Publications & Testimony

In a proposed amendment to its penal code, Indian leaders are seeking to implement a change that would end the nation’s death penalty even “in the rarest of rare” cases. The amended Indian Penal Code would abolish the death penalty and replace it with a strict life without the possibility of parole measure. Currently, the nation’s life sentence statute only requires imprisonment for 14 years. The decision to seek an official end to capital punishment fulfills a pledge made by the chairman of…

On May 31, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of Kansas’ death penalty law. The current statute requires that a death sentence be imposed when a jury finds that the aggravating and mitigating circumstances surrounding the crime have equal weight (i.e., a tie results in death). When reviewing Michael Marsh’s death sentence in 2004, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state’s statute was unconstitutional, holding that the above process did not comport with…

The North Carolina House of Representatives will soon vote on a two-year moratorium on executions in the state while the death penalty is studied. A moratorium bill passed the full Senate in 2003, but had been previously blocked from coming to a vote in the House. The House Judiciary Committee will likely consider the moratorium measure on Tuesday, May 31. The committee’s approval could mean a full House vote on the legislation as early as that same day. The full House is then required to…

By a vote of 104 – 37, members of the Texas House of Representatives tentatively approved the sentencing option of life-without-parole in death penalty cases, an historic action that puts the state closer to including a sentencing alternative offered in nearly every death penalty state. The House is expected to give final passage to the measure on May 25 and the Texas Senate, which passed similar legislation earlier this year, is expected to approve an amended measure before sending the bill to…

In its annual report on human rights around the world, Amnesty International noted the abolition of the death penalty in five nations in 2004. Last year, Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal and Turkey joined a growing list of countries that have abandoned capital punishment for all crimes. The report stated that such changes are positive signs, noting: “Global activism is a dynamic and growing force. It is also the best hope of achieving freedom and justice for all humanity.” The report covers 149…

The May/June issue of Foreign Policy magazine includes an article on the death penalty in Japan by Charles Lane, Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post. Lane notes that Japan’s death penalty is shrouded in secrecy and culminates in executions outside of all public view. He provides readers with a rare look inside this system and compares that country’s policies with U.S. practices and international trends. The article, “A View to a Kill,” notes that although death sentences are…

The Supreme Court today dismissed as “improvidently granted” the case of Jose Medellin, a Mexican national on death row in Texas primarily because President Bush has interevened and ordered state courts to abide by a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In an unsigned decision, the Justices decided not to review this case as a matter of federal habeas corpus law. They did note, however, that once this matter is reviewed in Texas state courts, the U.S. Supreme Court “would in…

SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO RULE ON RIGHTS OF FOREIGN NATIONALS ON DEATH ROW The Supreme Court today dismissed as “improvidently granted” the case of Jose Medellin, a Mexican national on death row in Texas. In an unsigned decision, justices dismissed as premature the case in which Medellin argued that an opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) entitled him and the 50 Mexican foreign nationals on death row in the United States to a hearing on whether their rights were violated under…

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that a man whose attorney slept through portions of his 1992 death penalty trial should not get a new trial because he had another less experienced attorney who remained awake. In its ruling, the Court denied George McFarland’s claim of ineffectiveness of counsel and upheld his death sentence. “We conclude that, although one of his attorneys slept through portions of his trial, applicant was not deprived of the assistance of counsel under the Sixth…