A death warrant is a legal document authorizing the execution of a capital offender, specifying the time and manner of execution. 58 countries use capital punishment, with the highest number of executions in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Death warrants have been associated with famous people and high drama throughout history. The term “death sentence” can also refer to publicly condemning someone for actions or opinions contrary to the regime. The phrase “signing one’s own death warrant” is used to describe an unwise course of action.
A death warrant, also known as an execution warrant, is a formal document issued by a court or government official authorizing a prison official to carry out the execution of a capital offender. The death sentence will specify the time period and manner in which the execution is to be carried out. If the execution is not carried out before the death warrant expires, a new warrant must be issued before the execution can take place. In the United States, a judge or governor issues a death sentence after all appeals have been exhausted. It is largely a routine administrative act, but signing a death sentence is symbolically significant to supporters of the prisoner and victim, as well as supporters and opponents of capital punishment.
Worldwide, 58 countries have used capital punishment as of 2010. In the United States, a number of due process procedures are in place throughout the capital punishment system, including issuing the death sentence and execution itself. Many other countries publicize the details of punishment and the issuance of the death sentence widely as a deterrent to their own citizens. Some countries lack such transparent guarantees, making it difficult to know how many of its citizens are being executed. The highest number of executions reported in 2009 occurred in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Famous people and high drama are associated with death sentences that have endured for hundreds of years. Queen Elizabeth I reportedly grieved over signing the death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587. King Charles I was executed for treason following the Civil War in 1640 which also led to the rise of the short-lived republican government of Oliver Cromwell. His son, restored King Charles II, ordered the execution of many signatories of his father’s death warrant. Both of these documents are in London collections.
A death sentence is a term sometimes used by countries that publicly condemn a person for actions or opinions contrary to the regime. That country is effectively granting a license to kill a person who has been accused of committing a crime but is not currently incarcerated. A license to kill is the permission to use lethal force in the arrest of the subject, and not the specific terms of carrying out an execution following a trial.
The phrase “death warrant” is part of our popular culture. Unpopular opinions or laws are portrayed as a death sentence for an affected group, idea or way of life. The idiom “signing one’s own death warrant” describes an unwise course of action in personal, political, or business pursuits.
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