Publications & Testimony
Items: 4951 — 4960
Jan 23, 2007
FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY: Man Receives Life Sentence for Role in Illegal Immigrant Deaths
A federal jury chose a sentence of life without parole for Tyrone Williams (pictured) for his role in a human-smuggling operation that left 19 illegal immigrants dead. In December, the same jurors convicted Williams of 58 smuggling counts, 20 of which carried the death penalty as a sentencing option. Williams, who abandoned about 100 immigrants sealed in his truck’s refrigeration trailor after determining that it had become a death trap in 2003, is the third…
Read MoreJan 19, 2007
Texas Man Exonerated By DNA Evidence; Court and Prosecutor Apologize
A Dallas man who spent nearly half of his life in prison or on parole for a crime he did not commit was recently exonerated after DNA evidence cleared him of raping a 12-year-old boy in 1982. James Waller is the 12th person since 2001 whose conviction in Dallas County has been overturned as a result of genetic evidence. “Nowhere else in the nation have so many individual wrongful convictions been proven in one county in such a short span,” said attorney Barry…
Read MoreJan 18, 2007
“The Mentally Ill, Behind Bars”- an Op-ed by Bernard Harcourt
In a recent New York Times op-ed, University of Chicago law and criminology professor Bernard Harcourt notes that a growing number of individuals“who used to be tracked for mental health treatment are now getting a one-way ticket to jail.” Pointing to a Justice Department study released in September 2006, Harcourt notes that 56% of those jailed in state prisons and 64% of all inmates across the nation reported mental health problems within the past year. He states that…
Read MoreJan 18, 2007
Supreme Court to Hear Case Regarding Exclusion of Capital Jurors
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case regarding the exclusion of capital jurors to its docket this term. The case, Uttecht v. Brown, No. 06 – 413, involves the removal of a potential juror from a death penalty trial because of the juror’s views about capital punishment. In this case, during jury selection in a Washington state murder case, the trial judge dismissed a juror because of statements he made about his willingness to impose a death…
Read MoreJan 17, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former N. J. Supreme Court Justice Urges State to Face Reality on the Death Penalty
In an opinion piece in the New York Times, former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Peter G. Verniero (pictured) said that the state should replace its flawed death penalty with the sentence of life without parole. Verniero is a former supporter of the death penalty, but now believes that the current statute is“ineffective,”“consumes enormous energy and resources,” and the state“lacks the collective will to carry out capital…
Read MoreJan 16, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former Ohio Corrections Director Calls for Ending Death Penalty
Reggie Wilkinson, who witnessed 19 executions during his 33 years with the Ohio Department of Corrections, recently stated that he would like to see executions ended in the state. Wilkinson, who served for 15 years as Director of the Department of Corrections and advocated for abandoning the state’s electric chair and replacing it with lethal injection, noted, “I would not oppose the abolition of the death penalty. The United States is the only industrialized…
Read MoreJan 15, 2007
NEW VOICES: Dallas Morning News Calls for Halt to Executions
In a recent Dallas Morning News editorial, the paper noted the incongruity between the state apologizing to a prison inmate who was freed following DNA testing, and its aggressive pursuit of irrevocable executions. The paper stated that“human error is an inherent part” of the justice system and called on legislators to enact a moratorium on executions until the state can review the accuracy and fairness of its capital…
Read MoreJan 10, 2007
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE: New Textbook on Corrections
Corrections: A Contemporary Introduction is a new academic text being released by Allyn & Bacon publishers. Authored by Leanne F. Alarid of the University of Texas and Philip L. Reichel of the University of Northern Colorado, this resource offers a thorough examination of all aspects of the corrections area in a graphically rich format. It offers students the…
Read MoreJan 10, 2007
North Carolina Death Penalty Panel Urged to Halt Executions
Members of the North Carolina House Select Committee on Capital Punishment heard repeated calls for a halt to executions in the state during a recent hearing attended by victims’ family members, religious leaders, and other citizens. Among those testifying at the hearing was Shirley Burns, the mother of a son who is awaiting execution at the end the January and a second son who was murdered in April 2006.“How many have had to sit on both sides of the table? I had to…
Read MoreJan 09, 2007
PUBLIC OPINION: Pennsylvanians Prefer Life Sentences Over Death Penalty
A recent poll administered by the Center for Survey Research at Penn State Harrisburg revealed that more Pennsylvanians prefer a life sentence over the death penalty for those convicted of murder. The poll found that only 42.9% of respondents chose the death penalty when also given the sentencing options of life with parole and life without parole. A total of 45% of respondents chose either life-without-parole (35.5%) or the sentence of life-with-parole (9.6%). Larry Frankel,…
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