Publications & Testimony
Items: 5121 — 5130
Jun 30, 2006
NEW RESOURCES: Recent Events in the Death Penalty
The Chicago Tribune Investigates the Execution of a Likely Innocent Man in“Did this man die…for this man’s crime?” In 1989, defendant Carlos DeLuna was executed in Texas for the fatal stabbing of Texas convenience store clerk Wanda Lopez. The three-part series by reporters Maurice Possley and Steve Mills can be found here. A news piece on ABC’s“World News Tonight” also covered this story. Watch it here. (Requires Real Player. For other media versions including…
Read MoreJun 29, 2006
Supreme Court Denies Remedies Under International Treaty
On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two consolidated cases involving the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. In both cases, the foreign nationals were arrested but not informed by police officers of their consular rights under the Convention to ask that their respective consulates be notified of their detention. The Court concluded that statements made by foreign nationals do not need to be suppressed, even though the defendants were not…
Read MoreJun 28, 2006
Ohio Changing Lethal Injection Process
Just weeks after Ohio struggled for more than 90 minutes to find a suitable vein in Joseph Clark’s arm to administer lethal injection drugs, the state has decided to implement new regulations aimed at ensuring smoother procedures during executions. In a report prompted by problems encountered during Clark’s execution, Ohio prisons Director Terry Collins told Gov. Bob Taft that execution teams will now make every effort to locate two injection…
Read MoreJun 28, 2006
Federal Courts Find Problems with Lethal Injections in Two More States – Executions on Hold
Below are summaries from two U.S. District Court decisions regarding problems with lethal injection procedures in Arkansas and Missouri. The court in Arkansas granted a stay of execution for Don Davis to allow further investigations into the lethal injection procedures. In Missouri, in Michael Taylor’s case, the District judge put all executions in the state on hold until changes are made in the state’s execution protocols.Nooner v. Norris, No.
Read MoreJun 28, 2006
NEW VOICES: Deepak Chopra Writes About the Death Penalty
Dr. Deepak Chopra recently wrote that continuing use of the death penalty in the U.S. is irrational because it does not deter crime, risks innocent lives, and isolates the U.S. among the majority of First World nations that have chosen to abandon capital punishment:The U.S. has isolated itself among First World countries by allowing the death penalty — 123 countries have abolished it completely, or in practice never use it, a few permitting it under extreme…
Read MoreJun 27, 2006
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Kansas Death Penalty Law
In a 5 – 4 decision that revealed a deep division among the Justices over the fairness of capital punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kansas’s death penalty statute on June 26. In Kansas v. Marsh, the Court held that juries may be required to sentence a defendant to die when there is an equal weight of mitigating and aggravating evidence. The ruling overturns a Kansas Supreme Court decision that found the practice unconstitutional because it violated the Eighth…
Read MoreJun 27, 2006
DPIC Bestows Thurgood Marshall Journalism Awards at National Press Club Luncheon
The Death Penalty Information Center held its 10th Annual Thurgood Marshall Journalism Awards at the National Press Club on Monday, June 26. This year’s award recipients were Jacqui Lofaro and Victor Teich of Justice Productions for their documentary “The Empty Chair,” and reporter Robert Nelson of the Phoenix New Times for his coverage of death row exoneree Ray Krone. Lofaro and Teich received this year’s Award for excellence in the television…
Read MoreJun 26, 2006
New York Assembly Committee Blocks Death Penalty By Wider Margin
Members of the New York Assembly’s Codes Committee recently voted 13 – 5 against a bill to reinstate the death penalty, a vote that revealed a growing bi-partisan opposition to capital punishment. Last year’s vote on the same measure was 11 – 7. New York’s death penalty was overturned in 2004 by the state’s highest court. A number of Assembly members have said they no longer support the death penalty because of growing evidence that it risks innocent lives and…
Read MoreJun 25, 2006
Chicago Tribune: EXECUTED TEXAS MAN WAS LIKELY INNOCENT
Did this man die…for…
Read MoreJun 23, 2006
Chicago Tribune: EXECUTED TEXAS MAN WAS LIKELY INNOCENT
A Chicago Tribune investigation set for release this weekend will reveal groundbreaking evidence that Texas may have executed an innocent man in 1989. The defendant, Carlos DeLuna, was executed for the fatal stabbing of Texas convenience store clerk Wanda Lopez in 1983. New evidence uncovered by reporters Maurice Possley and Steve Mills casts doubt on DeLuna’s guilt and points towards another man, Carlos Hernandez, who had a record of similar crimes and…
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