Publications & Testimony

Daily Targum (Rutgers University) October 20, 2004 Editorial The Supreme Court is looking into “evolving standards of decency” in considering where it stands on continuing the practice of sentencing juveniles to the death penalty. As of Oct. 13, the court heard arguments over a 2003 Missouri Supreme Court decision that said executing a person who had committed a murder when he was 17 would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Other than the United…

A five-part Chicago Tribune investigation of forensics in the courtroom has revealed that flawed testing analysis, questionable science once considered reliable, and shoddy crime lab practices can often lead to wrongful convictions. Developments in DNA technology have helped shed new light on these problems by revealing the shaky scientific foundations of techniques like fingerprinting, firearm identification, arson investigation, and bite-mark comparison. A review of 200 DNA and death row…

In a forum hosted by the New Voters Project, U.S. Presidential candidates George Bush and John Kerry expressed their views on executing juvenile offenders. “Federal law prohibits execution of those under 18 when the offense was committed, and I see no reason to change that statute,” said President Bush. Senator John Kerry stated, “I do not think that executing minors is good policy.” (Knight-Ridder, October 17, 2004). On October 13^th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Roper v.

Sedalia (MO) Democrat October 19, 2004 Editorial Juveniles sometimes commit horrific crimes, some unimaginable even for adults. But all nations of the world except two — the United States and Somalia — refuse to put youthful offenders to death. Even Iran and Congo have repudiated the practice in recent years. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a Missouri case that may lead to the banning of executions in this country for those who commit such crimes before they turn…

Minnesota Daily October 19, 2004 Editorial Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Roper v. Simmons, which will re-evaluate whether the state may continue executing juveniles. Because the death penalty itself is immoral, the Court must terminate this more particular evil. The only state interest the death penalty serves is the public’s sadistic need for retribution (a civilized word for “revenge”). The death penalty has never been found to deter crime. In an attempt to ensure…

The Utah Attorney General’s office has recommended that Bruce Dallas Goodman’s murder conviction be set aside as a result of new DNA tests that have confirmed Goodman’s steadfast claims of innocence. Goodman was convicted in 1984 for the murder of his girlfriend, Sherry Ann Fales, who was raped, sodomized, beaten to death and abandoned off an interstate exit, a crime that qualified for the death penalty. Since his arrest, Goodman has maintained that he did not murder Fales, and the state’s case…

The Honolulu Advertiser October 18, 2004 Editorial During the presidential debates, President Bush suggested his ideal of a Supreme Court justice would be one who does not legislate but simply interprets the Constitution according to how it was written. The full flower of this thinking is the judge who is a “strict constructionist,” taking the Constitution at its word. Yet even the most conservative judge is affected by, and takes into account, the changing political, social and scientific…

News and Record October 18, 2004 Editorial The U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments in a Missouri case that will decide whether inmates on America’s death rows can be executed if they committed murder at age 16 or 17. The court already forbids the execution of people younger than 15. The court’s decision affects five North Carolina prisoners, all of whom are adults now but who were 17 when they committed murders. N.C. law forbids the execution of 16-year-olds. Yet it permits the execution…

San Diego Union-Tribune October 18, 2004 Editorial Juveniles sometimes commit horrific crimes, some unimaginable even for adults. But all nations of the world except two — the United States and Somalia — refuse to put youthful offenders to death. Even Iran and Congo have repudiated the practice in recent years. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a Missouri case that may lead to the banning of executions in this country for those who commit such crimes before they turn…

Dallas Morning News October 17, 2004 Editorial Society rightly holds children and adults to different standards. For example, it forbids children to vote, to smoke and to drink alcohol because it intuitively reasons that they aren’t mature enough. Now society can prove that children are less mature than adults. According to scientific evidence compiled by the American Medical Association, some regions of the brain, specifically those associated with impulse control, regulation of emotions…