The StandDown Texas Project

Helen Prejean Keeps Campaigning for Repeal

"Sister Helen Prejean's passion to end the death penalty is a challenge to others," is the New Orleans Times-Picayune profile written by Sheila Stroup. It's available in a slightly abbreviated version, "After 2 decades, nun's crusade continues," via AP and NECN.  Here's the beginning:

For two decades, Sister Helen Prejean has traveled around the country and the world, speaking out against capital punishment. She tells audiences about being a spiritual adviser to inmates on death row and talks about what it means to accompany a man to his death. She tells of meeting the families of the doomed men and the families of their victims. She talks about how the court system works, and how it doesn’t. She speaks of forgiveness.

She calls her passion to end the death penalty “a journey that’s still happening.”

During an interview many years ago, she took me back to the beginning of that journey, when her audiences were considerably smaller than they are now. “I had my smallest crowd right here in New Orleans, at the St. Christopher Home,” she said. “Three people showed up, and two of them nodded off.”

That was before her book “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States,” was published in 1993, and before Susan Sarandon won an Oscar portraying her in the movie.

Since then, Sister Helen has given hundreds and hundreds of talks and filled countless auditoriums. She wrote a second book, “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions,” which came out in 2004.

Related posts are in the activism and religion category indexes.

Denver Post Editorial Calls for Commutation in Dunlap Case

"Sympathy for Nathan Dunlap? No. Clemency? Yes.," is the Denver Post editorial.

Hickenlooper ought to grant the petition, but not because Dunlap is a miscast character caught in bad circumstances, no matter how hard his lawyers have worked hard to portray him in a sympathetic light.

He should spare Dunlap's life and relegate him to spend the rest of his days in prison because the death penalty is fundamentally wrong, and its application in Colorado is arbitrary.

Recently, two law professors at University of Denver studied the outcome of murder cases in Colorado. They examined 544 first-degree cases from 1999 to 2010 and found the death penalty was a punishment option in 92 percent of cases. However, prosecutors pursued the death penalty at trial in only 1 percent of cases.

And:

As recently as December, Hickenlooper expressed mixed feelings about the death penalty. "I wrestle with this, right now, on a pretty much daily basis," he said at the time.

We hope the governor concludes the arbitrary nature of the death penalty in Colorado is a strong enough argument to grant Dunlap clemency. The sporadic taking of life in the name of the state is not justice.

The Boulder Daily Camera publishes an OpEd, "Faith directs us to support clemency for Nathan Dunlap," written by Rabbi Joseph Black and the Rev. Jim Ryan.

For us, as men of God and leaders of our congregations of Colorado faithful, it is deeply troubling that our state may move forward with the execution of Nathan Dunlap. Our calling to serve God involves a responsibility to seek justice, and we must be especially mindful of our role in supporting the poor and the weak, while advocating for fairness for all. Despite his terrible crime and the suffering he caused, we pray that Mr. Dunlap will receive executive clemency and will serve his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

While our faith compels us to reject violence in all forms, we find the death penalty, an act of violence that is premeditated and carried out in our names, particularly abhorrent. We would be remiss in our spiritual commitment if we did not speak out about our belief that Mr. Dunlap's life should be spared.

And:

Our moral responsibility to our congregations and to all our fellow citizens is to strive to live in accordance with our own inner holiness. We work to make our society civilized, just, and merciful. We cannot condone or accept the execution of any person in our names. Such an execution would coarsen us and corrode our civic morality. As men of faith, we are commanded to speak out when we see injustice in our world. Because of this spiritual commitment, we respectfully ask Governor Hickenlooper to commute Nathan Dunlap's sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. We strongly believe this is the merciful, moral, and just action, which is in accordance with the teachings of our faiths.

KUSA-TV posts, "Family of Chuck E. Cheese killer Nathan Dunlap pleads for clemency," by Will Ripley.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper will be reviewing a stack of documents in the Nathan Dunlap case.

Dunlap killed four people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese on Dec. 14, 1993 and is set to be executed the week of Aug. 18.

Dunlap's petition for clemency includes never-before-seen interviews with his family.

Dunlap's defense team is trying to make case that years of psychological and sexual abuse led to his mental illness.

"Nathan Dunlap clemency appeal blasted by Arapahoe District Attorney," is by Karen Augé at the Denver Post.

In an impassioned, at times angry, rebuttal to Nathan Dunlap's petition for clemency, Arapahoe District Attorney George Brauchler calls on the governor to "take the courageous step" and reject the condemned killer's appeal.

The appeal, which asserted that Dunlap suffers from severe mental illness and is remorseful, offered no new evidence for saving Dunlap's life, Brauchler wrote in a 32-page response delivered Friday afternoon.

"He took the lives of four Colorado citizens, and justice requires he now pays with his own," Brauchler wrote.

The Boulder Daily Camera posts the AP report, "DA: Colorado governor shouldn't grant clemency to Nathan Dunlap."

The district attorney of the office that prosecuted a death-row inmate who killed four employees at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in 1993 is among those asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to take the "courageous step" of rejecting his clemency petition.

Nathan Dunlap's lawyers are seeking clemency while also fighting in court to try to spare him from execution for the Aurora slayings, which happened during a robbery. They say their client had undiagnosed bipolar disorder at the time.

Several letters to Hickenlooper that were released Friday say Dunlap's death sentence should be carried out. They were from Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler and Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney Matt Maillaro; the jury foreman in a separate Colorado death penalty case; and state Rep. Rhonda Fields.

Earlier coverage of Nathan Dunlap's case begins at the link.

Albany Times Union Editorial Honors David Kaczynski

Today's Albany Times Union publishes the editorial,"To Mr. Kaczynski, in awe."  He's recently retired as the executive director of New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

The fight against violence, and the quest for justice, is stronger for his effort. It must go on.

David Kaczynski is far too humble, and much too introspective, to ever be entirely comfortable in the public spotlight. That was true almost 20 years ago, in the brutal scrutiny that came with his courageous decision to turn in his brother, the Unabomber. And it was true, too, in his valedictory Monday night as the most accomplished death penalty opponent in New York.

The occasion was Mr. Kaczynski's retirement as director of the group New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty — once known as New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, before the state's capital punishment law was wiped off the books. But it was no time to declare victory, or to bask in the success of a powerful movement against the politics of vengeance.

And:

The need for restorative justice and more sensitivity toward crime victims is as great as ever.

One great triumph of a group that as recently as 2007 was in search of a new mission is its critically important role in the development of the very successful anti-gun program known as SNUG. Another is an effort, known as Limits of Loyalty, in which victims of violent crime and witnesses to violent crime are encouraged to embrace the larger cause of justice.

New York's death penalty statute was struck down by the state's Court of Appeals in 2004.  Lawmakers have declined to reauthorize capital punishment.

There is additional coverage of David Kaczynski on this site.

Trial of Jesus to Be Presented in Boulder & Austin, This Week

Former federal prosecutor Mark Osler wrote, Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment, in 2009.  It's become the basis for a presentation by Osler and Jeanne Bishop, a Chicago attorney and victim's advocate.

They will be presenting "The Trial of Jesus," on Tuesday, March 26 in Boulder, Colorado at St. John's Episcopal Church; and, on Thursday, March, 18 at First Baptist Church of Austin.  Details are embedded in the items linked below.  They are must-reads.

Sunday's Austin American-Statesman reported, "Drama asks audience to consider Christ, death penalty," by Juan Castillo.

If Jesus were prosecuted today under Texas law, what would we do?

Would we sentence him to a life behind bars, or would we sentence him to death?

An audience at First Baptist Church of Austin will decide Thursday evening at a modern interpretation of the “Trial of Jesus,” where audience members become jurors and mete out his punishment.

In the live, unscripted mock trial, Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor and now a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, plays the prosecutor. Jeanne Bishop, a Chicago public defender who teaches law at Northwestern University, plays Jesus’ attorney. Both are against the death penalty, and though they hope that support for abolishing capital punishment can rise from faith communities, they emphasize that there is no argument for or against it during the presentation. “This is not an anti-death penalty diatribe,” Bishop said.

And:

The mock trial came to Austin in a roundabout way. Osler contacted First Baptist Church of Austin pastor Roger Paynter after hearing of Paynter’s passionate sermon on the Newtown, Conn., mass killings, which had gone viral. In the sermon, Paynter talked about the tragedy of children “being gunned down” and of the need for gun control and mental health issues to be addressed.

“Mark wrote me and said, ‘If your church is open to preaching what you said, maybe they’d be open to this event,’” Paynter recalled. “It’s Holy Week; what better time to engage this historic trial and re-examine it through the fresh eyes of the penal code?” Paynter said.

The church, he said, is not taking a stand by hosting the event, but continuing a practice dating back to the 1940s of addressing and debating difficult issues and “allowing that sort of intelligent conversation to go on.”

The Boulder Daily Camera publishes an OpEd written by Bishop and Osler, "Death and Christ."

As Colorado continues to ponder abolishing the death penalty, the role of faith in that consideration will be important. Without the support of Christians, there would be no death penalty in America: A Pew Research Center for People and the Press study released in January 2012 reported that 77 percent of white evangelical Christians and 73 percent of white mainline Protestants supported the death penalty.

There is something deeply ironic about Christian support for capital punishment, since a wrongful execution is part of the faith's central narrative. The trials of Christ and his disciples featured many of the same elements that challenge the death penalty today -- overcommitted prosecutors, a mob mentality, and the unfortunate conviction of those who turn out to be innocent. The Last Supper, even, can be seen as the last meal of a man who knew he was condemned to die.

We are committed Christians who are also criminal attorneys. One is a former prosecutor who now trains future prosecutors, and the other is a public defender who lost her sister, brother-in-law, and their unborn child to murder. We have embarked on an unusual project to challenge Christians to integrate their faith with their beliefs about capital punishment. Our goal is to present the sentencing phase of the trial of Jesus as a real event, under current state law. We have performed it in nine states, from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Pasadena, California. Among other places, it has been presented at Pat Robertson's Regent University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and churches in Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

The experience of the trial is brief, intense, and challenging. It is not a scripted play; instead, we approach the case as trial lawyers. It is different every time. We call a variety of witnesses and do not know the other's arguments. After evidence and arguments in the trial, the audience divides into groups of 12, which deliberate as juries to a verdict.

Earlier coverage of Mark Osler's writings begins at the link.

An Update From Colorado

Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll writes, "Let Hick grant clemency."  Here's an extended excerpt:

Imagine this unlikely scenario: Our supremely secular Colorado governor receives unsolicited moral advice from a Catholic prelate — and takes it seriously.

But it happened, according to John Hickenlooper's recent account on Colorado Public Radio. When Archbishop Charles Chaput left town 18 months ago for Philadelphia, he invited the governor to breakfast, where they spent a "significant amount of time" talking about the death penalty.

When Hickenlooper told Chaput he'd always been "sort of an eye for an eye person," Chaput retorted that "there's no language like that anywhere in the New Testament," adding that "to a large extent, Catholic theology is based upon forgiveness, and that only God has a right to make that decision."

"Just keep looking inside yourself," was Chaput's parting advice. "Just keep thinking about it, keep talking about it, and [clarity on the issue] will come to you."

Clarity from the governor may be needed sooner rather than later now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Nathan Dunlap, who sits on death row for the 1993 murder of four at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese. And while you can never count out a good defense team, Dunlap's time is running out. Arapahoe County prosecutors last week said they'd consult with the attorney general and then file a motion asking the district court to "lift the current stay of execution, issue a warrant and set a week for the execution."

But Hickenlooper can stop that execution and, when the time comes, should.

He should commute Dunlap's sentence to life in prison without parole even if he hasn't fully arrived at Chaput's view of the death penalty. It should be enough for the governor that Dunlap's execution would be singularly absurd, from almost any standpoint you care to examine.

Colorado may not officially have abolished the death penalty — yet — but it may as well have.

Clarity from the governor may be needed sooner rather than later now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Nathan Dunlap, who sits on death row for the 1993 murder of four at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese. And while you can never count out a good defense team, Dunlap's time is running out. Arapahoe County prosecutors last week said they'd consult with the attorney general and then file a motion asking the district court to "lift the current stay of execution, issue a warrant and set a week for the execution."

But Hickenlooper can stop that execution and, when the time comes, should.

He should commute Dunlap's sentence to life in prison without parole even if he hasn't fully arrived at Chaput's view of the death penalty. It should be enough for the governor that Dunlap's execution would be singularly absurd, from almost any standpoint you care to examine.

Colorado may not officially have abolished the death penalty — yet — but it may as well have.

"Colorado Death Penalty Called Unconstitutional By Attorneys, Scholars," is by Scot Kersgaard for the Colorado Independent.  It's via Huffington Post.

Colorado’s death penalty is not only massively expensive, critics say it is also unconstitutional because it is so randomly sought.

A study released last year by DU Law Professors Justin Marceau and Sam Kamin showed that from 1999 to 2010, 92 percent of 544 Colorado murders had at least one of the aggravating factors that need to be present for a defendant to be eligible for death, yet the death penalty was sought in only five of those cases — less than 1 percent.

The study was commissioned by Edward Montour’s legal defense team, and thus paid for by the state. Montour, already serving life without parole, is fighting to stay off of death row for a murder committed in prison.

One of his attorneys, David Lane, argues that while the Supreme Court has instructed states to narrow the field of who qualifies for the death penalty, Colorado has done the opposite, creating so many aggravating factors that death could be sought in just about every murder committed in Colorado. With 92 percent of Colorado murder cases being eligible for the death penalty, but with death being sought so rarely in the state, Lane says, “The only check is prosecutorial discretion.”

He notes that the only Colorado death filings recently have come from the 18th Judicial District of Douglas and Arapahoe counties where he says prosecutors “are in love with the death penalty.” With only one judicial district ever seeking the death penalty, Lane says the death penalty is pursued randomly in Colorado, thus making it unconstitutional.

Earlier coverage from Colorado begins at the link.

Maryland Senate Committee Vote Expected

"Senate Judicial committee could vote on capital punishment ban," is the AP report, via the Washington Post.

The Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee is nearing a vote on a measure that would repeal the state’s death penalty.

The committee could vote as soon as Thursday.

Last week, Gov. Martin O’Malley urged lawmakers in both the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the House Judiciary Committee to ban capital punishment, calling the practice costly and a poor deterrent of violent crime.

You can listen to streaming audio of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee meeting at the Maryland General Assembly website.

WBAL-AM posts, "Senator Changing Vote On Death Penalty Repeal; Committee Vote Tonight," by Robert Lang.

The chairman of the committee, Democrat Brian Frosh.says the death penalty vote is expected to be very close.

Baltimore County State Senator Bobby Zirkin is seen as the key vote.

Zirkin is among the committee members who Senate President Mike Miller is trying to convince to vote for the bill in committee, so that it can be brought to the Senate floor.

Zirkin told WBAL News today that he  finds himself "dreadfully in the middle of the issue."  He believes the death penalty is necessary for certain killers, but he notes Maryland's death penalty has not been used for years and does not bring closure for murder victims.

John Wagner writes, "Zirkin announces support for death penalty repeal, bolstering prospects for passage," at the Washington Post.

Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) said Wednesday night that he plans to vote in favor of repealing Maryland’s death penalty, which means the measure now has the support of a majority of members on a key committee.

Repeal legislation has died in recent years in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which is scheduled to vote Thursday on the latest version of the bill sponsored by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). A majority vote by the committee would allow the bill to move to the full Senate, where there appears to be enough votes for passage.

Zirkin has agonized over how to vote, and he said in an interview Wednesday night that he remains “very torn.” But he said he had managed to separate his emotional response to people who commit heinous murders from his legal analysis of the issue.

The Annapolis Capital Gazette reports, "Senator believes gun control, death penalty bills will pass." It's by Alex Jackson.

The chair of the Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee said the panel will vote on and should pass both Gov. O'Malley's gun-control and death penalty bills.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh, confirmed his committee will use the duration of their evening after a hearing to vote on Senate Bill 276, O'Malley's measure to repeal the death penalty, and Senate Bill 281, the governor's comprehensive gun-control plan.

While the death penalty repeal will be a more straight-forward issue for the committee, Frosh said he expects both bills to be tested by a wave of proposed amendments.

"Committee chairman predicts death penalty repeal will advance to Md. Senate floor," is the Washington Post report, also by John Wagner.

A bill to repeal Maryland’s death penalty is likely to clear a key Senate committee on Thursday night after an amendment is adopted that deletes a $500,000 appropriation to help crime victims, the panel’s chairman said.

The bill, a priority of Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), has stalled in recent years in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. But it picked up a new supporter on Wednesday night, when Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) told The Washington Post that he plans to vote for the bill.

The Baltimore Jewish Times posts, "Debate Over Capital Punishment In Maryland Heats Up," by Ron Snyder.

Rabbi Seth Bernstein said his understanding of Jewish law is that the preservation of human life takes precedent above all else.

The Howard County Board of Rabbis president believes this is true even for murderers. That is why Bernstein is among a growing list of religious leaders supporting Maryland officials in repealing the death penalty.

“The death penalty is not a deterrent for murder,” Bernstein said. “I’m not opposed to punishing those who kill, but the death penalty, even for the most heinous crimes, is not the answer. It doesn’t feel appropriate to take another life in response for the murder of another.”

Rabbi Bernstein was one of a diverse group of religious leaders who urged lawmakers earlier this month to repeal capital punishment in Maryland. More than 300 leaders representing Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Lutherans, Presbyterians and others signed a letter calling for the end of the death penalty and circulated it to all members of the Maryland General Assembly.

"Death penalty is a vexing issue for both sides," is Barry Rascovar's column in the Gaithersburg Gazette.

Death. It’s one of the marquee topics of the current General Assembly session.

Abolishing the death penalty is near the top of the liberal social agenda this year — the equivalent of last year’s crusade to legalize same-sex marriage.

A great deal of moralizing and hand-wringing were on display in Annapolis this week, as advocates continued their determined drive to ban the state from putting any criminal to death.

Unless you base your attitude on the Old Testament’s an eye-for-an-eye directive, the death penalty is out of place in the ethereal arena of ethics and religious teachings. It is wrong to kill another. Period. It’s what every parent teaches his or her children. Religious leaders call it a mortal sin.

African-American ministers and the NAACP have joined Annapolis advocates in large numbers this year. There’s a racist overtone to the large number of blacks put to death in evangelical, Southern states that is hard to refute.

Such a bandwagon is ideal for Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is in national campaign mode this session. He’s a convert to the abolish the death penalty movement, but converts often are the most ardent.

Earlier coverage of the Maryland repeal legislation begins at the link.

Maryland Senate Committee to Hear Repeal Bill Today

The Maryland Judicial Proceedings Committee meets today at 1:00 pm (EST)/12:00 noon (CST) to consider Senate Bill 276,  You can listen to the hearing at the link.

"Death penalty debate looms," is by Timothy B. Wheeler for today's Baltimore Sun.

Opponents and supporters of the death penalty are expected to converge on Annapolis today to air their views on the emotional issue, as lawmakers appear closer than ever to abolishing capital punishment in Maryland.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is scheduled to testify before both House and Senate committees hearing bills he is co-sponsoring that would end the death penalty. Among those set to join him in calling for repeal are Catholic Archbishop William E. Lori, NAACP President Benjamin T. Jealous and other religious and civil rights leaders.

Lining up to oppose repeal are prosecutors, including Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger, police officials and relatives of murder victims.

And:

If Maryland does abolish the death penalty, it would be the sixth state to do so in recent years, according to advocates.

"Md. governor to testify on capital punishment ban," is the AP report, via the Washington Post.

Gov. Martin O’Malley will testify in Annapolis on a measure to repeal the death penalty in Maryland.

O’Malley is scheduled to speak Thursday before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.

And:

Since 1976, Maryland has executed five people. Five men remain on death row.

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori will be among those testifying.

"Archbishop to testify in favor of death penalty repeal," is from WBAL-TV.

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori will try to convince Maryland House and Senate committees on Thursday to vote for a bill that repeals the controversial practice.

"Certainly, we recognize that people commit heinous crimes and should be punished, but we feel there's a better way than capital punishment, especially because there's life without parole," Lori told 11 News reporter George Lettis.

It's unusual for Baltimore's Catholic leader to get political, but Lori's predecessor, now-Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, testified in 2009 in support of a compromise bill to make capital punishment more restrictive in Maryland.

The current archbishop's passion for the issue stems from the church's pro-life stance.

At the Washington Post's the Fold, there is video, "The governor and mother poised to close Maryland’s death row."

Vicki Schieber didn’t care about the death penalty before her daughter Shannon was raped and murdered. Now she’s working in her memory to end capital punishment and is on the verge of a breakthrough, thanks to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

Earlier coverage from Maryland begins at the link.

Jerry Givens' Mission

The Washington Post reports, "Ex-Virginia executioner becomes opponent of death penalty."  It's by Justin Jouvenal.

Jerry Givens executed 62 people.

His routine and conviction never wavered. He’d shave the person’s head, lay his hand on the bald pate and ask for God’s forgiveness for the condemned. Then, he would strap the person into Virginia’s electric chair.

Givens was the state’s chief executioner for 17 years — at a time when the commonwealth put more people to death than any state besides Texas.

“If you knew going out there that raping and killing someone had the consequence of the death penalty, then why are you going to do it?” Givens asked. “I considered it suicide.”

As Virginia executed its 110th person in the modern era last month, Givens prayed for the man, but also for an end to the death penalty. Since leaving his job in 1999, Givens has become one of the state’s most visible — and unlikely — opponents of capital punishment.

His evolution underscores that of Virginia itself and the nation. Although polls show that the majority of state residents still support the death penalty, Virginia has experienced a sea change on capital punishment in recent years that is part of a national trend.

The state has had fewer death sentences over the past five years than any period since the 1970s. Robert Gleason, who was put to death Jan. 16, was the first execution in a year and a half. As recently as 1999, the state put 13 to death in a single year.

Earlier coverage of Jerry Givens begins at the link.

Time to Eliminate Montana's Death Penalty

That's the title of an OpEd in today's Billings Gazette written by State Senator Matt Rosendale and State Representative Doug Kary.

It is often said that support for the death penalty is a mile wide but an inch deep — people often support it, but they haven’t spent too much time figuring out why. It is understandable that, in reaction to a violent and senseless crime, the community would want to see justice done. But after spending a lot of time considering the issues, we have decided that the justice that best serves our community isn’t capital punishment.

As a result, we are sponsoring a bill to end capital punishment in Montana and replace it with life without the possibility of parole.

Those who support the death penalty usually use the same, tired arguments: It saves money. It deters crime. Everyone who gets the death penalty is guilty and deserves to die. We’re here to say those arguments are wrong, wrong and wrong.

Studies show that the death penalty costs up to 10 times as much as life without parole, even when you account for the housing, feeding and medical attention for a prisoner for the rest of his or her life. If you think we can make it cheaper by getting rid of the lengthy appeals process required for the death penalty, you’re mistaken. Thanks to mandates from the U.S. and Montana Supreme Courts, most of the costs actually come on the front end, during the drawn-out and expensive initial death penalty trial. You may not like paying tax dollars that allow a criminal to sit in prison for 50 years, but you should really hate paying 10 times that much for a 20-year-plus process that almost never ends in an execution.

And:

This bill will save Montana taxpayer dollars, protect innocent lives, better serve murder victim family members, stay true to our Christian values, and still ensure that murderers are never free to harm our communities. The answer is simple: It’s time to get rid of the death penalty.

The paper also notes that the Montana House Judiciary Committee will hear Rep. Kary's bill, HB 370, next Friday, February 15.  The Committee meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:00 am (MST).

Earlier coverage from Montana begins at the link.

In Maryland

"Ministers call for repeal of Md. death penalty," is the AP report, via NECN.A coalition of Maryland religious leaders is calling lawmakers to end the practice of capital punishment in the state.

Ministers representing diverse faiths, including Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Muslims, convened in Annapolis on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to repeal the state's death penalty law.

"The death penalty should not be legal in Maryland because capital punishment has been shown not to be a deterrent," said Rabbi Seth Bernstein, president of the Howard County Board of Rabbis, during a news conference.

"In states where capital punishment is legal, murder rates are persistently higher than the murder rates of other states in our union where the death penalty is illegal," Bernstein added.

The group of clergy insisted that capital punishment has been marred by racial discrimination, arguing that minority defendants are more likely than other populations to be sentenced to death.

Faith leaders also raised the issue of mistaken executions, saying that there is no guarantee that innocent people won't be executed for crimes they did not commit.

Maryland's last execution was under former Gov. Bob Ehrlich in 2005, when Wesley Eugene Baker was put to death for the 1991 murder of a woman at a Baltimore County shopping center.

Since 1976, Maryland has executed five people. Five men remain on death row.

Earlier coverage from Maryland begins at the link.

Baltimore Sun OpEds

The Baltimore Sun carries two OpEds on capital punishment.  "Death penalty unfair, expensive," is by Helen Prejean and Heather Mizeur, a Maryland General Assembly Delegate and cosponsor of repeal legislation.

On the heels of an election that affirmed the Free State's desire for equal opportunities and protections under the law for everyone, we see a path to another victory for fairness and justice. It's time for Maryland to abolish the death penalty.

Maryland is on the cusp of putting an end to this failed experiment in orchestrated killing. Like the coalition that crossed faith, political, racial and economic boundaries to pass the Dream Act and marriage equality, a similarly strong alliance is emerging to end the death penalty and to replace it with a conviction of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

We are an eclectic coalition, called to this work for differing reasons. For some, it is a matter of faith and moral conviction that state-sanctioned killings are wrong. Others fight against this punishment because of the inherent inequalities that exist in our criminal justice system. And still others have evolved in their position because they have come to realize the death penalty is indefensible in practice.

Baltimore County state's attorney Scott Shellenberger writes, "'Worst of the worst' deserve execution."

Legislation is being submitted to abolish the death penalty in Maryland. It is suggested that the death penalty costs too much, achieves little and diminishes us as a society. The push to repeal comes on the heels of a poll showing that Marylanders still support the death penalty.

If the death penalty diminishes us as a society, how can it be that 48 percent of the community wishes to have it remain as a punishment and only 42 percent does not? There is a reason.

The death penalty in Maryland in the last 40 years has been applied in a much different manner than in other states — and even when compared to Maryland's own history. Texas has executed 474, Maryland five. California has 721 on death row, Maryland five. Before 1976, Maryland executed 306, since then five. This rare and selective use of the death penalty reflects the conscience of the community. The ultimate punishment is reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes.

Earlier coverage from Maryland begins at the link.

Stacy Rector on Tennessee's Death Penalty

Today's Journal News in Tennessee publishes the OpEd, "New dialogue needed on death penalty," written by the Rev. Stacy Rector.  She's the executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

In an article in the Jan. 5 Tennessean titled, “State pursues new death penalty drug,” the issue of Tennessee’s problematic lethal injection protocol is revisited.

The article notes that the state’s stock of one of the three drugs used in the current protocol was seized by the federal government over questions about the legality of how the drugs were obtained. Now, the state says it is pursuing alternative drugs but won’t say much more.

As is often the case, the article has a tendency to frame the discussion in terms of simply taking a side, including quotes from me and quotes from those “on the other side.” But this polemical approach to the issue does not get us very far and does not address the concerns that we share.

And:

This new conversation about the death penalty should not be simply about taking a side in a tired debate. Instead, it should be about listening to one another and working together to determine how best to facilitate healing and support for victims’ families after the horror of a homicide has occurred, and how to work together to create smart policies that prevent such tragedies from happening in the first place.

Earlier coverage from Tennessee begins at the link.  More of what Stacy Rector is talking about can be found in the restorative justice and victims' issues category indexes.

Profile of An Abolitionist

The current edition of the Louisville Eccentric Observer is themed the 2012 People Issue.  One of those profiled is, "The Rev. Patrick Delahanty: The Abolitionist."  It's written by Joe Sonka.  Here'a the beginning:

If you’ve ever walked through the bustling halls of the capitol annex in Frankfort during a session of Kentucky’s General Assembly over the past three decades, there’s a good chance you’ve run into the Rev. Pat Delahanty.

One of the founders of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty 24 years ago, Delahanty is a tireless advocate for reforming the state’s capital punishment system. He balances his time building a grassroots network across the commonwealth and giving state legislators information about how our justice system isn’t working.

Last year, his work was bolstered by an American Bar Association report that found such deep flaws in Kentucky’s system that they recommended suspending the death penalty here.

“Even if you support the death penalty, you probably don’t support the one we have,” Delahanty says. “So knowing what we have now gives us more information to go out and show people what they’re supporting.”

The Catholic priest, who lives in Old Louisville, is already gearing up for next year’s General Assembly, and from his recent discussions with legislators, he senses momentum is on their side.

“I think Kentucky could be the first state in the South (to abolish the death penalty),” he says. “It won’t be 2013 — the short session is not enough time, and we’re not at that point yet — but we’re getting close to it. 2014 is possible, 2015 is more likely.”

Earlier coverage from Kentucky begins at the link.

Maryland Opinion Roundup

"Repeal the death penalty," is the editorial in the Gazette of Gaithersburg, Maryland.

In 10 of the past 12 General Assembly sessions, bills to repeal the death penalty in Maryland have failed to reach the floor of either chamber. In all likelihood, another effort will be made in 2013.

Whether such a measure will get further this time around is uncertain. Gov. Martin O’Malley, a strong death penalty opponent, is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether to make a serious push for repeal in Annapolis. Soon after taking office in 2007, he made the case against the death penalty, which the state reinstituted in 1978.

Some would argue that Maryland, which is among 33 capital punishment states, took adequate safeguards to prevent “misuse” of the death penalty when it tightened requirements for its application in 2009. Since then, at least one of three types of evidence is needed to apply the ultimate punishment: DNA or other biological data, a videotape that ties a suspect to the crime or a videotaped confession.

Never mind the fact that no one has been executed in the state since 2005, there are some compelling reasons to repeal the death penalty altogether.

"The death penalty revisited," is Nick Berry's OpEd published in the Capital, the Annapolis newspaper.  He's vice chairman of the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee.

It is uncertain whether Gov. Martin O’Malley will again sponsor a death-penalty repeal bill. His decision is expected in the coming weeks.

O’Malley, shortly after taking office in 2007, called capital punishment “inherently unjust,” saying it fails to deter crime and takes resources that could be used to prevent crime. He sponsored repeal for three legislative sessions, the last coming in 2009, when it finally made it out of the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee. Although it failed on the Senate floor, it was amended to tighten the rules of evidence under which a sentence of death can be imposed. They are: DNA or biological proof, a videotaped confession or a crime videotape.

And:

I was originally for the death penalty — pathological killers don’t deserve to live, I thought — something, probably a pending execution of someone mentally disabled, caused me to explore the issue less superficially. This led to a reversal. Capital punishment, with the U.S. the only Western country to impose it, is a bad practice.

A few years ago I got into a discussion on the matter with a close friend, a former Marine and tea party booster. (Yes, liberals can have friends on the other side. Unlike talking only to liberals, reinforcing but sterile, debating with conservatives is more lively, challenging, and, dare I say, more educational.) I came to see his point of view and he mine. Soon after, he brought up the subject and remarked that he had changed his mind. (You knew this was coming, right?)

He found, as I had, that the costs of judicial proceedings for capital punishment surprisingly exceed the cost of keeping a prisoner for life. Death row inmates cost far more to incarcerate than regular prisoners and lengthy judicial reviews can and often do cost millions. And O’Malley is right. There is scant evidence that the death penalty has a deterrent effect. In addition, public opinion is shifting, reflecting the fact that executions in the 34 states with the death penalty are less than half (40) of what they were last year (86).

Earlier coverage from Maryland begins at the link.

More From Rome

You can watch live-streaming video of the lighting of Rome's Colosseum in honor of Connecticut's repeal of capital punishment earlier this year.  Here's part of the announcement from the Community of Sant’Egidio.

Starting 19:00 at the Colosseum of Rome, there will be exceptional personalities, from Shujaa Graham and Fernando Bermudez, innocent people sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit in the United States, to David Atwood, founder of the Texas Coalition against the Death Penalty, Tamara Chikunova, founder of Mothers against the Death Penalty, responsible for the abolition of capital punishment in many countries of Central Asia, justice ministers from several countries in the world and leading figures in the recent struggle for abolition of the death penalty in Connecticut will take part, along with the Community of Sant’Egidio, in a special evening for life.     

Follow the event in live streming on www.santegidio.org

It will be the official inauguration of the International Day of Cities for Life, started ten years ago in Rome with the Community of Sant’Egidio and supported by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Special illumination of the Colosseum, “Testimonial for Life”, this year celebrates the abolition of the death penalty in Connecticut: the fifth American state to abolish capital punishment in the United States in the past five years (2007 New Jersey 2008, New Mexico 2010 New York, 2011,Illinois, 2012 Connecticut).

The event in front of the Colosseum, which will inaugurate the World Day of Cities against the Death Penalty, will be hosted by Max Giusti.

Thanks to Abe Bonowitz for circulating.

Catholic Culture posts, "Italian lay movement continues push for abolition of death penalty," written by Catholic World News.

The Community of Sant’Egidio, one of the most prominent new ecclesial movements, has continued its efforts to abolish the death penalty worldwide by hosting a conference of justice ministers from 20 nations.

“We have started a method that is not just lobbying,” spokesman Mario Marazziti told Vatican Radio. “It is putting together people from civil societies, NGOs, statesmen and women, and people who can make decisions to make a synergy and to cross-impollinate the good things that each one can give to the other one. So we listen with great respect to the difficulties of the ministers of justice that come from retentionist countries, and we can accompany them to overcome the difficulties they face in their nations, to create this tremendous difference that is made by abolishing the death penalty.”

Andrea Riccardi founded the Community of Sant’Egidio as a high school student in 1968; the community has become known for its service to the needy and work on behalf of peace. Approved by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as an international association of the faithful in 1986, the community over the next two decades grew to 50,000 members in 72 nations.

CWN also reports, "Sant’Egidio’s Riccardi named Italian cabinet minister."

Andrea Riccardi, the founder of one of the leading new ecclesial movements, has been named Italy’s minister for international cooperation and integration policies.

Earlier coverage from Rome begins at the link.

Meeting of the International Congress of Ministers of Justice in Rome

Connecticut's Danbury News-Times reports, "Professor speaks at anti-death penalty congress in Rome."  It's written by John Pirro.

As one of the hundreds of Connecticut residents who worked for years to get rid of the death penalty, George Kain, of Ridgefield, said he was proud to attend the seventh International Congress of Ministers of Justice in Rome this week, an organization dedicated to abolishing capital punishment worldwide.

Then, late Monday, the Western Connecticut State University professor learned he had been chosen to address the group about the successful battle that made Connecticut the 17th state in the country to end the practice.

"We knew that we'd be asked to speak, but this did come as a bit of a surprise on such short notice," he said.

Early Tuesday morning, Kain, who teaches criminal justice at Western and serves on the Police Commission in Ridgefield, was putting the finishing touches on the speech he would deliver a few hours later.

According to an excerpt of the speech he emailed to The News-Times, Kain planned to tell his audience, "I am honored to be with you this morning as a representative of the state of Connecticut and proud to celebrate that we are the fifth state in the United States in the last five years to have abolished the barbaric practice of capital punishment."

Kain went on to quote former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who 40 years ago spoke of "a terribly flawed system which has put innocent men behind bars for the better part of their short lives" and has seen "surviving family members of those murdered dragged through a system that promises them closure but actually only adds to the pain and misery of having lost their loved one."

Kain, a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, was accompanied to Rome by another board member, Fernando Bermudez, a Danbury resident and criminal justice student at Western who spent 18 years in prison in New York for a murder he didn't commit.

Both men will have front-row seats for the lighting of Rome's Colosseum later this week celebrating Connecticut's abolition of capital punishment.

"Former death row inmate drawn to faith by Catholic activism," is the National Catholic Reporter article written by John L. Allen Jr. Here's part of the introduction before the interview:

During the October Synod of Bishops on New Evangelization, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson argued that the church’s social teaching is a powerful missionary tool, with the capacity to draw people to the faith.

If you need proof of the point, look no further than Curtis McCarty, who spent nineteen years on death row in Oklahoma before eventually being exonerated, and who now seems to be making a journey of faith toward the Catholic church because of the anti-death penalty activism of the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio.

Sant’Egidio hosted an international meeting of ministers of justice in Rome to discuss global abolition of the death penalty on Nov. 27, where the soft-spoken McCarty was on hand to share his experience.

Sant’Egidio is a Catholic movement founded in Rome in 1968 and dedicated to conflict resolution, ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue, and promotion of the other elements of Catholic social teaching. Of his encounter with the group, McCarty says bluntly: “They saved me.”

Related posts are in the international category index.

Reflections on the California Ballot Initiative Vote

Richard Dieter posts, "The Slow Demise of the Death Penalty," at Huffington Post.  He's the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

The death penalty in California survived by a narrow vote on November 6, but around the country the signs are clear that capital punishment is slowly on the way out. Even in California, the close defeat of the referendum to repeal the death penalty marks a significant milestone: in a state where almost three-quarters of the people supported the death penalty 30 years ago, now almost half the voters want it replaced. (Video version of this post here.)

Although California's recent vote means the death penalty will remain, the 47% of voters who favored replacing it indicates many Californians have had a change of heart regarding capital punishment. By contrast, the initiative that reinstated the death penalty in 1978 garnered the support of 71% of voters. In 1986, California's Chief Justice, Rose Bird, was removed from office by 67% of voters because she was perceived as blocking the death penalty.

Nationally, support for the death penalty has seen a similar decline. According to a 1994 Gallup Poll, 80% of respondents supported the death penalty, compared to only 61% in 2011. Moreover, when respondents aregiven alternative choices such as life without parole, support for the death penalty falls below 50%.

Around the country, new death sentences dropped to 78 in 2011, representing a dramatic 75% decline since 1996, when 315 individuals were sentenced to death. It was the first time since 1976 that the country produced fewer than 100 death sentences in a single year. Executions also have steadily decreased nationwide, with 43 in 2011 and 46 in 2010, representing a 56% decline since 1999, when there were 98.

"An Encouraging Bump in the Road to Death Penalty Abolition," is Ty Alper's Huffington Post essay.  He's a professor at UC Berkeley School of Law.

I'm not a huge fan of quoting kids' political analyses. Most major policy issues are more complicated than the naive and innocent elementary school mind. Most, but not all.

So far, every four years in my 10-year-old daughter's life, the people of the United States elect an inspiring African-American president, and the people of California deliver a demoralizing blow with respect to a marker of our progress as a civilized society. It makes for some confusing post-election emotional sorting.

Four years ago, we celebrated Obama's victory but, as Proposition 8 narrowly prevailed, my then-six-year-old couldn't understand why "women can't marry women and men can't marry men." Last night, we cheered Obama's reelection, but she was incredulous about the loss of Proposition 34, which would have abolished the death penalty in the state with the largest death row. "Don't they know what they are killing people for doing?" she asked (having recently discovered sarcasm).

She's right, of course, on both counts. You don't have to be smarter than a fifth grader to understand why it is wrong to deny someone the right to marry the partner of his or her choice. And whether we ought to kill people who kill people is controversial, sure, but not all that complicated. The rest of the Western world has figured it out.

When the moral clarity of a child's mind accounts for all the pragmatic concerns we adults can generate, the resolution is a foregone conclusion. The only question is timing.

New American Media posts an interview with Sister Helen Prejean, "Prop 34 'Tilled the Soil' of the Anti-Death Penalty Movement."

California has the largest number of prisoners on Death Row -- a total of 722 people -- which is almost two times as many as those in the next largest state, Texas. Prop. 34, the initiative to repeal the death penalty, was backed by high-profile individuals, from Bill O'Reilly to Alec Baldwin. Yet, it went down in defeat, with 52.7 percent of voters rejecting it. Do you see the defeat as the end of the struggle to end capital punishment in California?

It was very close, and [it was] the first all-out initiative to end capital punishment. But think of the millions of people who were educated by it. It tilled the soil. In three years, opponents will be ready to push for a ban again.

And:

Do you agree with the financial argument against the death penalty made by Prop 34 proponents, that the state can’t afford to house Death Row inmates, given how much it costs for the appeals process?

When it comes to housing Death Row inmates, taxpayers are paying for both sides – the prosecution and the defense. We’re spending millions to put people on Death Row. California has spent $4 billion since capital punishment resumed in 1977. And only 13 inmates have been put to death in that time. The death sentence costs California an additional $184 million a year above and beyond what it would be spending were all its inmates transferred to life without parole, the alternative put forward by Prop. 34.

States that still have the death penalty should put all those billions spent in housing Death Row inmates into law enforcement and solve unsolved crimes.

The Los Angeles Times publishes the editorial, "Crime and punishment in California."

Is California's costly tough-on-crime era over? That's perhaps too optimistic a conclusion to draw from Tuesday's election results. In passing Proposition 36, voters curbed some of the excesses of the state's three-strikes law, but they also rejected a measure to roll back the death penalty and adopted one — Proposition 35 — that broadens the sex offender registry and imposes new life terms for some human trafficking offenses. The state has ceased its relentless march down a road toward ever-tougher sanctions, ever-more-crowded prisons and ever-rising costs. It has not turned the corner, but it's peering around it, trying to get a sense of whether it's safe to proceed.

And:

As for the death penalty, voters kept what they had: a penalty on the books, but virtually no executions in reality. It's a sort of truce between fear and anger on the one side and wisdom and pocketbook on the other. It is the corner on which California nervously stands as it decides which way to go next.

"Prop. 34 Defeat a Civil Liberties Loss," is the San Diego Union-Tribune written by Danielle Gram, a co-founder of Kids for Peace.

True or false: Killing is wrong.

On Election Day, Californians decided the answer is false, rejecting Proposition 34 which would have replaced the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. The defeat of Proposition 34 was the greatest civil liberties loss of the election, with Californians deciding to continue executing prisoners despite its high cost, moral qualms about the practice, and inconclusive evidence about its ability to deter crime.

Californians defeated Proposition 34 by a relatively narrow margin, with 52.8 percent voting to keep capital punishment and 47.2 percent voting to abolish it. The numbers represent a shift in voter perceptions on the issue, influenced in part by a growing body of evidence mounting against capital punishment.

And:

Disappointing as the defeat of Proposition 34 may be, supporters hope that the proposition’s near passage will motivate people to more actively support the initiative in the future. I, for one, plan on joining the league of murder victims’ families against capital punishment in California. Having experienced the murder of my only brother, I am ready for the killing to stop, and where better to start than at the highest levels of state.

Earlier coverage from California begins at the link.

Profile of An Activist

"Woman crusades to save sister’s life, end the death penalty," is by Tracy Simmons for Religion News Service, available via the Washington Post.  It's also available via Huffington Post.

They stood in front of a shopping mall, shackled together, heads down, nameplates dangling around their necks, bearing the names of men and women who have died on America's death row.

Cal Brown.

Teresa Lewis.

Cameron Todd Willingham.

Behind them, stood Victoria Ann Thorpe, dark makeup painted on her cheeks and a sign painted to look like blood stains waving above her head: "Their blood is on our hands."

Somehow, despite Thorpe's gory exterior, she's approachable.

"Would you like information on the death penalty?" she asks shoppers as they exit the mall, unable to avert their eyes from the scene in front of them. She hands them a clipboard and one by one, they fill out postcards showing their support to abolish the death penalty in Washington. The cards will later be sent to state lawmakers. The group has also protested at Gonzaga University and so far has collected more than 200 signatures.

Thorpe, along with the Safe and Just Alternatives organization and The Inland Northwest Death Penalty Abolition Group, is seeking to pass a state law to replace the death penalty in Washington state with life without parole.

Related posts are in the profile category index.

More From California - Editorials, OpEds, Commentary

Today's Woodland Daily Democrat publishes the editorial, "Death penalty and Three Strikes laws unfair and costly."

Just in time for next week's vote on ending the death penalty, a new report finds that California leads the nation in exonerations for wrongful convictions. If voters weren't already persuaded to vote yes on Proposition 34 for financial or moral reasons, perhaps this will seal the deal.

Eighteen states have repealed the death penalty in favor of life in prison with no chance of parole. A number of them acted after DNA evidence exonerated death row inmates, prompting chilling reflections on what likely has happened in the past. California voters should make it 19 by approving Proposition 34.

The Santa Barbara Independent publishes Tom Parker's OpEd, "True Permanent Imprisonment."  He's a former California police officer and FBI agent.

As a retired 40-year law enforcement and criminal justice professional, including 24 years in the FBI, I strongly support California’s Proposition 34 to replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole (true permanent imprisonment). While some of my professional law enforcement brethren disagree with me, the path to making this state safer is clear – stop wasting billions of dollars on the dysfunctional death penalty system, and put that money into more police officers and other local law-enforcement efforts to go after the epidemic of unsolved crimes.

"Yes on Prop 34: Replace the Death Penalty with Life without Parole," is by Robert Garcia for KCET-TV,

I am a former federal prosecutor, having served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York under John Martin and Rudy Giuliani, prosecuting public corruption, organized crime, white collar, narcotics conspiracies, and other complex criminal cases. I have also defended two innocent men who served years in prison for murders they did not commit before their convictions were reversed by the courts. If the death penalty had been imposed, the state would have killed each man before he could prove his conviction and sentence were miscarriages of justice.

One man was the late Geronimo Pratt, the former Black Panther leader who served 27 years in prison in California for a murder he did not commit.

"The pro and con of repealing death penalty in California," is from the Los Angeles Daily News.  "Pro: No one gets out alive," is by Marshall Thompson.

I executed people for the state of California because it was my job. I support Proposition 34 because I am a law enforcement professional committed to public safety.

During 27 years with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, I was directly involved in carrying out the state's orders to put four men to death. For what would have been my fifth execution - one that didn't happen - I was the team leader.

As a peace officer, a citizen and a taxpayer, I want public safety to be California's priority when it spends our money. The more than $130 million that we spend on the death penalty every year does not keep our families any safer. What we need to do is to investigate unsolved homicides and rapes. Right now we know that 46 percent of homicides in California go unsolved. Putting our faith in the death penalty makes absolutely no sense when each year we have over 1,000 killers in California who are not even apprehended.

Over my many years in San Quentin I learned that the death penalty is not only a horrendous waste of money, but that it is not a deterrent.

"Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die?" is by Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben and attorney Stephen Rohde for Huffington Post.  It's also available at the Jewish Journal.

When the Bible commands us "Justice, justice shall you pursue," the repetition is to teach that not only we must have just ends, our means to those ends must be equally just.

Our commitment to that core teaching will be tested next month by our community's response to Proposition 34, which would replace California's death penalty with life in prison without parole, save $130 million each year, devote $30 millon per year for three years to help solve unsolved murders and rapes and require those convicted of murder to devote prison earnings to pay restitution to the families of their victims.

During Yom Kippur, congregants at Kehillat Israel had the profound privilege of hearing Franky Carrillo, a remarkable young man who was released from prison after serving 20 years for a murder he didn't commit. The stark reality of how unjust his fate could have been while we still have the death penalty couldn't help but send shivers down the spines of the congregation.

Alexandra Gross writes a must-read essay, "My Childhood Pen-Pal Was an Innocent Man on Death Row," for Huffington Post.  She's an Investigative Researcher for the National Registry of Exonerations.

Last spring, my friend Paris Carriger was diagnosed with liver disease and told he had just a few months to live. His voice from the hospital was weak but calm. "This isn't the first time I've been sentenced to die," he said with a raspy chuckle, "though I don't expect I'll beat this one."

And:

My lifelong friendship with an innocent man on death row means that I have always been deeply opposed to the death penalty. I talk to people about it a lot these days with Proposition 34 and I urge them to vote "yes." Those who favor it often say it's too slow and expensive. I always think: "If we had a quick cheap death penalty, Paris would have been killed."

Unfortunately, Paris didn't live long enough to find out whether we will replace the death penalty in California. He died on May 21, at home with Sherrie, the woman he fell in love with and married several years after his release. The hospice workers said they had never seen anyone accept the end of life with such calm grace. Given how close he came to being executed for a crime he didn't commit, I can imagine that dying at home was, in a sense, a victory.

"Fiscal conservatives should oppose death penalty," is Bruce Maiman's OpEd in the Sacramento Bee.

The oft-cited 2011 study by a federal judge and a Loyola law professor found that since reinstatement of the death penalty in 1978, California has spent $4 billion on our capital punishment system. Divided by the 13 inmates we've executed over those four-plus decades, we've spent $308 million per execution.

The study was updated just last month. California now spends $184 million annually on the death penalty and the authors say that based on data over the past year, maintaining it for another four decades will cost taxpayers as much as $7 billion.

That's just to fund the current model, sans reforms. Spending an additional $96 million annually, as a 2008 state panel noted, would sufficiently fund the courts to assure death row inmates every available constitutionally protected resource to expedite the appeals process, but that would cost taxpayers another $4 billion atop the $7 billion projected for sustaining our current system through 2050.

Earlier coverage from California begins with the preceding post.

Opinion Roundup

Nebraska's North Platte Telegraph publishes the editorial, "The high cost of killing people."

A ballot referendum to be decided Nov. 6 in California makes a case we have made many times on this page, and should resonate with the 33 states, including Nebraska, that still have the death penalty on their statute books.

Voters in California will decide whether to abolish the death penalty, based primarily on economic grounds, and substitute life in prison without possibility of parole.

And:

Here in Nebraska, there are currently 11 inmates awaiting execution. The last execution took place 15 years ago, and there have been three since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Perhaps the most famous inmate executed was Charlie Starkwheather, whose murder spree in December 1957 and January 1958 resulted in his relatively speedy electrocution in June of 1959. The appeals process never goes that quickly these days, explaining much of the astronomical cost of executions.

Another notable execution in Nebraska was that of William Marion, who was hanged in 1887. His supposed victim turned up alive in 1891, and in 1987, 100 years after his execution, Marion was the lucky recipient of a pardon from the state. One might be tempted to say, "Oops."

In New Hampshire, Rabbi Robin Nafshi writes the OpEd, "It’s time for state to repeal death penalty," for the Concord Monitor.

On Sept. 30, the Monitor reported that Republican Rep. Steve Vaillancourt of Manchester had filed a bill in anticipation of the upcoming legislative session that would repeal the death penalty.

I applaud Vaillancourt’s efforts. The death penalty has no place in civilized society.

Many Granite Staters feel very strongly that because the death penalty is found in the Bible it is a valid punishment. I therefore wish to offer some insights into the biblical application of the death penalty.

The Bible – what Jews call the Hebrew Bible and others call the Old Testament – lists at least 21 offenses that are punishable by death. Yet, within the Bible itself we see no actual application of the death penalty. In fact, approximately 2,000 years ago, the ancient rabbis whose responsibility it was to interpret the laws of the Bible concluded that application of the death penalty had never occurred in the Bible. They ruled that going forward, in order to apply the death penalty, the prosecution would have to prove that:

∎ a witness saw an individual about to commit a crime for which the punishment was death;

∎ the witness would have to warn the person not to;

∎ the person committed the crime nonetheless;

∎ and a minimum of two witnesses saw the person commit the crime.

In other words, they created a standard making application of the death penalty virtually impossible. The rabbis stated specifically, “Perhaps a witness testifies that he saw a man running after his fellow into a ruin, the witness pursued him and found him with a sword in his hand dripping with blood while the murdered man was writhing in agony. If this is what you saw,” the Rabbis say, “then you saw nothing.” (Talmud Sanhedrin 37b)

Jews, like other religious people, are not of one mind. We have divided ourselves into four denominations and we frequently disagree on issues.

On the death penalty, however, we are united in our opposition.

Today's California Roundup

Today's Los Angeles Times publishes the editorial, "Proposition 34's common-sense appeal."

Proposition 34, the measure to replace the death penalty in California with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, appears to be struggling. Last month, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found the initiative trailing 38% to 51%, although other surveys, such as a Field Poll released in September, showed a closer margin of 42% in favor and 45% against.

But there may be enough undecided voters in California to sway the outcome in either direction. If they can replace visceral notions of revenge with a thoughtful examination of the morality, cost and effectiveness of capital punishment, they will put this long-delayed and badly needed policy change in place.

With both sides recently releasing their campaign salvos, the "no" side is going for the emotional jugular — so much so that it often seems to abandon logic altogether.

And:

The Yes on 34 campaign's ads, released this week, appeal more directly to voters' common sense. A TV commercial tells the story of Francisco "Franky" Carrillo, sentenced as a juvenile to two life terms in prison for a murder he didn't commit and exonerated after 20 years behind bars. Stories like his are the main reason The Times has endorsed Proposition 34: Courts are not 100% reliable, and although there's little doubt that most death row inmates are reprehensible people who may deserve their fate, there is no knowing whether all 725 of them are guilty. That's why the appeals process is so long, burdensome and expensive, and it's why voters should end the risk that California will execute an innocent person.http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/capital-375481-serious-crimes.html

"Religious leaders voice support for Prop. 34," is the title of Mark Anderson's Oakland North report.  It's also available at the San Francisco Chronicle.

A billboard sitting on a hill next to Plymouth United Church of Christ in Oakland reads “Abolish the Death Penalty,” and there’s a “Yes on 34” placard pinned just below. More posters supporting Proposition 34 are scattered around the church—on a bulletin board in the sanctuary and on the door outside.

Like many of Oakland’s religious leaders, the leaders of Plymouth Church have endorsed Prop. 34. If passed on November 6, it would repeal the death penalty in California and force inmates on Death Row to instead serve life sentences without the possibly of parole, while also requiring them to pay restitution to the families of victims.

Several leaders in Oakland’s Christian and Jewish communities say capital punishment goes against the sanctity of life that is preached in these religions. “The sign is a statement to the community,” said retired Pastor Bob Matthews as he opened a door leading to the church’s garden, which overlooks the sign. “This is what we stand for.”

“Jesus said, ‘Turn the other cheek,’” Matthews said. “What we seem to say as a society is, ‘Turn the other cheek so I can cut it off.’”

There is also commentary on the ballot measure.  "Look What You Can Do," by MC Hammer at Huffington Post; "Capital punishment is necessary; No on Prop. 34," by Benjamin Zycher of the Pacific Research Institute in the Orange County Register; and, "Vote no on Proposition 34 and retain the death penalty," by Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen in the Silicon Valley Mercury News.

Earlier coverage of Prop. 34, the SAFE California ballot initiative, begins at the link; also available, more on Prop. 34 at SAFE Caliornia.

South Dakota to Execute Today

"Death penalty raises more questions than it answers," is the editorial published in the Sunday Mitchell Daily Republic.

South Dakota is getting ready for two executions in the coming weeks. Barring last-minute legal twists involving inmates Eric Robert and Donald Moeller, both of whom have said they’re ready to die, South Dakota will carry out the final steps in its death penalty process for the first time since 2007 when Elijah Page was executed for his role in the torture and killing of a 19-year-old man seven years prior. He, too, asked to die. That execution was the first in the state in 60 years.

And:

But many people wonder if events like South Dakota will experience in the next few weeks will have an impact other than on those involved. Will anything really change? Will crimes like these become obsolete? Will the deaths of these two deter others from committing similar crimes? In the end we may not get whatever answers we are seeking but the questions raised are worth thinking about. Like everything else in the death penalty, it’s all part of the process.

"South Dakota death row inmate Eric Robert to be executed by lethal injection Monday night," is the AP report, via the Republic.

South Dakota's first execution in five years, and only the second in more than half a century, is scheduled for Monday night.

Eric Robert, 50, pleaded guilty in the April 12, 2011, slaying of a prison guard during a failed escape attempt and asked to be put to death, saying he would kill again. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 p.m. at the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.

South Dakota's last execution took place in 2007, and that was the first in the state for 60 years. Only five inmates are currently on death row, including Robert and Donald Moeller, 60, who is expected to be executed later this month after he asked for appeals on his behalf to be dropped.

"You have few people on death row, few executions, and then you have this coincidence of cases coming all at once," Richard Dieter, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, said. "When people waive appeals, their cases start to move more quickly."

John Hult writes a lengthy examination of the process, "South Dakota revisits executions this week,"

Two men will be put to death in South Dakota this month.

That’s a lot, considering only two men have been executed in the state since 1947.

Eric Robert, 50, will be put to death Monday. And by the end of the month, twice-convicted murderer and rapist Donald Moeller will die.

As with the 2007 execution of Elijah Page, supporters and opponents of capital punishment probably will gather outside the walls of the South Dakota State Penitentiary for prayer vigils and protests.

But this time, it will be with a sense of urgency, as two of the five inmates on South Dakota’s death row face their fate in the next few weeks. It’s unusual locally and nationally to execute two prisoners so close together, and South Dakota faces its own challenges.

And:

Some states have more frequent executions, such as Texas, where there will sometimes be two executions a week. Rev. Carroll Pickett was a chaplain on death row in that state for 15 years and ministered to 95 inmates before their deaths.

The coming weeks, he warned, will be trying not only for the families of the victims and the condemned, but on those who will oversee Moeller and Robert during their final hours, those who listen to their prayers and those who insert the needles.

“You don’t forget anyone,” Pickett said. “You can’t forget those. It affected every one of us.”

The specific protocols used to execute an inmate have changed since Page was put to death by lethal injection on July 11, 2007, but much remains the same.

"Differing Viewpoints On Death Penalty," is by David Brown for KELO-TV.

Robert is one of five South Dakotans currently on death row and that prompted two state bishops to issue a statement condemning the death penalty last week. But the controversial topic is getting some divergent views from those of the Catholic faith.

Sunday's Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls celebrated the beginning of the year of faith. But it also touched on something that not everyone in the faith agrees on.

"We can protect society and punish criminals appropriately without the death penalty," Bishop Paul Swain of the Diocese of Sioux Falls said.

"I personally think it's an individual issue," Sioux Falls resident Mike Grossman said. "Everybody looks at things differently."

Swain, along with Rapid City Bishop Robert Gruss issued a statement a couple of days ago condemning the death penalty, arguing it lacks moral authority.

Earlier coverage from South Dakota begins at the link.

David Kaczynski's New Blog at the Albany Times Union

David Kaczynski is the Executive Director of New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.  He's started a new blog at the Albany Times Union, and I'll be adding to the left-column webroll.  It's a must-read from a thoughtful leader of peace, community, and non-violence.

"Unveiling Violence," is his first post.  Here's the beginning:

Michael Hooper was put to death on August 14, and so became the 100th person executed by Oklahoma since it reinstated its death penalty law in 1977. He was also the 1304th person executed in the US since the Supreme Court re-opened the door to the execution chamber in Gregg v. Georgia (1976).

Hooper was sentenced to death for the 1993 murders of his girlfriend Cynthia Lynn Johnson and her two children, five-year-old Tonya Kay, and three-year-old Timothy Glenn.

Somewhere on his journey through our nation’s byzantine capital punishment system, Hooper’s death sentence was overturned and subsequently reinstated.  Near the end, Hooper declined to join a clemency petition filed by his court-appointed attorney, who argued that Hooper’s mental health issues and history of child abuse constituted compelling reasons to spare his client from execution.

In many ways, Hooper’s case sounds like a typical death row tale of woe: a horrific crime perpetrated by a deeply damaged individual. While on death row, Hooper found Jesus and expressed a belief that his sins had been forgiven and that he would go to heaven following his execution.

Religious faith often grows stronger in people faced with death, including many death row inmates. Religion offers a promise that atonement can be meaningful, that redemption is possible, and that death is not the final answer. I recall a Christian chaplain trying to comfort me at the start of my brother’s death penalty trial by pointing out that many people throughout history have been “saved” on their way to the gallows. Knowing my brother’s views on religion, however, I was not comforted – but perhaps that had more to do with my own lack of faith than with my brother’s.

In 1999, Pope John Paul II, during his visit to the diocese of Saint Louis, Mo., appealed to the people of the United States (Catholics in particular) to seek an end to the death penalty. After citing many familiar arguments against the death penalty, including references to the system’s flaws and underlying cruelty, the pontiff stressed an issue that advocates, both pro and con, seldom talk about. He argued that we should not oppose the death penalty primarily because of what it does to those who’ve been condemned, but rather because of what it does to us.

New York no longer has a death penalty and NYADP is now focused on reducing violence and promoting restorative justice.

Oklahomans Call for Repeal

"Oklahoma senator pledges to abolish state's death penalty," is by Megan Rolland in today's Oklahoman.

Sen. Constance Johnson's told a gathering of religious leaders at the state Capitol that she had a decision to make when her brother was slain in 1981 on the Langston University campus.

“Before I could go forward, I had to forgive,” Johnson, D-Forest Park, said.

Although the man accused of her brother's murder was only in jail until the trial, Johnson said she didn't believe in the death penalty 31 years ago and she still doesn't.

Wednesday was a worldwide day of opposition to capital punishment, and an Oklahoma association of religious leaders presented a theological statement opposing the death penalty.

The Rev. William Tabbernee, executive director of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, said he was shocked when he came to Oklahoma that capital punishment was still condoned.

He said 87 countries and 17 U.S. states have abolished the death penalty.

“Isn't it time Oklahoma abolish the death penalty?” he asked.

And:

Johnson said she will be proposing legislation to abolish the death penalty in Oklahoma next session. This is not the first time she has authored an abolition bill, but she said her proposed legislation has never even been heard on the floor or even granted a hearing in committee.

More on World Day Against the Death Penalty is at the link.  Related posts are in the abolition, religion, and state legislation indexes.

A Proposal Going Nowhere

"Republican candidate Fuqua endorses death penalty for rebellious children," is the Arkansas Times post by Max Brantley.

Remember former Republican legislator Charlie Fuqua, running again for legislature with financial support from the Arkansas Republican Party and U.S. Reps. Tim Griffin and Steve Womack, among others? We've mentioned some excerpts from his book, "God's Law: The Only Political Solution."

I have more for you today. To save space, I've omitted the Biblical citation for Fuqua's endorsement of the death penalty for rebellious children. Fuqua doesn't think execution would have to be used often on children who defied their parents, but suggests the deterrent effect of its legality would be beneficial. Verbatim, from the writing of Charlie Fuqua, a former lawyer for the Arkansas Department of Human Services:

The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellioius children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21:

…

This passage does not give parents blanket authority to kill their children. They must follow the proper procedure in order to have the death penalty executed against their children. I cannot think of one instance in the Scripture where parents had their child put to death. Why is this so? Other than the love Christ has for us, there is no greater love then [sic] that of a parent for their child. The last people who would want to see a child put to death would be the parents of the child. Even so, the Scrpture provides a safe guard to protect children from parents who would wrongly exercise the death penalty against them. Parents are required to bring their children to the gate of the city. The gate of the city was the place where the elders of the city met and made judicial pronouncements. In other words, the parents were required to take their children to a court of law and lay out their case before the proper judicial authority, and let the judicial authority determine if the child should be put to death. I know of many cases of rebellious children, however, I cannot think of one case where I believe that a parent had given up on their child to the point that they would have taken their child to a court of law and asked the court to rule that the child be put to death. Even though this procedure would rarely be used, if it were the law of land, it would give parents authority. Children would know that their parents had authority and it would be a tremendous incentive for children to give proper respect to their parents.

To date, Congressman Griffin and Republican Party Chair Doyle Webb have criticized some of the things Fuqua has said. Womack has said nothing. But no party official has demanded money back or urged Fuqua to withdraw from the race.

Fuqua is running for the Arkansas state legislature.

Today's California Update - Redding Editorial

Today's Redding Record Searchlight publishes the editorial, "Killers do not deserve a break, but taxpayers do."

If politicians want to send a message, they can give a speech, write a newspaper Op-Ed (ink's on us), even pass a joint legislative resolution.

If they want to spend 100 million of the taxpayers' dollars sending that message, they need more than righteous anger. They need evidence that they're accomplishing a real public goal.

Does anyone think that's happening with California's death-penalty system? Does anyone think it's worth the money — yes, $100 million each and every year — to execute a vicious killer twice a decade or so?

A group of north state conservative leaders — Jim Nielsen, our assemblyman and would-be senator; Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko; even McGregor Scott, the former Shasta County DA and chief federal prosecutor for our region of California — led a rally this week to argue that it is and that voters should reject Proposition 34, which would replace the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole. On a gut level, their arguments are persuasive.

Yes, these murderers deserve the ultimate punishment. Yes, as Nielsen said with his trademark rhetorical flourish, "the silent scream from the grave of the victim" protests when the courts mete out lesser justice. They'll find no argument here.

But our ideal of justice and the reality of what the courts of law can deliver do not neatly align. And they never will.

"Sister Helen Prejean Stumps For Anti-Death Penalty Proposition 34 In California," is by Matt Sledge at Huffington Post.

California voters will decide next month whether to outlaw capital punishment in their state. With the latest poll showing death penalty abolitionists behind, they are calling on a potent secret weapon: the priests who speak to the state's 10.4 million Catholics.

In a statement released Sept. 27, the Catholic bishops of the state called on voters to support Proposition 34, a voter referendum which would end capital punishment in California.

The movement is also getting a little bit of star power from Sister Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun whose depiction in the film "Dead Man Walking" turned her into perhaps the most famous face of Catholic death penalty opposition.

Prejean was in San Diego on Tuesday to begin what she calls a week-long "blitz" across Southern California to rally voters for Proposition 34. She has been meeting with donors and "just working the churches," she said.

"What we're hoping for here is not the first state to abolish the death penalty, but definitely the largest," Prejean said.

The Santa Monica Mirror reports, "Santa Monica City Council Supports Initiative For Death Penalty Repeal," by Parimal M. Rohit.

Voters across Santa Monica and the State of California will be deciding on Nov. 6 whether or not to repeal the death penalty and instead punish convicted felons with a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

In City Hall, council members unanimously expressed Tuesday night its support of Proposition 34, which, if passed, would indeed do away with the death penalty and replace it with a parole-less life sentence instead.

Council member Bobby Shriver requested the agenda item to be discussed Oct. 2 to put Proposition 34 in perspective.

"California's Historic Opportunity to End the Death Penalty," is a Truthout Op-Ed written by filmmaker John Cusack and Jesuit priest and peace activist John Dear.

Being in California these last few days and speaking with friends about this historic moment reminded me of my work twenty years ago, when I lived in Berkeley and Oakland, to end the death penalty. Twice, I arranged for Mother Teresa to speak with the governor of California in an appeal for clemency for someone about to be executed on San Quentin's death row. 

In 1990 and 1992, Mother Teresa told Governors Wilson and Deukmejian: "Do what Jesus would do." She was opposed to California's killing of death row inmates, and invoked Jesus as her rationale. Killing people who kill people is not the way to show that killing people is wrong -- that was the message. But more: aspire to the nonviolence of Jesus. That is our holy ideal. 

Several times on the phone, Mother Teresa asked me to call upon the people of California and the whole country to end the death penalty. She told me several times that she was praying for the miracle of the end of the death penalty. I bet she's still praying for that miracle. Now it might actually happen.

Earlier coverage from California begins at the link; also available, more on Prop. 34 at SAFE Caliornia.

Today's California Roundup

"Initiative seeks to end death penalty in California," is the AP report written by Paul Elias.  It's via the Redding Record Searchlight.

More Death Row inmates have died of natural causes, suicide and murder than have been executed since California re-instated capital punishment 35 years ago.

Supporters of Proposition 34, which seeks to abolish the state's death penalty, cite the $4 billion spent since 1978 in support of capital punishment. They say the money spent each year on housing condemned inmates and on the lengthy appeals process can be used instead to investigate unsolved murder and rape cases.

Opponents of the Nov. 6 ballot initiative counter that a death penalty system once labeled dysfunctional by California's chief justice should instead be fixed to quicken the pace of executions. Capital punishment supporters say it benefits public safety and gives solace to victims of violent crime.

If voters approve Proposition 34, inmates awaiting execution would have their sentences converted to life in prison without the chance of parole, which would also serve as the harshest sentence available in the state. In addition, $100 million in grants would be doled out to law enforcement agencies over the next four years to investigate cold cases.

While backers have a significant fundraising advantage, amassing $5.4 million compared to nearly $230,000 for opponents, they still face an uphill fight with voters.

The Contra Costa Times reports, "Palo Alto City Council throws support behind Proposition 34," by Jason Green.

The Palo Alto City Council has aligned itself with an effort to abolish the state's death penalty, reasoning that the considerable funds spent on executions would be better directed toward cash-strapped municipalities.

Council members voted 8-0 late Monday night to pass a resolution endorsing Proposition 34. The measure, which will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot, would trade the death penalty for a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole as the maximum punishment for murder. Council Member Gail Price was absent.

"The question always comes up, 'Well, does this measure have anything to do with local governance?'" said Council Member Karen Holman, who along with Mayor Yiaway Yeh raised the idea of supporting the proposition in a colleagues' memo released last week.

Holman pointed out that local infrastructure and public safety grants have all but dried up since 2009. Meanwhile, the financially troubled state continues to spend $130 million annually on the death penalty system.

"Sister Helen Prejean, Church Leaders Urge Passage Of Prop 34," is by Tom Fudge for KPBS-TV.

A dozen ministers from Christian, Jewish and Islamic congregations gathered on a patio of the First Methodist Church in Mission Valley. They all urged their faithful to vote for Proposition 34 to repeal the death penalty.

The star of the gathering was Helen Prejean, a jocular Louisiana nun who has stood with six men at their executions. She is best know for writing the book "Dead Man Walking," which was made into a movie. She said California can set a national example by banning capital punishment.

“California is going to be a beacon on the hill,” she said. “Proposition 34 is going to be a decisive vote in this state, where people get to vote for life, which is where their hearts are anyway.”

Prop 34 would replace the death penalty with a life sentence, without the possibility of parole.

The religious leaders spoke of how the death penalty violates the sanctity of life and the promise of redemption.

"Executing the Death Penalty," by Joaquin Palomino in the East Bay Express.

Dan Turner posts, "The wrong reasons to end the death penalty," at the Los Angeles Times Opinion L.A. blog.

There are plenty of other good reasons to back the measure: Juries are more likely to award the death penalty if murder victims happen to have been white; capital punishment costs the state tens and possibly hundreds of millions of dollars a year, even though executions have stalled; a sentence of life without the possibility of parole keeps the worst killers behind bars until they die, meaning it protects society just as well as the death penalty. But none of these things appear to be terribly persuasive to California voters.

A recent USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found that Proposition 34 was losing 38% to 51%, but the gap narrows to statistical insignificance when voters are informed of two lesser-known aspects of the initiative: It would set aside $100 million to help police solve major crimes faster, and it would force former death row inmates to work and, if they owe restitution money to victims' families, to pay it. Both of these provisions were inserted into the initiative not because they will actually accomplish anything or because they represent good policy but because they pander to voters. And guess what? Voters like that, just as sheep respond to the lure of an untouched green meadow.

"No on 34," is the Riverside Press-Enterprise editorial.

No one disputes that California’s current approach to the death penalty is badly flawed. All executions are now on hold, thanks to a legal battle over the state’s method of lethal injection. But the state has rarely carried out executions anyway: Since California reinstated the death penalty in 1978, the state has executed just 14 prisoners — while 83 inmates on death row have died of natural causes in prison. The state now has about 725 inmates facing execution, most still in various stages of the lengthy appeals process that comes with a death sentence. The state last executed a prisoner in 2006.

But California would be better off reforming capital punishment to make it an effective sentence instead of scrapping the penalty altogether.

Earlier coverage of Prop. 34, the SAFE California ballot initiative, begins at the link; also available, more on Prop. 34 at SAFE Caliornia.

Also from California

Today's Thousand Oaks Acorn reports, "Religious leaders share views on Prop. 34," by Stephanie Bertholdo.

Religious leaders throughout the Conejo Valley are considering their stance on Proposition 34, an initiative to eliminate the death penalty in California.

If the initiative passes in November, death sentences will be replaced with life in prison without the possibility of parole. The law will apply retroactively to people found guilty of murder who have been sentenced to death.

Earlier coverage of Prop. 34, the SAFE California ballot initiative, begins at the link.  More on Prop. 34 at SAFE Caliornia.  Related posts are in the religion category index.

Coverage of Philadelphia Hearing in Terry Williams Case

Today's Philadephia Inquirer reports, "Judge calls for more evidence in bid to block execution."  It's written by Joseph A. Slobodzian.

Condemned killer Terrance "Terry" Williams was back in Philadelphia on Monday, sitting quietly, hands and feet shackled, as lawyers tried to persuade a Philadelphia judge to block his Oct. 3 execution.

Sounding skeptical, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina listened to two hours of vigorous argument by Williams' lawyers and prosecutors.

Sarmina then gave Williams' team until Friday to supplement their claim of newly discovered evidence that Williams killed Amos Norwood in 1984 after years of sexual abuse - not to rob him.

Sarmina told defense attorneys Billy Nolas and Shawn Nolan she considered their new evidence - a 2012 statement by Marc Draper, Williams' confessed accomplice - too vague for a late plea to stay the execution.

"What's the basis of Draper's knowledge?" asked Sarmina. "That doesn't make it so just because someone says it."

Deputy District Attorney Ronald Eisenberg told Sarmina that nothing in Williams' petition was new and that his claims of sexual abuse had been rejected by state and federal appeals courts.

And:

The pardons board will privately interview Williams on Thursday and hold a public hearing Monday in Harrisburg. The five-member board must unanimously recommend clemency for Corbett to consider the nonbinding recommendation.

Corbett signed Williams' death warrant Aug. 9 in what would be the state's first execution since 1999.

At issue before Sarmina is a sworn Jan. 9 statement by Draper, 46, who pleaded guilty to participating in Norwood's killing and became the key prosecution witness against Williams at his 1986 trial.

"Judge: More evidence needed on Pa. inmate's motion," is the AP coverage of the hearing, via the Beaver Times.

A judge wants more evidence by Thursday before ruling on a motion to stay the scheduled Oct. 3 execution of a Philadelphia man on death row.

Terrance Williams was sentenced to death for killing Amos Norwood with a tire iron at age 18, months after killing another man. He's exhausted his appeals, which reached a federal appeals court.

But his lawyers now say there's new evidence a co-defendant involved in the 1984 killing can corroborate his abuse claims. They say the jury might have spared Williams the death penalty had that come out.

Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she needs more than the co-defendant's simple statement to reopen the case. She wants to know how the co-defendant would have known about the abuse. However, she agreed the jury might have been interested in the claim.

Sarmina said she has handled three cases that ended with a death sentence.

"Where the victim is not a sympathetic victim, a jury is much less likely to come back with a sentence of death," Sarmina said.

Philadelphia prosecutors oppose the request for a new evidence hearing. They argue that Williams, now 46, is simply trying to push back his execution date.

Earlier coverage of Terry Williams' case begins at the link.

Advocates for Terry Williams have posted an online petition calling for clemency.  You can find out more about the case and read the entire clemency petition filed with Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.

Related posts are in the clemency index.

Terry Williams Clemency Plea in Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Joseph Slobodzian posts, "Unprecedented support," at the paper's Crime & Punishment blog.

For a reporter, it wasn’t hard to choose which of the 160-plus people to focus on who signed in support of Thursday’s petition seeking clemency for condemned killer Terrance “Terry” Williams.

Williams, 46, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Oct. 3.

After all, how many times do you see a compelling plea for the life of a killer by the widow of the man he brutally beat to death and then set the corpse on fire?

“I do not wish to see Terry Williams executed,” wrote 75-year-old Mamie Norwood, whose husband Amos Norwood was murdered June 11, 1984 at age 56. “His execution would go against my Christian faith and my belief system. He is worthy of forgiveness and I am at peace with my decision to forgive him and have been for many years. I wish to see his life spared.”

The growing list of other supporters contains more than a few names that should be familiar to Gov. Corbett and the state Board of Pardons. It also includes some with more than a passing acquaintance with the issue of child sexual abuse and the lasting, lifelong damage it does to victims.

Take, for example, the petition signed by 18 former prosecutors. Among them is Philadelphia lawyer Jeffrey M. Lindy, a former federal prosecutor probably more familiar as a member of the defense team that represented Msgr. William J. Lynn in this year’s Philadelphia Common Pleas Court trial involving the sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Also supporting the petition is Archbishop Charles Chaput, leader of the Philadelphia archdiocese.

The seven retired judges include Timothy K. Lewis, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court in Western Pennsylvania. Lewis may be more familiar as one of the lawyers representing former Penn State president Graham Spanier, fired as a result of child sex-abuse scandal involving assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

And:

The main theme of the clemency petition – supported by affidavits from five members of the original jury – is that Williams would have never been sentenced to death had the jury heard the mitigating evidence of the sexual abuse and the psychological impact it had in producing the rage behind Norwood’s murder.

Williams’ lawyers go Monday before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina with an emergency petition to stay the execution, although they acknowledge that Williams has exhausted his state and federal appeals.

If Sarmina denies the stay, Williams’ next stop is the state Board of Pardons, which has set Sept. 17 for a hearing on the request to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole.

"Pennsylvania Death Row Inmate Seeks Clemency," by Steve Eder for the Wall Street Journal Law blog.

A convicted murderer slated to be put to death in Pennsylvania next month has petitioned a state board for clemency, saying that he was  physically and mentally abused as a child by the men he killed.

If Pennsylvania officials reject his appeal, filed Thursday, Terrance “Terry” Williams, would be the first person to be executed in the commonwealth since the death penalty was reinstituted in the 1970s, aside from three prisoners who voluntarily accepted the death penalty, his advocates say.

Mr. Williams’ case is coming to a head at a time when the death penalty and processes used to conduct lethal injections are under fire in several U.S. states. California voters in November will decide the fate of the state’s death penalty law, and several states have had trouble obtaining the drugs in executions.

According to Mr. Williams’ petition, the jury in his case was never told at trial that he had been sexually abused by the two men he later killed.

"Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse Victim Faces October Execution For Murdering Abuser," is by Ashley Portero for International Business Times.

Lawyers for a Pennsylvania death row inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection in October filed a petition for clemency on Thursday, imploring Gov. Tom Corbett and the state Board of Pardons to commute the sentence to life in prison in light of evidence that was never revealed to the jury: the defendant had been sexually assaulted by the man he killed.

Terrance "Terry" Williams, 46, was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of Amos Norwood. At the time of the killing Williams -- who the defense claims had been sexually abused by Norwood since the age of 13 -- was only three months past his 18th birthday, the minimum age for someone to be sentenced to death in the U.S. But with less than a month left until William's Oct. 3 execution, a broad coalition of supporters, including Norwood's widow, are urging Corbett to commute Williams' sentence, arguing that his extensive history of childhood sexual abuse by older men ultimately made him snap.

"It was not until decades after the abuse when Terry met at length with Dr. David Lisak, an expert in male sex abuse ...  that Terry was able to disclose many compelling and critical details of his abuse," the petition states.

"Pa. Inmate Faces Execution for Killing Men Experts Say Sexually Abused Him," by Nicole Flatow at Think Progress.

A Pennsylvania inmate on death row was sexually abused by the men he was convicted of murdering, according to a clemency petition filed yesterday.

The petition, supported by 22 former prosecutors and judges, 34 law professors, 40 mental health professionals and more than 36 religious leaders, makes an impassioned case for sparing from execution a man with an extensive childhood history of abuse that was never revealed to the jury.

Earlier coverage of Terry Williams' case for clemency begins at the link.

Advocates for Terry Williams have posted an online petition calling for clemency.  You can find out more about the case and read the entire clemency petition filed with Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.

Related posts are in the clemency index.

"Justice, Justice, You Shall Pursue"

"Pursuing justice is harder than it sounds," is Pennsylvania Rabbi James A. Gibson commentary on the weekly Torah reading (Shofetim, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:19) for the Jewish Chronicle.

If we had a top 10 list of popular teachings from Torah, the line from this week’s Torah portion would certainly qualify. It might even make the top five.

In setting out the mechanism for the administration of courts and legal decision-making, we read the soul-stirring words from Deuteronomy 16:20, “Tzedek tzedek tirdof” (Justice, justice, shall you pursue). We like to think of this verse as offering the best of who we are and what we stand for.  The justice we seek is so essential to how we live that we repeat it often for effect.

The famous verse comes, not after the setting up of the courts, but after a stern warning over how easy it is to obscure justice:  “Do not incline justice, do not recognize persons or take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and overturn the words of the righteous.”  (Deuteronomy 16.19)

Justice, we are told, must be the same for rich and poor, highborn and low.  It is a concept that we honor, but frankly, in our country, the rich get far better justice.  I am not sure that America is that different from other countries in this regard, but that does not make the injustice inflicted on the poor any more palatable.

Last year I was asked to serve on jury duty, as so many of us are.  I don’t mind this one bit — you can’t have citizen juries if citizens are not willing to step up and do their part.

And:

By 2 p.m., we were bored stiff.  But that was when I was called into a jury room for a preliminary examination.  And they told us we were prospective jurors for a trial involving a heinous crime.  It might involve the death penalty, they said.  Could we, in good conscience, vote to apply the death penalty if the accused were found guilty?

I took a deep breath.  In my heart of hearts, I believe in a universal justice, such as the Torah commands.  I believe that murder upsets the moral calculus of the world in which we live.  So, in theory, I am in favor of it.

But then, Deuteronomy comes back to mind.  Not, “Justice, justice you shall pursue.”  Rather, “You shall not recognize persons or take bribes, because bribes blind the eyes of the wise and overturn the words of the righteous.”

And I thought to myself, when was the last time a really rich person was put to death in the state of Pennsylvania?  The death penalty, the ultimate sanction of the state, must be applied without regard to wealth, race or background.

So, with another big breath, I answered, “No.  I cannot in good conscience vote for the death penalty for the accused if found guilty.  Our judicial system does not apply the death penalty with equity.”  I felt very brave for stating my principle so clearly without flinching.

The lawyer in front of me did not even bother to look up.  “Next,” he said.

Related posts are in the religion category index.

Don't Debate Capital Punishment From 'Edges'

That's the title of an OpEd in the Saturday Tallahassee Democrat written by Rabbi Jack Romberg of Temple Israel.

Jonah Goldberg accuses opponents of the death penalty of cherry-picking the cases they use to support their view. He then turns around and cherry-picks a case, the recent slaughter of 12 people in Aurora, Colo., to argue for the death penalty.

Nowhere does he address the issues that are truly at stake. . Allow me to quote a discussion about the death penalty from the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on the Torah that discusses and elucidates the application of law.

“A Sanhedrin (court) that executes once in seven years is called a destroyer. Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah says, ‘even once in seventy years.’ Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said, ‘Had we been on a Sanhedrin (at the time they ruled) no person would ever have been executed.’ Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says, ‘They would have increased the number of murderers in Israel.’ ” (Makkot 7a)

This discussion was recorded approximately 1,800 years ago. The sages operate under certain assumptions. First, the death penalty is prescribed by the Torah for several types of crime. Second, the sages are clearly not comfortable with a liberal application of the death penalty. They are aware of the tendency for human error and are concerned about an innocent person being wrongfully convicted.

However, Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel is clearly worried about the effectiveness of deterring crime if it were known the death penalty would never be used.

The central question, whether it is an 1,800-year-old rabbinic discussion or a contemporary discussion, needs to be: What kind of justice system do we really desire?

And:

Clearly the Talmudic sages do not feel comfortable with taking decisions of life and death out of God’s hands. They understood the human propensity for error in the rush for revenge. Perhaps we can learn just a little bit from them.

More on the Goldberg syndicated column, at the link.

From North Carolina

"Fight Grows to Repeal Death Penalty in North Carolina," is the North Carolina News Service post by Stephanie Carroll Carson & Dallas Heltzell.

A grassroots movement to repeal North Carolina's death penalty is seen as gaining momentum.

More than 700 businesses and congregations are on record supporting a resolution asking the state to eliminate the death penalty, using the money saved to help murder victims' families and fund programs to prevent violent crimes.

A study done by a Duke University professor found that the state spends an average of $11 million a year in trial costs related to death-penalty cases.

Larry Erwin, owner of Elk Pharmacy in Elkin, added his support to the resolution last week.

"It's so costly to keep people on Death Row and go through all the trial scenarios that are involved. I think it would be a lot easier on the court system and free up a lot of court time."

This month, Carrboro and Chapel Hill became the first two towns in the state to pass resolutions calling for repeal of the death penalty.

Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, says it's time to end this centuries-old punishment.

"More and more people are beginning to see it as a relic of a bygone era, an expensive, error-prone system infected with racial and class bias."

Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link.

The Inferno

Kay Campbell posts, "Prison chaplain questions death penalty value," at the Huntsville Times.

In 1981, Philip Workman walked into a Wendy’s restaurant in Memphis, brandished a gun, and had the employees hand him the money out of the cash drawer.

Cornered moments later by police officers in a corner of the parking lot, Workman fired the gun. A police officer fell.

In 2007, Workman was executed for that homicide.

Trouble is, says the Rev. Joseph Ingle, who will speak in Huntsville Tuesday, Workman’s gun is not the one that killed that police officer.

The officer, according to forensic evidence analyzed after Workman’s ‘82 trial, was killed by the kind of bullet that is in police pistols, not Workman’s. The officer, in short, appears to have been killed by another officer’s shot.

Ingle’s latest book, “The Inferno: A Southern Morality Tale,” chronicles what happened between that moment in the parking lot and Workman’s execution by lethal injection 26 years later.

“It was pretty much a nightmare,” Ingle said this week from his home office in Nashville. “If you ever think the issue of capital punishment and our criminal justice system aren’t politically fraught, you need to take another look. It is beyond appalling.”

And:

Rather than take a United Church of Christ congregation, Ingle chose to become a self-supporting prison chaplain. He volunteers in Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville. From 1974 until 1983, he was the executive director of the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons, a multi-state organization that sought to abolish the death penalty.

Abolishing the penalty makes sense not only to avoid executing people for crimes they didn’t commit, but also in simple dollars and cents.

“Nationally, there is a move away from capital punishment,” Ingle said, “but you don’t see that in the South. Since 1977, more than 93 percent of the executions in the U.S. have been in the South.”

And patterns for those executions follow disturbingly familiar paths of racial discrimination.

“If you kill a white person, you are 11 times more likely to die for that crime than if you kill a black person,” Ingle said. “And it’s even worse if you’re a black person and you kill a white person. Then you are 22 times more likely to die.”

The article notes that Ingle will be speaking the evening of Tuesday, June 19th at a meeting of the Interfaith Mission Service at the 88 Buffet Restaurant on University Drive in Huntsville.

The Inferno is available at the link from Amazon.com.  He's also the author of Last Rites.

Prejean Papers Featured in DePaul University Exhibit

"Exhibit on anti-death penalty activist opens at DePaul," is the AP post, via the Rockford Register Star.

An exhibit dedicated to the life of a nationally known Roman Catholic anti-death penalty activist is opening in Chicago.

Sister Helen Prejean wrote the book "Dead Man Walking," which later became a film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

The exhibit at DePaul University looks at notable moments in her activism over the decades and includes correspondence with people on death row. Prejean donated her papers to DePaul in 2010.

The exhibit is called "In Deeds and Words: The Prejean Ministry Against the Death Penalty."

DePaul University has issued a news release, "Noted Anti-Death Penalty Activist Sister Helen Prejean to Visit DePaul for May Lectures, Opening of Exhibition on Her Life and Work."

Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., the activist and author whose book “Dead Man Walking” helped fuel the current anti-death penalty movement in the United States, will appear at DePaul University May 14 to dedicate an exhibition highlighting her work to end capital punishment.

 “In Deeds and Words: The Prejean Ministry Against the Death Penalty” examines notable moments in Prejean’s 30 years of advocacy on behalf of death row inmates and her activism to abolish the death penalty. The exhibit highlights her relationships and correspondence with individuals on death row. It also highlights the process of writing her best-selling books, “Dead Man Walking” and “The Death of Innocents,” and adapting the former for the 1995 film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

The exhibit will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 30 in DePaul’s Special Collections and Archives, Room 314 of the Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago.

And:

On May 15 at 7 p.m., Prejean will present a lecture titled “Dead Man Walking—the Journey Continues,” in which she will reflect on current efforts to roll back the death penalty around the country. A 6:30 p.m. reception will precede the talk.

Both programs are free and will be held at Cortelyou Commons, 2324 N.  Fremont St., Chicago, but reservations are required at eventRSVP@depaul.edu.

On May 16 at 6:30 p.m., Prejean will participate in a public conversation about the writing process behind her past best-sellers and her upcoming book “River of Fire.” The program will be held in Room 220 of the Lincoln Park Student Center, 2350 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago.

“Sister Prejean has long been a leading light in the fight for social justice across a wide spectrum of issues, especially the movement to end capital punishment in the United States,” said the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., DePaul’s president. “We are deeply honored that she has chosen DePaul to preserve the record of her life’s work.”

Prejean first announced the donation of her archives to DePaul in February 2011, coincidentally just after the Illinois Legislature’s surprising vote to abolish the death penalty. She was invited to consult on the issue with Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who signed the legislation several weeks later, making Illinois the 16th state in the nation to outlaw capital punishment. In recent months, Connecticut has repealed its death penalty and a referendum has been placed on the November ballot asking California voters if that state should abolish capital punishment.

The launch of the Prejean exhibit coincides with the opening of Prejean’s papers for researchers and academic use. The collection is multifaceted and contains rich resources not only on the issue of capital punishment, but also in charting the development of Prejean’s activism, the process of writing and publishing a book, and the social justice issues that underlie much of the death penalty debate.

Pull the Switch on the Death Penalty

That's the title of an editorial in the Baptist Standard, the newspaper of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.  It's signed by Marv Knox, the editor.

Gov. Rick Perry should place a moratorium on executions, and the next session of the Texas Legislature should vote to abolish the death penalty.

Reasoned opposition to capital punishment is rising:

• No reliable research supports the claim that capital punishment deters murder, according to an analysis of dozens of studies conducted across 36 years.

"Fundamental flaws in the research we reviewed make it of no use in answering the question of whether the death penalty affects homicide rates," Daniel Nagin, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who headed up the review for the National Research Council, told USA Today.

• National support for the death penalty has decreased to 61 percent, the lowest level in four decades, a Gallup poll showed.

And given a choice between capital punishment and life without parole, less than a majority of respondents favor execution, a similar survey indicated.

• Seventeen states have overturned the death penalty. Connecticut abolished the practice last month. Illinois, where the Innocence Project proved numerous false convictions, got rid of it last year. California will consider a referendum this fall.

• Tepid implementation of the death penalty seems to reveal a growing distaste for the practice.

And:

Eighth, it's inconceivable Jesus would execute a criminal. As Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy says: "In the New Testament, the one place where Jesus talks about the death penalty, he says, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' When I've reflected on the death penalty, the reality is I frequently ponder that passage."

Related posts are in the abolition, editorial, and religion category indexes.

Clemency Roundup - News From Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma

The Arizona Republic reports, "Arizona death-row inmate Kemp will not seek mercy."  It's by Michael Kiefer.

Citing "the futility of the process," an Arizona Death Row prisoner Monday chose not to apply for clemency before his scheduled execution April 25.

Thomas Kemp was sentenced to death for a 1992 murder in Tucson, and late last month, the Arizona Supreme Court set a date for his execution.

Normally, about a week before an execution, a condemned prisoner has a hearing before the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, which can recommend to the governor that a death sentence be commuted to life in prison or recommend a reprieve, a stay of execution pending further consideration.

If the prisoner chooses not to attend the clemency hearing, it takes place at the board's offices in Phoenix. If the prisoner wishes to testify, he or she must do so while wearing handcuffs, leg irons and belly chains from a cage in a secure auditorium inside a prison building in Florence.

The board seldom recommends clemency, and even if it does, the governor still has to grant it.

"Arizona inmate set for execution in 2 weeks won't seek mercy from clemency board," is the AP filfing by Amanda Lee Myers.

Thomas Arnold Kemp, 63, is set to be executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Florence on April 25.

Duane Belcher, executive director of the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, told The Associated Press on Monday that Kemp recently declined to petition the board for a lighter sentence.

"In light of the board's history of consistently denying requests for commutations, my impression is that a hearing in my case would be nothing short of a dog and pony show," Kemp wrote in a March 29 letter provided to the AP through Kemp's Tucson attorney, Tim Gabrielsen.

"A hearing provides public humiliation of the prisoner without any chance that the board might actually recommend a commutation," Kemp wrote.

Every inmate executed in Arizona has the right to petition the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency to either reduce their sentence to life in prison or delay their execution for more legal wrangling. Few decline that right.

The board has recommended delaying the death penalty in just one inmate's case in the last 20 years, possibly longer, Belcher said.

That inmate, Walter Hinze LaGrand, still was executed on March 3, 1999, in Arizona's gas chamber because then Gov. Jane Hull disagreed with the board and allowed the execution to proceed.

Belcher said the process is not futile, adding that many times individual board members vote to show an inmate mercy, although they have been in the minority.

Ohio News Network posts, "Faith leaders want mercy for Ohio death row inmate," by AP.

More than 200 religious leaders are asking Ohio Gov. John Kasich to spare a man scheduled for execution next week for fatally stabbing a 15-year-old boy during a farmhouse burglary.

Ohioans to Stop Executions and People of Faith Against the Death Penalty say they submitted a Monday letter to Kasich on behalf of about 230 faith leaders. They ask that the sentence of 49-year-old Mark Wiles be commuted to life in prison without parole.

The Ohio parole board has recommended against clemency.

Wiles' attorney says he's remorseful and has accepted responsibility for his actions in the 1985 slaying in Portage County.

"Okla. anti-death penalty group wants commutation," is the Oklahoma AP report, via the Muskogee Phoenix.

Members of an anti-death penalty group said Monday they have little hope that Gov. Mary Fallin will commute the death sentence of an Oklahoma inmate scheduled to be executed Thursday.

Three members of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty met with Fallin’s general counsel, Steve Mullins, to urge the governor to reverse her decision to deny clemency for Garry Thomas Allen, 56.

Allen’s attorneys contend he was mentally impaired when he killed 24-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth, the mother of his two children, on Nov. 21, 1986, in Oklahoma City. They say he had been self-medicating for an underlying mental illness, and that his mental condition had worsened.

Coalition board member James T. Rowan said the group does not expect Fallin to change her mind about clemency. He said Mullins indicated during the meeting that Allen’s clemency request “was a close case.”

And:

A spokesman for Fallin, Alex Weintz, confirmed the group met with Mullins and discussed Allen’s case. Weintz said Fallin appreciated their input but that there was no change in the status of the case.

“The execution is still scheduled for Thursday,” Weintz said.

Fallin denied clemency for Allen on March 13, but the coalition asked her to reconsider based on the state Pardon and Parole Board’s 4-1 recommendation in 2005 that Allen’s death penalty on a first-degree murder conviction be commuted to like in prison.

Earlier coverage from Arizona, Ohio, and Oklahoma begins at the links.

Related posts are in the clemency index.

Different states have different systems of executive clemency.  In 2005, Texas Appleseed and the Texas Innocence Network published, "The Role of Mercy: Safegaurding Texas Justice Through Clemency Reform," which examined best practices in executive clemency.  The Appendix contains comparative state information.

Louisiana Legislation on Execution Attendance

"Execution attendance optional," is the Baton Rouge Advocate report written by Michelle Millhollon.

State workers would be able to refuse to attend executions without risking their employment under legislation that cleared the Louisiana House on Monday.

The proposal’s sponsor, state Rep. Joe Lopinto, said the job protection would extend to prison wardens and physicians on the state’s payroll.

“This is for people who work for the department who may have a moral problem with the death penalty itself,” said Lopinto, R-Metairie.

The House voted 90-0 in favor of sending House Bill 120 to the Senate for consideration.

The legislation would do a number of things, including:

• No longer require an electrician to attend executions now that Louisiana uses lethal injection instead of the electric chair.
• Allow anyone, including employees of the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections, to opt out of attending executions without fear of disciplinary action.
• Prevent licensing boards from taking action against people who participate in executions.
• Allow the state to keep secret the name of a physician summoned by the warden to witness the execution. State law requires a physician to be present.

You can find out more on HB 120 on the Louisiana Legislature's 2012 Regular Session website.

The article notes that Louisiana's last execution was in 2010.  Related posts are in the state legislation index.

Connecticut Repeal Vote May Come as Early as Tomorrow

"After a last count, death penalty vote likely Wednesday," is the CT Mirror report by Mark Pazniokas.

With Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pledging to sign the bill into law, the state Senate is preparing for a vote as soon as Wednesday on a measure to repeal the death penalty for future crimes.

Leaders of the Senate Democratic majority intend Tuesday to canvass their 22 members for a final time, with the expectation of getting a commitment from at least 18 senators, the bare minimum necessary for passage.

"We'll make a final decision tomorrow," Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said Monday night. "Do we want to move forward one way or the other? Yes."

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, a longtime death-penalty opponent who presides over the Senate, is prepared to break a tie by casting a vote for repeal should the 36-member Senate deadlock.

If all three Democratic senators who have been publicly undecided cast a vote for repeal, the measure would pass with 19 votes. The three are Sen. Edith G. Prague of Columbia, Carlo Leone of Stamford and Joseph J. Crisco of Woodbridge.

"I feel good about the conversations we've been having with the members," said Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a proponent of repeal.

He declined to discuss conversations with specific senators, and he measured his words carefully in an interview Monday night. But when asked if he believed the Senate now had the votes for repeal, he replied, "I think so."

"Easter Week march in Hartford to spotlight opposition to Connecticut's death penalty," is the AP report in the New Haven Register.

An Easter Week march in Hartford will highlight opposition to the state’s death penalty law by Connecticut Christian religious leaders.

The Bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut and others are marching beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday from Christ Church Cathedral to the Capitol, where Connecticut legislators are considering a bill this session to end the death penalty for future cases and replace it with life in prison.

Earlier coverage from Connecticut begins at the link.

 

In the Kansas Legislature

"House panel explores views on death penalty," is Tim Carpenter's report for the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Former District Judge Steven Becker urged lawmakers to acknowledge Thursday imperfection of the state's criminal justice system and cast aside the lone absolute, final punishment.

The retired Reno County judge attached himself to a series of prosecutors, defense lawyers, church leaders and activists testifying at the Capitol in support of a House bill repealing capital punishment. No action was taken on the measure.

"As long as the death penalty is a part of our imperfect system," Becker said, "there will always be the unacceptable possibility of the execution of an innocent person."

The House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee hosted the hearing on a bill providing a path for reversal of Kansas law on capital punishment. The measure appears stalled in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, where Republicans oppose the reform, and the Senate hasn’t taken up the issue in the 2012 session.

And:

Capital punishment was reinstated in Kansas in 1994 when Democratic Gov. Joan Finney allowed a bill to become law without her signature. Kansas hasn't executed an inmate since the mid-1960s.

In 2010, the Senate fell one vote shy of adopting a bill replacing the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crime of aggravated murder.

The League of Women Voters of Kansas submitted testimony arguing the state couldn't afford financial ramifications of the death penalty. Two years ago, the cost of prosecution and appellate action on a single case was estimated at $1.2 million. The incarceration of someone sentenced to life in prison in Kansas was placed at $740,000.

Ron Wurtz, a federal public defender and the original director of the state's Death Penalty Defense Unit, said proponents of the death penalty couldn’t escape the reality of 140 people in 26 states having been released from death row with evidence of innocence since 1973.

Earlier coverage from Kansas begins at the link.  Related posts are in the state legislation index.

Diminishing All of Us

That's the title of a new document issued by the Catholic Mobilizing Network.  It's subtitled, "The Death Penalty in Louisiana."

A Study for Louisiana Catholics Committed to Repeal of the Death Penalty, Co-Authored by Alex Mikulich and Sophie Cull

Louisiana Catholics Committed to Repeal of the Death Penalty and the Jesuit Social Research Institute have collaborated on a study that addresses the death penalty through a Roman Catholic theological lens – aiming to “demonstrate the ineffectiveness and arbitrariness of our death penalty system as a public policy, including the ways it is unfairly administered across racial, social and economic lines.” The study – co-authored by Alex Mikulich of Louisiana Catholics Committed to Repeal of the Death Penalty and Sophie Cull of the Louisiana Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty – gathers the results of all qualitative and quantitative Louisiana-focused studies related to the administration of the death penalty into a single collection.

You can download the full study or a condensed version, in Adobe .pdf format.  Related posts are in the religion index.

The Latest From Mark Osler

University of St. Thomas Law prof Mark Osler posts, "Lent and the Hidden Cost of Capital Punishment," at Huffington Post.  He's a former federal prosecutor.  It's a must-read.

Christianity is an odd religion in that the central human figure, Christ, is executed by the state. We don't see that in other faiths: Siddhartha Gautama Buddha died of food poisoning at age 80, and the Prophet Muhammad died of natural causes at 63.

It should mean something to Christians, then, that an execution is at the center of the faith and this season of Lent. One part of that meaning could have something to do with those who were a part of the process -- the prosecutor, the judges, the witnesses and executioners. The process of execution led them all to some form of ruin: Judas, the government cooperator, was torn asunder; Peter, called to be a witness, denied Christ; Caiaphus, the prosecutor, was so tortured he tore at his clothes; Pilate, the person who decided clemency, was tortured by the decision; and even the Centurion guard at the execution itself cried out at the injustice he saw.

These broken people of the gospels foreshadow a terrible cost hidden within our current use of the death penalty.

And:

The characters in the story of Lent are people who are very real in their strengths and weaknesses. It must mean something that they are shown in the gospels as so tortured by being a part of the machinery of death. The question left to us by this aspect of the gospel story is nothing less than this: Setting all else aside, is the death penalty worth the cost to these innocents, the citizen-jurors and dutiful workers?

Earlier coverage of Osler's book, Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment, begins at the link.  Earlier commentary by Osler is also available.

Kansas Repeal Legislation

"Tuesday forum to focus on repeal of state’s death penalty law," is Ron Sylvester's Wichita Eagle report.

As a bill to repeal the death penalty languishes in the Statehouse, a local church-women’s group hopes to help revive legislators’ interest on the issue.

The United Methodist Women’s group at College Hill United Methodist Church in Wichita is sponsoring a forum on the death penalty Tuesday. It follows a daylong rally last November at Wichita State University by the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which said it is seeing similar programs sprouting up across the state.

“The death penalty has reached a point where it’s outdated,” said Jeff Wicks, an attorney with the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit and one of Tuesday’s speakers. “It comes from a time when we didn’t have the ability to maintain law and order, as we do now.”

The forum hopes to generate interest in House Bill 2323, which would abolish the death penalty in Kansas in favor of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The bill was introduced last February and remains in the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs.

Rep. Steve Brunk R-Wichita, chairs the committee and said he doesn’t foresee any action on the bill this year.

“We’ve got a lot of issues before us this session, and so far this hasn’t risen to the top 10,” Brunk said. “I just don’t see it gaining a lot of traction in the legislature.”

And:

Death penalty opponents say capital punishment is a budget issue that could save the state millions of dollars. Two studies in the past decade show it costs the state about four times as much to pursue the death penalty as it does to keep someone in prison for life.

“It’s not just the state, but it costs the county, too,” said Donna Schneweis, chair of the board for the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. “The county bears the brunt of the costs of these prosecutions.”

More on the Kansas cost factor at the link; also, coverage of Kansas repeal legislation in 2010.  Related posts are in the state legislation index.

 here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/23/2186507/tuesday-forum-to-focus-on-repeal.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/23/2186507/tuesday-forum-to-focus-on-repeal.html#storylink=cpy

MA

Events Roundup

The Texas Book Festival takes over the Capitol complex this weekend in Austin.

Michele Deitch will be moderating a panel at the Texas Book Festival dealing with juvenile justice and the treatment of children and youth in Texas.  The panel features two great authors--Bill Bush, the author of The State of Our Children: Texas as a Parent, on the history of juvenile justice crisis and reform in Texas, and Sherry Matthews, the author of an oral history of the Waco State Home--a children's home for neglected and dependent youth. 

The session is Saturday, October 22nd from 1:30 - 2:30 pm, in the Capitol Extension, Rm. E2.014

Earlier coverage of Michele Deitch's work in juvenile justice is noted at the link. 

Also:

The Trials of Eroy Brown: The Murder Case That Shook the Texas Prison System is Michael Berryhill's book on prison civil rights and the collapse of Jim Crow justice in Texas. He presents Brown's story in his own words, set against the backdrop of the chilling plantation mentality of Texas prisons. Berryhill chairs the journalism program at Texas Southern University.  The program is moderated by Texas Monthly editor Nate Blakeslee.

It's Sunday, October 23rd from 11:00 - 11:45 am in Capitol Extension Room E2.014.

On October 24th in San Antonio, the Catholic Mobilizing Network and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty  are co-sponsoring a “Religious Leaders Dialogue on the Death Penalty”."

The event, will take place at Trinity University, from 7-9 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium, will be moderated by CMN Executive Director Karen Clifton.

Leaders from the following institutions are confirmed to attend: the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio; Mission Presbytery; the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas; the Evangelical Lutheran Church -  Southwestern Texas Synod; Temple Beth-El; and the United Methodist Southwest Texas Conference.

Related posts are in the books, event, and religion indexes.

Much More on the Troy Davis Execuion

In this post I'll be linking to news analysis of the execution.  The next posts will focus on commentary and editorials.

Today's New York Times reports, "In Death-Penalty Debate, Execution Offers Little Closure."   It's by John Schwartz.

The nature of those doubts and the arguments for Mr. Davis’s innocence could be, and will be, debated endlessly. And while no judge who reviewed the minimal physical evidence and the testimony and witness recantations ever overturned Mr. Davis’s conviction — one judge dismissed the defense arguments as “smoke and mirrors” — activists portrayed the case as a symbol of the fallibility of eyewitness identification, of the intransigence of the justice system and of its unwillingness to correct errors — and even as a failure of the nation itself.

“The execution of an innocent man crystallizes in the most sickening way the vast systemic injustices that plague our death penalty system,” Denny LeBoeuf, director of the Capital Punishment Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Amnesty International, which mobilized much of the opposition to the Davis execution, pledged to redouble its efforts against the death penalty in the United States, and the executive committee of the N.A.A.C.P. voted this week to raise the death penalty to the forefront of its list of priorities in future advocacy.

Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, an interfaith advocacy group based in Carrboro, N.C., said his group also planned to use the momentum generated by religious leaders who opposed the Davis execution to galvanize broader opposition. “This has been a teachable moment for America’s religious leadership: that the death penalty is so awash with bias and errors that there’s no morally acceptable alternative but repealing it,” Mr. Dear said.

But can the debate over the death penalty even be called a national conversation, or is it simply two factions shouting past each other? Does it change hearts and minds, or harden advocates in their positions? Brawls, after all, do not persuade.

This execution underscores the uncomfortable relationship Americans have with the death penalty. A Gallup poll last October showed that 64 percent of those surveyed supported it for those convicted of murder, a level that had been relatively consistent for the previous seven years. Support had been higher — 80 percent in 1994 — but it has slipped, in part because of the hundreds of convictions overturned because of DNA evidence.

Gallup has asked whether people favor life imprisonment without parole as an alternative to the death penalty, and those surveyed are almost evenly split, with 49 percent supporting capital punishment and 46 percent preferring life imprisonment.

AP's Greg Bluestein files, "Death penalty opponents regroup after Davis' death."  It's via the San Francisco Chronicle.

Capital punishment critics are regrouping after the execution of Georgia inmate Troy Davis, trying to figure out the best way to harness the anti-death penalty sentiment the case created. Among the goals: get new like-minded people registered to vote.

"Tell them to get engaged in the political process because that's where change is going to come," said Helen Butler, executive director of the Atlanta-based Coalition For The Peoples' Agenda.

Butler was among a group of about two dozen death penalty opponents who met Thursday night in Atlanta to discuss how they could abolish capital punishment in Georgia. They are a small piece of the hundreds of thousands of people the Davis case attracted, from well-known supporters like the pope and former president Jimmy Carter to those much-less politically active.

Laura Moye of Amnesty International said she expects the Davis execution to be used to rally repeal movements across the country. She plans to meet with activists in Georgia over the next few days to plot out an attempt to banish capital punishment there.

"I'm meeting people who didn't really ever speak about the death penalty and now they are. They're hungry about the information and now they know," she said.

And:

Already, there are calls for lasting changes to the capital punishment system from Davis' advocates. Former President Carter said he hopes "this tragedy will spur us as a nation toward the total rejection of capital punishment." Filmmaker Michael Moore posted a statement on his website calling for a boycott of Georgia.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who visited Davis on death row, said he will push for a national ban on capital punishment in cases that rely on eyewitness testimony. Maryland passed such a law in 2009.

"We must not only mourn what happened to Troy Davis but take strong measures so that it does not happen again," Sharpton said.

The Davis execution comes at a time when death penalty decisions are under increased scrutiny. The number of executions has dropped by half over the last decade, from 98 in 1999 to 46 in 2010. Illinois abolished capital punishment in March and several other states, including California and Connecticut, are expected to consider similar proposals next year.

Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution carries, "Troy Davis lost his life, will he win the PR battle," by Steve Visser.

The Rev. Raphael Warnock told the college students in a church outside the state prison near Jackson Wednesday night that they had joined the fight for racial justice in America with the stand against the execution of Troy Anthony Davis.

The battle was bigger, he said, than saving Davis' life. He said he talked to the condemned man this week and he asked him what he should tell the people.

"He said, "Tell them I am already victorious,"  said Warnock, the senior pastor at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Stan Gunter had to agree. The executive director of the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council said that Davis and the mega public-relations machine behind him had managed to distort the facts of the murder case down to sound bite of  "seven  witnesses recanted or they backed off their testimony" which had allowed the well-funded NAACP and Amnesty International to portray Davis as an innocent man.

Court after court has upheld the legitimacy of the Davis conviction for the murder of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail and dismissed his claims of new evidence exonerating him. But despite the fact that the execution appears solidly grounded in law, by Wednesday night Davis' supporters appeared to have grown to include even supporters of the death penalty who doubted its fairness in this case in part because of the forces aligned against it.

"Troy Davis execution: Did the death penalty deliver justice?," by Patrik Jonsson at the Christian Science Monitor.

For thousands around the world, Mr. Davis's death marked a grave injustice, given vexing questions and new doubts about his guilt.

But while many saw the execution as symbolic of a fallible justice system, and an immoral punishment, others found their faith in the system reaffirmed by an abundance of court and executive reviews that, time after time, let the verdict against Davis stand.

The Davis case is but one in a long series of death penalty cases that push individual states to debate the morality, legality, and efficacy of the death penalty.

And:

One problem, legal analysts say, is courts are vested in jury verdicts, which can be fallible. Doubts alone are rarely enough to overturn a finding of guilt, but in cases like Davis's, where there is impassioned belief of innocence, it "raises doubts about whether the legal system can tolerate this potential error in allowing a person to be executed," says James Acker, a criminologist at State University New York in Albany.

But the Davis case also had powerful emotional impact that made him a cause célèbre among human rights activists working to end the US death penalty. A black man being executed for the murder of a white man in the Deep South raised longstanding and deep-seated concerns about racial inequities in the justice system.

Davis's execution stood in sharp contrast to the execution the same day in Texas of Mr. Brewer, a white man convicted and sentenced to death for a heinous hate crime against a black man.

"Can we have the death penalty and actually avoid the possibility of killing innocent people?" writes Rashad Robinson, executive director of the activist group Color of Change. "In a criminal justice system that routinely misidentifies black suspects and disproportionately punishes black people, black folks are more likely to be wrongfully executed."

Earlier coverage of Troy Davis' case and execution begins at the link.

In the Miami Herald

Most Rev. Thomas Wenski writes the OpEd, "Is this killing necessary?"  He is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Miami.

Gov. Rick Scott has signed his first death warrant. While originally scheduled for Aug. 2nd, a stay granted by the Florida Supreme Court to review the lethal injection protocol will postpone the execution of Manuel Valle until September 1st. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s intervention, Gov. Scott has the opportunity to reconsider his decision — and, I along with the other bishops of Florida, urge him to do so.

Manuel Valle was found guilty of shedding innocent blood — that of a police officer, Luis Peña. He also attempted to shoot another officer, Gary Spell. These crimes are heinous — but, they were committed more than 30 years ago. After 30 years, is it necessary for the State of Florida to kill this man? Does society really make a coherent statement against killing by killing?

The argument has been made that the application of the death penalty represents the legitimate self defense of society from an unjust aggressor, i.e. the murderer. And, historically, the church has conceded the point that the government can rightly apply capital punishment when absolutely necessary, i.e. when otherwise impossible to defend society. There is, in church teaching, no moral equivalence between the execution of the guilty after due process of law and the willful destruction of innocent life that happens with abortion or euthanasia.

However, as Pope John Paul II has pointed out in Evangelium Vitae (no. 56): given the organization of today’s penal system and the option of imposing life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, such an “absolute necessity” is “practically nonexistent”.

And:

Willful murder is a heinous crime; it cries to God for justice. Yet, God did not require Cain’s life for having spilt Abel’s blood. While God certainly punished history’s first murderer, he nevertheless put a mark on him to protect Cain from those wishing to kill him to avenge Abel’s murder (Gn 4:15). Like Cain, the condemned prisoner on death row — for all the evil of his crimes — remains a person. Human dignity — that of the convicted as well as our own — is best served by not resorting to this extreme and unnecessary punishment. Modern society has the means to protect itself without the death penalty.

The commutation to life imprisonment would serve the common good of all by helping break our society’s spiral of violence. The “eye for an eye” mentality will just end up making us all blind.

Related posts are in the OpEd and the religion indexes.  Earlier coverage of Valle's lethal injection litigation is also linked.

Austin American-Statesman on the Leal Case

The Statesman editorial is, "Execution case important to international relations."  It appeared in the Saturday issue.

The Golden Rule of life also applies to the tricky business of international relations. What we do to non-Americans in our country we can reasonably expect to be done unto Americans in other countries.

It is for that reason that Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles — both in the uncommon position of making a decision with international impact — should commute or postpone the death sentence of Humberto Leal, a Mexican raised in Texas, scheduled to die July 7 for the 1994 murder of Adria Sauceda, 16, in Bexar County.

The key issue in this case at this point is not whether Leal committed the crime. Also not central now are the circumstances involving Leal, including sexual abuse by a priest, a challenging family history and other factors that, though significant, fail to add up to justification for murder. They could, however, count as mitigating factors that argue for a life sentence.

It's what happened after Sauceda was killed that is at issue. More specifically, it's what didn't happen. Despite the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations requirements, Leal was not informed of his right to contact Mexican officials to seek legal assistance. Records indicate that he was not aware of that right until told about it by a fellow death row inmate.

Instead of getting legal help from Mexican consular officials, who have a track record of providing quality legal representation for Mexicans facing the death penalty in the U.S., Leal was represented by a court-appointed team that included a lawyer who twice had his license suspended.

Back in 2004, the International Court of Justice said Leal was entitled to a hearing to determine the extent of harm he suffered as a result of the lack of consular access. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling has said the U.S. must comply with the decision by the international court. Texas, citing state law, said no such hearing could take place. Congress now is poised to consider legislation, to be filed in coming weeks, that would establish a procedure for a federal court hearing on the extent of harm caused to Leal because he was not advised of his right to contact Mexican officials.

And:

Sandra L. Babcock, a Northwestern University law professor representing Leal, said he would not have been convicted if he had received proper consular assistance. We have no way of knowing that. But there is no arguing with Babcock's contention that "with consular access, Mr. Leal would have had competent lawyers and expert assistance that would have transformed the quality of his defense."

And, as she noted, Mexican officials have developed expertise in helping Mexicans facing the death penalty in the U.S.

"It really is a very modest remedy we are talking about," Babcock said.

Modest, indeed, but with important international ramifications.

"Franciscans request execution halt," is the San Antonio Express-News report written by Michelle Mondo.  It also ran on Saturday.

The list of those calling for Texas to stay the July execution of Humberto Leal Jr. grew on Friday when the Franciscan Order and organizations representing victims of sexual abuse by priests sent letters to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole.

The letters from the abuse-victims organizations, including the San Antonio chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and the Franciscans call for a stay or commutation of Leal's sentence so the Catholic Church can investigate the allegations he made against Father Federico Fernandez.

The allegation by Leal, 38, that Fernandez sexually abused him when he was 10 or 11 and attending St. Clare's Catholic Church was made for the first time in a recent petition for a reprieve or commutation Leal's attorney sent to the board and Gov. Rick Perry.

Leal was sentenced to die for the rape and bludgeoning death of Adria Sauceda, 16, whose naked body was found on May 21, 1994, on a dirt road not far from a party that she and Leal both attended. The execution is scheduled for July 7.

Franciscan Provincial Minister William Spencer said in a letter that he needed to add his voice to those calling for a reprieve because, he said, the sex-abuse claim could have merit. A spokesman for the San Antonio Archdiocese has said Leal's allegation would be investigated.

Fernandez, a San Antonio priest, was charged in 1988 with molesting two young boys but the charges were later dropped and a lawsuit was settled out of court.

Earlier coverage of the Leal case begins at the link.

At the Nexus of Abuse and Execution

That's the title of Brandi Grissom's must-read report on the case of Humberto Leal.  It's published in today's New York Times and Texas Tribune, and examines a different aspect of Leal's request for clemency.

St. Clare’s is a small church with a tight-knit congregation in this impoverished south side neighborhood, a place where neighbors come for a respite from the gritty streets.

But in the 1980s, it became a place of fear and shame for children who allege they were victims of sexual abuse by a prominent priest.

One of those alleged victims is Humberto Leal, a death row inmate who in 1995 was convicted of raping and bludgeoning to death a 16-year-old girl. His attorneys this week filed a clemency petition on his behalf. They asked Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to stay his execution and allow him to testify both as a victim and a witness of abuses allegedly perpetrated decades ago by Father Federico Fernandez, who served at St. Clare’s from 1983 to 1988.

Now, others who attended St. Clare’s have been spurred by Mr. Leal’s recent revelations to come forward and report similar abuse. They hope that by telling their stories they can stop the July 7 execution of Mr. Leal, and spur law enforcement to investigate and prosecute Father Fernandez.

The priest, who currently works in a church in Bogotá, Colombia, denies ever abusing anyone.

Church authorities in San Antonio removed him from the parish and sent him to New Mexico for treatment in 1988 after a grand jury indicted him for sexually abusing two other boys. In statements to police, the boys described multiple occasions when Father Fernandez schemed to get them alone and groped them. After the indictment, the boys’ family reached a settlement with the church, and the young men decided not to testify. Charges against Father Fernandez were dropped, and terms of the settlement were sealed.

Even before Father Fernandez arrived at St. Clare’s, he had been accused of sexual misconduct. In 1983, San Antonio police charged him with exposing himself in public, though the charges were eventually dropped. And since Mr. Leal’s revelation, others who attended St. Clare’s have reported similar abuse.

Under the shadow of a spindly tree in St. Clare’s parking lot — the modest structure where he was baptized and later married — a mild-mannered 44-year-old in work boots described how the priest who had been his boyhood role model nearly shattered his faith.

“I wanted to give myself to the church, and I got something bad,” said the man, who is not being identified because he is a victim of sexual abuse.

At 15, he wanted to be a priest. He faithfully attended Bible classes at St. Clare’s. He grew close to the priests there, and in particular Father Fernandez. It was Father Fernandez, he said, who took him into a room alone and then stripped naked in front of him.

“I was just played for a fool,” he said. But now he hopes that exposing his pain can help relieve someone else’s. “This person killed persons in their heart and their faith, and he gets away with it.”

And:

The head of the international order of Franciscan priests wrote to state officials on Mr. Leal’s behalf. Father William Spencer wrote that he could not confirm Mr. Leal’s account of abuse, but given Father Fernandez’s history, it raises the possibility that jurors who sentenced Mr. Leal to death were unaware of mitigating evidence that could have persuaded them to imprison him for life instead. Father Spencer did not return calls requesting comment.

Earlier coverage of Humberto Leal's case begins at the link; more in the next post.

The clemency petition, case background, and other information is at Humberto Leal. 

Readers who wish to sign a petition urging clemency can do so at the link, or using the right-column Take Action box.

From Utah

"Were non-LDS eliminated from jury pool in death penalty case?" is the AP report via Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Federal public defenders for a man sentenced to death for killing two people in Utah in 1990 claimed Tuesday that the prosecutor discriminated against potential jurors based solely on their religion.

The proof is in a scoring system found in prosecutorial notes that show lower-ranked jurors were kept for the sentencing of Von Lester Taylor, while a Methodist woman was struck from the jury, said Deputy Federal Public Defender Brian Pomerantz in a hearing before the Utah Supreme Court.

Pomerantz said the county prosecutor tried to eliminate jurors who were not active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which he claimed was as much a violation of their constitutional rights as striking a potential juror because of their sex or race.

Chief Justice Christine Durham disputed the notion that lawyers could not use religious beliefs for jury selection, especially in a death penalty case.

"You're keeping tabs on everything about a juror in a capital murder case," Durham said. "Certainly you would be tracking religion ... it's not improper."

Because a person's religion often reflects their beliefs, it is fair for lawyers on either side to eliminate people from a jury pool because of religion, Utah Assistant Attorney General Erin Riley said.

In the Taylor case, however, the Methodist woman struck by prosecutors also had been previously represented by the lead prosecutor, showed up late to jury selection and was familiar with the trial, Riley said.

Taylor is currently on death row for the murders of Beth Potts and her daughter Kaye Tiede after he broke into their Summit County cabin in 1990. Taylor pleaded guilty to the murder, and a jury recommended the death penalty. A co-defendant, Edward Steven Deli, received a life sentence.

"Convicted killer’s attorney: Verdict skewed by religion," by Melinda Rogers for the Salt Lake Tribune.

A defense attorney told the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday the prosecutors who helped select Von Lester Taylor’s jury two decades ago discriminated against non-Mormons, unjustly influencing Taylor’s death sentence for a double murder.

"You have a right to have a fair cross section of the community on your jury and Mr. Taylor was denied that right," said Brian M. Pomerantz, a deputy federal public defender from Los Angeles who is handling Taylor’s appeal. "You should not discriminate against jurors on the basis of religion," he said, calling the practice unconstitutional.

Tuesday’s arguments marked the third time the justices have heard an appeal by the 46-year-old Taylor, a self-proclaimed devil worshipper on death row for killing a woman and her mother in 1990 after breaking into the family’s Summit County cabin.

Pomerantz based his arguments on handwritten notes from prosecutors in the case that mysteriously became part of the public file from the trial court. The notes included what appeared to be a "scoring system" in which prosecutors awarded points to jurors who were LDS during the selection process, Pomerantz argued.

He said that the original jury pool was deemed to be 50 percent LDS, but when the final 12 jurors were selected, that percentage rose to 75 percent. He cited the case of juror Holly Connor, whose answers when questioned during the jury selection matched the rest of the answers given by the jury panel, except that Connor gave her religion as Methodist.

Pomerantz also said four LDS jurors that were struck from the jury were done so after they stated they wouldn’t vote for the death penalty or had "philosophical differences with the church."

Assistant Utah Attorney General Erin Riley balked at the notion that prosecutors erroneously struck jurors based on religion.

"If it did occur, it’s not clear that [striking jurors based on religion] is error," she said. She said jurors can be stricken on beliefs, which include religion.

And:

The high court took the arguments under advisement.

The Utah Supreme Court in 2007 affirmed the trial judge’s decision rejecting Taylor’s challenge of his capital-murder conviction and death sentence. In a unanimous decision, the justices agreed that the attorneys who handled appeals for Taylor didn’t miss any obvious legal claims that would have overturned his sentence.

Taylor alleged his lawyers should have conducted an investigation to identify mitigating factors that would have lessened his sentence; and, he said, they should have spoken to his siblings and looked into the possibility that he has brain damage.

Taylor received the death penalty for two Dec. 22, 1990, murders in Summit County.

"Prosecutors tried to pick only Mormon jurors, attorney for death row inmate argues," by Emiley Morgan in the Deseret News.

On Tuesday, Taylor's attorney, Brian Pomerantz, said new evidence shows that prosecutors attempted to choose jurors belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and eliminate those who weren't when it came to Taylor's sentencing. He cited notes taken by prosecutors, which, inexplicably, ended up in the trial records and showed a juror ranking system.

"These charts are evidence of the prosecutors' fixation with religion," Pomerantz said.

But the Utah Supreme Court justices weren't necessarily convinced that the prosecutor's notes were evidence and not attorney work product. Not only that, but it's routine for attorneys to keep notes on potential jurors, Chief Justice Christine Durham said. 

"You're keeping score on everything in a capital case," Durham said. "It's not improper to note those factors."

She said discriminating based on those notes may be a different story, though, prompting Pomerantz to say: "And that's what happened here." After the hearing, he declined to speculate as to what may have prompted prosecutors to seek LDS jurors.

He went on to say that he had a 2007 declaration from a man — who prosecutors pointed to as a crucial witness at sentencing — saying that the man was coerced into giving his testimony.

Related posts are in the jury and religion indexes.

More on a Crime Victim's Philosophy

"Immigrant inspires with forgiveness for killer," is the title of the Dallas Morning News editorial.  It appeared in the Saturday issue.

The capacity for compassion and forgiveness can reach almost unbelievable proportions.

The post-9/11 shooting spree by Mark Stroman was a predatory act of ghastly viciousness. To a Dallas County jury, the two lives that Stroman took demanded a sentence of death by injection.

But to a shooting victim who survived — a man who was targeted because of the color of his skin — the violence was a moment of confused, misguided hatred.

It’s time for the hate to stop, says Rais Bhuiyan, a native of Bangladesh.

With his attacker set to die in Huntsville this summer, Bhuiyan has begun a quiet campaign to spare the man’s life.

We wish to give that campaign voice. It delivers a potent message to a nation still torn by the loss of 9/11. It resists the cycle of revenge that doesn’t stop until someone has the courage to say enough.

That’s Bhuiyan’s message: enough. He attributes his conviction to his Islamic faith and his willingness to forgive. Ironically, it was that religious faith that Stroman targeted when he started staking out shopkeepers he assumed to be believers in Islam after Sept. 11, 2001.

And:

Overcoming ignorance and pain, he says, is vital if the nation wants to heal.

That is thoroughly American optimism. Our nation should embrace it regardless of the country and religious faith it comes from.

In this campaign, Bhuiyan is not out to abolish the death penalty (a penalty this newspaper believes should end because it can’t be reliably, evenly applied). His campaign is not about revamping the justice system. It’s more personal than that.

Bhuiyan hopes to meet with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and Gov. Rick Perry — both supporters of the death penalty — to press the case for sparing his attacker’s life. An uphill quest? Yes. But this country wasn’t built by newcomers with modest dreams.

Earlier coverage of Bhuiyan's mission is at the link.  Related posts are in the victims' issues index.