Articles
Items: 211 — 220
Jun 13, 2007
Supreme Court Decision Allows Broader Exclusion of Jurors, But May Further Isolate the Death Penalty
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Uttecht v. Brown on June 4, 2007 appears to enhance the state’s ability to remove potential jurors with doubts about the death penalty. But by expanding the class of people who cannot serve on capital juries, the decision may ultimately render the death penalty invalid as juries fail to represent the true diversity of the American public. In a 5 – 4 decision overturning an opinion written by Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
Read MoreJun 07, 2007
EDITORIALS: Death Penalty for Rape Would “Compound the Error”
In a recent editorial, the Los Angeles Times voiced concerns about a Louisiana Supreme Court decision upholding the death sentence of Patrick Kennedy for the rape of his 8‑year-old stepdaughter. The paper said the Louisiana court’s decision to allow the death penalty in such cases could lead states to seek the death penalty for other non-murder crimes, a development that would worsen an already dysfunctional death penalty system. The editorial noted: The United States is virtually alone…
Read MoreMay 31, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Chief Expresses Concerns about Innocence and the Death Penalty
In a guest column published in the Jurist, former FBI Director William S. Sessions underscored the importance of making DNA testing available for those facing execution. He also encouraged states to thoroughly review their capital punishment systems and to make reforms to ensure greater reliability. DNA testing, he noted, has revealed that police often do not have the right suspect in serious crimes. In about 25% of the cases where DNA was available and a suspect had…
Read MoreMay 30, 2007
NEW RESOURCES: Scientific American Examines “The Mysteries of Anesthesia”
The latest issue of Scientific American contains an article about the science of anesthesiology, noting that “the medical specialty of anesthesiology has evolved into a sophisticated art form.” The magazine reports that the scientific understanding of how anesthetic drugs actually work and how to make them better has lagged behind most other areas of drug development, a shortcoming that has resulted in safety concerns. Episodes of awareness during operations while under general anesthesia,…
Read MoreApr 16, 2007
EDITORIALS: Dallas Morning News Issues Historic Call to End Death Penalty
Noting that they “cannot reconcile the fact that [the death penalty] is both imperfect and irreversible,” the Dallas Morning News has called on Texas to abandon capital punishment. The paper, which has long supported the death penalty, changed its position after careful consideration of mounting evidence that the state has wrongly convicted a number of defendants in capital trials and has likely executed at least one man who was innocent. The editorial…
Read MoreApr 09, 2007
Was an innocent man executed in Texas?
Anderson Cooper 360 Blog — Monday, April 09,…
Read MoreApr 06, 2007
EDITORIAL: Pennsylvania Paper Declares State’s Death Penalty “Useless”
The Sentinel newspaper of Pennsylvania is the latest paper to editorially conclude that the death penalty should be abolished. Shortly after it published an investigative piece outlining the ineffectiveness of Pennsylvania’s death penalty, the newspaper editorialized that the state’s capital punishment laws are “useless” and that the “pendulum is swinging away from Pennsylvania’s position on a law it cannot even execute.” The Central Pennsylvania-based newspaper noted that capital…
Read MoreApr 01, 2007
Crime and Sacrifice
What does the cross tell us about the ethics of capital punishment?by Tobias WinrightSojourners Magazine April…
Read MoreMar 26, 2007
Chicago Tribune Changes Position and Calls for Abolition of Death Penalty
After decades of maintaining a position that the government should have the legal right to impose capital punishment, the Chicago Tribune is now calling for abolition of the death penalty. Noting concerns about innocence, the arbitrary nature of the punishment, and the public’s shift away from the death penalty, the Tribune announced on March 25 that, “The evidence of mistakes, the evidence of arbitrary decisions, the sobering knowledge that government can’t provide certainty…
Read MoreFeb 16, 2007
Why two mothers back death penalty repeal
by Vicki Schieber and Carolyn Leming Feb. 16, 2007 The GazetteWe write as mothers who have been scarred by the death penalty.Our stories are very different, but they are both stories of justice gone wrong. They are stories that convince us the capital punishment system in Maryland and across the country is broken beyond…
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