CANE MUTINY. One country's justice is another's barbarism. Consider caning, a punishment severe enough to often send its victim into shock. World attention is now focused on Singapore because of the case of Michael Fay, 18, an Ohio high school student who last week lost a legal appeal and now faces six lashes from a 4-foot-long, half-inch-thick cane. His offense: spray-painting cars. The U.S. Embassy has registered a strong protest, and President Clinton has called the punishment "extreme."
But the harsh light of international scrutiny has lately been shining back at the United States. The crime and punishment in this case are both far more severe: murder and the death penalty. British and Irish journalists travel to Louisiana and Texas to report on executions, last witnessed in their countries decades ago. And Mexico, which abolished the death penalty in 1929, is bankrolling the legal appeals of its 23 citizens on death row in the United States. Citing studies showing that the poor and minorities are more likely to be executed, Mexican officials say that some of the 23 were railroaded.
Meanwhile, as his father and others try to free him, Fay sits in jail awaiting the outcome of his appeal to Singapore's president for clemency. His chances are slim: Acting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has already said he sees no reason why "foreigners should be more thin-skinned" than Singaporeans.
