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This blog is the leading forum for people on all sides of the debate to discuss issues related to the death penalty. It includes news from Dallas Morning News reporters as well as commentary from members of the editorial board, which opposes the death penalty. We welcome and read all letters from readers. Letters are selected for publication based on their clarity and brevity. They also are chosen to represent a diverse set of views on as many issues as possible. March 2010
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Making the case for DNA testing in the Hank Skinner case Final words of death row inmates analyzed Judge who declared death penalty unconstitutional now backs off ruling Houston judge says we've executed innocent people and declares death penalty unconstitutional A global experience in fighting the death penalty Victims families speak out against the death penalty Charles Dean Hood case a dark mark on Collin County justice Recent Comments
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March 12, 2010
If you've wondered whether DNA testing would really make a difference in the Hank Skinner case -- of if it's just a desperate plea to save the man's life -- you should really read this letter prepared by his lawyers. It explains in detail why DNA testing would provide new evidence that the jury never had a chance to consider.
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No one knows what a death row inmate will say in that final moment before the lethal drugs start flowing. Sometimes it's startling, as when an inmate spit out a handcuff key, sometimes it's poignant like the man who started singing "Silent Night" and died mid-song. Occasionally, someone is defiant, and often they say nothing at all. Now a group of criminologists has analyzed the last words of death row inmates in Texas and determined that the content of final statements changed after victims' relatives and friends were permitted to attend the execution. According to a new article, Of Guilt, Defiance, and Repentance: Evidence from the Texas Death Chamber published in Justice Quarterly, before January 12, 1996, 36 percent of last statements admitted responsibility and 32 percent expressed sorrow or asked forgiveness from the victim's family. After victim family members and friends were allowed to be present, 43 percent of inmates admitted guilt during their last statements and 41 percent expressed repentance and a desire for forgiveness. I always wonder if victim's family members believe those apologies and if they do, if they help ease their pain.
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The entry "Final words of death row inmates analyzed " is tagged: Diane Jennings , Justice Quarterly , last word , Texas death row March 10, 2010
I loved the Star-Telegram editorial on the Judge Fine issue. I agree almost 100 percent, and I think the way they presented their arguments is spot-on: Texans need to have a sober and extended discussion about whether problems with witness identifications; questionable forensics; inequities depending on defendants' race, ethnicity and income; and other major shortcomings have so undermined the capital punishment system that it's no longer credible or acceptable, morally or legally. The one area where I disagree is that they argue, "...exonerations don't prove innocents were executed; they prove the opposite, that wrongful convictions were discovered." I understand that line of thinking, but I don't think most people point to exonerations as proof that someone innocent has been executed. The far more important point is that exonerations spotlight very serious flaws in our system, and if our system is so flawed, it cannot be trusted with life-and-death matters. No punishment should be irreversible in a flawed system. March 9, 2010
What to make of Harris County District Judge Kevin Fine? First, he ignited a Texas firestorm by ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional. Then he "clarified" his ruling. And now, today, he has rescinded his ruling. But lest you think that he has had a change of heart, Fine has clarified further, explaining that he's simply holding his ruling in abeyance until lawyers can submit briefs on this issue. He's said unequivocally that innocent people have been executed, and no precedent exists to guide him on the question of whether it's OK to put the innocent to death. This seems to be a dilemma indeed. Legal scholars have suggested that this could be a strategy for launching a conversation about this issue within the judicial branch. But Fine's efforts, though likely well intentioned, seem to be a muddled mess. While everyone involved in this case continues to seek clarity, today's news reports provide more answers about the man on the bench. Previous stories noted that Fine was a former cocaine addict; today's add the fact that the judge is heavily tattooed as well. If nothing else, I'm glad we have that question settled.
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The entry "Judge who declared death penalty unconstitutional now backs off ruling" has no entry tags. March 5, 2010
A Houston judge said yesterday that it's safe to assume we've executed innocent people. And, in an effort to put a stop to that, state District Judge Kevin Fine granted a pretrial motion declaring capital punishment unconstitutional. The ruling came in response to a number of pretrial motions filed on behalf of John Edward Green Jr., who is charged in a robbery and shooting death. The defense attorneys filed an array of pretrial motions, just hoping that one might stick. They likely were as surprised by the ruling as the state's attorney general was. AG Greg Abbott's office wasted no time, decrying this as unabashed judicial activism. Of course, Fine's declaration that the death penalty is unconstitutional is likely an exercise in futility, as it will surely be overturned on appeal. A law professor notes that sometimes judges make such rulings hoping to start a dialogue in the judicial branch. But this judge, who is a recovering cocaine addict and plenty controversial to boot, probably is not the best person to lead this charge.
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The entry "Houston judge says we've executed innocent people and declares death penalty unconstitutional" has no entry tags. February 26, 2010
This is a guest blog post written by Susannah Sheffer, project director and staff writer at Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. Her e-mail address is sheffer@mvfhr.org. She shares these thoughts from Geneva, where she is attending the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. With 1,700 people from 100 countries gathered here in Geneva, there is much more to report than could fit in a short post. Steve Hall at the StandDown Texas blog has a good roundup of the press coverage of this 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. Here's glimpse of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights' participation. MVFHR is a steering committee member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which, in partnership with the French organization Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (Together Against the Death Penalty) and the Swiss Federation, organized this tremendous event. As an organization, MVFHR has always been committed to an international vision for our death penalty abolition work. The World Congress gives us an opportunity to experience that international context directly and to make connections with members and allies around the world.
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The entry "A global experience in fighting the death penalty" has no entry tags. February 25, 2010
Today, in Geneva, more than 1,700 people from around the world are attending the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. Several members of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights are speaking. The following are drafts of their testimony, as provided to me by Susannah Sheffer.
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The entry "Victims families speak out against the death penalty" has no entry tags. February 23, 2010
Bill Baumbach, a blogger in Collin County, has a great post with all sorts of links about the Charles Dean Hood case. You remember, the one where the judge was sleeping with the prosecutor, but no one seems to think that's a problem.
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The entry "Charles Dean Hood case a dark mark on Collin County justice" has no entry tags. February 22, 2010
Sharing this information about an event at the University of Houston next Wednesday: Death penalty opponent, Sister Helen Prejean, will speak at UHD March 3 HOUSTON - Sister Helen Prejean, a nationally recognized opponent of the death penalty who wrote "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States," will speak at the University of Houston-Downtown at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 3, in the Wilhelmina Cullen Robertson Auditorium on the third floor of the Academic Building. The lecture is free and open to the public. Prejean's appearance is part of the Criminal Justice Speaker Series, sponsored by UHD's College of Public Service. Judith Harris, UHD lecturer in criminal justice who organized Prejean's lecture, said UHD students will gain a broader understanding of the death penalty by attending the lecture. "Hearing an internationally known spiritual adviser to death row inmates brings a new perspective students cannot get from a textbook," Harris said. Prejean's book became an Academy-Award-winning movie, "Dead Man Walking," in 1995. The movie portrayed Prejean's experiences with death row inmate Patrick Sonnier at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Actor Sean Penn played Sonnier's character, Matthew Poncelet, and Susan Sarandon played Prejean. Sarandon won an Academy Award for best actress for her work in the movie. Prejean was Sonnier's spiritual adviser, worked to prevent his execution and stood by him until he was executed in the electric chair. Her activism against capital punishment sparked a national dialogue about the death penalty and helped shaped the Catholic Church's opposition to all state executions. Prejean still campaigns against the death penalty and counsels death row prisoners. She has been a spiritual adviser to six more executed men. She published a second book, "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," in 2004. "Dead Man Walking," the book, was nominated for a 1993 Pulitzer Prize and made the 1994 American Library Associates Notable Book List. The international best seller was No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for 31 weeks and has been translated into 10 languages.
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The entry "Sister Helen Prejean to speak in Houston" has no entry tags. February 17, 2010
This does seem odd. On one hand, a judge agrees to delay an execution, which was challenged based on a lack of DNA testing. But then the same judge sets a new execution date. The real issue is that a clerk made an error in doing the paperwork. This is the nature of the frustrating appeals process in Texas. Small errors in a game of chess matter. Signs of evidence and major doubts to really get consideration. For Immediate Release
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The entry "Delay for Skinner execution, but that's all?" has no entry tags.
I just received this from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:
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The entry "Todd Willingham anniversary: A call to action" has no entry tags. February 16, 2010
In Virginia, a state that, like Texas, is known for its use of the death penalty, legislators recently rejected several efforts to expand capital punishment. The only measure to survive was one that would allow the death penalty in cases where an auxiliary police officer is killed on duty. But what caught my eye in this Associated Press story was a comment by the state's former executioner, Jerry Givens of Henrico, who presided over 62 executions and now opposes the ultimate sanction. "The people that recommend executions, that pass these bills, they don't have to do these things," Givens said of legislators. "The executioners and the people that participate in these things, they have to suffer through this stuff."
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The entry "Former executioner in Virginia opposes death penalty " is tagged: death penalty , execution , Virginia
The Louisiana prison system has taken a novel approach to death row litigation. Officials have sued all 84 inmates to prevent them from challenging the state's lethal injection procedure. According to Solitary Watch the litigation is a countersuit, filed in response to an earlier lawsuit claiming that Louisiana's lethal injection procedure is in violation of state law. The Solitary Watch story says, Nick Trenticosta, director of the non-profit Center for Equal Justice in New Orleans, knows of no similar instance in which a state sued all of its death row inmates. "I've been hanging around death penalty cases for 25 years," Trenticosta said. "And I have never seen anything like this." A spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said he knows of no such plan in Texas.
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The entry " Louisiana prison system sues death row inmates" is tagged: death penalty , Louisiana February 15, 2010
Somehow, Debra Medina, the toxic GOP candidate for governor, used her empathy for 9/11 truthers to explain why she thinks there should be a moratorium on executions in Texas.
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The entry "Debra Medina's support for death penalty moratorium is worse than useless" has no entry tags. February 10, 2010
When I first realized that the Democratic debate was addressing death penalty issues, I got excited. Perhaps this is the place where an honest debate and discussion about flaws in the system will finally take place at the governor-level.
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The entry "Farouk Shami badly sidetracks death penalty issue in governor's race" has no entry tags. February 8, 2010
The Republicans don't talk much about Perry's intervention in the Willingham case or other death row issues. Will the Dems? Join us for a live chat during the Democratic Gubernatorial Debate. Bookmark this post or visit The Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog tonight at 7 p.m.
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The entry "Will the Dems tackle justice issues at tonight's debate?" has no entry tags. February 3, 2010
Texas is always at the top of the list in terms of executions, but with the election of a pro-death penalty governor, Virginia may be making a surge. That's what the Virginian-Pilot reports.
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The entry "Virginia headed in wrong direction on death penalty, following Texas' lead" has no entry tags. January 27, 2010
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The entry "Join us for live blogging during the State of the Union speech" has no entry tags. January 26, 2010
So what is the punishment for a public servant who fails to do her job properly? One Republican judge who once served on the Court of Criminal Appeals says it is the public humiliation Sharon Keller "surely" endured following her mistakes in the handling of a late death penalty appeal soon after the Supreme Court decided to look into the issue of lethal injection.
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The entry "Public humiliation as punishment for Sharon Keller?" has no entry tags. January 22, 2010
Criminal defense attorney David Dow is receiving good reviews for his new book, The Autobiography of an Execution. But his work as litigation director of the Texas Defender Service, on behalf of death row inmate Michael Richard, was harshly criticized in the recent findings of fact inquiry into the conduct of Judge Sharon Keller. "...the majority of the problems involving the Richard execution were the responsibility of the TDS," Judge David Berchelmann wrote. He specifically faulted the Defender Service, which claimed to have computer problems on the day of the execution, for not having a lawyer call the court clerk instead of a paralegal, and for not calling individual judges after Keller closed the office. He also said Dow had "embellished" the account of the computer problems and created a media uproar that subjected Keller to public humiliation. In response, Dow says "There were things that if we could do the whole thing over again, we would have done differently, but I'm not sure that any of the things that we would have done differently are the things that he talked about." For instance, Dow disagrees with the notion that a lawyer instead of a paralegal might have gotten a different response from the clerk, calling that an "insulting suggestion." He also doesn't endorse the idea of calling other judges after being told no, saying he could be accused of "forum shopping." And he denies embellishing any account of what happened that day to spark a media uproar. "That's just false," he says, adding that, "Our involvement in this from the inception has been only because the state commission has asked us to participate. We have not been involved in initiating any complaints against Judge Keller...It's not at all a personal vendetta."
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The entry "Defense attorney responds to judge's findings in Keller inquiry" is tagged: David Berchelmann , David Dow , Diane Jennings , Michael Richard , Sharon Keller , Texas Defender Service |
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