lethal gas. In 1998, the North Carolina General Assembly completely eliminated the option of execution by lethal gas and lethal injection became the state’s official method. The last person executed by lethal gas in North Carolina was Ricky Lee Sanderson, the murderer of sixteen-year-old Susan Holliman, the daughter of Representative Hugh Holliman.

North Carolina State Senator, Eleanor Kinnaird from Orange County proposed a bill in the 2003 session, which would create a two-year study on the inequalities in capital sentencing along economic, geographic, and racial lines. Although the moratorium on the death penalty was endorsed by over 750 people, the SB 972 bill was defeated in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Capital punishment was no longer implemented in 2007, when the North Carolina Medical Board issued an ethics policy prohibiting a doctor from doing anything more than being present at an execution. The Medical Board also threatened disciplinary action against any doctor who engaged verbally or physically in facilitating an execution. This contradicted Governor Mike Easley, and the Council of States revised execution procedures, which required that a doctor must be present and monitor the inmate’s essential body functions.

Several Republican members of the North Carolina General Assembly sponsored legislation that would ban the Medical Board from punishing doctors who participated in state executions but with a Democrat majority in both chambers the legislation died.

The North Carolina Department of Corrections sued the Medical Board because it was unable to find a doctor willing to assist with lethal injections and therefore it was unable to execute death row inmates.

In 2009, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NC Department of Corrections in the case of NC Dept Corrections v. NC Medical Board, ending the de facto moratorium on the death penalty. The Court argued that the Medical Board did not have the authority to punish doctors for abiding by General Statue which required physician presence and participation in state executions.

Even though the lawsuit was settled, injunctions are still in place that prevent the State from re-setting execution dates for convicted North Carolina inmates on death row. The last death penalty sentence that was carried out in North Carolina was on August 18, 2006.

When it comes to capital punishment administered by states since 1930, North Carolina ranks as the fifth highest, with 322. Only 43 have been since 1976.

Support for capital punishment is mixed across the Tar Heel state according to a Civitas poll released in April 2010. Seventy percent of 600 likely voters supported the death penalty for violent crimes. The poll also revealed that 59% of Democrats, 75% of unaffiliated voters and 82% of Republicans supported using capital punishment for violent crimes.

Although support and opposition for capital punishment typically falls along party lines, Representative Hugh Holliman from Lexington, the Democratic Majority leader, has been a quiet yet heard voice for victims in the halls of the North Carolina General Assembly.

In 2009, Senator Floyd McKissick from Durham County introduced the Racial Justice Act, which would allow pre-trial defendants and inmates on death row to challenge the decision to seek or impose the death penalty if the decision was based on impermissible racial bias. The bill was passed and made into law with an amendment that prohibited the Medical Board and other health agencies from disciplining doctors facilitating executions.

Currently almost all of the inmates on death row in North Carolina have filed for a review of their cases under the Racial Justice Act and those reviews are pending. The reviews coupled with the injunctions from the Court leave no execution dates set in North Carolina in the near future.

It is unknown whether the previous de facto moratorium and the Racial Justice Act have influenced juries, but the number of death sentences has declined sharply even though the murder rate has been relatively unchanged. Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, notes that in 1996, 57% of all death penalty trials ended with the death penalty but in 2008 only 8% did.

A 2009 poll conducted by Elon Poll at Elon University surveyed 758 North Carolina residents. Among them, 72% chose life in prison without the possibility of parole as a method of punishment for those convicted of first-degree murder.

The future existence of capital punishment in North Carolina is uncertain. But with North Carolinians so closely divided, the debate will more than likely continue and will be a pressing issue for the 2011 legislature.
Four Haia members indicted in Saudi Arabia over Briton's beating
Four members from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) have been indicted in a probe that was ordered immediately after a video clip of Haia men manhandling a British couple went viral.
"The four officials have been transferred outside Riyadh and have been assigned administrative jobs," said a statement released by the Haia here Tuesday.
These still images taken from a video-clip posted on YouTube shows a Haia man jumping onto the back of British man. The Haia has also formally apologized to the British man and his wife. The indictment is the latest development in a series of recent Haia misconduct investigations.
The victim, 53-year-old Peter Howarth-Lees, refused to comment.
"We are not interested in speaking with the media until our case is fully closed; thank you for your understanding," he said. The Haia statement confirmed that "the video-clip shows an incident that took place at a Riyadh shopping mall on Friday night."
"The men in the video are members of a Haia center in Riyadh."
"The man who attacked the Briton in the video was the head of the Haia team," the statement added.
Howarth-Lees, whose wife is Saudi by nationality, was knocked to the ground and kicked by members of the religious police, known as the "mutawa," who had followed the couple out of the shop.
According to reports, Howarth-Lees and his wife, Abeer, were attacked by Haia men in the parking lot of the supermarket following an argument that had ensued after they objected to him using a checkout counter manned by a woman at the supermarket.
A security team from the British Embassy eventually arrived at the scene and escorted the couple home.
The investigation also found that commission members had failed to communicate with their shift supervisor.
"This runs contrary to the rule that state that Haia men must take instructions from the head of Haia center before taking any action against anyone in the field," said the statement.
The probe has also indicted the members for manhandling the couple instead of adopting procedures laid out by the Haia office in dealing with such cases.
The team members "aggravated the situation when they chased the Briton and his wife to the car and attempted to stop them," read the statement, which also added that they collectively tried to mislead the investigation panel.
The four accused men had even denied their appearance in the video-clip and contradicted their own statements before the probe panel.
"Based on the findings, the four-member team were transferred outside the Riyadh region and have been assigned administrative tasks," said the Haia statement.
The decision was applauded by Saudis and expatriates alike.
"This probe against religious police comes at a time when the Saudi government has increased its focus on misconduct, racism and terrorism cases around the country," said Karim Khwaja of King Saud University (KSU).
"It's the victory of innocence," said Naeem Jameel, an advertizing and PR executive, of the Howarth-Lees case.

Iran's president came under fire from MPs
Tuesday for branding his critics as "political cowards" and urging them "go to hell" if they insist on opposing his policies.
President Hassan Rouhani's remarks 24 hours earlier were aimed at hard-line conservatives who have bridled at his efforts to improve relations with the West and secure a nuclear deal.
But denouncing his opponents prompted a backlash from dozens of MPs who signed a letter demanding that Rouhani come to parliament to explain himself.
One conservative lawmaker said that 200 of the parliament's 270 members would eventually sign the letter.
According to another MP quoted on Iranian media, parliament speaker Ali Larijani told a closed meeting that Rouhani's words were "indefensible and unacceptable".
But Larijani went on to urge lawmakers "not to make a big deal of it because the country's economic problems are significant" and more worthy of their attention.
In his fiery speech, Rouhani attacked the hard-line factions within parliament who have consistently opposed him, particularly on the nuclear issue, since he took office after a surprise electoral victory last year.
"Some of them chant slogans but they are political cowards," he said of those who are skeptical or against a nuclear agreement.
"As soon as we negotiate they start shaking. Go to hell and find somewhere to stay warm," Rouhani told his opponents.
A moderate whose tenure has so far focused on economic and foreign policy, Rouhani said Iran faces three phobias abroad: Iranophobia, Islamaphobia and Shiaphobia.
But on the home front, the country must confront "Ententephobia" from those who oppose his overtures to the rest of the world for better relations after years in the diplomatic wilderness.

JERUSALEM (AP)
— An Israeli soldier is missing following a deadly battle in the Gaza Strip, a defense official said Tuesday, as Israeli airstrikes pummeled a wide range of locations along the coastal area and diplomatic efforts intensified to end the two week war that has killed more than 600 Palestinians and 29 Israelis.
It was not immediately known if the missing soldier was alive or dead, the Israeli defense official told The Associated Press. The disappearance raised the possibility that he had been captured by Hamas — a nightmare scenario for Israel. In the past, Israel has paid a heavy price in lopsided prisoner swaps to retrieve captured soldiers or remains held by its enemies.
Military officials said the soldier, identified as Sgt. Oron Shaul, was among seven soldiers in a vehicle that was hit by an anti-tank missile in a battle in Gaza over the weekend. The other six have been confirmed as dead, but no remains have been identified as Shaul, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident with media.
Hamas' claimed earlier this week that it had captured an Israeli soldier. Israel's U.N. ambassador initially denied the claim but the military neither confirmed nor denied it.
A representative of Shaul's family, Racheli Gazit, said that "so long as the verification has not been completed ... as far as the family is concerned Oron is not a fallen soldier."
In Cairo, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Egyptian officials Tuesday in the highest-level push yet to end the deadly conflict. Ban then traveled to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, urged the international community to hold Hamas accountable for the latest round of violence, saying its refusal to agree to a cease-fire had prevented an earlier end to the fighting.
"What we're seeing here with Hamas is another instance of Islamist extremism, violent extremism that has no resolvable grievance," Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Ban in Tel Aviv. He compared Hamas with al-Qaida and extremist Islamic militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Africa.
"Hamas is like ISIS, Hamas is like al Qaida, Hamas is like Hezbollah, Hamas is like Boko Haram," he said.
Netanyahu was responding to a call by Ban that the sides address the root causes of the fighting and work toward bringing about a two-state solution.
"My message to Israelis and Palestinians is the same: stop fighting, start talking and take on the root causes of the conflict so we are not back to the same situation in another six months or a year," Ban said. Netanyahu responded that Hamas, a group whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, does not want a two-state solution.
Hamas, with some support from Qatar and Turkey, wants guarantees on lifting the blockade before halting fire. The Islamic militant group has no faith in mediation by Egypt's rulers, who deposed a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo a year ago and tightened restrictions on Gaza — to the point of driving Hamas into its worst financial crisis since its founding in 1987.
The border blockade has set Gaza back years, wiping out tens of thousands of jobs through bans on most exports and on imports of vital construction materials Israel says could be diverted by Hamas for military use. Israel allows many consumer goods into Gaza, but experts say Gaza's economy cannot recover without a resumption of exports.
Israel launched a massive air campaign on July 8 to stop relentless Hamas rocket fire into Israel. It expanded it on July 17 to a ground war aimed at destroying tunnels the military says Hamas has constructed from Gaza into Israel for attacks against Israelis. The military says Hamas has launched 2,000 rockets since the war began.
The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 609 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. The U.N. office of humanitarian affairs estimates that at least 75 percent of them were civilians, including dozens of children.
An Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday in fighting in southern Gaza, raising the number of Israeli troops confirmed dead to 27. Two Israeli civilians also have been killed.
Overnight, the Israeli military said it bombed more than 180 militant targets in Gaza, including concealed rocket launchers, a weapon manufacturing facility and surface-to-surface missile launchers. Gaza police spokesman Ayman Batniji said mosques, a sports complex and the home of a former Hamas military chief also were hit.
Since the war began Israel has struck almost 3,000 sites in Gaza, killed more than 180 armed Palestinians and uncovered 66 access shafts of 23 tunnels, the military said.
Airstrikes in Gaza set off huge explosions that turned the night sky over Gaza City orange early Tuesday. The sound of the blasts mixed with the thud of shelling, often just seconds apart, and the pre-dawn call to prayer from mosque loudspeakers.
Tank shells damaged several houses along the eastern border of the territory, Batniji said. At least 19 fishing boats were burned by Israeli navy shells fired from the Mediterranean Sea, he added.
Officials also said that six Palestinians with German citizenship were among the people killed when an airstrike caused a Gaza high-rise apartment building to partially collapse on Monday.
Saleh Kelani, 49, said his brother Ibrahim Kelani, 53, his wife Taghreed and their five children ages 4 to 12, were killed. Saleh Kelani said his brother and the five children had German citizenship while the wife did not.
He said his brother lived in Germany for 20 years. Standing outside the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, Saleh Kelani said he was waiting for condemnation of Israel's actions by the international community, particularly Germany.
"Where is Germany?" he asked, fighting back tears. "When one Israeli is killed all the world talks about it, but six with German nationality? Nothing is happening."
In Israel, thousands attended the funeral on Monday night of Nissim Sean Carmeli, 21, an Israeli-American soldier from Texas who was killed in the fighting.
"He's a hero to us and he's a hero to everyone," said Seth Greenberg, a friend who tattooed Carmeli's initials on his neck in the form of a Star of David. "Even though we know he is looking down on us from heaven and he is with us the whole time we felt that we actually want him a part of us, so we all decided to get a tattoo."
Beyond the grief over the fallen soldiers, concerns were growing in Israel over what many consider to be an even more ominous result: that of an abducted soldier
Abductions of Israeli soldiers have turned in the past into drawn-out mediation with opponents leading to prisoner releases. In 2008, Israel released five Lebanese militants in exchange for the remains of two soldiers killed in the 2006 Lebanon war.
Also in 2006, Hamas-allied militants seized an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid and held him captive in Gaza until Israel traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for his return in 2011.
Hamas had threatened in the past to kidnap more Israelis and Israel says the militant group's attacks through tunnels that stretch into Israel are for this purpose.
Egypt, Israel and the U.S. back an unconditional cease-fire, to be followed by talks on a possible new border arrangement for Gaza. Israel and Egypt have severely restricted movement in and out of Gaza since Hamas seized the territory in 2007.