Publications & Testimony

Items: 6421 — 6430

Sep 15, 1999

Historic Illinois Hearings Address Innocence and the Death Penalty

Following a series of cel­e­brat­ed releas­es of inno­cent defen­dants from its death row, Illinois’s House of Representatives held hear­ings to address the state’s sys­tem of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment on September 15 & 16, 1999. Among those who tes­ti­fied were Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; Mike Farrell, actor and human rights activist; Renny Cushing, Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Bryan Stevenson, Director of Equal Justice Initiative; Professor…

Read More

Aug 01, 1999

United States Supreme Court Decisions: 1998 — 1999 Term

Jones v. U.S., 97 – 9361, The Court, review­ing the sen­tenc­ing pro­vi­sions of the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 for the first time, held that jurors in death penal­ty cas­es do not have to be told about the con­se­quences of their fail­ing to agree on whether life or death is the appro­pri­ate sen­tence. The sen­tenc­ing pro­vi­sions of the Federal Death Penalty Act allow for three sen­tenc­ing options: death, life with­out parole and a less­er sen­tence. The Court’s…

Read More

Jul 04, 1999

Freed from Death Row

In his wal­let, Juan Florencio Ramos car­ries a pre-prison pho­to­graph of him­self. Because of a five-year ordeal too painful to for­get, Ramos now says:​“That per­son is not me.” [Times…

Read More