Publications & Testimony
Items: 4931 — 4940
Feb 13, 2007
BOOKS: In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families
In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families is a new book by Professors Elizabeth Beck, Sarah Britto, and Arlene Andrews that examines the debilitating effects that a death sentence can have on the families of the offenders. With a forward by Steve Earle, the book provides an in-depth analysis of restorative justice, which focuses on crime as an act against an individual or the community, rather than the state. In their examination of how…
Read MoreFeb 12, 2007
Tennessee Execution Manual Found to be Full of Errors
An Associated Press investigation of Tennessee’s “Manual for Execution” found that the guide for lethal injections contains conflicting instructions and mixes new procedures with old guidelines for carrying out electrocutions. The manual instructs prison officials to shave the condemned prisoner’s head prior to an execution, as if preparing him for electrocution, and orders that they have a fire extinguisher nearby. It also provides…
Read MoreFeb 12, 2007
BOOKS: “The Fairer Death: Executing Women in Ohio”
The Fairer Death: Executing Women in Ohio is a new book by Victor Streib, a professor at the Ohio Northern University College of Law. The book explores Ohio’s use of the death penalty for women and examines the implications for women on death row throughout the country. Streib carefully describes the cases of all four women executed by Ohio in its history and those of the 11 women sentenced to death in the state during the modern death penalty era (1973-present). Professor…
Read MoreFeb 12, 2007
RELIGIOUS VIEWS: Leading Baptist Theologian Calls for National Halt to Executions
Professor David Gushee, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, called for a national halt to executions because the death penalty as a public policy“fails the most basic standards of justice.” Prof. Gushee, writing for the Associated Baptist Press, stated that the recent moratorium in Tennessee surrounding lethal injection problems should be extended to review the entire…
Read MoreFeb 08, 2007
Colorado House Committee Advances Bill to Abolish Capital Punishment
The Colorado House Judiciary Committee recently voted to abolish the state’s death penalty, replacing it with a sentence of life-without-parole, and use the money currently spent on capital punishment to help solve 1,200 cold-case homicides in the state. The 7 – 4 vote followed four hours of testimony from murder victims’ family members, state law enforcement officials, and death penalty experts, including DPIC Executive Director Richard Dieter. The…
Read MoreFeb 07, 2007
ARBITRARINESS: Oklahoma Case Illustrates Capriciousness of the Death Penalty
An Oklahoma man could be executed or spared based on which side of a gravel road in rural McIntosh County a murder took place. Patrick Murphey, who is borderline-mentally retarded and was drunk at the time of the crime, was originally sentenced to death for the murder in 2000. His trial attorney failed to notice that the prosecution had made a two-mile mistake in locating the site of the crime. Murphey’s second attorney, who spent 11 years as…
Read MoreFeb 07, 2007
NEW VOICES: Missouri Representative Calls for Halt to Executions
Missouri Rep. Bill Deeken (pictured), a Republican death penalty proponent, has introduced legislation that would halt executions in the state until 2011 and would create a capital punishment commission to examine the fairness and accuracy of Missouri’s death penalty. Deeken stated that his motivation for the bill came after realizing that the state’s death penalty has not been implemented fairly in all cases and it does not adequately prevent wrongful…
Read MoreFeb 07, 2007
Judiciary Committee — Colorado House of Representatives: Testimony of Richard C. Dieter
Judiciary Committee — Colorado House of Representatives: Testimony of Richard C. Dieter (February…
Read MoreFeb 02, 2007
Nebraska Repeal Bill Passes Unanimously in Committee
For the first time in nearly two decades, members of the Nebraska’s unicameral legislature will have an opportunity to debate a bill that would repeal the state’s death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life without parole and an order of restitution. Members of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the bill, noting that their colleagues in the full senate should have a chance to debate the measure. The…
Read MoreFeb 02, 2007
Tennessee Governor Orders 90-Day Halt to Executions
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has issued an executive order establishing a 90-day halt to executions in the state due to concerns that there aren’t enough instructions provided during the execution process. The moratorium will halt four executions scheduled in Tennessee during the next three months. In an official statement, Governor Bredesen said:“I think all of you know that I consider the responsibility of the state to carry out the death penalty among…
Read More