Best way to collar a cleric
QUESTION What does the clerical collar represent and when was it first used?
In the early 1800s, the dress of a parson was conservative but essentially no different from that of any gentleman. A wide, white cravat or neckcloth was worn with a black coat, breeches and gaiters, but none of these items set a cleric apart from businessmen, lawyers or teachers.
It was only after 1850 that a distinction was made between Low Church clergy, who wore a white bow tie or neckerchief, and high Church pastors, who had a dog collar. they both dressed in a black frock coat and trousers and top hat.
A stiff clerical collar set into a black front or bib was adopted by all clergy during World War I, with high churchmen identified by a narrow version and low churchmen wearing a wider one as an echo of the earlier cravat.
the transition from a white bow tie or cravat to the clerical collar seems to have been simply a means of identifying clergy from laity. there appears to be no specific religious symbolism attached to it.
David Rayner, Canterbury, Kent.
QUESTION In the U.S., why do murderers spend so long on death row?
DeAth row prisoners in the U.S. typically spend more than a decade awaiting execution. Some have been on death row for well over 20 years.
this is because of the complexity of the U.S. legal system and its overlap with politics. execution is not a matter that is taken lightly.
In the majority of crimes where capital punishment applies, it is the state that has jurisdiction. As a condemned person, the prisoner has an automatic right of appeal. If the verdict and sentence is upheld, they will then appeal to the state’s supreme court. If the appeal is denied, it is then up to the state’s governor to sign the execution warrant.
that process itself can take several years. If the state’s governor opposes the death penalty, they may decide not to sign an execution order. however, the condemned person is still under sentence of death and remains on death row.
this state of limbo will remain until new evidence emerges that results in a retrial, the condemned person dies of natural causes, they are pardoned by the governor or there is a change of governor to one who supports the death penalty.
A condemned person also has the right to enter an appeal through the federal legal system, which can go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. that can take several more years to reach a conclusion because of the number of cases the legal system has to handle.
For crimes where the federal government has jurisdiction, the appeals process goes all the way to the U.S. president. the range of cases where the federal death penalty applies is narrow: treason, espionage, aggravated murder, largescale drug trafficking or attempted murder of a witness, juror or court officer.
the U.S. currently has around 2,500 death row inmates, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. Some 50 face federal death sentences, most of whom are in terre haute Federal Prison, Indiana. Of the 50 U.S. states, 28 have the death penalty, three of which have imposed a moratorium on executions.
After a hiatus of 17 years, ten federal executions were carried out in 2020. texas, Oklahoma and Virginia account for half of the 1,529 U.S. executions since 1976, with over a third taking place in texas. By comparison, Wisconsin hasn’t carried out an execution since 1851.