On Art and the Death Penalty: Invitation to a Beheading

Law and Literature, Vol. 15, p. 279, 2003

20 Pages Posted: 4 Oct 2009 Last revised: 28 Oct 2009

See all articles by Ed Morgan

Ed Morgan

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2003

Abstract

With the exception of the United States, western democracies and human rights organizations have virtually all abolished the death penalty. At the same time, the judicial organs of those states and institutions have been loathe to declare a universal prohibition on the state putting a convicted person to death. Rather, they attempt to circumvent the question by focusing on the method of execution or its delay. Like Vladimir Nabokov's prisoner waiting on death row, capital punishment is deemed intolerable not because it is wrong, but because it is unaesthetic.

Keywords: death penalty, extradition, human rights, law and literature

Suggested Citation

Morgan, Ed, On Art and the Death Penalty: Invitation to a Beheading (2003). Law and Literature, Vol. 15, p. 279, 2003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1482005

Ed Morgan (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 and 84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada

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