Publications & Testimony

The Washington Post recent­ly respond­ed to Judge Jane Marum Roush’s deci­sion allow­ing Virginia to seek the death penal­ty for Lee Boyd Malvo despite treaties for­bid­ding such a sen­tence for juve­niles. The paper’s edi­to­r­i­al not­ed that while the judge’s deci­sion may be legal­ly cor­rect, it ​“does not ren­der Virginia’s (juve­nile death penal­ty) pol­i­cy any less abhor­rent.” The edi­to­r­i­al went on to…

In an effort to pre­vent wrong­ful con­vic­tions and ensure accu­rate eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission has rec­om­mend­ed new pro­ce­dures for state law enforce­ment agen­cies. The com­mis­sion was formed by state Supreme Court Justice Beverly Lake and is com­prised of judges, police, pros­e­cu­tors, defense attor­neys and oth­ers. Among the rec­om­men­da­tions were pol­i­cy changes requir­ing police to show eye­wit­ness­es line­up par­tic­i­pants one at a time in live lineups or…

An August 2003 Charlotte Observer/​NBC‑6 poll revealed that near­ly half of those sur­veyed in North and South Carolina say the states should pause exe­cu­tions until the death penal­ty sys­tem is deemed fair. Of the 908 respon­dents, 48% voiced sup­port for a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions and 41% were opposed. While men were about equal­ly split on the ques­tion, 50% of women favored a mora­to­ri­um and 35% opposed it. Among African American respon­dents, 67% favored a mora­to­ri­um, while 42% of white respondents…

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has issued a tem­po­rary reprieve for death row inmate Philip Workman, who was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on September 24^th. Noting that there is an ongo­ing fed­er­al crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tion that may shed light on Workman’s case, Bredesen stat­ed, ​“So long as there are out­stand­ing issues that may be relat­ed to this case, the only prop­er thing to do is to wait until those ques­tions have been answered. I am a sup­port­er of the death penal­ty, but com­mit­ted that it be…

An International coali­tion of non-gov­ern­men­tal orga­ni­za­tions will spon­sor a World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10^th, 2003. The coali­tion will host local events through­out the world to draw atten­tion to their con­cerns about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Among the events sched­uled are debates, con­certs, and lec­tures. The coali­tion will also host an Internet event urg­ing repeal of the death penal­ty in all coun­tries that main­tain the prac­tice, includ­ing the United States. (World Coalition…

As the October 1^st dead­line for Florida inmates to request DNA test­ing of evi­dence that could prove their inno­cence looms, Broward County pros­e­cu­tors have announced that they will allow inmates access to the cru­cial test­ing after the dead­line pass­es. Two of Florida’s high­est-pro­file DNA exon­er­a­tions, Frank Lee Smith, who died of can­cer on death row 11 months before he was exon­er­at­ed by DNA evi­dence, and Jerry Frank Townsend were both Broward County cas­es. Carolyn McCann, head of the Broward…

“The Wrong Men: America’s Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions” by Stanley Cohen is slat­ed for release in October 2003. This book tells the sto­ry of how more than 100 inno­cent peo­ple found them­selves on death row in the United States. Through an exam­i­na­tion of eye­wit­ness error, jail­house snitch­es, racism, junk sci­ence, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, and incom­pe­tent coun­sel, Cohen pro­vides a behind-the-scenes look at the prob­lems lead­ing to wrong­ful con­vic­tions. He also cap­tures the stories…

The most recent com­pre­hen­sive report sum­ma­riz­ing leg­isla­tive, judi­cial, pub­lic pol­i­cy, and oth­er devel­op­ments that have occurred since the American Bar Association’s adop­tion of its death penal­ty mora­to­ri­um res­o­lu­tion in February 1997 is now avail­able. ​“Building Momentum: The American Bar Association Call for a Moratorium on Executions Takes Hold” cov­ers activ­i­ty from August 2001 to June 2003. It is the fourth edi­tion of the ABA’s mora­to­ri­um activ­i­ty update series. The com­plete report is…

The fol­low­ing are excerpts from Summerlin v. Stewart, No. 98 – 99002 (9^th Cir. Sept. 2, 2003): (page num­bers refer to the on-line ver­sion; sub­heads are not part of the…

A four-month series of ​“Funky Winkerbean,” a com­ic strip syn­di­cat­ed by King Features, will focus on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The sto­ry­line, titled ​“The Danny Madison Casebook,” exam­ines the prob­lems and emo­tions of the death penal­ty as seen through the eyes of a pub­lic defend­er. The com­ic strip is by car­toon­ist Tom Batiuk, and it will appear in 400 news­pa­pers nation­al­ly. It may also be viewed at…