Articles

A judge in Texas has recommended that the claim of an unfair trial brought by death row inmate Charles Hood should go forward because the trial judge and prosecutor had a secret romantic relationship that they hid from the defendant before, during, and after his trial. CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen reported on the story, writing, “Hood’s judge and prosecutor lied, over and over again, to hide their affair. Any blame for the delay in bringing justice to Hood is their fault, not his, and…

An editorial The Daily Astorian, contrasts the state’s use of funds for the death penalty to the state’s reduction in funding for education. “The glaring contrast to our unquestioning spending on the death penalty — which Judge Lipscomb called ‘this largely futile attempt’ — is our disinvestment in education,” the paper noted. “Investment in education is about the future, and it is about hope. Investment in prisons and especially in the death penalty is about a final reckoning, an admission of…

The Angolite, an award-winning magazine produced by the inmates at Angola Prison in Louisiana, recently published an extensive review of the developments in the death penalty in 2008. The article by Lane Nelson addressed nationwide trends, Supreme Court decisions, the issues of cost, the risks of executing innocent people, and the problem of inadequate representation. The article concluded, “[N]ational debates, legislative studies, court rulings and blue-ribbon commission recommendations in…

The Hartford Courant has called for an end to the death penalty in Connecticut, citing its costs and risks. The paper called a legislative committee’s work toward abolishing Connecticut’s death penalty “brave,” and said the state’s capital punishment system was “unworkable, not to mention expensive, unfair, and risky.” They quoted State Sen. Mary Anne Handley who said: “The death penalty is neither swift nor certain. It may even be certain that it’s not going to happen.” The editorial…

The Los Angeles Times recently editorialized about the futility of keeping the death penalty in California. “Let’s end this brutal, anachronistic practice,” of the death penalty, the paper wrote. “Inefficiency and costliness are obviously only a small part of what’s wrong with the death penalty.” The editorial continued, “[C]apital punishment strikes disproportionately at disadvantaged groups, and capriciously at others,” adding, “We doubt its deterrent effect as well.” With California facing…

The Houston Chronicle is calling on Texas Governor Rick Perry to delay the execution of Larry Swearingen, which is scheduled for January 27. The Chronicle notes that the forensic scientist who testified about the time of death of the victim at Swearingen’s trial now believes the death occurred later, a time at which Swearingen was in police custody on another matter. Five other physicians and forensic experts concurred that the murder occurred after the time that Swearingen was arrested on a…

The prison news magazine The Angolite features an in-depth piece on the use of capital punishment around the world in its recent isssue. Citing a 2008 Amnesty International report, the article notes that China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, and the United States lead the world in executions. Japan, the only other industrialized democracy besides the U.S. that uses capital punishment, averages five executions a year but is known for inhumane death row conditions. Author and inmate Lane Nelson details…

The News & Record of North Carolina recently featured an editorial encouraging the state’s legislature and governor to abolish the death penalty. The editorial noted the controversies that have surrounded the use of capital punishment in the state, including disagreement about lethal injections and the inconsistent way the penalty has been applied. The declining number of death sentences and the extensive time needed before an execution can take place led the paper to conclude the state “should…

A recent editorial in the Washington Post cited trends and statistics from DPIC’s 2008 Year End Report in calling for an end to the death penalty in Maryland. The paper urged Maryland lawmakers to “heed the march of history” and noted that use of the death penalty is declining around the country: “According to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that studies capital punishment, executions nationwide reached a 14-year low in 2008, with only 37 executions carried out…