Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

After U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft autho­rized a fed­er­al death penal­ty pros­e­cu­tion against two Massachusetts men accused of a gang mur­der, the local Suffolk County District Attorney, Daniel F. Conley, object­ed to using cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to end urban vio­lence, stat­ing,​“I do not believe the death penal­ty is a deter­rent or appro­pri­ate pun­ish­ment for inner-city homi­cide. The death penal­ty runs counter to the strate­gies for pre­vent­ing and prosecuting urban…

The Washington Post recent­ly respond­ed to Judge Jane Marum Roush’s deci­sion allow­ing Virginia to seek the death penal­ty for Lee Boyd Malvo despite treaties for­bid­ding such a sen­tence for juve­niles. The paper’s edi­to­r­i­al not­ed that while the judge’s deci­sion may be legal­ly cor­rect, it​“does not ren­der Virginia’s (juve­nile death penal­ty) pol­i­cy any less abhor­rent.” The editorial went…

In an effort to pre­vent wrong­ful con­vic­tions and ensure accu­rate eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission has rec­om­mend­ed new pro­ce­dures for state law enforce­ment agen­cies. The com­mis­sion was formed by state Supreme Court Justice Beverly Lake and is com­prised of judges, police, pros­e­cu­tors, defense attor­neys and oth­ers. Among the rec­om­men­da­tions were pol­i­cy changes requir­ing police to show eyewitnesses lineup…

An August 2003 Charlotte Observer/​NBC‑6 poll revealed that near­ly half of those sur­veyed in North and South Carolina say the states should pause exe­cu­tions until the death penal­ty sys­tem is deemed fair. Of the 908 respon­dents, 48% voiced sup­port for a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions and 41% were opposed. While men were about equal­ly split on the ques­tion, 50% of women favored a mora­to­ri­um and 35% opposed it. Among African American respon­dents, 67% favored a mora­to­ri­um, while…

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has issued a tem­po­rary reprieve for death row inmate Philip Workman, who was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on September 24^th. Noting that there is an ongo­ing fed­er­al crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tion that may shed light on Workman’s case, Bredesen stat­ed,​“So long as there are out­stand­ing issues that may be relat­ed to this case, the only prop­er thing to do is to wait until those ques­tions have been answered. I am a sup­port­er of the death penal­ty, but…

An International coali­tion of non-gov­­­ern­­­men­­­tal orga­ni­za­tions will spon­sor a World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10^th, 2003. The coali­tion will host local events through­out the world to draw atten­tion to their con­cerns about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Among the events sched­uled are debates, con­certs, and lec­tures. The coali­tion will also host an Internet event urg­ing repeal of the death penal­ty in all coun­tries that main­tain the prac­tice, includ­ing the United…

As the October 1^st dead­line for Florida inmates to request DNA test­ing of evi­dence that could prove their inno­cence looms, Broward County pros­e­cu­tors have announced that they will allow inmates access to the cru­cial test­ing after the dead­line pass­es. Two of Florida’s high­­­est-pro­­­file DNA exon­er­a­tions, Frank Lee Smith, who died of can­cer on death row 11 months before he was exon­er­at­ed by DNA evi­dence, and Jerry Frank Townsend were both Broward County cas­es. Carolyn McCann,…

“The Wrong Men: America’s Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions” by Stanley Cohen is slat­ed for release in October 2003. This book tells the sto­ry of how more than 100 inno­cent peo­ple found them­selves on death row in the United States. Through an exam­i­na­tion of eye­wit­ness error, jail­house snitch­es, racism, junk sci­ence, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, and incom­pe­tent coun­sel, Cohen pro­vides a behind-the-scenes look at the prob­lems lead­ing to wrongful convictions.

The most recent com­pre­hen­sive report sum­ma­riz­ing leg­isla­tive, judi­cial, pub­lic pol­i­cy, and oth­er devel­op­ments that have occurred since the American Bar Association’s adop­tion of its death penal­ty mora­to­ri­um res­o­lu­tion in February 1997 is now avail­able.​“Building Momentum: The American Bar Association Call for a Moratorium on Executions Takes Hold” cov­ers activ­i­ty from August 2001 to June 2003. It is the fourth edi­tion of the ABA​’s mora­to­ri­um activity update…

The fol­low­ing are excerpts from Summerlin v. Stewart, No. 98 – 99002 (9^th Cir. Sept. 2, 2003): (page num­bers refer to the on-line ver­sion; sub­heads are not part…