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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.

Oklahoma unveils its new death chamber

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Oklahoma brand new death chamber. Cost: $106,000
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has unveiled its new execution chamber five months after the botched procedure in which Clayton Lockett died a prolonged and distressing death. 

It took more than 40 minutes for Lockett to die from a lethal injection. 

Chamber renovations costing $106,000 and protocol changes were made at the request of department director Robert Patton. 

The next execution is scheduled for 13 November.


Source: The Guardian, October 10, 2014
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Photos of maximum-security prisons in Norway and the US reveal the extremes of prison life

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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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Idaho death-row inmate survived injection intended to kill him. Now state will try again.

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Alabama executes Derrick Dearman

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Alabama set to tie record for executions in 50 years with upcoming lethal injection

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