The StandDown Texas Project

OTSE Continues Death Penalty Forums in Ohio

Today's Toledo Blade posts, "Lourdes to host panel on Ohio death penalty."

A panel of four people whose lives have been directly affected by Ohio’s death penalty will discuss recommendations for reforming capital punishment from 7 to 9 p.m. today at Lourdes University.

The forum, which will take place at the Franciscan Center, features Derrick Jamison, who spent nearly 20 years on death row before he was exonerated in 2005; Charles Keith, whose brother was on death row before having his sentence commuted and who lost a loved one to a homicide; Terry Collins, former director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John Russo, who serves on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of the Death Penalty.

There's more information at the Ohioans to Stop Executions website.

Earlier coverage from Ohio begins at the link; you can jump to earlier news of the OTSE forums. 

Also available, news of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty, with links to the Final Report & Recommendations and the Dissenting Report of the Joint Task Force.

Roundup of OTSE Death Penalty Forums in Ohio

The Dayton Daily News reports, "Death penalty changes debated in Springfield," by Brett Turner.

State death penalty reform recommendations were discussed during a forum Thursday in Springfield.

The event, held at St. Teresa Catholic Church and sponsored by Ohioans to Stop Executions, focused on a series of 56 recommendations issued in May by the Ohio Supreme Court’s Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty.

While the recommendations wouldn’t eliminate the death penalty in Ohio, the panelists talked about ways the reforms could keep innocent people off death row. Springfield was one of several Ohio stops on the forum tour.

"Ex-Death Row Inmate Hopes His Story Will Reform Ohio Executions," is by Jim Heath for WNBS-TV.

 After 22 years in prison, Joe D'Ambrosio was thinking of the gurney he would be strapped to in just 72 hours.  He was set to be executed by the state of Ohio knowing he was innocent of murder charges. 

"It's literally over, no one wants to listen to the dead man walking," said D'Ambrosio.  "Once you're convicted, you're through.  If you don't have power, money or influence, and you get hooked into the system, you're done."

And:

After 22 years in prison, Joe D'Ambrosio was thinking of the gurney he would be strapped to in just 72 hours.  He was set to be executed by the state of Ohio knowing he was innocent of murder charges. 

"It's literally over, no one wants to listen to the dead man walking," said D'Ambrosio.  "Once you're convicted, you're through.  If you don't have power, money or influence, and you get hooked into the system, you're done."

WCMN-TV posts, "Death Penalty Comes Into Question In Ohio," by Mike Bowersock.

Earlier this year, the Ohio Supreme Court released a review on Ohio's death penalty.

None of the recommendations dealt with abolishing it but there were more than 50 recommendations to make it fair.

Tuesday night, some of the people involved with it spoke at a Columbus forum sponsored by Ohioans To Stop Executions.

"I see a change in public opinion mostly because of what we've been seeing nationally with what we see with DNA evidence," said Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Stephen McIntosh, who worked on the review.

 Earlier coverage from Ohio begins at the link. You can also jump to earlier news of the OTSE forums.  Also available, news of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty, with links to the Final Report & Recommendations and the Dissenting Report of the Joint Task Force.

Louisiana Commission Examines Death Penalty Costs

Today's New Orleans Times-Picayune reports, "Louisiana Legislature starts to look at death penalty costs," by Julia O'Donoghue.  Here's an extended excerpt from the beginning:

The Louisiana Legislature is looking into the cost associated with carrying out the death penalty in the state.

State Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, is heading up a new Capital Punishment Fiscal Impact Commission. The group's first meeting was Wednesday morning.

Louisiana doesn't have a well-researched estimate of how much it is spending on capital punishment trials and execution, according to Morrell. The commission's goal is to get an idea of what the overall price tag is for executions in the state.

The death penalty might be more expensive than the general public realizes. Inmates on death row are segregated from the main prison population and receive specialized care. Capital murder trials can also be much more expensive than regular murder cases.

Members of the commission include lawmakers, prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement, an auditor and staff members from nonprofit organizations. The group has been broken down into three subcommittees -- prosecution expenses, defense expenses and general Department of Corrections expenses.

The subcommittees will meet approximately once per month. The overall commission will meet once per quarter, according to Morrell. The group has to conclude its work by the end of 2015.

"Study commission looking at La. death penalty," is AP coverage, via WDSU-TV.

Morrell says he's looking for ways to streamline the process for dealing with capital cases and litigation that can stretch over decades. He says the data is critical to decision-making process.

But tensions were obvious at the opening meeting of the commission, which included people who support and oppose the death penalty, along with officials from the legislative auditor's office and the corrections department.

Louisiana's last execution was in 2010, and plans for the next lethal injection have been put on hold, amid an ongoing legal dispute about the drugs that will be used.

The legislative resolution establishing the Joint Capital Punishment Fiscal Impact Commission is at the link.

Earlier coverage from Louisiana begins at the link.  Related posts are in the cost and study commission category indexes.

Rethink Executions

That's the title of an editorial published in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.

As a result of the many doubts about the fairness of the death penalty, a bipartisan legislative panel has been reviewing the state's capital punishment system. Its leaders have urged that no executions occur until their report is ready - a sensible plea that so far has fallen on deaf ears in Harrisburg.

Fortunately, however, the logistical problems in carrying out lethal injections offer another chance for state leaders to do the right thing. That is, to enact a moratorium on executions, and continue the careful review that should make an ironclad case for outlawing capital punishment in Pennsylvania.

Earlier coverage from Pennsylvania begins at the link.

Ohio OpEd

Saturday's Columbus Dispatch published the OpEd, "Death-penalty examination was balanced," by James Brogan.

It is unfortunate that The Dispatch editorial board already has concluded that a good number of the recommendations made by Ohio’s death-penalty joint task force are “unworthy of serious consideration” (“Get a second opinion,” Dispatch editorial, June 5).

Shortly after the task force, of which I was the chairman, issued its report, the Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Committee issued its report adopting reforms very similar to those in Ohio’s report.

And:

In the task force’s dissenting report, the authors claim the task force was strongly influenced by a pro-defense majority with an agenda of death-penalty abolition, not fairness.

Note that law enforcement had twice as many representatives on the commission as did the defense. The task force’s largest contingent were judges, who are trained to approach matters in an even-handed manner.

The Final Report & Recommendations and the Dissenting Report of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty are available at the links.

Earlier coverage of Ohio's study commission begins at the link.  You can also jump to news of the Constitution Project's latest death penalty report.

What Will the Federal Review of the Death Penalty Look Like?

"Obama’s death penalty review risks backlash from the states," is by Benjamin Goad at the Hill.  Here's the beginning:

The generations-old debate over capital punishment has shifted to Washington, where President Obama’s Justice Department has launched a national review of the death penalty.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s inquiry, initiated last month following a mishandled execution in Oklahoma, is still in its early stages. The effort includes a look at state death penalty protocols, though its scope and ultimate implications are not yet clear.

But by ordering up the review, Obama is raising questions about what role, if any, the federal government should have on an issue that is traditionally the province of the states.

Earlier coverage of the Department of Justice review begins at the link.

Ohio Task Force Issues Final Report

The Final Report & Recommendations and the Dissenting Report of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty are available at the links.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "Supreme Court task force's final report proposes major reforms to Ohio's death-penalty system," by Jeremy Pelzer.

An Ohio Supreme Court task force has recommended sweeping changes to the state's capital punishment system in its long-awaited final report, released Wednesday.

The task force's 56 recommendations, which state policymakers likely won't act upon in the near future, include creating a panel under the Ohio attorney general that would have to approve death penalty charges before cases proceed, paying particular attention to racial factors.

The final report also called for eliminating the death penalty when the defendant suffers from "serious mental illness," as well as in cases of kidnapping, rape, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary.

It further recommended only allowing the death penalty in cases where the crime is proved via DNA evidence, a filmed confession, or other video footage.

Task force chairman James Brogan, a retired appeals court judge, said in a statement that the reforms, if implemented, "will improve the administration of capital punishment in Ohio."

"Death penalty task force calls for reforms," is by Alan Johnson of the Columbus Dispatch.

The Ohio Supreme Court Death Penalty Task Force wrapped up two years of work today, submitting a final report with 56 recommendations, including banning execution of the mentally ill, creating a statewide capital-litigation fund, requiring DNA or video evidence for a capital-murder conviction and reserving capital punishment for the “worst of the worst.”

Retired Judge James Brogan said in an accompanying letter that the 22-member task force was specifically instructed not to consider “the appropriateness of the death penalty as a punishment in Ohio.”

And:

In a dissenting report, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters, and Stephen Schumaker of Attorney General Mike DeWine's office, said the majority recommendations would “tie the death penalty system up in knots.”

"Death Penalty Task Force Releases Final Report," is by Chris Davey of Court News Ohio, via WOUB-FM.

A panel of 22 judges, lawyers, and policymakers that studied the death penalty in Ohio for more than two years today released its final report and recommendations designed to improve the system.

The report will now be reviewed by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and by the president of the Ohio State Bar Association and is being made available to the members of the Ohio General Assembly and interested parties. A copy of the report can be downloaded online.

The Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty was appointed by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and former Ohio State Bar Association President Carol Seubert Marx in September 2011 to review a 2007 report by the American Bar Association that had identified systemic problems with the administration of the death penalty in Ohio.

The appropriateness of the death penalty as a punishment in Ohio was never considered by the Joint Task Force.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio task force begins at the link.

Ohio Roundup

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "Proposed death penalty reforms will soon be before Ohio lawmakers, task force chairman says," by Jeremy Pelzer.

The chairman of Ohio’s death penalty task force said Monday he expects state lawmakers to promptly take up proposed reforms to the state's capital punishment system despite “hysterical” criticism from some prosecutors.

The task force’s final report, which is scheduled to be released in the next couple weeks, will likely include recommendations to limit when the death penalty could be sought and heighten the evidence requirements.

Many prosecutors and others on the task force have said the proposed changes, if implemented, would make it so hard to bring death-penalty cases that capital punishment would effectively be abolished in Ohio.

Task force chairman James Brogan, a retired Democratic appeals court judge who favors the death penalty, said in an interview that once the final report is released, he expects lawmakers will “quickly” introduce legislation to implement the recommendations.

"Death penalty system ‘broken’," is the Lima News report by William Laney.

For Joe D’Ambrosio. For Melinda Elkins-Dawson. For Charles Keith. Ohio’s administration of the death penalty is broken.

They each had the opportunity to tell their stories and Judge James A. Brogan took advantage of the chance to explain many of the 56 recommendations made by the Ohio Supreme Court’s Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty during a public forum Tuesday organized by Ohioans to Stop Executions.

D’Ambrosio spent 22 years on death row because the prosecutor, the police and the coroner’s office withheld exculpatory or impeachable evidence that would have proved his innocence.

“The system is broken and no matter what the task force does it is really just putting lipstick on a pig,” D’Ambrosio said. “You can’t fix something this broken. This may help, but it will not fix. It cannot fix something so messed up that they can take innocent lives and it means nothing to them. The funny thing is on the death certificate they put homicide so it is the same thing they are doing to you that they claimed you did.”

"Anti-death penalty group plans forums around Ohio," is the Associated Press report, via WBNS-TV.

The state's leading anti-death penalty group plans a series of forums to publicize the work of a Supreme Court panel that reviewed Ohio's capital punishment law.

The panel's upcoming final report includes recommendations that it says could reduce the role of race in capital punishment along with disparities in death cases by county.

Ohioans to Stop Executions planned an event Wednesday evening at the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Cincinnati following a similar event Tuesday in a different part of the state.

The Newark Advocate reports, "Ohio's death penalty on trial," by Benjamin Lanka.

Whether and how Ohio sentences its worst offenders to death soon will undergo some massive public scrutiny — and if preliminary reports are any indications, the opinions of the people involved are nowhere close.

A final report from a task force, created by the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio State Bar Association to review the state’s death penalty, is expected to be released this month. A draft report released in April revealed 56 recommendations intended to make the administration of the death penalty in Ohio more just, according to the majority of the group.

“The Joint Task Force believes that the recommendations made by this report will promote fairness in capital cases for both the state and the defendant,” the draft report read.

Also from Ohio, Alan Johnson writes, "Man spared death penalty is upset Kasich didn’t free him," for the Columbus Dispatch.

Arthur Tyler has life in prison, not the executioner, staring him in the face.

But the 54-year-old inmate is clearly bitter that Gov. John Kasich didn’t order his release when Kasich commuted his death sentence to life in prison.

“He took me from going home, or possibly going home, to life without parole. And I didn’t understand that because the parole board ruled to basically free me,” Tyler said on Monday in a videotaped interview distributed to Statehouse media.

“He snatched it away,” Tyler said. “It was devastating. But it is what it is. I just have to hope I someday still have a chance to go home.”

Tyler was scheduled to be executed on May 28 for the 1983 murder of Sander Leach, a Cleveland vegetable merchant. Having exhausted all his legal appeals, Tyler’s last hope was that Kasich would use his executive clemency power to save his life — which he did.

Tyler’s hopes for freedom had been buoyed by a unanimous Ohio Parole Board recommendation that he be freed on parole, immediately or in two years. The board voted 6-5 for immediate freedom, with five members opting for release in two years.

Earlier coverage of Arthur Tyler's commutation and the Ohio death penalty study commission, at the links.

Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial & OpEds

The Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer published the editorial, "It's time to review the death penalty."  There are infographics at the link.

The death penalty has long been controversial, but opinions are shifting. A solid majority of Americans still favor the death penalty, but it is a shrinking number. Just a generation ago, 78 percent favored capital punishment and only 18 percent opposed it, according to the Pew Research Center. That has shrunk to 55 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed.

The task force recommendations are not unanimous and a dissenting minority report from some of the prosecutors in the group, which includes Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, will be released. The final recommendations also need the review of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor.

The death penalty is the law in Ohio, but opinions are evolving. If reforms are made, they should be done to improve the public's trust that the law is being applied fairly, justly and impartially.

The Enquirer also publishes OpEds on the subject.  "The death penalty is unfair and should be eliminated," is by Bill Gallagher, a criminal defense attorney.

In 1981, Ohio reintroduced the death penalty as the ultimate punishment for what the law called "the worst of the worst" offenders. However, today's application of the death penalty has departed so far from the intent of the 1981 law that its own author, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer, now calls for its repeal.

A 2007 study by the American Bar Association underscores the massive failure of Ohio's death penalty. The study found Ohio fell short in 93 percent of the ABA's recommended guidelines for a fair and accurate death penalty system. To address Ohio's unacceptable inability to fairly apply and carry out the death penalty, a task force was formed by the Ohio Supreme Court and Ohio State Bar Association. Hamilton County's own prosecutor, Joe Deters, along with other legal experts were appointed and will soon release a report with 56 recommendations to make some incremental progress toward fairness in Ohio's death penalty.

"For 'worst of the worst' we seek ultimate punishment," is the OpEd by Joe Deters, the Hamilton County prosecutor.

The death penalty is a subject on which almost everyone seems to have a strongly held opinion.

People generally are either strongly in favor or strongly opposed to the death penalty.

However, it is the law in Ohio and as the elected prosecutor for Hamilton County, I will enforce it.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio death penalty study commission begins at the link.  Also available, more recent, unrelated, Ohio news.

More on the Ohio Study Commission Report & Recommendations

The Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio State Bar Association Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty has issued a draft of its Final Report and Recommendations.

A group of prosecutors have also released a draft minority report.  Both documents are via the Toledo Blade.

A round of stories today focuses on the prosecutors' minority report.

"Prosecutors criticize state death penalty review," is the AP report, via the Massillion Independent.

A committee that spent more than two years studying Ohio’s capital punishment law made several recommendations that are anti-death penalty, are one-sided and have a pro-defense bias, prosecutors said Tuesday in a dissenting report.

Many recommendations would tie the death-penalty system in knots, while others, such as those dealing with race, aren’t backed up by facts, according to the 49-page dissenting report.

One recommendation, for example, would require judges to report anyone in a death penalty case who “acted on the basis of race.”

"Prosecutors denounce death penalty task force report," is by Randy Ludlow for the Columbus Dispatch.

County prosecutors think that Ohio’s death-penalty laws and system “are already heavily tilted in favor of the defendant.”

Changes suggested by a majority of the Ohio Supreme Court Death Penalty Task Force would further tilt the system by protecting some suspects who deserve to die, argue prosecutors in Ohio’s three largest counties.

The Toledo Blade reports, "Execution panel labeled ‘off course’," by Jim Provance.

The task force, created two years ago by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and the Ohio State Bar Association, is wrapping up its final report to be released in May that will incorporate the objections of those who came out on the short end of votes for 56 recommendations the report will make.

Among the recommendations is taking execution off the table as an option if the defendant was severely mentally ill at the time of the crime or at the time of his scheduled execution. It calls for the end of so-called “felony murder,” crimes such as aggravated robbery, kidnapping, rape, and aggravated arson that can come with the death penalty attached if the victim dies in the process.

The task force also wants to open up elements of the state’s clemency process to more public scrutiny and would remove the death penalty as an option if the prosecutor relied on a jailhouse informant whose testimony was not corroborated by other evidence.

Not on the table for consideration by the 22-member task force under its original directive was the question of whether Ohio should have the death penalty in the first place. Nor was the panel permitted to consider a temporary moratorium on executions while such a review took place, something proposed by the American Bar Association several years ago.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio study commission begins at the link; also available, more recent, unrelated, Ohio news.

Continuing Coverage From Ohio

Today's Canton Repository publishes the editorial, "Death penalty report is good starting point."

A committee appointed more than two years ago by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor has made dozens of recommendations on how to change the state’s death penalty law. It was a contentious process, as anyone might have predicted. But the final report has done a good job of framing issues that state legislators and the public should weigh in on.

O’Connor created the 22-member committee after reviews by the Ohio State Bar Association and The Associated Press of death penalty cases revealed racial and other disparities from county to county.

And:

But the majority report released last week is an excellent starting point for a necessary statewide conversation about how Ohio and its 88 counties carry out their gravest responsibility.

"Ohio justice: Division over death penalty expected," is by AP Legal Affairs Writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins, via the Review.

Divisions were to be expected on a panel that spent more than two years studying capital punishment in the state, the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court said as the group wraps up its work.

The panel convened in 2011 by Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor finalized its recommendations last week and now awaits a dissenting report from prosecutors on the committee who disagreed with some proposals.

"There was going to be some really divisive topics and going to be diametrically opposed positions," O'Connor told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I'm not surprised. And I think it's healthy."

And:

Many of the proposals would require lawmakers' support, while others could be approved as Supreme Court rules. O'Connor said she hopes lawmakers take a comprehensive approach to any recommendations they consider.

Earlier coverage from Ohio begins at the link.

News Coverage of the Ohio Recommendations

The Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty's draft recommendations are at the link.

"Future is unclear for report on Ohio death penalty," is the AP report by Andrew Welsh-Huggins.  It's via the Tribune-Chronicle.

Ohio's capital punishment law would look much different if all recommendations from a committee studying it were put in place, death penalty supporters and opponents said Thursday while disagreeing with the proposals' ultimate impact.

The committee convened in 2011 by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor met Thursday to finalize its last report and 56 proposed changes.

All the recommendations could be put in place and capital punishment would remain in Ohio, but in a vastly reduced form, state Public Defender Timothy Young said.

"Ohio would still have capital punishment but I think it would be limited to the worst of the worst cases, which has always been the stated goal of the death penalty in the United States," Young said, a supporter of many of the proposals.

 "‘With these rules, you couldn’t execute Timothy McVeigh,’ argues task-force dissent," is by Alan Johnson in the Columbus Dispatch.

A deeply divided Ohio Supreme Court Death Penalty Task Force wrapped up two years of work yesterday, but odds are not all the sweeping recommendations will be adopted.

During a contentious four-hour final meeting, the committee approved 56 recommendations in a draft report — including banning execution of the mentally ill, creating a statewide capital-litigation fund, requiring DNA or video evidence for a capital-murder conviction and reserving capital punishment for the “worst of the worst” crimes.

But word that a dissenting minority report is being drafted by county prosecutors and Stephen Schumaker of Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office bogged down the discussion and triggered numerous arguments.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien was the most-outspoken critic, saying, “With these rules, you couldn’t execute Timothy McVeigh.” He was referring to the Oklahoma City bomber who was prosecuted in the crime’s 168 deaths and executed by the federal government.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "Prosecutors object! Supreme Court task force's recommendations could end use of death penalty in Ohio, they say," by Robert Higgs.

Prosecutors on a task force evaluating Ohio’s death penalty say recommendations the panel is considering would effectively curtail use of capital punishment in Ohio.

Abolishing the death penalty was not the goal of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty, said Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien. But the recommendations it is considering could effectively make capital cases so difficult that prosecutors won’t pursue them.

O’Brien is part of a group that intends to present a dissent to the recommendations, perhaps by next week. Others include representatives for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty and Hamilton County’s Joseph Deters.

"Panel advises slashing list of capital offenses," by Jim Provance of the Toledo Blade.

Some of the recommendations would require legislative action, far from a sure thing. Others could be accomplished through change in judicial rules adopted by the Supreme Court.

The death penalty itself was never on trial. A moratorium on carrying out executions during the review process was also not considered.

Instead, the task force concentrated on the application of capital punishment in Ohio, when it would and would not be appropriate, the long-term preservation of evidence, and racial and geographic disparities in its implementation.

The 22-member task force — consisting of judges, legislators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and members of law enforcement and academics — was not unanimous in support of all 56 recommendations. A separate dissenting report from some members, in particular prosecutors, is expected to follow.

"Panel urges changes to Ohio's death penalty guidelines," is by Marc Kovac of Dix News, via the Alliance Review.

Members on Thursday reviewed more than 50 recommendations during a meeting in Columbus, debating the format and content of the resulting report.

Among other recommendations, the panel is urging that the death penalty only be considered or imposed in cases where there is biological or DNA evidence, a confession, recorded evidence that definitively links a defendant to a crime or other factors offered by the general assembly in developing related law changes.

The death penalty, members say, should not be considered for individuals who are suffering from a serious mental illness, or permitted in cases that rely on the testimony of jailhouse informants.

The task force also is recommending removing kidnap, rape, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary from the list of capital case specifications. The report notes that such charges "result in death verdicts 7 percent of the time or less when charged as a death penalty case."

Additional language calls for increased care in the handling, preservation and availability of biological or DNA evidence and required recordings of interrogations.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio study commission begins at the link.  Also available, more at the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website.

Ohio Task Force Making Recommendations

"Report includes restrictions on Ohio death penalty," is one report by AP Legal Affairs Writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins.  It's via the Fremont News Messenger.

Prosecutors would need much stronger evidence against a murder defendant before bringing death penalty charges under recommendations proposed by a statewide capital punishment review committee.

The panel that spent more than two years studying changes to Ohio’s death penalty law proposes that capital charges require biological or DNA evidence or a videotaped confession.

The committee convened by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor planned to meet today to review its final report and 56 total recommendations.

Most of the proposals would need legislative approval with support uncertain in what remains a death penalty-friendly state.

The 71-page draft report obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday also proposes eliminating cases where an aggravated murder was committed during a burglary, robbery or rape and banning the execution of the mentally ill.

An earlier version of the AP filing is, "Ohio committee recommends restrictions in death penalty," also by Welsh-Huggins, via the Akron Beacon Journal.

Several of the committee’s recommendations would need legislative approval, with support uncertain in what remains a death penalty-friendly state.

Among the recommendations, the report proposes:

• Pass a law banning the use of the death penalty unless prosecutors have biological or DNA evidence linking the defendant to the crime, a videotaped, voluntary confession; or a video recording that “conclusively links” the defendant to the killing.

• Ban death penalty charges where prosecutors used testimony from jailhouse snitches that was not independently verified at the time a jury is weighing the sentence.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio Study Commission begins at the link.  Also available, more on the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website.

Idaho Death Penalty Cost Report Issued

Financial Costs of the Death Penalty is the report issued by the Idaho Legislature's Office of Performance Evaluations.  A one-page Hightlghts of the Report is also available.

"Death penalty expense report: Idaho's death penalty more expensive than life without parole," is the AP report filed by Rebecca Boone, via the Tribune.

But the Office of Performance Evaluations also found that the state's criminal justice agencies don't collect enough data to determine the total cost of the death penalty. Hannah Crumrine and Tony Grange presented the report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee Wednesday morning.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter wrote a letter responding to the report, stating he believes state agencies have been diligent in accounting for and containing their costs. Otter wrote that though the report raises the question of whether tax dollars are spent wisely on capital punishment, he continues to support the death penalty laws.

Idaho has executed three people since 1977.

Earlier coverage from Idaho begins at the link. Related posts are in the cost and study commission category indexes.

Nevada Supreme Court Ruling

The Nevada Supreme Court Unpublished Orders in Marshall v. State and Burns v. State are available in Adobe .pdf format.

"Legislative study of death penalty doesn’t negate capital-punishment cases, justices rule," is by Cy Ryan of the Las Vegas Sun.

The Nevada Supreme Court has denied the petitions of two Las Vegas men who want their death penalty trials stopped because of a legislative study on the cost of capital punishment.

The court said nothing in the legislative bill “expressly or implicitly precludes the state from seeking the death penalty or the court imposing the death penalty in capital cases commenced before or after the bill's effective date.”

The court also said the Legislature not including any money for a new death chamber was no reason to prohibit death penalty cases from going forward in court.

Additionally, the court said, there is nothing in the bill’s legislative history to suggest it imposes a moratorium on prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.

The petitions were filed in behalf of Prentice Marshall and David Burns.

The two men asked the court also to delay their death penalty trials until after the 2015 Legislature meets and considers the cost study. The Legislature refused to allocate money for a new death chamber at the prison in Ely. But prison officials maintain any execution orders can be carried out at the state’s now-shuttered old prison in Carson City.

Earlier coverage from Nevada begins at the link; also available, more on the Nevada Study Commission.

Missouri & the Means of Execution

Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, "Legislators want answers on Missouri's death penalty," by Jeremy Kohler.

As Missouri prepares for its third execution in three months, state legislators are taking an interest in claims that the Department of Corrections used an unlicensed pharmacy to make its lethal injection drugs and executed a prisoner before his appeals ran out.

The issue is so pressing that a state legislative committee scheduled a hearing on executions for today, but canceled the hearing late Monday after learning that the director of the department would not appear.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, chairman of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability, said last week that the charges were serious enough that “somebody ought to be asking questions in an official capacity at a public hearing.”

On Monday, Barnes said: “It’s disappointing the director would not testify at this time.”

He said Lombardi’s promise to testify at a later date was sufficient and said “that’s how this committee works.”

And:

Two recent executions have fueled death penalty opponents’ arguments that lethal injections carry the risk of being cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the 8th Amendment.

In Oklahoma on Jan. 9, Michael Lee Wilson cried out “I feel my whole body burning” as he was given an injection that included pentobarbital. And in Ohio on Jan. 16, Dennis McGuire appeared to struggle and gasp as he was put to death by an untested mix of drugs that did not include pentobarbital.

“We are seeing renewed controversy,” said Deborah W. Denno, a professor at Fordham Law School and a death penalty expert. “States are running out of options. They could try new drugs, but every time they do that, they run into problems.”

"Missouri House panel cancels hearing on execution protocols because of director's absence," is AP coverage, via the Tribune.

Committee Chairman Jay Barnes says he called off Tuesday's hearing after learning that Department of Corrections Director George Lombardi was not going to attend it.

It wasn't immediately clear why Lombardi wasn't going to be there.

Barnes says he didn't want a one-sided hearing and hopes to reschedule at a later date.

The House Government Oversight and Accountability Committee was to look into concerns that the department is obtaining its execution drug from a compounding pharmacy in Oklahoma that's not licensed in Missouri.

Barnes says he also wants to examine how the department determines that all legal appeals are exhausted before carrying out executions.

"Shortage of Execution Drugs Puts Focus on Firing Squads," is by CBS News, via OzarksFirst.

The debate over lethal injections was reignited on Thursday when an inmate gasped and convulsed violently during his execution in Ohio as the state used a two-drug method for the first time in the United States.

Rick Brattin said Friday the controversy over lethal injections forces families of murder victims to wait too long for justice so he introduced his bill Thursday to add "firing squad" as an execution option.

"A lot of folks may picture the 1850s and everyone lining up to shoot, but the reality is that people suffer with every type of death," said Brattin, a Republican. "This is no less humane than lethal injection."

Missouri, which is scheduled to execute an inmate in late January, uses lethal injection by statute and permits execution by gas, a method it has not used since 1965.

The United States has executed more than 1,300 prisoners since it resumed the death penalty in the 1970s, nearly 1,200 by lethal injection. Only Utah has used firing squads, executing three inmates that way since 1977, the last in 2010.

Brattin's bill follows a measure Republican Wyoming state Senator Bruce Burns introduced earlier this month to add firing squad as an execution option for the state if drugs are not available.

 On Sunday, the Kansas City Star published the editorial, "States must rethink capital punishment."

Kansas is holding hearings on a bill to repeal its death penalty law. Missouri should do the same.

Unfortunately, two Missouri lawmakers have filed a bill authorizing prisoners to be executed by a firing squad. That is a reprehensible suggestion that should not receive so much as a committee hearing.

States should not become executioners. Life in prison without parole protects society without making citizens complicit in a wrong.

Kansas City Star columnist Yael T. Abouhalkah writes, "Ready, aim, fire: Missouri’s execution squad plan deserves a shot."

True, no other state routinely uses firing squads. Very few people have been executed that way in the history of the country.

Yet Missouri still has the barbaric death penalty in place. It uses lethal drugs — now obtained in questionable, possibly illegal ways — to execute people.

It once used a gas chamber to murder these criminals.

What, in the end, is so much more barbaric about using a firing squad to kill them?

And:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, Democrats are trotting out an idea to study how the state carries out the death penalty, given the recent controversy over the use of lethal drugs.

Correctly, some of them want to get rid of Missouri’s death penalty.

"Missouri Death-Row Inmate: State Improperly Stored Drug," is an AP report filed by Alan Scher Zagier, via Pharmaceutical Processing.  It's also available from the Houston Chronicle.

Missouri's prison system is improperly storing expired doses of a new lethal injection drug provided by an Oklahoma pharmacy not licensed to do business in Missouri, attorneys for a death row inmate facing execution this month said in a complaint filed Friday.

Attorneys for Herbert Smulls have asked the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy to recall an "expired, unsafe" batch of the sedative pentobarbital provided to Missouri by an unidentified Oklahoma compounding pharmacy. The complaint says the pharmacy gave erroneous instructions to store the drug at room temperature, a violation of accepted pharmaceutical standards.

Defense attorney Cheryl Pilate said David Dormire, a top Missouri Department of Corrections official who oversees its 21 prisons, testified in a Wednesday deposition that he is keeping the compounded pentobarbital in his office until Smull's scheduled Jan. 29 execution. Industry standards say such drugs should only be used within 24 to 48 hours when kept at room temperature, Pilate said. Smulls was convicted of killing a St. Louis County jeweler in 1991.

"They are dangerously indifferent to widely recognized and accepted standards for the proper storage of compounded drugs," Pilate said.

Department director George Lombardi and a spokesman for the Missouri Department Corrections did not immediately respond to interview requests. Calls to the Oklahoma regulatory agency were directed to a compliance officer who is out of the office until next week.

"Missouri bill would allow execution using firing squad," is by Alex Stuckey in the Saturday edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Currently, the state puts inmates to death through injection of a lethal drug, although the current law also allows for gas — the method by which 39 people were executed from 1938 to 1965.

The House bill adds the option of firing squad executions consisting of five law enforcement officers chosen by the state corrections director.

And:

A lawmaker in Wyoming also is pushing for firing-squad executions in case constitutional problems or other issues ever prevent the state from using execution by injection.

"State Considers Execution By Firing Squad," by Chris Gentilviso at Huffington Post.

One day after a controversial lethal injection case in Ohio put the death penalty in crosshairs, another set of state lawmakers have proposed legislation that would allow execution by firing squad.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported Friday that Missouri's HB 1470 puts that option on the table. State Rep. Paul Fitzwater (R-Potosi) told the paper that he cosponsored the legislation with the victims in mind.

“People look at inmates who will be executed as victims,” Fitzwater said. “But the real victims have no voice because they are gone.”

You can find more on House Bill 1470 at the link.

Earlier coverage from Missouri and the Wyoming firing squad proposal, at the links.  You can also jump to Ohio coverage.

Missouri Legislation Would Set Moratorium for Study Commission Review

MissouriNet posts, "Bill proposes moratorium on, study of state executions," written by Mike Lear.

Some state lawmakers want executions in Missouri put on hold until questions are answered about how they are being carried out.

Representative John Rizzo (D-Kansas City) has proposed that an 11-member commission be appointed to study those same issues, and he wants executions halted through the end of this year or until that commission’s work is complete, whichever comes first.

“I want them to look into some of the pharmaceuticals that are being used … how they’re being acquired. I’d like for them to look into the most recent execution of a person that in my opinion was still in the (legal) process but then was executed.”

The issues Rizzo cites are the same ones that will be looked into by the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability when it meets Tuesday. It will ask how the Corrections Department determines whether a condemned man has exhausted all of his constitutional appeals. Judge Kermit Bye, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that Missouri executed Allan Nicklasson December 11, “before the federal courts had a final say on whether doing so violated the federal Constitution.”

"Lawmakers Call for Full Review of Lethal Injection Protocol," is from KRCG-TV News.

One of the state's top-ranking house Democrats filed a measure Monday to review Missouri's lethal injection protocols and put executions on hold while the review takes place.

House Minority Whip John Rizzo, D-Kansas City, told KRCG 13 he wants legislators to investigate, among other things, whether Missouri's use of an out-of-state compounding pharmacy to mix its execution drugs is a violation of state law, something State Auditor Tom Schweich announced Monday he is already looking into. He said he does not intend his measure to effect broad changes to the state's capital punishment statutes.

"There might be honest-to-goodness reasons that are good and forthright," he said. "If there are, we'd like to hear them. We just would like to add more transparency."

Under Rizzo's proposal, an eleven-person commission, including two Democratic and two Republican lawmakers, a county prosecutor, the attorney general and two doctors, would study all aspects of lethal injection in the state, ranging from the source of the drugs used in executions to challenges to injections to the effectiveness of the drugs used. All executions would be halted while the commission conducted its review. His proposal states the commission's purpose "shall not extend to reevaluating the policy decisions of the general assembly in enacting a death penalty nor the means chosen by the general assembly in implementing the state's death penalty."

And:

 

House Corrections Committee chair Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, whose district includes the Potosi Correctional Center where executions are carried out, told KRCG 13 he was open to a review of how lethal injection is used. He said he would be happy to give Rizzo's proposal a hearing if it is assigned to his committee.

 

Obviously, there are some questions that need to be answered and this might be a good time to do it," he said.

Earlier coverage from Missouri begins at the link.

News of the Pennsylvania Study Commission

Pittsburgh public radio WESA-FM reports, "PA Task Force Delays Deadline For Possible Death Penalty Reforms."  It's by Kevin Gavin.  Here's an extended excerpt:

The Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment is nearing the end of a two-year comprehensive study of all aspects of the death penalty. 

“No one has ever done this before in Pennsylvania,” said state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery), whose legislation created the commission. 

The Penn State Justice Center for Research, the Inter-branch Commission on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness and the Joint State Government Commission are researching all aspects of capital punishment for the task force. They were supposed to report findings and make recommendations this month but have asked for an extension to spring to complete what Greenleaf calls a “very laborious and time-consuming” process, which involves examining death penalty cases in every county of the state.

Three prisoners have been executed in the commonwealth since 1976, two in 1995 and the other in 1999.  During that same 37-year period, 1,352 prisoners were put to death in the U.S.

Greenleaf said the researchers are looking at policies, procedures and impact of the death penalty including whether it’s being applied disproportionately based on race.

“They’re having primary concerns themselves with statutory aggravators and mitigators; they’re the factors that come into play when a jury decides whether they give the death penalty or not,” Greenleaf said.

Of the 189 inmates on Pennsylvania’s death row, 101 are black — 53 percent. Louisiana has the highest rate of blacks on death row at 70 percent. Nationwide, 41 percent of those awaiting execution are black.

Earlier coverage from Pennsylvania begins at the link.  You can also jump to a post on the Pennsylvania Task Force.  Related posts are in the study commission category index.

News Coverage of Ohio Task Force Meeting

"Group wants to exclude severely mentally ill from death penalty," is by  Alan Johnson for the Columbus Dispatch.

People suffering from severe mental illness who commit murder should be excluded from the death penalty, a state task force studying capital punishment recommended yesterday.

The task force doesn’t want people with severe mental illness to go unpunished. But the panel will urge the General Assembly to pass a law preventing a death sentence from being handed down on someone with a diagnosable, severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, at the time he or she commits the crime.

The Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty is a creation of the Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio State Bar Association.

Despite yesterday’s recommendation, there is a deep divide among task force members about what constitutes serious mental illness and whether the current legal system does an adequate job of screening for it.

And:

Terry Russell, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Ohio, said such action is long overdue. He began advocating for a mental-illness exclusion in 1999 when Wilford Berry, who struggled with serious mental illness his entire life, became the first Ohioan to be executed in 36 years.

“We knew this man was severely mentally disabled,” Russell said. “It is inhumane to execute someone like that.”

AP coverage is, "Panel: Weigh mental state in capital cases," by Andrew Welsh-Huggins.  It's via the Martins Ferry Times Leader.

Lawmakers should debate taking the death penalty off the table for killers with serious mental illness even before they're charged, under a recommendation approved Thursday by a committee examining capital punishment in the state.

Mental illness has long been a factor in deciding whether someone should be executed in Ohio, but the new proposal deals with eliminating it as an option upfront.

The proposal, approved 15-2 by the Ohio Supreme Court task force, recommends that lawmakers take up the question once the committee issues its final report early next year.

Cleveland appeals court Judge Kathleen Keough called it "an issue of common decency."

"A person suffering from serious mental illness should not be subject to the death penalty," Keough said.

The concept is a long way from becoming law. The recommendation first would need legislation, and that would be followed by a long debate in the General Assembly over the definition of serious mental illness.

And:

Cleveland defense attorney John Parker, chairman of the subcommittee that made the mental illness recommendation, said members of his committee felt it was time to put the issue before lawmakers.

Many members of the task force, which includes defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges and lawmakers, were skeptical of the concept but agreed to recommend its consideration.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio Task Force meeting begins at the link; also available, other Ohio coverage.

More information is at the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website.

Ohio Death Penalty Commission Meeting Today

"Execution of mentally ill is issue for task force," is Alan Johnson's report in today's Columbus Dispatch.  Here's an extended excerpt.  If you are interested in mental health or Ohio issues, I would recommend reading the entire article.

Inmates diagnosed with serious mental illness could not be executed under a recommendation being considered by a state death-penalty task force.

A host of other recommendations, including requiring audio- or videotaping of all Ohio Parole Board clemency proceedings, are on the agenda at today’s meeting of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty. The multiagency panel was established by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and the Ohio State Bar Association.

A subcommittee voted 5-0-1 that the full task force should urge state legislators to pass a law to “exclude from eligibility for the death penalty defendants who suffer from ‘serious mental’ illness at the time of the crime.” The recommendation relies heavily on the legal opinion of former Ohio Supreme Court Judge Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, a longtime advocate for the mentally ill who left the court at the end of 2011.

Stratton testified at the committee’s June meeting about mental illness and the death penalty. The task force also cited Stratton’s opinion in a 2011 murder case in which she said the “time had come to re-examine whether we as a society should administer the death penalty to a person with a serious mental illness.”

She noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against executing the mentally disabled and juveniles but has not dealt with the mentally ill.

Stratton said that “the line should be drawn by the General Assembly, not by a court.” And that line would determine exactly what constitutes a “serious” mental illness.

Mental Health America, a national group, estimates that up to 10 percent of all U.S. Death Row inmates have severe mental illness.

And:

The task force also will look at recommendations to record all parole board clemency proceedings, expand jury pools to include licensed drivers as well as registered voters, and require judges to give jury instructions in “plain English” so they are more easily understood.

The task force, which convened nearly two years ago, will wrap up its meetings in November and begin drafting a final report to the governor and state legislators.

AP coverage is, "Ohio death penalty review panel to meet again," via the Huntington Herald-Dispatch.

The committee examining capital punishment in Ohio and reviewing possible changes to the state's death penalty law is ready to meet again.

The task force convened by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor is starting to wind up its work despite divisions over the role that geography and race play in determining who becomes eligible for the death penalty.

The committee, which meets Thursday in Columbus, recently proposed restricting the use of capital punishment by eliminating cases where an aggravated murder was committed during a burglary, robbery or rape.

Any such change would require lawmakers' approval.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio commission begins at the link; other Ohio coverage begins with the preceding post.

More information is at the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website.

Ohio Joint Task Force - Update

"Ohio death penalty review panel to meet again," from the AP, via Martins Ferry Times Leader.  

The committee examining capital punishment in Ohio and reviewing possible changes to the state's death penalty law is ready to meet again. 

The task force convened by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor is divided on issues involving the role that geography and race play in determining who becomes eligible for the death penalty. 

The committee, which meets Thursday in Columbus, recently proposed restricting the use of capital punishment by eliminating cases where an aggravated murder was committed during a burglary, robbery or rape. 

But some members who oppose such a change, including prosecutors on the panel, weren't present for that vote and others. 

Any major recommendation would need legislative approval, which is not guaranteed in what remains a death penalty friendly state. 

More information is at the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website.

Earlier coverage of the Joint Task Force's work is at the link; also available, more recent capital news from Ohio.

Ohio Roundup

There is news coverage on two recent Ohio developments.

"Billy Slagle suicide prompts call for execution moratorium," is Alan Johnson's post at the Columbus Dispatch Daily Briefing blog.

The Ohioans to Stop Executions death penalty abolition group today urged Gov. John Kasich to issue a moratorium on executions "to stop the futile and ineffective system of death in Ohio."

Revelations about the case of Billy Slagle, who committed suicide on Death Row on Sunday, show the death penalty is a "broken, arcane system that continues to allow unconscionable mistakes by lawyers involved," said the group chaired by the Rev. Will H. Mebane.

And:

The organization said Kasich granted clemency to convicted killer John Eley as a result of a previous plea deal. Eley is now serving life without the possibiity of parole.

However, in Slagle's case, Kasich was unaware of the plea deal until it was too late to act.

Earlier coverage of Billy Slagle's case and suicide begins at the link.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the case of Ronald Post, "Death of obese Ohio inmate escalates death penalty debate," by Benjamin Mueller.

The details of this unusual capital case are being scrutinized at a critical time: A joint task force established by the state bar association and the Ohio Supreme Court is examining the death penalty and has already begun proposing reforms.

Critics of the current system say Post was a symbol of the inequities that can cement an inmate’s death sentence.

“It’s another example of the way in which the death penalty system isn’t working,” said Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. “It highlights the question of whether people’s resources and representation determine the outcome of capital cases.”

Post, whose death was called “expected” by a state prisons spokeswoman, was scheduled to be executed on Jan. 16, 2013. Kasich granted him clemency in December on the grounds that his defense had been botched. Experts say his lawyers failed to introduce mitigating evidence, let Post take a polygraph test with a biased contractor, and had him plead no contest without negotiating with prosecutors to rule out the death penalty.

Earlier coverage of Ronald Post's case begins at the link.

Also available from Ohio, coverage of the Joint Task Force meetings.

No Kansas Cost Audit

"Lawmaker Proposes Audit of Death Penalty Costs," is the (somewhat misleading) headline of a KCUR-FM, Kansas Public Radio, report by Stephen Koranda.

The Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit will not be analyzing the costs of the state death penalty, at least for now.

The committee overseeing the division decided not to pursue Representative Steven Becker's request for an audit of the practice. Becker is a Republican from Buhler and a retired district court judge. He has introduced legislation to repeal the death penalty.

Becker says Kansas should determine how much capital cases cost the state and local governments, and how much money could be saved by eliminating the death sentence as a punishment option.

“The cost is one of the big issues and all we’ll be able to say is ‘this is what it was 10 years ago.’ I would like to be able to say ‘this is what it is now.’”

The Topeka Capital-Journal posts the AP filing, "Audit of Kansas death penalty rejected."

A Kansas legislator who opposes capital punishment won’t get the study he wants of the costs of the death penalty.

House Republican Steven Becker is a retired trial judge from Buhler. He has introduced legislation to repeal the death penalty statute and sought an audit of its costs.

And:

The committee’s vice chair, Sen. Jeff Longbine, says there aren’t enough resources to approve all requested audits. But Longbine also says a death penalty audit could be considered in the future.

Kansas has not performed any executions since reinstating capital punishment in 1994.

Earlier coverage of Kansas death penalty costs and legislation begins at the link; also available, more recent case information from Kansas.

An Update on George Ryan

"Ex-Governor George Ryan released from home confinement 1 day early," is by Jason Knowles of WLS-TV.

Former Gov. George Ryan has been released from home confinement.

Ryan was freed from federal custody on Wednesday-- one day before his scheduled parole date of July 4th.

Ryan, 79, was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison in 2007, but his sentence was reduced for good behavior. He served more than five years in federal prison before being placed on home confinement in January.

While he was occasionally allowed to leave his Kankakee home during the past five months, a release from home confinement makes Ryan a free man. The Republican is still on probation.

"Former Ill. Gov. George Ryan released from custody," is the AP filing via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan is officially a free man.

The 79-year-old spent more than five years in prison for corruption, and in January he was moved to home confinement.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke says Ryan was released Wednesday morning, a day ahead of schedule.

In 2000, while he was Governor of Illinois, he imposed a moratorium on executions in the state and appointed a blue ribbon commission to examine the state's application of capital punishment. The Report of the Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment was issued in 2002, containing 85 specific recommendations ranging from law enforcement investigative techniques through the clemency process.  In 2003, Ryan commuted the sentences of everyone on Illinois' death row.  Successive governors kept the Ryan-imposed moratorium in place.

On March 9, 2011, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the legislation that repeal the state's death penalty.

George Ryan re-engaged the American conversation on the efficacy and morality of capital punishment in the post-Furman age.

Earlier news of George Ryan begins at the link.

An Update From Ohio

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "Task force urges state panel be created to evaluate death penalty prosecutions," by Robert Higgs.

A state task force is recommending that Ohio create a panel under the state attorney general that would review potential death penalty cases before prosecutors could take them to trial.

Under current Ohio law, the power to decide when to pursue the death penalty rests in the hands of individual county prosecutors.

But the recommendation by the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty would give the new panel authority to disapprove death penalty charges.

The recommendation is an attempt to address disparities in death penalty prosecutions in Ohio, said Ohio Public Defender Timothy Young, who chaired a subcommittee that drafted the recommendation.

And:

Once a prosecutor made a decision, the panel -- made up of staff from the attorney general’s office and former county prosecutors appointed by the governor -- would review that decision.

It would look at the circumstances of the case, giving particular consideration to the races of those charged and the victims, said Jo Ellen Cline, government relations counsel to the Ohio Supreme Court and the court’s liaison to the joint task force.

“It would be a significant change in how things operate now,” Cline said.

The task force’s recommendation has a long way to go before it could become reality. It likely will be late in the year before the task force finishes its work, and some recommendations, including this one, would require legislative action to change state law.

Given that, not all of the details on how the panel would work, or if a prosecutor would have some recourse if opposed to the panel’s decision, are not nailed down. That specificity would likely come from the General Assembly, Cline said.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio task force begins at the link.  More information is at the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website.

Nevada Cost Study Progresses

"Death penalty audit clears Nev. Senate panel," is the AP report by Sandra Chereb, via the Nevada Appeal.

A bill requiring a study on the cost of the death penalty in Nevada cleared a state Senate committee Tuesday on a party-line vote, with Republicans raising concerns the study is a veiled attempt to abolish capital punishment.

The Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections endorsed AB444, with Sens. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, and Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, opposed.

Assemblyman James Ohrenschall, a prime sponsor of the bill, said the goal is to give legislators a thorough analysis on how much it costs Nevada taxpayers to keep the death penalty.

Backers of the bill note that condemned inmates typically remain on death row for decades as countless appeals wind through the courts. Most die in prison or are executed only when they volunteer for lethal injection.

There are 83 people on Nevada’s death row. The last execution was in 2006 and none is imminent.

And:

A similar bill was vetoed in 2011 by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who said it lacked specifics to ensure the result would be fair.

Earlier coverage from Nevada begins at the link.

Ohio Task Force Plans to Conclude Work This Year

"Judge: OH death penalty review concludes this year," is the AP report, via WTVG-TV.

The chairman of a state Supreme Court task force analyzing the effectiveness of Ohio's capital punishment law says the committee should plan to conclude its work this year.

Chairman James Brogan also said he expects two reports from the committee, one from a majority backing recommendations, the other from a minority of members with different views. Brogan is a retired state appeals court judge from Dayton.

The committee continued its work Thursday in Columbus as it heard presentations on ways to measure the effect of race on capital cases.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor has convened the task force while making it clear it won't debate whether the state should have the death penalty. The group includes judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and academic experts.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio Task Force begins at the link.  The Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website has additional information and future meeting dates.

Another Texas Execution Date Withdrawn

Today's El Paso Times reports, "Execution date for El Pasoan on death row delayed."  It's by Adriana M. Chávez.

The execution of an El Paso man convicted in the 2000 beating death of his girlfriend's 19-month-old son has been delayed for a second time.

Rigoberto Avila Jr., 40, had been scheduled to be put to death next week. His execution was originally scheduled for Dec. 12.

In 2001, Avila was sentenced to death by the same El Paso jury that convicted him in the death of Nicholas Macias, who was fatally beaten while Avila was baby-sitting Nicholas and his sibling on Feb. 29, 2000.

Following a court hearing Tuesday morning, 41st District Judge Anna Perez ruled additional time is necessary to allow Avila's defense attorney, Cathryn Crawford of the Texas Defender Service, to explore possible new evidence of Avila's innocence. Perez also ordered that Avila's execution be rescheduled for July 10.

Perez had originally denied a motion by Crawford last week seeking to delay Avila's execution, but on Monday Crawford asked Perez to reconsider her ruling.

Related posts are in the execution date and stay of execution category indexes.  Earlier this week a Dallas County execution date was modified.

Delaware Senate to Consider Repeal Bill Today

"DELAWARE: Senate to vote today on repealing death penalty," is the AP report, via Delmarva Now.

The state Senate is set to vote on a bill repealing Delaware's death penalty and sparing 17 killers already on death row.

The measure cleared a Senate committee last week and was scheduled for a vote by the full Senate on Tuesday.

Supporters of the bill argue that the death penalty is morally wrong, racially discriminatory, ineffective as a deterrent to violent crime and far more costly than putting killers in prison for life. They also point to cases in other states where condemned killers have later been exonerated.

The Cape Gazette reports, "Senate to consider SB 19, March 26," by Kara Nuzback.

Senate Bill 19 would remove all language related to execution from the Delaware code, ending the death penalty statewide.  Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole would become the ultimate punishment for first-degree murder.

The Senate Executive Committee voted 4-2 to release the bill to the Senate floor, March 20, after two hours of testimony mostly in favor of repeal.  Three of the six committee members – Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson, R-Milford; Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East; and Sen. Harris McDowell, D-Wilmington North – are sponsors of the bill.

SB 19 has a total of 17 bipartisan sponsors.

And:

The Senate is scheduled to consider SB 19 Tuesday, March 26.

There are 21 members in the Delaware Senate.

Today's Wilmington News Journal publishes the OpEd, "Why this police officer wants to end death penalty.  It's by James Abbott, West Orange, N.J. police chief, who served on the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission.  Here'a an extended excerpt from the beginning:

In 2007, New Jersey’s legislature and governor replaced the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole. No state had legislatively abolished its death penalty in more than 40 years, but since then New Mexico, Illinois and Connecticut followed suit. Our close neighbor Maryland just passed legislation to abandon its death penalty. Now I hear that Delaware is considering a bill to end capital punishment as well.

I want to share the view from where I sit: I am the police chief of West Orange, N.J., an older suburban town adjacent to Newark, where we see our share of violent crime. I am a proud Republican who has long supported the death penalty.

I have dedicated my life to protecting the public and making our streets safer. And I put my life on the line every time I go to work. Believe me, sympathy for killers is nowhere in my vocabulary.

In 2006, the New Jersey Legislature set up a study commission to decide what to do with the death penalty. The capital punishment system was broken; some people wanted to fix it, while others wanted to abolish it.

I was asked to join the commission and help decide what to do. I pledged to keep an open mind, but I always supported the death penalty, and I didn’t expect that to change. If there were fixes we could recommend to make it work better, I figured I could support that.

I was wrong.

I no longer believe you can fix the death penalty. Six months of study opened my eyes to its shocking reality. I learned that the death penalty throws millions of dollars down the drain – money that I could be putting directly to work fighting crime every day – while dragging victims’ families through a long and torturous process that only exacerbates their pain.

I want to share what I learned from the families whose loved ones were lost, because I believe their untold stories are the shameful, hidden secret of the death penalty.

Earlier coverage from Delaware begins at the link.  More on SB 19, via the Delaware General Assembly.  Audio of the Senate session will be available at the Delaware General Assembly website.

Ohio Wants Doctors to Assist with Executions

That's the title of Andrew Welsh-Huggins' AP report on yesterday's meeting of the oint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty.  It's via the Canton Repository.

Doctors and other medical professionals should be allowed to help put condemned inmates to death to promote “a humane execution” and state law should be changed to protect them from professional sanctions if they offer such assistance, the lawyer for Ohio’s prisons agency said Thursday.

Legislation may also be needed to protect pharmacies that might mix a supply of Ohio’s execution drug, and without such a law the state might not be able to obtain execution drugs in the future, said Gregory Trout, general counsel for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Trout made the surprise announcements to a state Supreme Court committee considering changes to Ohio’s death penalty law. It’s unclear if either issue is something the committee would deal with. Trout said he felt both were important enough to bring to the committee’s attention.

He didn’t say when the agency might request such legislation and the prisons department declined to comment further.

And:

The Ohio State Medical Association said Thursday it wouldn’t support any law shielding physicians from professional sanctions or otherwise requiring physicians to participate in executions. It said it follows the American Medical Association’s prohibition on doctors helping with capital punishment.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court task force also discussed prosecutors’ proposals to require that lawyers representing death penalty clients would have to extensively document their time and track their reasons for calling or not calling particular witnesses.

Earlier coverage from Ohio begins at the link.

Doctors and other medical professionals should be allowed to help put condemned inmates to death to promote “a humane execution” and state law should be changed to protect them from professional sanctions if they offer such assistance, the lawyer for Ohio’s prisons agency said Thursday.

Legislation may also be needed to protect pharmacies that might mix a supply of Ohio’s execution drug, and without such a law the state might not be able to obtain execution drugs in the future, said Gregory Trout, general counsel for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Trout made the surprise announcements to a state Supreme Court committee considering changes to Ohio’s death penalty law. It’s unclear if either issue is something the committee would deal with. Trout said he felt both were important enough to bring to the committee’s attention.

He didn’t say when the agency might request such legislation and the prisons department declined to comment further.

Ohio Task Force Continues Work Today

"Task Force On Capital Punishment To Meet Thursday," is the AP report, via WOUB-FM.

A state Supreme Court task force analyzing the effectiveness of Ohio's capital punishment law plans another meeting Thursday as part of its yearlong review.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor has convened the task force while making clear it won't debate whether the state should have the death penalty.

The committee of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and death penalty experts is looking at a variety of issues, from how the law affects minorities to the role of clemency.

The committee also is studying whether death sentences are proportional, meaning that any one death sentence is similar to others that have also been handed down.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio Task Force begins at the link.  The Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website has additional information and future meeting dates.

Florida Editorials Call for Capital Review, Changes

"Review of Florida’s death penalty system sorely needed," is the editorial published in today's Miami Herald.

Florida’s death penalty system is terribly flawed. Lawmakers have known that since at least 2006, when the American Bar Association released an exhaustive report calling the system “fraught with problems,” including racial disparities.

But almost no fixes were made. Meanwhile, evidence of a system gone awry has piled up.

Last year, Florida sentenced 22 people to death, more than any of the other 32 states that impose the penalty. It’s the second year in a row the state has reached that stark benchmark. Yet Florida also leads the nation in the number of Death Row exonerations, with 24 since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.     

Before you try to reconcile those two numbers, add this: a triple murderer from Miami-Dade County is still on Death Row 39 years after his original crimes. Though a federal judge threw out two of his death sentences late last year, Thomas Knight remains on Death Row for a third. Two other Death Row residents have been there even longer.

Added together, it paints an appalling picture of Florida. Record numbers of death sentences. Record numbers of exonerations. Killers who live for almost four decades on Death Row. Surely this is not what anyone wants — on either side of this painful and divisive issue.

Now, a glimmer of hope: Last week, the Florida Bar adopted a position supporting a comprehensive review of Florida’s entire death penalty process by all branches of government. That’s leadership in the right direction. Is anyone in Tallahassee listening?

The Orlando Sentinel publishes, "What we think: Time to repair busted death-penalty system."

State Rep. Matt Gaetz recently argued Florida's death-penalty system is broken. His solution: Limit what The called "legal gamesmanship" and waves of "endless, insincere appeals."

Doing so would slash the nearly 14 years victims' families wait on average for the condemned to get the needle.

When you're right, you're right. And the Fort Walton Beach Republican is correct: Florida's system is out of order.

How to shave time off death-row residency is a worthy discussion. But Gaetz's interest in hastening death — something the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee will likely broach during a workshop Thursday — is reckless until the state first tackles glaring flaws that mock justice.

State officials should instead follow the counsel of the American Bar Association's Board of Governors, whose 2006 ABA study of Florida's laws (largely ignored) recommended a broad review of the state's death-penalty process.

"Capital review," is the Panama City News Herald editorial.

Florida’s system of capital punishment is “broken” according to Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. By that he means the state is not executing prisoners on death row fast enough. Gaetz, the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee will be holding a hearing Thursday on streamlining the post-conviction appeals process to speed up execution.

Meanwhile, Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, has filed a bill that would abolish the death penalty in Florida. That’s about as likely to pass as the Louisiana Superdome winning an award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Before the Legislature tinkers with the death penalty, it should know exactly what it’s dealing with. Florida would be wise to embrace the recommendation made more than five years ago by the American Bar Association to conduct a complete review of all three branches of government and how they administer capital punishment.

Earlier coverage from Florida begins at the link.

Support for Missouri Cost Study

The Springfield News-Leader publishes the OpEd, "Death penalty: Questioning cost of punishment," by Donna Walmsley.

With only a few weeks into the new legislative session, our state senators and representatives are striving hard to attain a balanced budget.One public policy program that needs to be reviewed is Missouri’s death penalty.

And:

In Missouri, the budget is strained to provide Medicaid services to needy citizens. Education cuts not only hurt our children but our entire state.

It is time that we begin questioning the cost of the death penalty versus a sentence of life without any possibility of parole. Senate Bill 61 is calling for a careful study of how much the death penalty is actually costing Missouri taxpayers.

Sen. Mike Parson is chair of the Government Accountability Committee hearing that bill, determining soon if it should move forward.

It makes sense that our representatives in Jefferson City, stewards of our taxpayer dollars, investigate the cost of executions in Missouri to determine if, in these times of economic hardships and deep budget cuts, the death penalty is an expense that we can afford.

Earlier coverage of the Missouri legislation begins at the link. Related posts are in the cost category index.

The Nevada Legislature

Today's Las Vegas Sun reports, "Gun control, death penalty among social issues before Nevada lawmakers."  It's written by Anjeanette Damon.

The tedious and sometimes politically explosive process of crafting the state budget will dominate both legislative houses and headlines over the next 120 days.

But as lawmakers slog through the decisions about what to fund, expect a number of socially contentious issues to pull at their attention.

And:

Last session, Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed a bill to study Nevada’s death penalty. That bill was a compromise among those who wanted the death penalty abolished and those who didn’t want to go quite that far.

This session, Sandoval has proposed spending nearly $700,000 to build a new execution chamber at the state prison in Ely. The old chamber was abandoned when officials closed the state prison in Carson City last year.

The funding proposal has already sparked heated protests from Democrats.

Earlier coverage from Nevada begins at the link.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley on Repealing Capital Punishment

Here is the full text of Governor O'Malley speech on repealing capital punishment, given yesterday.  It's via Southern Maryland News Net.

Thank you very much. It’s wonderful to be here with all of you. Lt. Governor, thank you for those heartfelt and very principled remarks. And thank you all for stepping up and for being here on this issue. County Executive Ike Leggett, it’s good to see you. County Executive Rushern Baker, Chairman Frosh, so many that are here,… Senator Gladden, Delegate Rosenberg.

It would seem to me that, especially in tough times, if there if something that we’re doing through our government that is expensive, and does not work, then we should stop doing it.

The death penalty is expensive and it does not work. And for that reason alone, I believe we should stop doing it.

So this week, once again, I will be filing legislation to repeal the death penalty in Maryland. And I want to share with you how I come to this issue. I want to share with you my reasons for doing this once again. And I thank all of the delegates, and senators,… Lt. Governor, and county executives for being here and being supportive of this repeal of the death penalty in Maryland.

Investing In Strategies that Work
Anyone who has ever looked in the eyes of a young boy or a girl,… or has sat to comfort a mom or a dad whose life has been turned totally upside down by the loss of a child,… by the violent taking of the life of a loved one,… who has felt the despair of entire neighborhoods, and entire cities because of violence, and the violent taking of life. The degradation of violence. The violent destruction of violence. The ripping apart of the fabric of life that others have sewn for themselves and their families,… understands that the most fundamental responsibility we have as a people is to safeguard the lives of people.

To govern is to choose. And particularly in an era of limited budget resources, every dollar that we choose to spend on a policy that is wasteful and does not work – when instead we could be doing more of the things that do work to protect life – seems to me to run counter to the pragmatic “do the things that work” governance that is the hallmark of our State, and what our people desire.

The death penalty does not work in terms of preventing violent crime and the taking of human life. If you look over 30 or 40 years, the death penalty was on the books, and yet Baltimore still became the most violent and addicted city in America. Having the death penalty on the books did nothing to keep the homicides from rising.

Conversely, over these last several years, we’ve been doing the things that work. We’ve been making our police departments more effective. We’ve been deploying to where the crime is. We’ve been using DNA technology and DNA evidence to solve crimes, as well as to exonerate those who were wrongly accused. We’ve been putting technology in the hands of law enforcement. We’ve been solving cases.

And as a result of doing the things that actually work, we’ve been able to drive violent crime down to three decade lows. We’ve been able to save scores and scores of lives that otherwise would have been taken by rising homicide numbers.

We know what works. Investing in law enforcement. Investing in data-driven policing. Increasing the availability of drug treatment. Performance measurement. Strengthening partnerships between police and neighbors. Investing in the latest crime fighting technologies, DNA analysis, healing vulnerable families – these are the things that work to reduce violent crime and save lives. The death penalty does not work.

Justice
Good people on both sides of this issue have, in the past, disagreed about the morality of the death penalty. I think there is increasingly less disagreement about its effectiveness, especially in our State. I wanted to shift to another topic, which is the justice and the morality of the death penalty.

Year after year, states which have a death penalty have actually had a higher murder rate than states which do not have a death penalty. That would seem to indicate to me that the death penalty, again, does not work as a deterrent.

And the other facts are even more troubling,… In 2008, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment that was led by distinguished son of Maryland, former United States Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti, took a look at this issue with dedication, with fairness, with a lot of different perspectives around the table, and with a respect for differences of opinion. They did very good work. They held hours of hearings and considered in a very open, transparent, and also compassionate way, days of testimony from citizens who came at this issue from a variety of perspectives. And, quite frankly, a lot of personal pain.

The Commission found that for every 8.7 Americans sent to death row, there has been one innocent person exonerated.

It was near unanimous in reporting that quote “the administration of the death penalty clearly shows racial bias.” It determined that no administrative fixes could end these disparities.

And it found that the cost to taxpayers of pursuing a capital case is three times as much as the costs of pursuing a non-death penalty homicide conviction, where a person receives a life sentence without parole.

Who We Choose to Be
So, in conclusion, who do we choose to be?

To govern is to choose. All of us have to ask ourselves, “Is it worth wasting taxpayer dollars on a policy that does not work?”

And perhaps there is another question we might ask, which is “Who do we, as a People, aspire to be?”

Across our ever more closely linked world, the majority of executions take place in seven countries: Communist China. Iran. Iraq. North Korea. Saudi Arabia. Yemen. And the United States of America.

On the other hand, 141 countries have chosen to abolish capital punishment. I won’t read you that list, but as you might conclude, it is a much more expansive community than the number who still use the death penalty.

So who do we choose to be? In whose company to we choose to walk forward? Will we be a society guided by the notion that two wrongs somehow make a right? Or will we be a society that’s guided by the fundamental civil and human rights that we understand are bestowed on humankind by God? A society guided by the dignity of every individual. A society that is always moving forward to what’s right.

Today is the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who taught us that “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”

The choice is really ours. We know what works. We know what does not work.

And we know that the way forward is always found through greater respect for the human dignity of all.  Thanks very much.

Earlier coverage from Maryland begins at the link.  There will be news coverage of Gov. O'Malley's speech in the next post.

News Coverage of Ohio Task Force Meeting

"State panel won’t collect race data on death penalty," is Andrew Welsh-Huggins' updated AP filing, via the Columbus Dispatch.  Here are extended excerpts:

An Ohio Supreme Court committee studying the state’s capital punishment law yesterday rejected a recommendation to collect past data to detect racial bias in death-penalty cases.

The committee also postponed votes on a recommendation to collect information in the future on all homicides that might be eligible for capital punishment as another way of detecting racial bias. The committee tabled a proposal to analyze existing death-penalty data collected by the state public defender’s office.

Those two proposals are likely to pass in the future when the committee gets more details about the recommendations, said James Brogan, a former state appeals court judge who is chairman of the committee.

Brogan said everyone agrees race shouldn’t play a role in the death penalty, but a number of studies nationally have already shown that is the case.

“We don’t know exactly the role in Ohio, although it does appear that in a number of cases, it seems more likely when a black defendant kills a white victim, that they’re more likely to receive the death penalty, than if a black kills a black, which is disconcerting,” Brogan said after the task force’s meeting.

Among precedents cited in the Race and Ethnicity subcommittee recommendations is a 2005 Associated Press study that found that Ohio offenders who killed white victims were more likely to face a death sentence than those whose victims were black.

And:

The committee approved three recommendations to:

• Require prosecutors, lawyers and judges involved in death-penalty cases to be trained to protect against racial bias.

• Allow lawyers to seek the removal of judges in cases where there is “a reasonable basis for concluding that the judge’s decision-making could be affected by racially discriminatory factors."

• Require defense attorneys to receive training in how best to proceed when they believe a potential juror is removed for possibly discriminatory reasons.

Another version of Welsh-Huggins' report is, "Ohio death penalty committee looks at racial bias," via the Marietta Times.

The committee rejected the creation of jury instructions involving race in death penalty cases that would also require jurors to report racial discrimination voiced by other jurors during deliberations.

And:

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor convened the task force while making it clear it won't debate whether the state should have the death penalty.

The committee of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and death penalty experts is looking at a variety of issues, from how the law affects minorities to the role of clemency.

The committee is also studying whether Ohio's death sentences are proportional, meaning that the nature of a crime committed by one condemned inmate is similar to the crimes committed by others.

O'Connor says the committee's goal is to produce a fair, impartial and balanced analysis of the state's 30-year-old law.

City Beat Cincinnati reports, "Racial Bias in Death Penalty Cases Gets Ohio Supreme Court's Attention."  It's written by Hannah McCartney.

Ohio’s death penalty came under scrutiny again today, when the Ohio Supreme Court's Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty heard presentations from three different subcommittees on strategies to make sure the process in administering a death penalty sentence in Ohio is transparent and fair.

The task force heard presentations from the Law Enforcement Subcommittee, Race and Ethnicity Subcommittee and Clemency Subcommittee; the Clemency Subcommittee's recommendation was passed, while the Law Enforcement Subcommittee's recommendations were tabled for the next task force meeting, pending further review.

The Race and Ethnicity Subcommittee presented recommendations for dealing with evidence of longstanding racial bias in Ohio death penalty cases.

A 2005 Associated Press study concluded that offenders who killed white victims were significantly more likely to receive the death penalty than when victims were black, regardless of the race of the defendant. See the below chart, courtesy of the Associated Press, which charts the rate of death sentencing for defendants charged with killing white versus black victims during the course of the study, which was conducted from Oct. 1981-2002.

The Supreme Court’s Race and Ethnicity subcommittee made seven recommendations, three of which passed.

The Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty website has additional information, including future meeting dates.

Earlier coverage of the Task Force begins at the link.  Related posts are in the race and study commission category indexes.

OH Death Penalty Commission Meets to Examine Racial Issues

"Death penalty committee looks at racial bias," is Andrew Welsh-Huggins' AP report, via the Ohio News Network.

An Ohio Supreme Court committee studying the state's capital punishment law plans to vote on recommendations Thursday requiring the collection of data to detect racial bias in death penalty cases.

The data would include a review of past cases as well as collecting information in the future on all homicides that might be eligible for capital punishment.

Other recommendations would require prosecutors, lawyers and judges involved in death penalty cases to be trained to protect against racial bias.

Among precedents cited for collecting the data is a 2005 Associated Press study that found offenders who killed white victims were more likely to face a death sentence than those whose victims were black.

Earlier coverage of Ohio's Joint Task Force to Study Administration of the Death Penalty begins at the link.

Related posts are in the race and study commission category indexes.

Ohio News Roundup

"Ohio death penalty review committee meets again," is an AP report via the Dayton Daily News.

A state Supreme Court task force analyzing the effectiveness of Ohio's capital punishment law planned another meeting Thursday as part of its yearlong review.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor has convened the task force while making it clear it won't debate whether the state should have the death penalty.

The committee of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and death penalty experts are looking at a variety of issues, from how the law affects minorities to the role of clemency.

The committee is also studying whether death sentences are proportional, meaning that any one death sentence is similar to others that have also been handed down.

Also from Ohio, AP's Andrew Welsh-Huggins files, "Death as bargaining chip? Ohio prosecutor slammed."  It's via the Coschocton Tribune.

Within days of a drug-related slaying in suburban Cleveland, six men were indicted on charges that carried the possibility of a death sentence. Six months later, all had been allowed to plead to lesser charges, including four who received probation and never went to prison.

In short, the men quickly went from facing the possibility of being strapped to a gurney and having 5 grams of pentobarbital injected into their veins, to prison sentences more typical for robbers and thieves.

"It probably was a negotiating tool," said defense attorney Reuben Sheperd, who represented defendant Alex Ford. "You'll be more motivated than you were in other circumstances."

Such scenarios are typical in the county home to Cleveland, where prosecutor Bill Mason pursues dozens of offenders on capital charges each year at added expense to taxpayers and at the risk of some defendants ending up on death row for charges that would be minor elsewhere, even as the number of death penalty prosecutions plummets in Ohio and nationwide, according to an analysis of records by theAssociated Press.

Elsewhere in Ohio, prosecutors are pursuing only the most heinous crimes as death penalty cases and are refusing to plea bargain, or are using a 2005 law that allows them to seek life with no chance of parole and never place capital punishment on the table.

And:

Defense attorneys have long complained about the high number of capital indictments in Cuyahoga County, a practice that precedes Mason but that he continued after first taking office in 2000. But now one of the state's most conservative and pro-death penalty prosecutors is weighing in.

Joe Deters, prosecutor in Hamilton County, renewed questions about Cuyahoga County's approach during meetings of an Ohio Supreme Court task force. The group, which meets again Thursday, is looking for ways to improve the state's death penalty law.

"To use the death penalty to force a plea bargain, I think it's unethical to do that," Deters said in an interview.

Earlier coverage of Ohio's Joint Task Force to Study Administration of the Death Penalty begins at the link.

Legislature's Capital Offense

That's the title of a Kentucky editorial in today's Lexington Herald-Leader.

Just before this legislative session began, the American Bar Association released the results of a two-year review of the death penalty in Kentucky.

The findings were stark and disturbing. No one who read the report could come away feeling certain that our state had done the right thing each time a person was condemned to death. The briefest snapshot includes these findings: At least 10 of the 78 people sentenced to die since 1976 were represented by lawyers who were later disbarred; of those 78 convictions, 50 were overturned by federal or higher state courts because of significant legal errors.

With that damning evidence in hand, there was hope that the legislature might move forward on some death penalty reform measures.

One measure, House Concurrent Resolution 173, has had some success. HCR 173, which seeks to create a task force to consider the ABA reform recommendations and develop a plan to carry them out, has made it out of committee in the House and will be voted on there this week. While important, it's not a measure that should stir controversy since it only seeks to develop a plan to improve things, so we'll be eager to see how it fares in the Senate.

The story is not so good for House Bill 145, a bill to exempt the severely mentally ill from the death penalty.

And:

We understand that some prosecutors are wary about restrictions on the death penalty. But many current and former prosecutors argue that reform is essential to maintaining a fair, and credible, criminal justice system. We agree with them.

Earlier coverage of the Kentucky ABA Assessment begins at the link.

Craig Watkins Seeks Death Penalty Review

There's more today from the Dallas County District Attorney, following an interview with AP.

"Texas DA seeks death penalty review," is the AP interview, via CBS News.  Here's an extended excerpt:

The Texas prosecutor leading an aggressive push to free wrongly imprisoned inmates, in a county where more than two dozen wrongful convictions have been overturned, is calling for a review of the capital punishment system in the nation's busiest death penalty state.

Craig Watkins' tenure as Dallas County's top prosecutor has earned him a national reputation. Now, as Watkins publicly acknowledges that his great-grandfather was executed in Texas almost 80 years ago, he called on state lawmakers to review death penalty procedures to ensure the punishment is fairly administered.

"I think it's a legitimate question to have, to ask: 'Have we executed someone that didn't commit the crime?'" Watkins said in an interview with The Associated Press.

After becoming district attorney in 2007, Watkins started a conviction integrity unit that has examined convictions and, in some cases, pushed for them to be overturned. Dallas County has exonerated 22 people through DNA evidence since 2001 — by far the most of any Texas county and more than all but two states. An additional five people have been exonerated outside of DNA testing. Most of those exonerations occurred during Watkins' tenure.

Texas has executed 55 inmates since 2009, including 13 last year, a 15-year low. Twelve former death row inmates have been freed since 1973.

"I think the reforms we've made in our criminal justice system are better than any other state in this country," Watkins said. "But we still need reforms. And so, I don't know if I'm the voice for that. I just know, here I am, and I have these experiences."

Among those experiences was hearing about the execution of his great-grandfather, Richard Johnson. According to state criminal records and news accounts, Johnson escaped from prison three times while serving a 35-year sentence for burglary, and he was charged with killing a man after his third escape. He was convicted of murder in October 1931 and executed in the electric chair in August 1932.

Watkins said he did not get a full explanation of what happened until he became district attorney. His grandmother, who was a young girl when her father was executed, still struggles with the story, according to Watkins and his mother, Paula.

Watkins says he opposes the death penalty on moral grounds but doesn't want those beliefs "pushed upon someone else." He has sought the death penalty at trial in nine cases, with eight death sentences received. An additional four death penalty cases are pending, according to his office. A panel within his office reviews possible death penalty cases and votes on whether to pursue it.

Today's Dallas Morning News reports, "For Dallas DA Watkins, views on death penalty may be changing again."  It's by Ed Timms and Jennifer Emily.

Long before he divulged that his great-grandfather was executed by the state, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins struggled to define his views on the death penalty.

And that extraordinary revelation, made in passing at a news conference on Wednesday, may signal that Watkins is at it again.

Whether his philosophical pendulum is swinging back to his nearly lifelong opposition to the death penalty, or will come to rest at some point short of that, remains to be seen. But there’s little question that his remarks will re-energize debate about capital punishment and scrutiny of Watkins’ performance as the county’s top law enforcement officer.

The Dallas Morning News reported Watkins’ disclosure that “people don’t know that my great-grandfather was executed by this state” online Wednesday and in Thursday’s newspaper, but Watkins balked at explaining his reasons for making the information public.

He told The Associated Press in a story distributed Thursday that he was calling on state legislators to review death penalty procedures to ensure the punishment is fairly administered.

He called for reforms. “I don’t know if I’m the voice for that,” he told the AP. “I just know, here I am, and I have these experiences.”

He hinted at a similar role for himself in April 2008, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection while at the same time one justice called for a national debate on the morality of the death penalty.

Watkins, the first black elected district attorney in Texas, told The News that the spark for such a debate “is going to come from someone in a district attorney’s seat.” Whether the second-term Democrat’s shifting record on the death penalty might detract from his role as a voice for reform is a question yet to be answered.

State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, a senior member of the Senate committee on criminal justice, said in a statement released Thursday that he favored scrutiny of the death penalty.

“I think more and more Texans — and people all over the country — are taking another look at the death penalty. I don’t foresee a time when major changes will occur, but the discussion has at least begun on how we make it more just and how we make it more certain that we actually have the right guy.”

"Dallas DA reveals his great grandfather was executed for a Wichita Falls murder," by Lynn Walker for the Wichita Falls Times Record News.

A murder that happened in Wichita Falls 81 years ago is now causing a ripple through arguments over the death penalty in Texas.

A judge in Dallas on Wednesday exonerated a man who spent 14 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Richard Miles, 36, was freed after evidence surfaced that another person committed the murder.

At that court hearing, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins expressed serious concerns over the use of the death penalty in Texas. Then Watkins dropped a bombshell — his great grandfather had been sent to the electric chair for committing a murder in Wichita Falls.

“We need to take a look at capital punishment as it relates to if we’re doing the right thing,” he said. "There’s a personal side of me. People don’t know that my great grandfather was executed by this state. And so that’s an issue we need to explore as it relates to our justice system — are we doing the right thing?”

Watkins’ great grandfather, Richard Johnson, was one of two men convicted in a killing that happened Sept. 9, 1931 on a sparsely-housed stretch of Dayton Street west of Brook Avenue.

Earlier coverage of Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins begins at the link.

Ohio Study Commission Meets

Alan Johnson's Columbus Dispatch report is, "Leave death penalty up to a panel?"

Curing geographical unfairness in capital-punishment cases may require a statewide commission, not county prosecutors, to make the decision when to seek the death penalty.

That was the opinion of James Brogan, a retired appeals-court judge from Dayton who chairs the Joint Task Force to Study Administration of the Death Penalty. He said during yesterday’s task force meeting at the Ohio Supreme Court that the state must deal with geographical disparities.

“As (Ohio Supreme Court) Justice Paul Pfeifer said, it’s a lottery whether or not you get the death penalty depending on where you live,” Brogan said at the panel’s second meeting at the Supreme Court. “The solution may not be the abolition of the death penalty. The goal is fair administration of the death penalty.”

Brogan said the task force should consider a plan similar to one in Tennessee, where county prosecutors submit murder cases to a statewide commission, which has the ultimate authority to decide if a death sentence should be pursued.

State Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, also a task force member, called it “not necessarily a crazy idea.” He said he spoke recently with a “conservative Republican” judge in Hamilton County who advocated the same thing.

But don’t expect prosecutors — two of whom are on the task force — to warmly embrace the idea. Joseph T. Deters, a Republican from Hamilton County, and Dennis Watkins, a Democrat from Trumbull County, are both staunch capital-punishment supporters.

And:

While Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who appointed the task force, made it clear from the beginning that the group is not to decide whether the state should have the death penalty, competing interests on the panel are taking sides in the yearlong process. The task force is comprised of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, the state public defender, lawmakers and academics.

"Prosecutor: Give victims voice on death sentences," is Andrew Welsh-Huggins' AP coverage of the meeting, via the Zanesville Times Recorder.

Relatives of murder victims would be allowed to tell juries weighing death sentences how the crimes affected them and split-jury decisions would no longer automatically rule out death sentences under proposals submitted to a state death penalty task force by a veteran prosecutor.

Ohio juries and judges also should be allowed to consider a multitude of factors about a homicide carrying the possibility of a death sentence, not just specific elements laid out in state law, Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters said.

"The victim's family many times don't understand why they can't explain the impact this has had to their family," Deters said Thursday, discussing a letter he sent to fellow members of the task force earlier this week.

And:

Ohio law now requires juries to weigh specific aggravating factors -- whether the victim was a child or a police officer or was killed during a robbery -- against factors in the offender's favor, such as a poor childhood or mental illness.

Deters wants more factors to be considered, such as statements from family members, a defendant's criminal record and any evidence of posing a future danger. He also said a jury shouldn't have to vote unanimously for a death sentence to prevent "rogue jurors" from thwarting the majority's wishes.

Since resuming executions in 1999, Ohio has executed 45, including five in 2011. 

Earlier coverage of the Joint Task Force begins at the link.  Related posts are in the study commission index.

Coverage of Ohio lethal injection issues begins in the preceding post.  In December an Ohio legislative hearing was held on capital punishment issues.  There are also links available to coverage of former Chief Justice Pfeifer's call for repeal and the 2007 ABA report detailing problems with the state's administration of capital punishment.  The complete ABA Moratorium Implementation Project's Ohio Assessment report is available via the ABA.

Scott Turow's Innocent

Scott Turow's 2010 novel, Innocent, has been turned into a TNT movie, "Scott Turow's Innocent," which will premiere Tuesday, November 29, on the cable channel.  Here's part of the blurb:

Bill Pullman (Independence Day, Torchwood) stars as Rusty Sabich, a judge charged with the murder of his wife, a situation that comes 20 years after he was cleared in the death of his mistress. During this latest trial, a secret affair from Rusty's recent past threatens to hamper his defense and fracture his relationship with his son. Oscar® winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollack, Damages) plays Rusty's wife, while Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, Law & Order: LA) is his friend and defense attorney.

And:

Scott Turow's Innocent is a sequel to Turow's bestseller Presumed Innocent. The movie is written and directed by Mike Robe.

The made-for-cabel movie was also the topic of a New York Times article, "Made-for-TV Movies, Reborn on Cable," by Kathryn Shattuck in the Sunday Arts section.

IT’S a scene a movie studio might once have spilled a little blood for: Bill Pullman, stepping into the shoes of Harrison Ford as Rusty Sabich, the prosecutor turned suspected murderer in “Presumed Innocent,” the 1990 hit based on the thriller by Scott Turow. Marcia Gay Harden as Rusty’s brilliantly deranged spouse. Alfred Molina as the defense lawyer Sandy Stern. And Mr. Turow himself, who, despite initial resistance to writing a sequel, revisiting the Sabich saga some 20 years later.

But these days it’s exactly the kind of movie a studio probably wouldn’t touch. Instead “Scott Turow’s Innocent,” which now places Sabich behind the murder of his wife, brings its pedigree to cable television, increasingly the home for Hollywood types who crave adult-oriented drama.

“Innocent,” to be shown on Nov. 29, is the first entry of TNT’s “Mystery Movie Night,” weekly adaptations of novels by Sandra Brown, Lisa Gardner, Richard North Patterson, April Smith, Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, starring veterans like Dermot Mulroney, Anne Heche, Judd Hirsch and Jane Alexander.

And:

For Mr. Turow, “the biggest benefit is that it gets made,” he said, noting that his novel “Innocent,” published in May 2010, took months to become a television movie versus years of feature development.

In addition to his novels, Turow is also the author of, Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty. It's an excellent primer on capital punishment from a talented writer.

Ultimate Punishment is drawn from his service on the Illinois Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment.  The Illinois Commission was appointed in 2000 by then-Governor George Ryan after he imposed a moratorium on executions.  The Commission's report was issued in 2002.  Earlier this year, with the moratorium still in place, Illinois replaced its death penalty with a sentence of life without parole.

The Florida Symposium

"Legal experts focus on Florida's death penalty," is the AP report on yesterday's symposium.  It's by Bill Kaczor, via Florida Today.  A slightly different version is available from the St. Augustine Record.  Here's an extended excerpt:

A panel that included legal experts, academics and lawmakers on Monday renewed a push for changes to try to make Florida’s death penalty more just and prevent innocent people from being executed.

Participants’ views about their chances of success ranged from hopeful to despairing in a state that leads the nation with 23 death row inmates who have been exonerated.

“It seems to be a problem that may not be able to be solved,” said former State Attorney Harry Shorstein of Jacksonville. “What the public doesn’t understand is how expensive this litigation has been over the years.”

Shorstein, who participated by telephone, supports the death penalty but said he’s troubled with the lack of movement toward fixing its problems.

Florida State University’s law school sponsored the forum to mark the fifth anniversary of an American Bar Association study that criticized the state’s death penalty procedures and made a number of recommendations.

One was that juries be unanimous in recommending death sentences. Florida is the only death penalty state that lets juries make sentencing decisions or recommendations by a simple majority. Florida judges have the final say but must give great weight to jury recommendations.

State Sen. Thad Altman for a second year is sponsoring a bill (SB 772) that would require unanimous findings of aggravating factors as well as death sentence recommendations. His legislation failed without so much as a committee hearing earlier this year.

“I’m hoping ... we can at least get a hearing,” the Viera Republican told other panel members. “I don’t think that’s asking too much.”

The panel’s moderator, Mark Schlakman, senior program director at Florida State’s Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, was more optimistic.

Schlakman noted the new bill would apply only to crimes committed after Oct. 1, 2012. Prosecutors had been worried about it being retroactive to existing cases.

Also, since the last legislative session, U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in Miami has ruled Florida’s death sentence law is unconstitutional because jury recommendations don’t have to be unanimous. The state is appealing. “Irrespective of where the appeal goes, it underscores the concern about that process,” Schlakman said in an interview.

Some lawmakers have opposed changes because they were afraid that might result in more appeals. Martinez’ ruling shows the opposite may be the case, Schlakman said.

In a prerecorded video presentation, former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero said the high court as long ago as 2005 had urged unanimous jury recommendations.

The Florida News Service posts, "Symposium Advocates Unanimous Jury Verdicts in Death Penalty Cases," by Mike Vasilinda.

Meeting in the shadow of the state capitol, judges, lawyers, prosecutors and others debated how the death penalty is imposed.

“It’s the least that we can ask, that before we give the ultimate sentence to someone, that we require a unanimous verdict,” Sen. Thad Altman (R-Brevard) said.

At 24, Florida leads the nation in death row exonerations. Faulty eyewitness testimony is often the blame.

“The mind is not like a tape recorder,” Mike Minerva with the Innocence Project said. “It does not retain whatever images the person thought that they had

The experts say one of the biggest determinants of who gets death is simply which county your tried in.

Judge O.H. Eaton is a retired circuit judge from Seminole County with doubts.  For 15 years he has taught a required class for judges that qualifies them for murder cases.

“That whether a person lives or dies has more to do with the judicial assignment than the facts of the case,” Eaton said. “Now, if that doesn’t show you that we’ve got a broken system, I don’t know what does.”

Yesterday's preview begins coverage from Florida; coverage of the Florida ABA Assessment is also available.  A 2009 symposium at the FSU law school also examined issues raised in the ABA review.

In Florida

Today's Miami Herald carries the AP filing, "Legal experts focus on Florida death penalty."

Legal experts are taking a look at Florida's death penalty and preventing the execution of innocent people.

A panel including former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero, lawyers and legislators will focus on those issues Monday at Florida State University's law school in Tallahassee.

The panel also will include Florida State President Emeritus Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte.

Also a former American Bar Association president, D'Alemberte, led efforts to create the Florida Innocence Commission.

The panel is examining wrongful convictions and making recommendations on how to prevent them in the future.

The Center for the Advancement of Human Rights has issued a news release, "The Death Penalty: Evolving Issues in Florida," listing the participants.

"Flawed death-penalty processes need review," is the Tallahassee Democrat editorial from Saturday's paper.  Here's an extended excerpt:

On Monday at Florida State University, the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights will host a forum meant to shift the conversation about capital punishment — from whether it's good public policy to its fiscal implications and integrity.

Five years ago, the American Bar Association released its Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team report, which raised serious concerns about the fairness and impartiality of Florida's death penalty process. It called for a complete review of legislative, executive and judicial branch involvement.

The report didn't support or oppose capital punishment, nor was it directed to the method of execution. But it did reveal enough cases in which the wrong Death Row inmate was executed to raise concerns about the administration of justice. Yet little has changed.

It is this unnerving gray area that participants in the forum hope to explore when they meet Monday in the rotunda of the FSU College of Law. The event, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., involves work of the ABA, the Constitution Project, which is a Washington-base bipartisan policy think tank, and participation by members of the Florida Bar's criminal law and public interest law sections as well as FSU's chapter of Amnesty International.

The need for a comprehensive review of Florida's capital punishment processes is almost irrefutable, in light of the flaws and shortcomings varying from inadequate legal representation to racial disparities, demonstrating that the death penalty is used more often when the victim is white than when the victim is black or another minority.

Florida has been on the brink of really looking at its capital punishment system and making more certain that the wrong person isn't put to death — and, of significant public concern, that the real criminal doesn't remain uncaptured and unpunished.

Yet the Florida Commission on Capital Cases, which had made recommendations on how to safeguard the integrity of the law, help unclog the appeals system and perhaps save money, was itself eliminated in May to save state budget dollars.

Some slight movement is suggested in legislation that's being considered — for instance, to require unanimous jury recommendations for the death penalty — and Florida TaxWatch may study the financial implications.

But more focus is needed, considering that Florida has eventually exonerated more death-sentenced inmates than any other state — sometimes after DNA evidence or confessions by the real killers proved the injustice, but posthumously in some cases, too.

Earlier coverage of Florida capital punishment issues begins at the link.  Coverage of the Florida ABA Assessment is also available.  A 2009 symposium at the law school also examined these issues.

Ohio Death Penalty Review Panel to Meet Thursday

The Supreme Court of Ohio has issued the news release, "Death Penalty Task Force to Meet for First Time."  the full text is:

In a cooperative effort between the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio State Bar Association, the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty will meet for the first time Nov. 3.

The group of 21 judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys, and lawmakers will hold its first working session from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA), 1700 Lake Shore Drive, in Columbus.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor announced the formation of the Joint Task Force during the annual State of Judiciary in September. 

During Thursday’s meeting, the task force will conduct a thorough review of capital punishment to ensure that Ohio’s death penalty is administered in the most fair and judicious manner possible. Members will examine the death penalty process and study current laws on the death penalty and procedures other states across the country use.

“The Joint Task Force will examine the current laws on the subject and the practices in other jurisdictions. It will review and identify areas in need of action and recommend the course of action,” Chief Justice O’Connor said. “The task force will not decide whether Ohio should or should not have the death penalty. It will not be on the table for discussion.”

“Our goal is to take a careful review of the administration of capital punishment in Ohio to ensure fairness in its application,” OSBA President Carol Seubert Marx said.

Once the task force develops a comprehensive set of recommendations over the course of several meetings, members will give their proposals next year to the state for consideration.

The Joint Task Force is chaired by the retired Hon. James A. Brogan of the Second District Court of Appeals in Dayton.

Other members include:

• Sara Andrews - Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
• Joseph T. Deters - Hamilton County Prosecutor
• Hon. Stephen L. McIntosh - Franklin County Common Pleas Court
• Douglas A. Berman - Ohio State University Moritz Collage of Law
• Hon. Kathleen A. Keough -  8^th District Court of Appeals
• John P. Parker - Private practice attorney
• Phyllis L. Crocker - Cleveland Marshal Collage of Law
• Hon. Linda J. Jennings -  Lucas County Common Pleas Court
• Samuel H. Porter -  Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, LLP
• Jon Paul Rion - Rion, Rion and Rion Co., LPA,
• Sheriff Albert J. Rodenberg - Clermont County Sheriff’s Office
• Stephen A. Schumaker - Ohio Attorney General’s Office
• Hon. John M. Solovan - Belmont County Common Pleas Court
• Hon. John J. Russo - Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
• Dennis Watkins - Trumbull County Prosecutor
• Sen. Shirley A. Smith - Cleveland
• Sen. Bill Seitz - Cincinnati
• Rep. Lynn Slaby - Akron
• Hon. W. Carlton Weddington - Ohio House of Representatives
• Hon. Roger Wilson - Champaign County Common Pleas Court

"19 named to review death penalty in Ohio," is the title of David Eggert's Columbus Dispatch report.

The 19 members of a state panel that will review whether Ohio’s death penalty is being administered fairly include six judges, three legislators, two prosecutors and a sheriff.

The Ohio Supreme Court and State Bar Association yesterday named members of their previously announced joint task force. The first meeting will be Thursday in Columbus.

“The task force will not decide whether Ohio should or should not have the death penalty,” Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said in a statement.

Instead, she said, panel members will conduct a thorough review of capital punishment to ensure that the state’s death penalty is administered in the most fair and judicious manner possible.

The task force is expected to make recommendations sometime next year. An exact date has not been determined, court spokesman Chris Davey said.

The AP report, "Ohio death penalty review committee to meet," is via the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor has convened the task force while making it clear the committee won't debate whether Ohio should have capital punishment.

The committee, to meet publicly on Thursday at the Ohio State Bar Association, includes veteran prosecutors who have long supported the death penalty, along with defense attorneys who have fought its imposition.

The committee also includes judges, lawmakers, a sheriff, academic experts and a representative of the state prison system.

O'Connor, a Republican and a former prosecutor, has said the committee's goal is to produce a fair, impartial, and balanced analysis of the state's 30-year-old law.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio death penalty study commission begins at the link.  Related posts are in the study commission index.

Doug Berman, one of the panel members, is the publisher of Sentencing Law and Policy, a daily must read noted in the left-column webroll.  I look forward to seeing his writings on the panel's work.

More From Pennsylvania

Today's Philadelphia Inquirer carries the editorial, "Income shouldn't decide the quality of justice."

What defendant on trial for his life would willingly turn to a divorce lawyer with no experience in death-penalty cases?

Or to an attorney who had prepped for all of 15 minutes?

Or a Bible-quoting counsel who rattled off the one verse that, whoops, convinced jurors to hand down a death sentence?

As it turns out, dozens of people on trial for murder in Pennsylvania have had to rely on such ill-prepared, inept, and incompetent court-appointed counsel provided when defendants couldn't afford an attorney.

These are attorneys who - mostly because they're paid a pittance to prepare a complex death-penalty defense - prove to be well short of the task. The problem has been long-known, but it's finally gotten the full attention of the state's highest court.

In September, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court named a veteran Philadelphia judge, Benjamin Lerner, to investigate the compelling accusation of a Philadelphia-based death-penalty defense group that the courts are scrimping on justice by shortchanging the poor in capital cases.

That's a welcome and overdue step by the Supreme Court - a point driven home even more by an Inquirer review of death-penalty cases published Sunday.

In nearly one out of every three capital convictions stretching back over three decades, the courts have reversed or sent cases back for new hearings due to inadequate representation.

With so many botched legal defenses, no Pennsylvanian can be assured that the state's system of capital punishment is being administered fairly.

The Inquirer's news report on problems with Pennsylvania Capital Cases is noted at the link.

Today's Harrisburg News Patriot also features a lengthy news article, "How much is Pennsylvania's death penalty costing taxpayers?"  It's written by Sara Ganim.

Since it was reinstated in 1978, only three people on death row in Pennsylvania have actually died by lethal injection, and those three defendants basically signed their own death warrants by waiving their rights to appeal.
    
A much higher number, about 140 people, have been released from death row following successful appeals.
    
Some were found to be innocent. Most simply had their sentences commuted to life in prison. But in the meantime, taxpayers were footing the bill for their lengthy appeals, and by lengthy, we’re talking decades.
    
State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, a former prosecutor from Montgomery County and the chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee, has commissioned a bipartisan task force to take a look at what this bottleneck has cost taxpayers over the last 40 years. Right now, there are no estimates.
    
The task force will also explore whether the death penalty is worth keeping. Gov. Tom Corbett’s office has no position on the Greenleaf’s resolution.

And:

But if anyone has come close to compiling numbers that give a big-picture perspective, it’s Robert Dunham.
    
He’s a Harrisburg-based assistant federal defender, who began researching the results of cases by hand when he was director of the Death Penalty Resource Center in the 1990s.
    
People on both sides of this issue agree that he has the most accurate statistics on Pennsylvania death penalty cases.
    
His recordings show that 237 people have had their death penalty sentence overturned since 1978, but because he didn’t start researching them until the 1990s and the state keeps no records of these cases, he said it’s unclear what happened to about 75 of those defendants. He does know that about 15 defendants were sent back death row and are still there.
    
About 123 were resentenced to spend life in prison.
    
At least 12 people resentenced to less than life.
    
There were six complete exonerations — Nicholas Yarris and Harold Wilson, Jay Smith, William Nieves, Neil Ferber and Thomas Kimbell.
    
Another, Fred Thomas, got a new trial and died waiting for it.
    
Those results make Dunham believe that often the simple answer to Pennsylvania’s problem is that there is too little funding for poor defendants.
    
In many other states, when an inmate on death row exhausts appeals and the governor signs the death warrant, he or she is executed.
    
In Pennsylvania, the end of that same road is a new sentencing — sometimes an entirely new trial — and Dunham said many times it’s because it’s very common for public defenders on death penalty cases to be so underfunded that their defense is inadequate by the standards of the law.
    
Instead of paying for a better defense up front, Pennsylvanians are paying the price of years of appeals, hearings and re-investigations that often don’t even lead to death by lethal injection, Dunham said.
    
Former state Attorney General Ernie Preate said he witnessed that when he was a prosecutor.

Related posts are in the indigent defense index.

Ohio to Conduct Death Penalty Study

Ohio Supreme Court Presiding Judge Maureen O'Connor made the announcement in her State of the Judiciary address.  Here's the excerpt that deals with the review:

Finally, there is work to be done on the death penalty.

If we are to support trust and confidence in the judicial system, there is arguably no issue more important than ensuring that justice is served when the state imposes the ultimate form of punishment.

That’s why I am announcing today that the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio State Bar Association are forming a Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty.

The impetus for the formation of this Joint Task Force is a desire on the part of the Court and the Ohio State Bar to ensure that Ohio’s death penalty is administered in the most fair, efficient, and judicious manner possible.

Examination of the process by a broad-based task force of judges, prosecuting attorneys, criminal defense counsel, legislative leaders, and academics is appropriate to determine if the criteria, laws, and procedures regarding the imposition of the death penalty in Ohio are in need of attention. Is the system we have the best we can do? Convening persons with broad experience on this subject will produce a fair, impartial, and balanced analysis.

It should be made perfectly clear that the exercise to be undertaken is in no way a judgment on whether Ohio should or should not have the death penalty. This will not be in the charge to the Joint Task Force. The Task Force will examine the current laws on the subject, the practices in other jurisdictions, the data, costs, etc.  It will review the ABA death Penalty Report and identify areas in need of action and recommend the course of action.

We anticipate a Joint Task Force of approximately 20 members with diverse backgrounds in the criminal justice system, with expertise and experience in death penalty prosecution, defense, adjudication, and scholarship. The Joint Task Force will be chaired by Retired Judge James A. Brogan of the Second District Court of Appeals.

From the death penalty to judicial selection reform to supporting diversity on the bench and bar, there is much we can do together to support continued progress in our court system. It is imperative that we renew our efforts to demonstrate the value and necessity of strong courts during this time of change, transition and economic challenge.

And it is imperative, if we are to succeed, that we undertake these efforts in collaboration.

Today's Bucyrus Telegraph Forum carries the AP report, "Ohio judge calls for death penalty review," written by Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

Ohio's top judge on Thursday announced a committee will review the state's death penalty law and determine if changes should be made, but with an important caveat: It won't debate whether Ohio should have capital punishment.

The review, 30 years after Ohio enacted its most recent death penalty law, will make sure the current system is administered fairly, efficiently and in the most "judicious manner possible," said Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor.

"Is the system we have the best we can do?" said O'Connor, a Republican and a former prosecutor. "Convening persons with broad experience on this subject will produce a fair, impartial, and balanced analysis."

The 20-member committee, convened by the Supreme Court and the Ohio State Bar Association, will consist of judges, prosecuting attorneys, criminal defense lawyers, lawmakers and academic experts.

And:

Justice Paul Pfeifer, a Republican from Bucyrus, has called for such a review for years. In January, he made even stronger comments, saying the state should abolish capital punishment.

Pfeifer, who helped write the 1981 law as a state senator, has said for years he believes prosecutors were seeking the death penalty in cases such as domestic violence slayings that the law wasn't meant for.

Pfeifer said Thursday he was glad to hear O'Connor's announcement but had no further comment.

The Houston Chronicle carries an expanded version of the AP report.

Instead, it will review Ohio's current laws, practices elsewhere, data and costs. It will also review a 2007 report released by the American Bar Association that called for a moratorium while problems the report said it had identified were examined.

That report didn't go far because of the perception that several of the researchers were biased against the death penalty.

Phyllis Crocker, who chaired the ABA report on the Ohio law, said Thursday she was pleased with O'Connor's announcement.

"A thorough examination of our state's death penalty system was one of the goals of the 2007 ABA Death Penalty Report," Crocker, interim dean of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State, said in an email.

A 2005 review of 20 years of capital punishment data by The Associated Press concluded that death sentences varied widely depending on where in the state charges were brought. The AP review also found people convicted of killing a white victim were twice as likely to receive a death sentence as those whose victim was black.

"Chief justice plans review of Ohio’s death penalty," is by David Eggert for the Columbus Dispatch.

“Is the system we have the best we can do?” Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor asked in her first State of the Judiciary address, in which she announced the creation of a joint task force to examine the issue.

“Convening persons with broad experience on this subject will produce a fair, impartial and balanced analysis,” she told more than 300 judges at the Hilton Hotel on Polaris Parkway.

She stressed that the panel — to be created by the high court and Ohio State Bar Association — will not study whether Ohio should have the death penalty, saying that is a decision for lawmakers.

Since reinstituting the death penalty in 1999, Ohio has executed 45 people.

A 2007 report by the American Bar Association found a host of problems with the state’s death penalty, including wrongful convictions, inadequate resources for defendants and their lawyers, and geographic and racial disparities, plus little effort by the state Supreme Court to ensure it is imposed proportionately.

The Reuters filing is, "Ohio justices, lawyer task force to study death penalty," by Jim Leckrone.  It's via WHTC-AM.

Ohio's top court and state bar association will form a joint task force to review the administration of the state's death penalty, the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court said on Thursday.

The task force will not address whether Ohio should or should not have a death penalty, Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor said in a speech at a two-day conference for state judges.

In July, a federal judge issued a stay of execution for one Ohio inmate, calling the state's application of death penalty practices haphazard.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who had bcommuted another death row inmate's sentence to life in June, delayed another execution as a result of the judge's ruling.

The task force is intended to "ensure that Ohio's death penalty is administered in the most fair, efficient, and judicious manner possible," O'Connor said in her address.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said it was "commendable" that Ohio was reviewing the process for fairness and accuracy.

The latest coverage from Ohio relates to the state's current moratorium due to lethal injection issues.  There are also links available to coverage of former Chief Justice Pfeifer's call for repeal and the 2007 ABA report detailing problems with the state's administration of capital punishment.

The complete ABA Moratorium Implementation Project's Ohio Assessment report is available via the ABA.

From Florida

Today's Miami Herald carries the AP post, "Governor urged to review Fla. death procedures," filed by Bill Kaczor.

The executive director of a soon-to-be-disbanded oversight commission for Florida's death penalty sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday saying the panel's work needs to somehow continue.

Noting that a federal judge declared Florida's death penalty procedure unconstitutional just a day earlier, Roger Maas wrote that decision "certainly underscores concerns in this area, regardless of the final disposition on that case."

Scott has signed a bill (HB 5011) that will abolish the Commission on Capital Cases as of July 1.

Four of the commission's six members are legislators, including its chairman, Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek. The other two members are former judges.

In his letter, Maas offered to help if the governor should launch a review of the death penalty process by executive order or otherwise. He added that he was confident the current commission members would be willing to assist as well and anticipates the Florida Bar will soon endorse such a review.

"I believe very strongly that there is a compelling need for oversight," Maas wrote. "The Commission's institutional memory and expertise may prove to be invaluable if not irreplaceable toward these ends."

And:

While some administrative functions of the Commission on Capital Cases will be transferred to the Judicial Administrative Commission, Maas wrote that the new law will "seemingly abandon the commission's larger statutory mandate."

That includes reviewing the work of two regional legal offices that represent indigent death row inmates in appeals in central and South Florida and private lawyers hired by the state to do work in north Florida.

Also gone will be the panel's role in obtaining public comment and advising the Legislature, executive branch and Supreme Court on death penalty issues, Maas wrote.

Earlier this week a federal district judge declared the state's death penalty sentencing scheme unconstitutional.  Earlier coverage of the Commission on Capital Cases begins at the link.

State Legislation Roundup - Nevada, New Hampshire News

The Las Vegas Sun reports, "Governor vetoes bill calling for study of death penalty costs."  It's by Cy Ryan.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has vetoed a bill that called for a study of the cost of the death penalty in Nevada.

Assembly Bill 501 was sponsored by the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Election and called for the legislative auditor to examine the costs of capital cases compared to non-death penalty cases.

“This bill lacks the specificity necessary to persuade me that the outcome of the audit performed will be fair,” he said in his veto message.

There hasn’t been an execution in Nevada since April 2006. Some murderers have been sitting on death row for more than 20 years due to appeals.

The bill was approved by the Assembly 28-14 and by the Senate 11-10. The vote was along party lines with Republicans opposing the study.

The study would have included pre-trial, trial and appeal costs, plus how much it costs to keep an inmate on death row at the state prison in Ely.

The governor said, “The bill, for example, lists the costs to be assessed in determining the overall fiscal impact of the imposition of the death penalty, but it does not specify how it is these costs will be assessed.”

Sandoval also said the audit doesn't reflect the choices by individuals on death row in pursuing appeals. “Thus, because the bill fails to assure me that the outcome of the audit will be reliable and fair, I veto it,” the governor said.

In New Hampshire, "Vote assures expansion of death penalty," is the Nashua Telegraph report written by Kevin Landrigan.

The first expansion of the state’s death penalty in 17 years became politically assured Wednesday.

The House of Representatives voted to add murders during home invasions to the limited list of crimes that carry capital punishment.

The bill (HB 147) marks a big achievement for House Speaker William O’Brien, R-Mont Vernon, who authored this bill in memory of Kimberly Cates, the Mont Vernon mother brutally stabbed to death in October 2009.

The House passed the bill, 211-153, and it now heads on to Gov. John Lynch, who will sign the measure, Lynch’s aide reaffirmed Wednesday.

“Our homes are our sanctuary. This legislation is a necessary enhancement of protection for those in their homes who have the right to be safe and secure,” O’Brien said in a statement after the vote.

“It will achieve justice for victims and allow for deterrence to those who would enter the homes of others to murder them.”

But Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, R-Manchester, a capital punishment opponent, said it was wrong for the state to reserve the death penalty for only certain murder victims.

“I fully realize sometimes with emotion we want to act with emotion and say, ‘Yes, those people did something terrible and I would like to see them dead,’ ” Vaillancourt said. “As a society, we do not have that right.”

Lynch’s support came after O’Brien agreed to amend the measure.

Attorney General Michael Delaney’s office had urged O’Brien to prevent it from covering too many crimes.

State prosecutors warned O’Brien that as originally written, the bill could have covered one burglar murdering another in a fight over sharing what had been stolen.

The AP report is, "NH governor gets expanded death penalty bill," by Norma Love, via the Boston Globe.

A bill expanding New Hampshire's death penalty law, prompted by a brutal machete and knife home invasion attack, is headed for the governor's desk, where Gov. John Lynch is expected to sign the measure.

The House voted 211-153 after a brief debate Wednesday to pass the bill that allows capital punishment for killings committed during burglaries of occupied buildings.

House Speaker William O'Brien sponsored the bill in response to a gruesome murder in his hometown of Mont Vernon during a home invasion.

"Our homes are our sanctuary. This legislation is a necessary enhancement of protection for those in their homes who have the right to be safe and secure. It will achieve justice for victims and allow for deterrence to those who would enter the homes of others to murder them," O'Brien said in a statement after the vote.

Death penalty opponents argued the bill was flawed because it would allow the death penalty to be applied in murders in any occupied building, including a tool shed, not just a home. They also argued capital punishment is not a deterrent and is uncivilized.

Earlier state legislative coverage from Nevada and New Hampshire is at the links.  Related posts are in the state legislation index.

More From Illinois

"Ill. governor mulls bill to abolish death penalty," is the AP report written by  Deanna Bellandi.  It's via Yahoo News.

While he has kept his deliberations close to the vest, some would be surprised if Quinn didn't take advantage of this chance to leave his mark on history by signing or vetoing legislation ending capital punishment. He could take action on the bill as early as this week.

"I will be very startled and disappointed if he doesn't sign it," said Dr. Quentin Young, a longtime friend of Quinn's who worked with him in the past on advocating for universal health care.

Whatever Quinn decides to do will be closely watched. Illinois is one of 35 states to have the death penalty; 15 states and the District of Columbia do not, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center.

In 2009, New Mexico became the most recent state to repeal the death penalty, although new Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, a longtime prosecutor, wants to reinstate it. Illinois currently does not carry out executions because of an 11-year-old moratorium.

"I've heard from many, many people of good faith and good conscience on both sides of the issue. And I've tried to be very meticulous and writing down notes and studying those notes and books and e-mails. They've really spoken from the heart. I've been very proud of the people of Illinois," Quinn said Wednesday in Springfield.

And:

State Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Chicago Democrat who was a sponsor of the abolition measure, said Quinn could sign the bill and simultaneously commute the sentences of the death row inmates to life in prison or he could keep the moratorium in place and decide later whether to commute their sentences. Raoul said it was "not likely" that Quinn would sign the bill to abolish the death penalty and then lift the moratorium so current death row inmates could be executed.

"As long as there are people on death row, he keeps the moratorium in place," Raoul predicted.

If Quinn vetoes the bill or tries to make changes to it, it will die because it was passed by an earlier General Assembly and new lawmakers can't act on it.

Even if he considers it a matter of conscience, Quinn runs a number of political risks with the decision. Among them is alienating the African-American community and lawmakers in the Legislature who voted for the abolition measure if he vetoes it, said Chris Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois-Springfield.

The push to end the death penalty is just as strong as a competing one to maintain it. Raoul asked his colleagues to "join the civilized world" and end the practice. Websites for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty both have asked supporters to call Quinn and urge him to sign the bill.

"We want the governor to know that there is a lot of national support for a decision to sign the bill to repeal the death penalty," said Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the national coalition.

Even Quinn's own lieutenant governor, Sheila Simon, a former southern Illinois prosecutor, has asked him to abolish capital punishment.

The Chicago Tribune carries a letter from Jenner & Block partner Thomas Sullivan, "Abolish the death penalty."  He's also the Chair of the Illinois Death Penalty Study Review Committee, 

Having spent the past 10 years in an intense examination of the Illinois capital punishment system, I am in complete agreement with the Tribune that the death penalty should be abolished ("'Sign it,'" Feb. 28). Efforts to make it error-proof are illusory. Even if every one of the recommendations made to improve the system were enacted -- an assumption that is also illusory -- the risk of human error would persist. There is simply no way to ensure we won't execute innocent persons. And the past 10 years with a moratorium in effect have shown that our criminal justice system doesn't need death as a potential punishment.

Earlier coverage from Illinois begins at the link.