Human-rights group asks US to study death penalty

The Amnesty International human-rights group Monday publicly appealed to President Carter to set up a commission to study the death penalty in the United States. The London-based organization said a US presidential commission should examine whether executions violated America's international commitment to human rights.

Among the issues which should be studied, Amnesty said, was whether the "living death" inflicted on prisoners segregated on "death row" to await execution violated the US constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.