United States
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal republic with a strong federal tradition
- CONSTITUTION
- September 17, 1787, in effect from March 4, 1789
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- federal court system based on English common law. Each state has its own legal system
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Congress (Senate and House of Representatives)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts; state and county courts
RELIGIONS
51.3% Protestants; 23.9% Catholics; 1.7% Mormons; 1.6% other Christians; 1.7% Jews; 0.7% Muslims; other unspecified or no religion
From the country
- JULY 24, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Abu Hamza could not be sent from Britain to the US...
Abu Hamza could not be sent from Britain to the US to face terrorism charges because any guarantee given by the US government not to execute him was worthless, a court was told
- JULY 19, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The European Union, former US president Jimmy Carter...
The European Union, former US president Jimmy Carter and the ex president of the former Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev called on the US Supreme Court to end the death penalty for offenders younger than 18 at the time of their crimes
- JUNE 24, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the case of Warren Summerlin...
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the case of Warren Summerlin v
- JUNE 2, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A May 2004 Gallup Poll found that a growing number...
A May 2004 Gallup Poll found that a growing number of Americans support a sentence of life without parole rather than the death penalty for those convicted of murder
- MAY 30, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Kenny Richey, the Scot who has spent more than 17 years...
Kenny Richey, the Scot who has spent more than 17 years on death row in the United States, said he would rather kill himself than spend any more time in prison
- MAY 29, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
At a symposium on capital punishment in Tokyo, sponsored...
At a symposium on capital punishment in Tokyo, sponsored by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Renny Cushing, the executive director of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, also the son of a murdered man in the US, said bereaved families of
- MAY 28, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Britain wanted to push through an extradition request...
Britain wanted to push through an extradition request for Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric, as quickly as possible so he could stand trial in the United States on charges of aiding terrorists, the government said
- MAY 19, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
On the eve of the first court-martial in the Iraq prisoner...
On the eve of the first court-martial in the Iraq prisoner abuse by American soldiers ion the county, relatives of those still held at Abu Ghraib prison said the only suitable punishment would be death
- APRIL 23, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Falun Gong members sued Chinese Commerce Minister Bo...
Falun Gong members sued Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai in US federal court for acts of genocide and torture which they said he carried out against them while a provincial governor
- APRIL 22, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Van Duc Vo, a Vietnamese-American man accused of plotting...
Van Duc Vo, a Vietnamese-American man accused of plotting to blow up the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok in 2001, was ordered extradited to Thailand to face terrorism-related charges
- APRIL 21, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The United States voted against the resolution on the...
The United States voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 21, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A House panel gave preliminary approval to a bill backed...
A House panel gave preliminary approval to a bill backed by President Bush to make terrorists crimes that result in death punishable by death or life in prison