Publications & Testimony
Items: 3801 — 3810
Oct 25, 2010
NEW RESOURCES: The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation
The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation (ACCR) is a newly formed non-profit death penalty resource center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ACCR provides pre-trial consultation to capital defense practitioners and defense teams in Pennsylvania and Delaware. They are involved in conducting statewide capital defense trainings, as well as public education and advocacy. The ACCR is led by Marc Bookman and Dana Cook, both formerly of…
Read MoreOct 22, 2010
Sentencing Judge Second-Guesses Death Sentence In Light of New Evidence
On October 20, attorneys for Jeffrey Landrigan filed a clemency petition with the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency calling on the Board to recommend the commutation of Landrigan’s death sentence largely because of errors by his trial attorneys. Landrigan’s original attorneys failed to present mitigating evidence at the sentencing hearing, which could have included evidence of brain damage and severe abuse. Judge Cheryl Hendrix, the judge…
Read MoreOct 21, 2010
Expert Who Predicted “Future Dangerousness” in Texas Death Cases Ruled Unreliable
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals recently held that the methodology used by Dr. Richard Coons to predict the “future dangerousness” of capital defendants was unreliable. Whether a convicted defendant would be a future danger to society is a crucial question for juries in Texas in choosing between a life or death sentence. Dr. Coons has testified in over 150 death penalty trials across the state. He admitted in a recent hearing that he had developed his own…
Read MoreOct 20, 2010
ARBITRARINESS: 10% of Counties Account for All Recent Death Sentences in the U.S.
A recent article in Second Class Justice, a weblog dedicated to addressing unfairness and discrimination in the criminal justice system, highlighted that the death penalty continues to be arbitrarily applied in the United States. Citing figures from the American Judicature Society, author Robert Smith revealed that only 10% of U.S. counties accounted for all of the death sentences imposed between 2004 and 2009, and only 5% of the counties accounted for all death…
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Oct 19, 2010
Texas Court of Inquiry Begins Exploring Whether Executed Man Was Innocent
Lawyers for Cameron Todd Willingham’s family recently presented expert testimony at a court of inquiry in Texas to determine whether Willingham was wrongfully convicted and executed for starting a fire that killed his children. The lawyers presented testimony from nine experts who have reviewed evidence presented by fire marshals and found “many critical errors,” as one report stated. Gerald Hurst, who published a report regarding the evidence in the case,…
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Oct 18, 2010
States Suddenly Acquiring Lethal Injection Drug from Unknown Source
Lawyers for Jeffrey Landrigan, an Arizona death row inmate scheduled for execution on October 26, have filed a motion asking courts to compel the state to reveal its source of a drug to be used in his lethal injection. Despite a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, Arizona recently announced that it has obtained new supplies of the drug. The announcement came the same day that California filed a notice in federal court that it had…
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Oct 14, 2010
NEW VOICES: Police Forum –Is the Death Penalty Necessary?
On October 13, law enforcement officers from the U.S. and Europe held the first public discussion about whether the death penalty helps or hurts in keeping citizens safe, assists healing for victims, and uses crime-fighting resources efficiently. The panelists addressed issues such as deterrence, closure to victims’ families, and costs in relation to alternatives. Former Detective Superintendent Bob Denmark of Lancashire Constabulary, England, who investigated over 100…
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Oct 13, 2010
COSTS: “Can California Confront Costs of the Death Penalty?”
A recent op-ed by Professor Gerald Uelmen of Santa Clara Law School in the Sacramento Bee highlighted major concerns about California’s death penalty, including its high costs and the difficulty in finding competent representation for death row inmates. Uelmen also noted that California has the broadest death penalty law in the country, which allows for more death-eligible offenses than other death penalty states. According to the op-ed, “Although…
Read MoreOct 13, 2010
Fighting Crime in the U.S. and Internationally: Is the Death Penalty Necessary?
Fighting Crime in the U.S. and Internationally: Is the Death Penalty Necessary? A Unique Conversation Between U.S. and European Law EnforcementNational Press Club — Washington, D.C.Oct. 13, 2010 — 9:30 – 11:00…
Read MoreOct 13, 2010
International Police Forum on the Death Penalty
Fighting Crime in the U.S. and Internationally: Is the Death Penalty Necessary? A Unique Conversation Between U.S. and European Law…
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