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Originally Posted by jason_els  Depends which citizenry of course. Some states are so vehemently anti-death penalty that they have actually stated in principle, that they will not cooperate with the federal government in cases where the death penalty may be at issue. The federal government would have to sue the state government should the state government (or any county/municipality) be holding a defendant in a federal case where the death penalty may occur. In such cases the federal government would either have to take the prisoner through military force or sue the state in court to force custody. |
That and the rest you posted was quite fascinating, Jason.
By the citizenry, I basically meant the population at large, as reflected through polls that seem to show very strong national support for the death penalty, on the order of 70 percent or higher, with half or more of the population believing the death penalty is not applied frequently enough.
Of course, this varies widely from state to state and region to region.
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Originally Posted by jason_els Perhaps this will help illuminate just how polarizing the death penalty issue, along with many others, is here in the US. States are not counties, parishes, provinces, or anything like that. They are nearly autonomous entities with their own laws and procedures. One state has a unicameral legislature. Two states aren't states at all but commonwealths. One state doesn't even have a system of common law. They all have their own highly unique constitutions which drastically reflect their view on what constitutes a good government. They have their own military forces too. The closest thing I can imagine it approximates is the situation with Scotland within the UK as it is now under devolution. It's actually fairly remarkable we've only had one serious attempt at secession though there are growing secessionist movements in various states. |
I wonder if you have an exaggerated sense of the autonomy of the individual states.
Canadian provinces, I am given to understand, have quite a lot more power than American states do.
FWIW, there are four states that are officially commonwealths (Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Virginia). Does that appelation actually change anything about their powers ... make them in a significant and consistent way different from states that are just 'states'? (This is a serious question ... I have no idea.)
I didn't know they had their own military forces. Are these state militias?
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Originally Posted by jason_els It's a bit complicated. |
And how, as my pappy might have said.