Publications & Testimony

The Washington State Supreme Court recently came within one vote of effectively abolishing the state’s death penalty when it ruled in the case of death row inmate Dayva Cross. Cross is on death row for the murder of his wife and her two teenage daughters. Attorneys for Cross had argued that their client should not be executed because killers who had committed worse crimes had been spared the death penalty. The 2003 case of Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, who received a life sentence in…

Former Union County prosecutor Scott Brewer, who is already under investigation for allegedly obstructing justice in the 1996 death penalty trial of John Gregory Hoffman, has been accused of withholding important evidence in a second capital trial. Attorneys representing Darrell Strickland have asked the North Carolina State Bar to discipline Brewer for improperly withholding three statements made by the victims’ wife, Gail Brown, the only eyewitness to the crime for which their client was…

During a recent presentation at Valparaiso University, Sister Helen Prejean (pictured) engaged in a discussion with the school’s pastor, Rev. Joseph Cunningham. Responding to a remark that Prejean had made about defense attorneys only needing to convince one juror to vote against the death penalty, Cunningham told Prejean that he had been foreman of a jury that sentenced a man to death in 1995. He remarked that he is still dealing with the emotional toll of that experience, stating, “I ache…

A new book by Michael Meltsner, The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer, provides a personal history of the civil rights movement from the perspective of an attorney committed to social change. Meltsner’s writings bring to life a seminal period of legal reform in U.S. history. The book discusses famous cases and the turning points in the civil rights and death penalty movements. Stephen Bright of the Southern Center for Human Rights notes, “Michael Meltsner has performed a great public service by…

The American Bar Association’s Criminial Justice Section has released a new report on preventing wrongful convictions. The report, Achieving Justice: Freeing the Innocent, Convicting the Guilty, includes commentary and resolutions that addresses topics such as false confessions, eyewitness identification procedures, use of forensic evidence, jailhouse informants, and compensation for the wrongfully convicted. The report is the result of a three-year ABA effort led by an ad hoc group of defense…

The Capital Case Data Project of the American Judicature Society announced their count of 125 new death sentences in 2005, one less than in 2004. In addition, AJS counted 14 death sentences imposed through new sentence proceedings after appellate reversals. Those sentenced to death included 63 white defendants, 57 black defendants, and 15 Hispanics. The largest number of death sentences were imposed in California (19) and Florida (16). Texas had 14 death sentences, down considerably from 24 in…

Victims of violence and terror are not necessarily well served by a system that promises “closure” in the form of the death penalty, according to a recent Washington Post column by Dahlia Lithwick. Among other cases, the author questions the assumptions in the federal government’s case against Zacarias Moussaoui as it relates to the needs of the family members from the September 11^th attack: The death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui has been touted by the government as a way to bring…

The U.S. Supreme Court announced on March 24 that it will rehear Kansas v. Marsh. This case involves the constitutionality of Kansas’ death penalty law, which was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2004. Kansas law required a death sentence if the jury found that there was an equal balance between the aggravating and mitigating factors presented at the sentencing hearing. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments earlier in December when Justice O’Connor was still on the Court. Now that she…

Most New Yorkers would choose a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) over the death penalty for those convicted of murder. In a recent poll published in Newsday, 53% of N.Y. adults said LWOP is the better penalty, whereas only 38% chose the death penalty, with 9% uncertain. New York’s death penalty was found unconstitutional by the state’s highest court in 2004. The legislature elected not to modify the statute. (Source: Blum and Weprin Associates / Newsday — Methodology: Telephone…