Articles
Items: 171 — 180
Jan 05, 2009
EDITORIALS: Washington Post Calls for an End to Capital Punishment in Maryland
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…
Read MoreDec 30, 2008
EDITORIALS: Death Penalty Moratorium Needed in Texas
The Dallas Morning News renewed its call for a moratorium on executions in Texas because of the numerous errors in the state’s death penalty system. The paper highlighted the cases of Michael Blair and Charles Hood as examples of how the system has broken down. Blair was exonerated in 2008 after 14 years on death row. DNA evidence revealed that he had not been the murderer of 7‑year-old Ashley Estel in 1993, despite the fact that the…
Read MoreDec 09, 2008
Military death sentence case may head back for Supreme Court certiorari decision
Dec. 9, 2008US MILTARY:Military death sentence case may head back for Supreme Court certiorari decisionFor the 1st time in half a century, the President approved a military death sentence this summer. Army Private Ronald Gray was sentenced to death by a military court-martial panel in 1988 after convicting him of two murders, three rapes, an attempted murder, and a host of other crimes. A military death sentence triggers automatic appeals. In Gray’s case, his conviction went before the Army…
Read MoreNov 14, 2008
EDITORIAL: Death Penalty Distorts the Criminal Justice Process
A recent editorial in The Journal Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) expressed the paper’s shock at how the death penalty distorted a state criminal investigation to the extent that six innocent people were convicted of a murder they did not commit. Defendants were pressured to offer erroneous testimony through the threat of facing the death penalty. “The wrongful convictions show how the death penalty can distort the search for justice,” the editorial stated. “Investigators supplied…
Read MoreNov 07, 2008
EDITORIAL: Imperfections Abound with Death Penalty
A recent editorial in The Virginian-Pilot points to the problem of arbitrariness in applying the death penalty. The editorial asks, “Is it right to look at who the victims were? Is it fair to consider the strength of the evidence and the time and resources required to pursue the death penalty, a costly process? Does it make a crime less important, a victim’s life less memorable, if prosecutors decide that life in a tiny prison cell is punishment enough for the killer?” The editorial…
Read MoreOct 27, 2008
NEW RESOURCES: The Private Bar’s Efforts to Secure Proper Representation for those Facing Execution
Civil rights litigator and death penalty expert Ronald J. Tabak recently published “The Private Bar’s Efforts to Secure Proper Representation for those Facing Execution” in the Justice System Journal. The article presents an in-depth review of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) role in ensuring effective counsel in capital cases. Tabak recounts the ABA’s efforts since the mid-1980’s to secure competent representation at every state of legal proceedings, stating that…
Read MoreJun 10, 2008
ARTICLES:The Story of a Death Row Inmate Who Wanted to Die
In 1996, Illinois Governor Jim Edgar commuted the death sentence of Guin Garcia to life without parole, even though Garcia herself had stopped fighting for her life. Garcia would have been the first woman executed in the U.S. in twelve years. She had been convicted of killing the man who had physically abused her, but she had dropped her appeals because she said she was done “begging for her life.” Chicago Sun-Times reporter Carol Marin followed Garcia’s case after the…
Read MoreMay 20, 2008
NEW VOICES: Former New Jersey Supreme Court Justices Discuss the Failure of the Death Penalty Law
Former members of the New Jersey Supreme Court recently shared their insights on the death penalty at a symposium sponsored by Seton Hall and Fordham law schools, and by the the New York City and New Jersey State Bar associations. Five former members of the Court, including two chief justices, reviewed the 25 years of capital punishment in New Jersey before 2007’s repeal of the death penalty. Their conclusions echoed the opinion of Justice Barry Albin in State v. Wakefield…
Read MoreMay 07, 2008
EDITORIALS: “A Death Sentence Voided”
In May 2008, the California Supreme Court threw out the death sentence of convicted murderer Adam Miranda and ordered a new sentencing trial, ruling that Los Angeles County prosecutors failed to disclose key information that likely affected the sentencing of Miranda. A Los Angeles Times editorial highlights the arbitrariness of this case, noting that many defendants without dedicated representation might not have fared so well. This editorial asks about the other inmates on California’s death…
Read MoreMay 05, 2008
United Methodists Call for Abolition of the Death Penalty in Texas
May 5,…
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