Publications & Testimony

A forthcoming article in the ABA Journal reveals the tragic admissions of failure by a well-known defense lawyer that led to a death sentence and potential execution of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman (pictured) in Tennessee. Lionel Barrett, who represented Abdur’Rahman in 1987, now takes full responsibility for his lack of attention to critical details and for having his client end up on death row. Looking back on the case 24 years later, Barrett said, “It was the perfect storm. Everything I could have…

In January, attorneys general from 13 states wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice related to the recent shortage of sodium thiopental for lethal injections in the U.S. The state officials, including those in Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee, asked for help in “identifying an appropriate source for sodium thiopental or making supplies held by the Federal Government available to the States.” Earlier this year, the sole U.S.

A diverse coalition of the nation’s leading criminal justice reform organizations recently released Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress. This analysis of the criminal justice system and the accompanying set of recommendations for change is one of the most comprehensive reports ever published addressing the problems in this field. The Coalition of over 40 organizations is coordinated by the Constitution Project and includes such groups as the American Bar…

On February 16, over 90 prominent religious leaders from Texas called on the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry to grant clemency to Timothy Adams (pictured). Adams is an army veteran with no criminal history prior to the day he killed his son while planning his own suicide in 2002. Leaders from nine denominations announced their support for clemency, saying “We join the victim’s family in asking that you spare Mr. Adams from death. You have an extraordinary opportunity to…

A nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, a key drug used in executions around the country, has forced states to consider alternative drugs for their lethal injections. Tennessee, where 86 inmates are facing execution and sodium thiopental is in short supply, is considering using pentobarbital instead. Oklahoma has already executed three inmates using the new drug as part of a 3‑drug protocol. The use of pentobarbital, however, has drawn concerns from some anesthesiologists who said the drug…

On February 14, the Montana state Senate passed a bill that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life without parole. In a 26 – 24 vote, all of the Senate’s Democrats and four Republicans supported ending capital punishment, marking the second straight legislative session for such a vote. Senator David Wanzenried, who introduced the bill, said that the death penalty is not a fair punishment, does not bring closure for victims, or serve as a deterrent to murder. He said…

On February 9, more than two dozen families of murder victims came to the Connecticut Capitol complex to urge lawmakers to repeal the death penalty because of its negative impact on families of murder victims. Seventy-six family members of murder victims signed a letter urging lawmakers to end the death penalty. Gail Canzano, whose brother-in-law was murdered in 1999, said, “The death penalty ensnares people in the criminal justice system where mandatory appeals, constitutional challenges and…

The family of a man who was killed in Ohio recently petitioned the parole board to commute the death sentence of the defendant in the murder. Peter Mah, son of Chong Hoon Mah, who was killed by Johnnie Baston (pictured) during a robbery in 1994, told the Ohio Parole Board, “I was opposed to Mr. Baston receiving a death sentence at the time of his trial… [and] my family and I are opposed to Mr. Baston being executed.” During the trial, the family had filed affidavits saying that they preferred…