Publications & Testimony

Palm Beach Post April 21, 2004 Editorial A small shaft of enlightenment has cut into the dark thinking in Florida about capital punishment. 2 committees in Tallahassee have approved legislation that would ban the death penalty for people who are under 18 years of age when they commit a capital crime. Last week, the proposal cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee 7 – 0 and the House Public Safety Committee 17 – 1. As with almost all other matters that relate to the death penalty, Florida is…

Tampa (FL) Tribune April 15, 2004 Editorial By JEFFREY P. BROSCO Floridians should be proud that our Legislature has taken a lead role in the nationwide juvenile death penalty debate. Until recently, our political leaders were on track in calling for the minimum age for execution to be 18; now this wise decision risks being derailed by a few who proposed an amendment lowering the age to 17. While a one-year difference may seem arbitrary and inconsequential, every year counts for children…

Tampa Tribune April 15, 2004 Editorial A bill moving through the state Senate would outlaw the execution of killers who are younger than 18 when they commit murder. Sen. Victor Crist, R‑Tampa, says he sponsored the bill because it will preserve Florida’s capital punishment law if the U.S. Supreme Court decides the death penalty can be imposed only on adults. Florida law today allows the death penalty for 17-year-old killers, but the nation’s high court will soon decide whether executing…

On Monday, April 19, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Schriro v. Summerlin that will determine whether a prior decision applies only to some death row inmates in the first stage of their appeals or to all inmates in the affected states. In 2002, the Court held in Ring v. Arizona that juries, not judges, must decide who is eligible for the death penalty. The new ruling could affect over 100 death row inmates in at least 5 states. At the conclusion of Summerlin’s…

District Attorney Paul Connick has agreed that Ryan Matthews, a juvenile offender on Louisiana’s death row, deserves a new trial. Matthews has maintained his innocence since his arrest. Attorneys for Matthews will use the retrial as an opportunity to present new DNA evidence that they believe exonerates their client. Testing of seven DNA profiles gathered as part of key evidence in the case excludes Matthews as the offender, and several point to the guilt of another man, Rondell Love. After…

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has announced that she will seek a life without parole conviction for David Hill, who is accused of murdering a city police officer. Harris, who ran for office promising not to seek the death penalty, said that in cases such as this it is “natural to feel that we should have an eye for an eye” but argued “life without the possibility of parole is a severe consequence.” Harris stated that death penalty cases in California typically drag on for years…

A bipartisan measure to eliminate the juvenile death penalty in Florida has passed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and is now on its way to the full Senate for consideration. The measure was introduced by Republican Senator Victor Crist, a death penalty supporter who notes that young people are different because they don’t have the same understanding of consequences as an adult. .The bill also has support from the state’s top law enforcement officers, Florida Attorney General Charlie…

Unlike officials in some states who dismissed a recent ruling from the International Court of Justice, U.S. President George W. Bush gave credence to the decision by calling Mexican President Vincente Fox on Tuesday to discuss the ruling and possible next steps regarding 51 Mexican foreign nationals on death row in the U.S. In its ruling, the World Court ordered the United States to review the convictions and sentences of 49 Mexican foreign nationals to determine the appropriate remedy for the…

Portsmouth (NH) Herald April 14, 2004 Editorial “In no event shall any person under the age of 18 years at the time the offense was committed be culpable of a capital murder.” This is the entire text of Senate Bill 513. It is the simplest of statements, but if passed by the New Hampshire House it will have the most profound of effects. This state remains one of only 19 that permits the execution of juveniles. While no juvenile has ever been put to death in this state — and, in fact, there…

A federal court has ordered a new sentencing hearing for Robert Marshall after determining that his trial attorney failed to adequately represent him at his 1986 trial. In its ruling, the court noted: “This is not a case where, after reasonable investigation, Zeitz (the attorney) determined that it was tactically a better choice not to put on a mitigating case. Rather, it is a situation where Zeitz inadequately prepared for the penalty phase and put on no mitigating evidence because he had none…