Publications & Testimony

Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama, recently delivered the keynote address at the 30^th anniversary celebration of the Open Door Community in Atlanta. Mr. Stevenson discussed how defending those on death row often takes a personal toll on those engaged in this work, even to the point of feeling “broken.” But, he added, “I’ve learned some very basic things, being a broken person. I’ve learned that each person is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.

One of the principal causes of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases and other felonies is mistaken eyewitness testimony. On July 19, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued instructions designed to help jurors better evaluate the reliability of eyewitness identifications. A judge is now required to tell jurors before deliberations begin that stress levels, distance, or poor lighting can affect an eyewitness’s ability to make an accurate identification. The new instructions also warn that…

A recent law review article by Professors Carol and Jordan Steiker examines two decades of attempts to regulate capital punishment and concludes that this process may have paved the way to a finding that the death penalty is unconstitutional: “[T]he modern American death penalty — with its unprecedented costs, alternatives, and legal regulatory framework — seems newly vulnerable to judicial invalidation. Reform of the death penalty and its abolition might well be on the same path.” The authors…

Conditions for the the 50 inmates on Mississippi’s death row are perhaps typical of death rows around the country, but are nevertheless debilitating and cruel. Most inmates spend an average of 12 – 15 years on death row while they proceed through the appeals process, though some have been there longer than 30 years. Death row inmates usually spend 23 hours a day in their cells. Dr. Stuart Grassian, a Harvard psychiatrist who has long studied death row inmates in solitary confinement, described…

Marcus Druery (pictured) is facing execution in Texas on August 1 even though he has shown clear signs of mental incompetence. The Texas Defender Service recently filed a motion to delay his execution, citing the findings of a psychologist who examined Druery earlier this year: “His delusional ideas so pervade his understanding of his case that he no longer understands that it was him who committed the crime, and that he’s the one who has to suffer the punishment.” Another assessment of his…

A Georgia judge has removed Kelvin Johnson’s public defenders from representing him in a death penalty case because his lawyers requested more time to prepare for trial. Johnson was being represented by attorneys from the Georgia Capital Defender Office, who said a delay was needed because an overwhelming caseload and lack of funding precluded them from going forward at this time. The Georgia Capital Defender program, which was started to provide better representation to indigent capital…

Yokamon Hearn (pictured) is facing execution in Texas on July 18 despite clear evidence of brain damage since his early childhood. Hearn’s trial attorneys failed to conduct an adequate investigation into Hearn’s early history, which would have uncovered mitigating evidence that he was neglected by his parents and had a history of mental health problems. His mother’s alcoholism was so severe that she drank to the point of passing out during her pregnancy with Mr. Hearn. He has been diagnosed…

A new book by Clive Stafford Smith, a British lawyer who has defended death row inmates in the U.S., offers an in-depth view of capital punishment in America. In Injustice: Life and Death in the Courtrooms of America, Stafford Smith examines the case of Kris Maharaj, a British citizen who was sentenced to death in Florida for a double murder, to expose problems in the justice system. The book reveals disturbing details of Maharaj’s case, including anomalies in the prosecution files — witnesses…

The United Kingdom has introduced restictions on the exportation of propofol after officials in Missouri announced they would begin using the anesthetic in executions. Exports of sodium thiopental, another anesthetic previously used in executions, were restricted after several states obtained that drug from DreamPharma, a drug company run out of the back of a driving school in London. Vince Cable, the U.K. Business Secretary, said, “This country opposes the death penalty. We are clear that the…

On July 10, Ohio Governor John Kasich (pictured) granted clemency to death row inmate John Eley, who was scheduled to be executed on July 26. Eley’s sentence was reduced to life in prison without parole. The governor said he based his decision on evidence that Eley acted under the direction of another person, and that his mental capacity was limited, saying, “Without those factors it is doubtful that Eley would have committed this crime.” The prosecutor in the case and one of the judges who…