Publications & Testimony

UPDATE: Ferguson was executed on Aug. 5. Florida has set an August 5 execution date for John Ferguson, a death row inmate who has suffered from severe mental illness for more than four decades. As far back as 1965, Ferguson was found to experience visual hallucinations. He was sent to mental institutions and was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, delusional, and aggressive. In 1975, a mental health doctor described Ferguson as “dangerous and cannot be released under any circumstances.”

After earlier voting to deny death row inmate Willie Manning access to DNA testing, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed itself on July 23 and cleared the way for the testing of evidence in Manning’s case. Manning has maintained his innocence since his 1994 conviction of the murders of two college students. His renewed request for testing was supported by letters from the Department of Justice and the FBI, which are conducting a review of forensic testimony by FBI experts. They have found 27…

On July 24, Ronell Wilson was re-sentenced to death by a federal jury in New York. Despite numerous capital prosecutions by the Department of Justice, no other person in the state has been given the death penalty since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. New York’s state death penalty law was found unconstitutional by the state Court of Appeals in 2004. By 2007, all seven of those sentenced to death under the state law had their sentences overturned. Wilson was first sentenced to…

A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union, “A Death Before Dying: Solitary Confinement on Death Row,” contains a survey of the conditions on death rows across the country and offers a comprehensive review of the serious implications of subjecting inmates to solitary confinement. The report reveals that most death row prisoners are housed in tiny cells, ranging from 36 – 100 square feet, roughly the size of an average bathroom; 93% of states lock up their death row prisoners for 22 or…

On July 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously affirmed a lower court ruling that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to fulfill its duties under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) when it permitted without inspection the importation of foreign drugs for use in lethal injections. The Court concluded, “The FDCA imposes mandatory duties upon the agency charged with its enforcement. The FDA acted in derogation of those duties by permitting the…

Andrew Lackey is scheduled for execution in Alabama on July 25, despite suffering from mental illness his entire life. Lackey asked for an execution date, even though neither his state nor federal appeals have been completed. Despite extensive evidence of serious mental problems, the trial judge refused to order an expert competency evaluation, failed to inquire about medications he is taking and how they affect his mental state, and did not ask state officials about their diagnosis of Lackey’s…

On July 18, a Georgia Superior Court judge ruled that the state’s new law shielding the source of lethal injection drugs interfered with Warren Hill’s right to challenge his method of execution and is therefore probably unconstitutional. According to the law, information pertaining to drugs used in executions is classified as “confidential state secrets” and cannot be disclosed. Judge Gail S. Tusan said the law ” “To be executed without being aware of basic information regarding the protocols…

A Federal Bureau of Investigation review of more than 21,000 cases has revealed 27 death penalty cases in which the FBI’s forensic experts may have exaggerated the scientific conclusions that could be drawn from their testimony, mistakenly linking defendants to crimes they may not have committed. It is possible that some of these cases involve inmates who have already been executed. Under particular scrutiny is testimony regarding hair evidence. Although FBI laboratory reports have long stated…

The Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released its annual review of the death penalty in the U.S., focusing on 2011. The report noted the continued decline in the use of the death penalty in recent years. In 2011, 80 new inmates were received under sentence of death, the lowest number since 1973, and a 27% decrease from the year before. Executions also declined to 43, compared with 46 in 2010. The average time between sentencing and execution in 2011 was 16.5 years, 20 months longer than…

A committee empaneled by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court made three preliminary recommendations at its June meeting for reforming the state’s death penalty. The panel, which consists of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and academic experts, voted to recommend a reduction in the scope of crimes eligible for the death penalty, the creation of a statewide panel to decide on seeking a death sentence, and the enactment of a Racial Justice Act. The restriction of capital crimes…