Publications & Testimony

As part of its five-part series on forensic science and wrongful convictions, the Chicago Tribune examined how scientific developments in fire investigations have called into question crucial expert testimony in many cases, including some death penalty prosecutions. As a result of untested theories, shoddy analysis and a resistance to rigorous review, long-time arson investigators are now seeing their conclusions contradicted by colleagues who question the reliability of the folk wisdom that…

A group of 450 attorneys participating in the Conference of Delegates of the California Bar Association has urged a moratorium on the death penalty in California until the state reviews whether capital punishment laws are enforced fairly and uniformly. “If you make a mistake, it’s not like you can go back and correct a mistake because the person is dead,” said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers, supporter of the measure and a member of the Bar Association that represents…

During the past 15 years, the number of African nations abandoning capital punishment has risen from one to 10, and another 10 nations have abolished the death penalty in practice according to a recent tally by Amnesty International. As this trend toward abolishing the death penalty continues, fewer Africans than ever are being executed by their governments. The anti-capital punishment movement has been especially powerful in West Africa, where the number of countries in the Economic Community…

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…