Publications & Testimony
Items: 4091 — 4100
Jan 29, 2010
PARADE MAGAZINE: The Cost of Capital Punishment
A recent article in Parade magazine looked at the cost of the death penalty, especially in light of the budgetary crises confronting most states in today’s economy. New Mexico and New Jersey recently abolished the death penalty, and costs played a significant role in their decisions. New Mexico State Rep. Gail Chasey (D., Albuquerque) noted, “We can put that money toward enhancing law enforcement, public works, you name it.”…
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Jan 28, 2010
BOOKS: “Capital Punishment On Trial”
A new book by David Oshinsky entitled “Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America” takes a closer look at the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that stopped the death penalty in 1972. The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who is the holder of the Jack S. Blanton Chair at the University of Texas and a visiting professor at New York University, discusses the debates and controversy surrounding the case of…
Read MoreJan 27, 2010
Declining Use of Death Penalty in North Carolina Challenges Wisdom of Retaining Costly Practice
In an opinion piece in the News & Observer, Professor Frank Baumgartner of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, recently wrote that the declining use and high costs of the death penalty in the state put into question the wisdom of retaining the punishment in North Carolina. Baumgartner noted that while murder rates in the state have remained relatively unchanged, the number of capital punishment trials and death sentences have declined sharply.
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Jan 26, 2010
NEW VOICES: Conservative Leaders Call for End to Death Penalty
Roy Brown, state senator and 2008 Republican nominee for governor of Montana, said that opposition to capital punishment aligns well with his conservative ideology. He is reaching out to social and fiscal conservatives, hoping to create a bipartisan movement against capital punishment. Brown noted, “I believe that life is precious from the womb to a natural death.” He continued, “Criminals should be prosecuted. I want it to be life without parole. In the long…
Read MoreJan 25, 2010
NEW VOICES: Indiana Prosecutors Seeking Death Penalty Less
Higher costs, the exoneration of innocent death row inmates and jurors’ expectation of DNA proof are all being cited as reasons for prosecutors deciding not to seek the death penalty in Indiana. Recently, a high profile death penalty case cost the state $800,000 before it dropped the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea and life-without-parole sentence. “It’s the taxpayer dollars, stupid, when it comes to the death penalty,” said Indiana defense attorney Bob Hammerle.
Read MoreJan 22, 2010
Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence Despite Unexplored Evidence of Mental Retardation
On January 20, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence for Holly Wood for the 1993 shooting of his former girlfriend in Alabama, despite the fact that the attorney working on the penalty phase of the case failed to investigate or tell the jury about Wood’s borderline mental retardation. A federal District Court had overturned his death sentence because of the inadequate performance of the inexperienced lawyer,…
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Jan 21, 2010
Supreme Court Underscores the Need for “Dignity and Respect” in Capital Cases – Reverses Judgment
On January 19, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Wellons v. Hall, ordering the lower court to re-examine the appeal of Marcus Wellons, who received the death penalty for a 1989 rape and murder in Georgia. The Court’s per curiam opinion described “unusual events going on behind the scenes” at Wellons’ trial, including contacts outside the courtroom between the…
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Jan 20, 2010
After Almost 30 Years, Florida Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence in Case “Rife with Misconduct”
On January 14, and almost 30 years after the crime, the Florida Supreme Court criticized the state for “lawless conduct” and vacated the death sentence of Paul Beasley Johnson because “the record here is so rife with evidence of previously undisclosed prosecutorial misconduct that we have no choice but to grant relief.” Because of popular sentiment and the notoriety of the crime, Governor Charlie Crist signed a death warrant for Johnson in…
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Jan 19, 2010
INTERNATIONAL: Mongolia President Calls for Moratorium on Death Penalty
On January 14, President Tsakhia Elbegdorj called for a moratorium on all executions in Mongolia. President Elbegdorj told the Mongolian parliament, “The majority of the world’s countries have chosen to abolish the death penalty. We should follow this path.” He vowed to pardon those on death row and suggested commuting the death sentences to a 30-year prison term. Amnesty International estimated that at least 5 people were executed in Mongolia in 2008 and…
Read MoreJan 18, 2010
EDITORIALS: A Decade of Progress on Death Penalty Justice
A recent editorial in the Dallas Morning News recalled that the paper had reversed its position in support of the death penalty in April 2007. Since then, the editorial noted, Texas has accounted for an even larger percentage of the country’s executions, but also that there are signs the use of the death penalty is declining even in Texas. The paper highlighted the 55 exonerations from death row in this decade as a 25% increase from last decade, and the sharp decline…
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