Articles
Items: 41 — 50
May 08, 2014
EDITORIALS: “State-Sponsored Horror in Oklahoma”
A recent New York Times editorial described the “horrific scene” of Clayton Lockett’s botched execution and called on Oklahoma to “[follow] other governors and legislatures in banning executions, recognizing that the American administration of death does not function.” The editors noted the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s temporary halt to the execution and pointed to political pressure as a possible explanation for why the Court then…
Read MoreApr 16, 2014
EDITORIALS: “New Hampshire Should Abolish Death Penalty”
In advance of a New Hampshire Senate vote expected on April 17, the Boston Globe published an editorial calling on their neighboring state’s legislators to support repeal of capital punishment. The editorial highlighted the bipartisan support for abolition in the New Hampshire House, and Gov. Maggie Hassan’s pledge to sign the repeal bill if it passes the Senate. Among their reasons for endorsing the measure, the Globe said,…
Read MoreMar 21, 2014
EDITORIALS: Mississippi Paper Calls Pending Execution “Gravely Inhumane”
A recent editorial in the Jackson Free Press in Mississippi called for a halt to the scheduled execution of Michelle Byrom, saying she is “clearly not guilty of the crime for which the state plans to execute her next week.” The editorial noted that Byrom’s son had confessed to the crime four times.” He said the story he originally told sheriffs implicating his mother was made up because he was “scared, confused and high” when he was interrogated. The…
Read MoreFeb 17, 2014
EDITORIALS: Washington Paper Backs Governor’s Moratorium and Now Supports Repeal
In an editorial supporting Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s recently-announced death penalty moratorium, the News Tribune (Tacoma) said its editorial board “has grown increasingly uncomfortable with capital punishment in recent years, and we now share Inslee’s feeling that Washington should move beyond it.” The paper said the governor’s decision “forced a welcome new discussion” of capital punishment. While acknowledging the heinousness of many…
Read MoreJan 13, 2014
EDITORIAL: “Proposal to Speed Up Death Penalty Appeals Troubling”
A recent editorial in the Montgomery Advertiser criticized a proposal by Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to speed up death penalty appeals. His proposed legislation would require two parts of the appeal process to essentially run concurrently. The editorial cautioned that lack of adequate representation for death penalty defendants would make the accelerated process more problematic. The paper concluded, “Anything that smacks of haste in capital punishment…
Read MoreJan 07, 2014
Two Defendants from the Same Case Illustrate Inequities in Florida’s Death Penalty
In a recent article in the Atlantic, Marc Bookman compared the path through the justice system of two co-defendants sentenced to death in Florida after committing murder in 1977. Beauford White was electrocuted in 1987, despite his trial jury voting 12 – 0 for a life sentence. The trial judge overrode that recommendation and imposed death. White’s co-defendant, John Ferguson, lived for another 26 years before being executed in 2013.
Read MoreDec 23, 2013
FROM DPIC: Extensive News Coverage of Year End Report
National and local media have focused significant attention on DPIC’s recent 2013 Year End Report. Coverage has included pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, CNN, on the wires of the Associated Press and Reuters, and in hundreds of other articles and editorials. Papers highlighted the main theme of…
Read MoreDec 20, 2013
Toobin on America’s Ambivalence Toward the Death Penalty
Jeffrey Toobin, writing in The New Yorker, used the current scramble among states to procure the drugs for lethal injections as a paradigm of the much longer effort to make the death penalty palatable to the American public. “The story of the death penalty in this country,” he wrote, “illustrates a characteristically American faith in a technological solution to any problem.” However, Toobin concluded, technology can not cover up the broader problems of capital…
Read MoreDec 04, 2013
NEW VOICES: Another Conservative Leader Challenges the Death Penalty
In an op-ed in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tennessean Drew Johnson evoked conservatives’ intentions to “protect innocent life, promote financial responsibility and support government programs that really work” in criticizing the death penalty. Johnson, a Senior Fellow at Taxpayers Protection Alliance and founder of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, cited the many exonerations from death row as another reason to challenge capital punishment: “Life is too precious to…
Read MoreDec 02, 2013
EDITORIALS: Expanding Conservative Concerns About the Death Penalty
A recent editorial in the Dallas Morning News highlighted the voices of prominent conservatives who now oppose capital punishment, including former Texas Congressman Ron Paul and conservative political leader Richard Viguerie. The paper noted the new partnership between the student-centered organization Young Americans for Liberty and Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. The editorial…
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