American Law Newsletter (Volume 4)

Author: Lin Xiaoyun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Since 2004, legal reforms have been flourishing across the land of China and gradually deepening. However, the millennia-old tradition of rule by man and more than half a century of planned economy cannot be changed overnight. Thus, on one hand, there are fresh and dynamic developments, while on the other hand, breaking through old systems is a challenging endeavor. One leg has already stepped into the future, while the other still lingers in the past—this can be said to be a true reflection of contemporary China. At this critical juncture of profound transformation, it is extremely important to learn from the successes and failures of other countries. To meet the needs of domestic readers seeking to understand the evolution of the U.S. judicial system amid the current judicial reforms, this series continues to serialize the best-selling book Grand Strategies: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice by Sandra Day O'Connor, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, in this installment. In line with the ongoing debates in the legal communities of both countries regarding the death penalty, we are publishing here for the first time the speech delivered by Judge Helen Kimmett Beatty, an expert on the U.S. death penalty, at Peking University in September 2004.