Capital Punishment at Crossroads in US

Sunday October 21, 2007 5:31 AM

By MARK SHERMAN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Stop executions for a while and perhaps they can be stopped forever. That calculation has been part of the strategy of capital punishment opponents for decades.

The Supreme Court-inspired slowdown in executions offers the first nationwide opportunity in 20-plus years to test whether the absence of regularly scheduled executions will lead some states to abandon the death penalty and change public attitudes about capital punishment.

A committee of the UN General Assembly has voted for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

A total of 99 countries voted for a suspension of capital punishment worldwide, while 52 voted against and 33 abstained.

Although the vote is not legally binding, human rights groups say it is a significant demonstration of worldwide opinion.

Some 130 countries have already outlawed the practice.

Texas judge to consider inmate's case - after execution

 

A hearing in which attorneys for convicted US murderer Charles Dean Hood will raise conflict of interest concerns involving the judge that sentenced him to death has been scheduled for two days after Hood is to be executed, one of his attorneys said.

Hood's attorneys have asked the court "to move up the hearing date as evidence gathered from it could serve as a basis for a clemency application," Greg Wiercioch, with the Texas Defender Service, said in a statement.

Hood, 39, was sentenced to died in 1990 for the 1989 murder of his boss and his boss's girlfriend.

Hood's fingerprints were found at the crime scene, and Hood was arrested driving the car that belonged to the victims.

He also had some of their jewels, credit cards and clothing.

Texas Judge Verla Sue Holland sentenced Hood to death - but according to information that surfaced in June, Ms Holland at the time was having a romantic relationship with Thomas O'Connell, the prosecutor handling the case.

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Gus: no love lost here... The death penalty is still abhorrent.

Washington prison doctor quits over death penalty

The top doctor in the Washington Department of Corrections has resigned, saying the use of medical staff to prepare for an execution is unethical.

By Adam Wilson

The Olympian

The state Department of Corrections' top medical officer has resigned, saying that the use of staff members to prepare for an execution is unethical.

Dr. Marc Stern, who lives in Olympia, said the American Medical Association and Society of Correctional Physicians oppose physician involvement in executions, "and they say physicians should not supervise somebody who is involved in executions."

"The only way out we found was for me to recuse myself, and the only way I could recuse myself was to resign," he said.

February 25, 2009

Citing Cost, States Consider Halting Death Penalty

By IAN URBINA

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — When Gov. Martin O’Malley appeared before the Maryland Senate last week, he made an unconventional argument that is becoming increasingly popular in cash-strapped states: abolish the death penalty to cut costs.

Mr. O’Malley, a Democrat and a Roman Catholic who has cited religious opposition to the death penalty in the past, is now arguing that capital cases cost three times as much as homicide cases where the death penalty is not sought. “And we can’t afford that,” he said, “when there are better and cheaper ways to reduce crime.”

Lawmakers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire have made the same argument in recent months as they push bills seeking to repeal the death penalty, and experts say such bills have a good chance of passing in Maryland, Montana and New Mexico.

Death penalty opponents say they still face an uphill battle, but they are pleased to have allies raising the economic argument.

A prominent judge in Texas has gone on trial accused of refusing to let lawyers for a convicted murderer on death row lodge a last-minute appeal.

Sharon Keller is charged with professional misconduct.

The prisoner, Michael Wayne Richard, was put to death hours after she allegedly shut the court, despite being told an appeal was imminent.

Half of all executions in the US last year were in Texas where critics have dubbed Judge Keller "Sharon Killer".

She is known for her tough stance on the death penalty.

Just hours before his scheduled execution in September 2007, lawyers for Richard tried to lodge an appeal with Judge Keller, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Their efforts were delayed by computer glitches and when they phoned the court to request extra time, they say they were told court closes at 5pm.

Richard, convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a woman 20 years ago, was put to death by lethal injection some three hours later. He became the 26th person to be executed in Texas that year.

'Confusion'

His lawyers allege that Judge Keller deliberately ordered the courthouse to close at 5pm, knowing a last-minute appeal was imminent.

The execution of a prisoner in the US state of Ohio has been delayed for a week after jail officials had problems finding the condemned man's veins.

The execution team struggled for two hours to locate veins of convicted murderer and rapist Romell Broom to inject lethal chemicals via IV tubes.

Broom's lawyer demanded the procedure be stopped, describing it as "cruel".

The week-long reprieve for Broom, aged 53, was later ordered by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland.

It is the first time that an Ohio governor has issued a similar last-minute reprieve since the state resumed executions in 1999.

Ohio has executed 32 inmates since then. Several executions were delayed for at least an hour because officials had failed to properly attach IV (intravenous) tubes for the lethal injection.

Romell Broom has been sentenced to die for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1984.

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The death penalty is abohrent... The US should wake up...

Even in Texas they are having their doubts. The state that executes more people than any other by far – it will account for half the prisoners sent to the death chamber in the US this year – is seeing its once rock-solid faith in capital punishment shaken by overturned convictions, judicial scandals and growing evidence that at least one innocent man has been executed.

The growth of DNA forensic evidence has seen nearly 140 death row convictions overturned across the US, prompting abolition and moratoriums in other states that Texas has so far resisted.

But the public mood is swinging in the conservative state, which often seems to have an Old Testament view of justice. A former governor, Mark White – previously a strong supporter of the death penalty – has joined those calling for a reconsideration of capital punishment because of the risk of executing an innocent person.

The number of death sentences passed by juries in Texas has fallen sharply in recent years, reflecting a retreat from capital punishment in many parts of America after DNA evidence led to the release of scores of condemned prisoners.

The number of death sentences passed annually in the US has dropped by about 60% in the past decade, to around 100.

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The death penalty is abohrent... The US should wake up...

Russia's ban on the death penalty will remain when a current legal suspension expires on 1 January, the country's Constitutional Court has ruled.

It said the use of the death penalty was now impossible because Russia had signed international deals banning it.

Russian announced the moratorium in 1996 when it joined the Council of Europe, although it retains capital punishment in its criminal code.

Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Russians back the death penalty.

One recent survey showed that two-thirds of Russians backed the measure.

It said that one in four was against it, mainly because of the possibility that judges would make mistakes.

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The death penalty is abohrent... The US should wake up...

From Unleashed

"Such an ambiguous position on the death penalty by the Australian Government risks undermining Australia's standing on the issue. If Australia recognises that the imposition of the death penalty is a violation of international human rights, then this position must be argued and applied in all circumstances, not selectively applied only to Australian citizens abroad."

The death penalty is abohrent... The US should lead the way. Australia should not be ambiguous...

A Liberal senator has used the permanent abolition of the death penalty in Australia to call for Indonesia to spare the lives of members of the Bali Nine, saying the use of capital punishment is not reflective of a civilised society.

The federal parliament today passed laws that ensure the death penalty can never be reintroduced by any state or territory in Australia.

Both sides of politics supported the move, which is seen as largely symbolic.

But ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries used the development to call on the Indonesian government to waive the application of the death penalty in the case of the Bali Nine.

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Gus: Congratulations! Australia is now a death penalty free country forever... May we mention the USA in the same breath as Indonesia...

Death penalty use to be reconsidered

China is said to be reconsidering its executions policy in light of international dismay at the draconian range of offences for which the death penalty is used.
According to the South Weekend newspaper, the country's highest legislative body is considering amending the law next month to place strict limits on use of the penalty.

There are currently 68 crimes in China that can result in execution, including credit card fraud and bigamy. The body is expected to consider whether the elderly should face the ultimate penalty. A legal scholar quoted in the article says the practice has damaged China's image.

China does not publish execution statistics, but human rights groups say it executes thousands of people every year. However, the government claims the number has dropped in recent years.

It is a tribute to one of the 20th century's most renowned protests: a mural facing the railway tracks in Newtown showing two black medallists giving a defiant raised-fist salute at the 1968 Olympics, and the Australian athlete Peter Norman who stood proudly beside them.

A fight is now on to save the mural as the state government considers demolishing the house it is painted on, and its neighbours, to build a rail tunnel.

Last night the City of Sydney endorsed a motion by Labor councillor Meredith Burgmann to have the mural, known as ''Three Proud People'', placed on the local heritage register. Cr Burgmann said she hoped the mural, and the terraces, could be saved. ''It's certainly an iconic part of Newtown,'' she said.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/last-stand-for-newtowns-three-proud-people-20100726-10smr.html

Late on Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied her last-ditch appeal for a stay, and Ms. Lewis, now 41, is scheduled to die on Thursday night at 9. Her case has drawn unusual attention, not only because she would be the first woman executed in the United States since 2005, and the first in Virginia since 1912, but also because of widely publicized concerns about the fairness of her sentence. Ms. Lewis waited this week in her prison cell, reportedly soothed by intense religious faith.

Her lawyers say her original defense against the death penalty was bungled. They also cite new evidence suggesting that Ms. Lewis — whose I.Q. of 72 is described by psychologists as borderline retarded — was manipulated by her co-conspirators, who were out to share in savings and life insurance worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her partners in the crimes, two young men who fired the guns, received sentences of life without parole in what her lawyers call a “gross disparity” in punishment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/us/22execute.html?_r=1&hp

A 41-year-old woman who conspired to murder her husband and stepson has been executed in the US state of Virginia.

Teresa Lewis was the first woman to be put to death in the US for five years and in Virginia since 1912.

Lewis, who had learning difficulties, used sex and cash to persuade hitmen to kill her family in 2002.

The US Supreme Court and Virginia's governor refused to stop her execution, which took place at 2100 (0100 GMT) at Greensville Correctional Center.

Last meal

Lewis spent her last hours with her spiritual adviser and family members at the prison in the city of Jarratt.

She requested a final meal of two breasts of fried chicken, sweet peas with butter, a slice of either German cake or apple pie, and a Dr Pepper soft drink, prison spokesman Larry Traylor said.

As she was escorted into the death chamber, Lewis appeared tearful, her jaw clenched, Associated Press reported.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11401164

Some executions in the US are being delayed because of a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, one of the drugs used in lethal injections.

Several of the 35 states that use lethal injections are now hunting for fresh sources of the drug, which is used to render people unconscious.

The sole US manufacturer of the drug says new batches of sodium thiopental will not be ready before early 2011.

Meanwhile, nine states have planned 17 executions before the end of January.

Manufacturer Hospira has blamed the shortage of the drug on unspecified problems with its raw-material suppliers.

"We are working to get it back onto the market for our customers as soon as possible," Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said.

Hospira has previously made clear that it is not comfortable with its products being used in the lethal injection process.

Stock expiry

Officials in California are pressing for its first execution in over four years to go ahead on Thursday evening as scheduled, because the state's last remaining batch of sodium thiopental expires on Friday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11429231

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NO TO THE DEATH PENALTY.

No Justification

Two years ago, when a splintered Supreme Court approved lethal injection as a means of execution in Baze v. Rees, Justice John Paul Stevens made a prophecy. Instead of ending the controversy, he said, the ruling would raise questions “about the justification for the death penalty itself.” Since then, evidence has continued to mount, showing the huge injustice of the death penalty — and the particular barbarism of this form of execution.

In the case of Jeffrey Landrigan, convicted of murder and executed by Arizona on Tuesday, the system failed him at almost every level, most disturbingly at the Supreme Court. In a 5-to-4 vote, the court’s conservative majority allowed the execution to proceed based on a stark misrepresentation.

Of the 35 states that allow the death penalty, all now execute by lethal injection. Most use a sequence of drugs that is supposed to provide a painless death, but when it is administered incorrectly it causes agony that amounts to torture. Veterinarians say the method doesn’t meet the standard for euthanizing animals.

Arizona’s plan for Mr. Landrigan’s execution was thrown off by a shortage of sodium thiopental, one of three drugs used in standard lethal injections. The only maker approved by the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t been able to get a critical ingredient for almost a year. The state obtained the drug from a foreign maker.

When Mr. Landrigan tried to ascertain its effectiveness for sedating him so he wouldn’t feel the pain of the other drugs, Arizona refused to divulge the information. After the state defied four orders from a federal district judge to produce it, the judge stayed the execution.

When the case got to the Supreme Court, the majority overturned the stay, saying there was “no evidence in the record to suggest that the drug obtained from a foreign source is unsafe.” There was no evidence — either way — because Arizona defied orders to provide it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/opinion/29fri1.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

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NO TO THE DEATH PENALTY.

In China, some are rethinking the death penalty

By Keith B. Richburg, Sunday, June 26, 5:23 AM

BEIJING — A 21-year-old music student named Yao Jiaxin was executed this month for a particularly grievous crime: After accidentally hitting a female bicyclist with his car, Yao saw she was still alive, so he stopped, got out and stabbed her eight times to make sure she was dead and could not identify him.

In a country with the world’s highest number of executions, the fact that Yao was sentenced to death was not uncommon. At least on the Internet, his crime was widely denounced, with citizens demanding Yao’s death.

What was unusual was the intense public soul-searching the case also unleashed. Many legal professionals and others openly questioned whether justice was served by executing a young man who voluntarily turned himself in and confessed, and whose family offered to pay compensation. His crime touched a nerve here — a young man of privilege who killed a poor woman on a bicycle — but many blamed an online mob mentality for forcing a supposedly dispassionate court into imposing a death sentence.

The result was a public broaching of a long-taboo subject here: whether China executes too many people too hastily.

The government appears to be thinking the same thing. Last month, the Supreme People’s Court began implementing several new measures aimed at reducing the number of capital sentences.

“Yao’s case had a big influence on society,” said Xu Zhiyong, a legal scholar and member of a small group called China Against the Death Penalty. “A lot of people felt shocked. They felt shocked by the process. Some people thought the netizens pushed the court into giving Yao the death penalty.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/in-china-some-are-rethinking-death-penalty/2011/06/22/AGY6gqkH_print.html

 

NO TO THE DEATH PENALTY.