Publications & Testimony
Items: 5141 — 5150
Jun 09, 2006
South Carolina, Oklahoma Governors Sign Bills Expanding Death Penalty
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry have signed into law legislation that allows proseuctors to seek the death penalty for repeat child molesters. The new South Carolina law allows a death sentence if the accused has been twice convicted of raping a child younger than 11-years-old. It also sets a 25-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for some sex offenders, mandates that people convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the first…
Read MoreJun 09, 2006
Virginia Governor Delays Execution Pending Mental Illness Inquiry
An hour before the scheduled execution of Virginia death row inmate Percy Levar Walton, Governor Tim Kaine (pictured) issued a temporary stay to allow time for an independent inquiry to determine whether Walton is too mentally ill to be executed.“Due to the history of judicial concern about his mental status, the claims in Walton’s clemency petition are entitled to serious consideration. It would be imprudent to either proceed with the execution or…
Read MoreJun 08, 2006
Virginia Supreme Court Unanimously Orders New Mental Retardation Hearing for Daryl Atkins
The Virginia Supreme Court unanimously overturned a trial court’s determination that Daryl Atkins was not mentally retarded and that he was eligible for the death penalty. Atkins’ 2002 appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in the Court ruling that the execution of the mentally retarded is unconstitutional, but the ruling left it up to states to define retardation and determine the procedures for establishing this disability. Atkins’ case…
Read MoreJun 07, 2006
NEW RESOURCE: Amicus Journal Features Articles on International Death Penalty Developments
The latest edition of the Amicus Journal is now available and features articles related to death penalty topics such as gender bias and jurors, as well as information on international capital punishment developments in the Caribbean and Africa. The journal features a story on the Middle Temple Library’s Capital Punishment Collection in Great Britain, an archive of textbooks, case-preparation aides, film documentaries, and other primary sources on the death…
Read MoreJun 06, 2006
Philippine Senate and House Vote Overwhelmingly to Abolish Death Penalty
On June 6, the Philippine Senate voted with no negative votes to abolish the death penalty. Even senators who supported the death penalty voted for abolition. Life without parole sentences or 40 years in prison will be substituted for execution, depending on the offense. President Arroyo is strongly in favor of the effort to end the death penalty. Under the bill, all death sentences will be commuted to life sentences. One of the senators who was hesitant about…
Read MoreJun 02, 2006
Mentally Ill Man Facing Execution in Texas
Although Scott Panetti has a long history of mental illness and insists that Texas is working in cooperation with Satan to execute him as a way to keep him from preaching the gospel, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has declared him sane enough to be executed. The panel acknowledged that Panetti is mentally ill and might lack a rational understanding of his fate, but maintained that Panetti is able to understand the basis for his…
Read MoreJun 01, 2006
PUBLIC OPINION: New Gallup Poll Reveals Growing Number of Americans Favors Life Without Parole
A May 2006 Gallup Poll examining American opinion about the death penalty found that when given a choice between the sentencing options of life without parole and the death penalty, only 47% of respondents chose capital punishment, the lowest percentage in two decades. Forty-eight percent favored life without parole for those convicted of murder. The poll also revealed that overall support for the death penalty remains low at 65%, down significantly from…
Read MoreJun 01, 2006
NEW VOICES: Another Major Newspaper Calls for End to Capital Punishment
Reversing its long-standing support for capital punishment, the Spokane Spokesman-Review recently published an editorial calling for an end to capital punishment in the United States. The paper noted that the decision to change its stance on the death penalty came after careful consideration of growing evidence that the newspaper’s“expectations of fairness and justice” are not being met and that the death penalty’s“drawbacks now outweigh its merits.”…
Read MoreMay 31, 2006
RESOURCES: Death Row USA Spring 2006 Report Available
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s“Death Row USA” shows that the number of people on the death row in the United States is continuing to decline, falling to 3,370 as of April 1, 2006. The size of death row increased every year between 1976 and 2000, but since then it has been in…
Read MoreMay 30, 2006
Foreign Nationals on U.S. Death Rows
There are currently 120 foreign nationals from 32 countries on death rows across the U.S. These are individuals who have been condemned to death in this country but are not citizens of the U.S. In many cases, these defendants were not informed of their rights under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. This treaty was signed and ratified by the U.S., but many defendants from countries that are also parties to the Vienna Convention were not told…
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