Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Governing Through Crime

Criminal Law

: Governing Through Crime

The US Death Penalty: A European Perspective

By Jonathan Simor

Watching America's death penalty moves from a half year into my stay in Europe has been interesting. As Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima report in Saturday's NYTimes, the ability of US states to get the drugs for their lethal injection cocktails has been hampered by the complete resistance of any and almost every European country. European Community treaties not only forbid any member states from using a death penalty, they commit them to working to eliminate the death penalty internationally. In the latest instance, the American company that produces sodium theopental does so in Italy, which will not allow it to export drugs for execution purposes. Even the country governed by Silvio Berlusconi, arguably George Bush's best friend in Europe next to Tony Blair (but unlike Tony, still in power for a few more minutes at least) won't give us our death drugs...continue to full post

Full post as published by Governing Through Crime on January 22, 2011 (boomark / email).