Publications & Testimony

The American Bar Association recent­ly pub­lished The State of Criminal Justice 2011, an annu­al report that exam­ines major issues, trends and sig­nif­i­cant changes in America’s crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. The pub­li­ca­tion serves as a valu­able resource for aca­d­e­mics, stu­dents, and pol­i­cy-makes. The chap­ter devot­ed to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was writ­ten by Ronald Tabak, spe­cial coun­sel and pro bono coor­di­na­tor at the law firm of Skadden Arps in New York. Tabak…

Lundbeck Inc., a Danish phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­ny that is the sole man­u­fac­tur­er of injectable pen­to­bar­bi­tal used in the U.S., recent­ly announced that it will impose tougher con­di­tions on dis­trib­u­tors in an effort to pre­vent the drug’s use in exe­cu­tions. Lundbeck’s Chief Executive, Ulf Wiinberg, said his com­pa­ny will be switch­ing to the use of spe­cial­ist whole­salers and impos­ing ​“end user claus­es” designed to stop pen­to­bar­bi­tal from being sold for use in…

A new dec­la­ra­tion issued by Catherine Ashton, the European Union​’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, expressed deep con­cerns about the pos­si­ble exe­cu­tion of Troy Anthony Davis, a death row inmate in Georgia. Evidence that emerged after his tri­al has thrown doubt about his con­vic­tion. The High Representative, writ­ing on behalf of the EU, stat­ed, ​“The EU has repeat­ed­ly inter­vened on behalf of Mr. Davis…

On June 8, Ohio Governor John Kasich (pic­tured) grant­ed clemen­cy to Shawn Hawkins, com­mut­ing his death sen­tence to life with­out parole because of doubts about his role in a dou­ble mur­der. Hawkins was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on June 14. In May, the Ohio Parole Board unan­i­mous­ly rec­om­mend­ed to spare Hawkins’ life, cit­ing con­flict­ing state­ments by the sole eye­wit­ness and pos­si­ble involve­ment of oth­er indi­vid­u­als who had not been fully…

On June 7, a clemen­cy peti­tion was filed with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles request­ing a halt to the July‑7 exe­cu­tion of Humberto Leal, a Mexican cit­i­zen who was not advised of his con­sular rights upon arrest for a mur­der in San Antonio in 1994. The peti­tion was accom­pa­nied by let­ters from for­mer U.S. diplo­mats, retired mil­i­tary lead­ers, for­mer pros­e­cu­tors and judges, and asso­ca­tions of Americans liv­ing abroad call­ing for a stay of…

Chelsea Richardson (pic­tured), the first woman in Tarrant County, Texas, to be sen­tenced to death, may soon be serv­ing a life sen­tence instead. Six years after her con­vic­tion, Tarrant County District Attorney Joe Shannon agreed with Richardson’s appel­late attor­ney that the pros­e­cu­tor at her tri­al with­held evi­dence that could have affect­ed the jury’s sen­tence. This devel­op­ment would mark the sec­ond time in three years that the out­come of a death penal­ty case…

On May 28, the Nevada Senate passed a bill autho­riz­ing an audit of the cost of the state’s death penal­ty. By a vote of 11 – 10, the Senate called for the leg­isla­tive audi­tor to com­pare the costs of pros­e­cu­tion and appeals in cap­i­tal cas­es to non-death penal­ty cas­es, exam­in­ing the cost of defense lawyers, juries, psy­chi­atric eval­u­a­tions, appel­late and post-con­vic­tion pro­ceed­ings. The audi­tor would also exam­ine the cost of an exe­cu­tion, includ­ing the costs of facil­i­ties and…

A new biog­ra­phy of Clarence Darrow by John A. Farrell chron­i­cles the life of this famous American lawyer, known for his elo­quence in defend­ing unpop­u­lar clients and in secur­ing reprieves for those con­demned to death. He won life sen­tences for Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, whose crimes of kid­nap­ping and mur­der had gar­nered nation­al atten­tion. He often spoke pub­licly about his oppo­si­tion to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Darrow had many famous clients dur­ing his career, includ­ing union…