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
MARCH 6, 2006FranceDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. DEATH PENALTY CALL FOR MAN WHO 'COULD HAVE STOPPED 9/11'
lawyers for the US government demanded the death penalty in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui who they said could have chosen to prevent the September 11 attacks.
- MARCH 3, 2006FranceDEATH PENALTY
FRANCE. FRANCE OBTAINS U.S. GUARANTEES ON MOUSSAOUI TRIAL - MINISTER
the French justice minister reiterated the US had guaranteed France none of the information it provided for the US case against al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui would be used to seek the death penalty.
FEBRUARY 28, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. DEATH SENTENCES IN 2005 REACHED RECORD LOW
the latest edition of “Death Row Usa”, a quarterly report by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a civil rights organization for ethnic minorities in the united States, shows an 8% decline in the country's death row pop
FEBRUARY 22, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT REJECTS NEW ALIBI EVIDENCE AT SENTENCING
convicted murderers facing the death penalty do not have a constitutional right at sentencing to offer new evidence seeking to cast doubt on their guilt, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously.
FEBRUARY 9, 2006United States Armed ForcesDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. BUSH’S OK SOUGHT FOR EXECUTIONS
President Bush has been asked to authorize the executions of two men who have been on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth for a combined 35 years.
- FEBRUARY 5, 2006FranceDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. JURY SELECTION BEGINS FOR MOUSSAOUI TRIAL
Zacarias Moussaoui returns this week to the courtroom where a jury will determine whether he should be executed for his crimes.
- FEBRUARY 2, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. INMATES FIGHT BACK AGAINST LETHAL INJECTION EXECUTION, AFP
the United States is taking a new look at the use of lethal injections to execute condemned prisoners after the challenges of three inmates who were barely saved from lethal injection by the Supreme Court.
FEBRUARY 1, 2006MissouriDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. US SUPREME COURT HALTS EXECUTION OF MISSOURI INMATE
the US Supreme Court stayed the execution of Michael Taylor, an inmate in the midwestern state of Missouri who has argued that lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
JANUARY 31, 2006FloridaDEATH PENALTYFLORIDA, USA. SUPREME COURT HALTS SECOND FLORIDA EXECUTION
the US Supreme Court halted the execution of Arthur Dennis Rutherford
JANUARY 25, 2006FloridaDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT BLOCKS FLORIDA EXECUTION OF CLARENCE HILL
the US Supreme Court has blocked the execution of Clarence Hill to consider his appeal over the method used to carry out the punishment.
- JANUARY 12, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
in his 4th day of confirmation hearings...
in his 4th day of confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has been taking some questions on matters of life and death.
- JANUARY 11, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT TAKES UP FIRST DEATH ROW DNA CASE
the US Supreme Court for the first time heard an appeal by a death row inmate using new DNA evidence to proclaim his innocence and demand a retrial. The court's verdict, expected by mid 2006, will do more than seal the fate of convicted murderer Paul Hous