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
- OCTOBER 4, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS DEATH PENALTY IS BEYOND REPAIR
in a dissenting opinion filed in the capital case of Moore v. Parker, Judge Boyce Martin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit wrote that "the death penalty in this country is arbitrary, biased, and so fundamentally flawed at its very core th
- AUGUST 19, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
proponents of the so-called Streamlined Procedures Act justify this radical piece of...
proponents of the so-called Streamlined Procedures Act justify this radical piece of legislation by citing the supposedly intrusive scrutiny of federal courts of state capital convictions and the delays that ensue.
- AUGUST 7, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
speaking at the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Awards Dinner in Illinois...
speaking at the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Awards Dinner in Illinois...
- JULY 14, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
VERMONT, USA. JURY RECOMMENDS DEATH FOR MAN IN FIRST DEATH PENALTY CASE FOR 50 YEARS
Donald Fell, a man convicted of kidnapping a supermarket worker and fatally beating her as she prayed for her life, was sentenced to death by a federal jury in Vermont's first capital punishment case in almost a half century.
- JULY 12, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
VIRGINIA, USA. HIGH COURT STAYS LOVITT EXECUTION
the US Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution to Robin Lovitt, a man convicted of murder in Virginia, because much of the evidence was accidentally destroyed.
- JUNE 20, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT TOSSES DEATH SENTENCE
the US Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Ronald Rompilla, a Pennsylvania man on death row for a 1988 murder, ruling that his lawyers had failed to properly represent him.
- JUNE 6, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. MURDERS DECLINE EVEN AS NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS DROP
preliminary data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for 2004 found that murders in the U. S. dropped last year by 3.6%. The number of executions also declined in 2004.
- MAY 23, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. SHACKLED DEFENDANT'S RIGHTS VIOLATED, COURT RULES
the US Supreme Court ruled the US Constitution generally forbids the use of shackles for a defendant at a sentencing hearing to determine whether the death penalty will be imposed.
- APRIL 29, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. AKBAR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING COMRADES
a US military jury sentenced Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death for killing two officers in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades in Kuwait two years ago
- APRIL 27, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
many Americans are in favour of capital punishment,
many Americans are in favour of capital punishment,
- APRIL 26, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. DEATH SENTENCES FALL TO RECORD LOW SINCE 1976, THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
the number of people sentenced to death last year in the United States fell to the lowest level since the US Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1976.
- APRIL 20, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
United States voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
United States voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.