Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Dec 22, 2008
NEW VOICES: Police Chief Says Death Penalty Hurting Public Safety
Ray Samuels, a police officer for 33 years and Chief of Police in Newark, California, for 5 years, recently expressed concern that state budget cuts will prevent important crime-fighting measures from being passed, while an expensive death penalty continues to drain the state’s finances. In an op-ed in the Contra Costa Times, Samuels…
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Dec 19, 2008
Death Penalty Sentences Have Dropped Considerably in the 2000s
Compared to the 1990s, there has been a marked decline in death sentences in the U.S. since 2000. Every region of the country and every state that averaged one or more death sentences per year have seen a decline in the annual number of death sentences. The chart below compares the annual number of death sentences in each state in the 1990s with the 2000s. North Carolina, California, Florida, and Texas experienced the greatest declines in sentencing. This issue and others are addressed in the…
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News
Dec 18, 2008
California Lawmakers Oppose Funding $395 Million for New Death Row
Two California legislators from opposing political parties and with different points of view on the death penalty have proposed cutting funding for a new $395 million death row at San Quentin Prison. “The Death Row expansion is a bottomless money pit,” said Republican state Senator Jeff Denham. Democratic Assemblyman Jared Huffman added, “We should use this opportunity, with the state running out of cash, to step back and rethink this…
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Dec 17, 2008
NEW VOICES: Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Says Death Penalty Unconstitutional
The Presiding Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, Oliver Diaz, dissented in a recent capital case, Doss v. Mississippi, stating he had come to the conclusion that the death penalty is…
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Dec 16, 2008
NEW RESOURCES: Death Qualification and Prejudice
Research on death qualification – the selection of jurors who are qualified to serve on a capital case because they are willing to sentence someone to death – has revealed additional characteristics among such jurors. Professor Brooke Butler of the University of South Florida in Sarasota has studied such jurors and published her results in the journal of Behavioral Sciences and the Law. Her study, “Death qualification and prejudice: the effect of implicit racism, sexism, and homophobia on…
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Dec 15, 2008
Expensive Death Penalty Prosecution of Infamous Murderer Results in Life-Without-Parole Sentence in Georgia
Brian Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without parole in Georgia on December 13 after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict of death. Nichols had been found guilty of killing a judge, a court reporter, a police deputy, and a U.S. Customs agent during his escape from a courthouse hearing on other charges. The jury remained deadlocked in a 9 – 3 vote after four days of deliberations. A unanimous vote is required for a death sentence, just as it is…
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Dec 12, 2008
Maryland Commission Recommends Abolition of Death Penalty in Final Report
The legislative commission established to examine the death penalty in Maryland has recommended abolition of the punishment by a vote of 13 – 9. The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment released its final report on December 12, detailing the reasons for its recommendation. “There is no good and sufficient reason to have the death penalty,” Chairman Benjamin R. Civiletti said at a news conference. Regarding the commission’s recommendation of repeal rather…
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News
Dec 11, 2008
RESOURCES: New Website and Database Launched
The Death Penalty Project launched a new Web site on December 10 that includes a legal resource database with a comprehensive list of international legal authorities and case law, some dating back to the 19th century, and detailed head notes for those seeking jurisprudence on criminal, constitutional, and international points of law. Users can search for case references by subject matter and a sophisticated case index. The site is located at www.deathpenaltyproject.org. The…
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Dec 10, 2008
Federal Appeals Court Considers Sufficiency of Evidence in Troy Davis Case
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta heard arguments in the Troy Davis case on December 9. The judges weighed whether Davis’ new evidence was sufficient to merit a more extensive hearing and perhaps a new trial. One of the judges, Rosemary Barkett, said she would like to see the innocence claims fleshed out in a further…
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News
Dec 09, 2008
Tennessee Death Penalty Committee Recommends Changes in Representation Standards
A legislative committee created to study the death penalty in Tennessee has recommended ways to ensure capital cases are handled fairly and effectively. The committee approved a resolution that asks lawmakers to create a statewide authority whose duties would include identifying lawyers experienced in capital cases, raising the standard pay for such attorneys, and monitoring their caseloads. Thomas Lee, a Tennessee attorney on the committee, said such an authority would help…
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