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Editorials
Monday, May 22, 2000An attempt to
abolish capital
punishmentSINCE the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, 38 states have enacted death penalty statutes. No state has repealed the death penalty.The issue: The New Hampshire legislature voted to repeal the state's death penalty statute, but the bill was vetoed by the governor.
The New Hampshire legislature approved a repeal bill last week, but it was vetoed by Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. An override is unlikely as both houses of the legislature approved the measure by less than the two-thirds required.
New Hampshire's legislature was the second to vote to repeal the death penalty since the Supreme Court's 1976 decision. A repeal passed in 1979 by Nebraska lawmakers was also vetoed.
In vetoing the bill, Shaheen brushed off appeals from former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
Shaheen noted that the New Hampshire statute "is designed to make the carrying out of the death penalty extraordinarily difficult." But, she added, "There are some murders that are so brutal and heinous that the death penalty is the only appropriate penalty."
The legislature's vote was largely symbolic. No one is on death row in New Hampshire and the state hasn't executed anyone in 61 years. It had the lowest murder rate in the nation in 1998.
Since the 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty, 29 of the 38 states with death penalty laws have held executions -- more than 500 of them.
Despite the governor's veto, Amnesty International said it was heartened by the New Hampshire repeal vote. A spokesman said, "We see it in the context of a continuing movement across New Hampshire and the nation of reconsidering the use of the death penalty."
One of the main concerns about capital punishment has long been the danger of executing an innocent person. The development of the technique of identifying DNA has made it possible to determine guilt or innocence with greater accuracy -- with the result that a number of convictions have been reversed.
On the basis of DNA and other evidence, 75 people have been sentenced to death in this country since 1976 but later released after being declared innocent or after the charges against them were dropped due to overwhelming evidence of innocence.
Hawaii abolished capital punishment in 1957, well before the 1972 Supreme Court decision temporarily voiding all death penalty laws. In 1976 Governor Ariyoshi recommended reinstatement of capital punishment but the Legislature rejected the proposal.
MORE than half of the countries in the world have abandoned capital punishment, either by statute or in practice. Among the countries with capital punishment laws, only China, Iran and Saudi Arabia are known to have executed more prisoners in recent years than the United States.
The death penalty is imposed primarily to fulfill society's desire for vengeance for heinous crimes. It has never been shown that capital punishment is an effective deterrent to crime. Until it is, Hawaii should continue to ban the death penalty.
Coup in Fiji
RELATIONS between Fiji's indigenous Melanesians and Asian Indians, the South Pacific nation's principal population groups, have long been tense. In 1987 a Melanesian army colonel, Sitiveni Rabuka, led a coup that deposed an Indian-dominated government and went on to serve as prime minister until a year ago.
The Indians, with about 44 percent of the population to the Melanesians' 51 percent, lost their political rights but they were restored through a constitutional change in 1998. The Labor Party and its coalition allies last year won a majority of seats in the legislature and Mahendra Chaudhry was named prime minister; he is the first ethnic Indian to hold the post.
Last month thousands of Melanesians marched through Suva, the capital, charging that Chaudhry favored the Indians and demanding his resignation. Chaudhry responded by banning future protests.
Now, in an apparent reprise of the 1987 coup, the prime minister and his cabinet were taken hostage Friday by gunmen who said they were seizing power on behalf of the Fijians.
Their leader, George Speight, an unsuccessful businessman, claimed the support of all ethnic Fijian parties. Mobs rampaged through the streets of Suva, burning and looting shops, which are mostly owned by Indians.
President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara appealed to the gunmen to release the hostages and urged the army to restore order. Australia and New Zealand called for the release of the hostages.
Today gunmen holding the prime minister captive dragged him onto the lawn of the parliament building and held a gun to his head. Speight has threatened to shoot Chaudhry and other hostages if the army attempts to retake parliament. No resolution of the conflict was in sight.
The coup is a grave setback for democracy and interracial relations in Fiji, which is a leader among South Pacific nations. Washington should apply pressure on the coup leaders to abandon this misguided effort and restore constitutional government.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
