Entries tagged with “Law Enforcement”
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Nov 22, 2022
NPR Investigation: The Death Penalty’s Second Casualty — the Execution Staff
Corrections personnel who participate in executing prisoners experience emotional trauma so profound that it changes their views about capital punishment, a National Public Radio (NPR) investigation has…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Nov 12, 2021
South Carolina Execution-Team Members Talk of Debilitating Emotional Toll of Capital Punishment, Former Warden Calls Death Penalty ‘Inequitable’
South Carolina correctional staff who participated in executions suffered life-altering trauma that was worsened by an inflexible prison administration that provided little support to address the psychological injuries they sustained. Two senior staff members are now on disability, unable to work, and are suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression. A third member of the execution team ended his own life by…
Policy Issues
Victims' Families
,New Voices
,Federal Death Penalty
,Nov 13, 2019
Former State and Federal Judges, Prosecutors, and Law Enforcement Officials and Families of Murder Victims Urge Federal Government to Call Off Executions
Hundreds of former state and federal judges, prosecutors, law enforcement and corrections officials, and family members of homicide victims have signed on to a series of letters urging the federal government to halt the five federal executions scheduled for December 2019 and January 2020. In four separate letters addressed to President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr, 175 family members of murder victims, 65 former state and federal judges, 59 current and former state and…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Federal Death Penalty
,Aug 05, 2019
Former National Corrections Chief Warns of Dangers Federal Execution Plan Poses for Prison Personnel
A former high-ranking federal corrections official has warned that the federal government’s plan to execute five prisoners over a five-week period in December and January risks seriously traumatizing correctional workers. Allen Ault (pictured) is a former chief of the Justice Department’s National Institute of Corrections who also served as corrections commissioner in Georgia, Mississippi, and Colorado, and as chairman of the Florida Department of Corrections. In a July 31, 2019 op-ed in…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Feb 07, 2019
THE ARTS: Death-Penalty Film, ‘Clemency,’ Wins Sundance Festival Best Drama Award
Clemency, a film exploring the psychological toll of the death penalty, has been awarded the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Drama at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival on February 2, 2019. The movie, written and directed by Nigerian-American filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu, tells the story of prison warden Bernadine Williams (portrayed by Alfre Woodard) as she prepares to oversee her 12th execution in the aftermath of a botched execution.
Policy Issues
Deterrence
,New Voices
,Jan 04, 2019
NEW VOICES: Retiring Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Predicts End of Death Penalty
As he prepared for retirement, the long-time director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said he does not support the death penalty and believes the punishment is on its way out in Georgia and across the country. In a television interview on his final day of work as GBI director, Vernon Keenan (pictured) told WXIA-TV, Atlanta’s NBC television affiliate, that he has “never believed in the death penalty” and “[t]he day will come when we won’t have the…
Facts & Research
Clemency
,New Voices
,Jun 14, 2018
Retired Warden, Former Judge and Prosecutor Urge Ohio to Grant Clemency to Raymond Tibbetts
The Ohio Parole Board held a hearing on June 14, 2018 to consider clemency for death-row prisoner Raymond Tibbetts, whose February 13 execution was halted by Governor John Kasich to consider a juror’s request that Tibbets be spared. Ross Geiger, one of the twelve jurors who sentenced Tibbetts to death in 1997, wrote to Governor Kasich on January 30 expressing “deep concerns” about a “very flawed” trial and saying he “would not have…
Facts & Research
Recent Legislative Activity
,New Voices
,Jan 29, 2018
NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officials in Washington, Texas Call for End of Their States’ Death Penalties
Drawing on their experience in the criminal justice system, elected law enforcement officials in Washington and Texas have urged repeal of their states’ death-penalty…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Nov 07, 2017
NEW VOICES: Former Law Enforcement Officials Say Arizona, Kansas Should End Death Penalty
Former high-ranking law enforcement officials from Arizona and Kansas have called on their states to end the death penalty. In separate op-ed stories one week apart, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard (pictured, left) and former Kansas Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz (pictured, right) conclude that the capital punishment schemes in their states have failed and should be abandoned. In a November 5 op-ed in…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Mar 31, 2017
Corrections Officials Warn Arkansas Leaders About Psychological Trauma From Unprecedented Execution Schedule
As Arkansas moves toward attempting to conduct an unprecedented eight executions in eleven days, former corrections officials from across the country are warning Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson of the psychological toll the compressed execution schedule could take on prison…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Sep 21, 2016
Former Oregon Prison Superintendent: “Capital Punishment is a Failed Policy”
Semon Frank Thompson (pictured), a former superintendent at the Oregon State Penitentiary, oversaw both of the executions carried out under Oregon’s death penalty statute. He now believes that “capital punishment is a failed…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,New Voices
,Jul 12, 2016
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Agent Now Opposes Death Penalty, Seeks Exoneration of California Death Row Prisoner Kevin Cooper
During his 45 years in law enforcement, including 24 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, homicide investigator Tom Parker (pictured) changed his view on the death penalty. “There were times during my career when I would gladly have pushed the button on a murderer,” he said. “Today, my position would be, life without parole.” Parker says that seeing corrupt homicide investigations convinced him that innocent people could be executed. As result, he now opposes…
Policy Issues
Costs
,Deterrence
,Innocence
,New Voices
,Jan 22, 2016
NEW VOICES: Retired Colorado Corrections Officer Raises Questions of Deterrence, Innocence
In a recent op-ed for The Denver Post, retired corrections officer and military veteran Pete Lister offered a critique of the death penalty, saying it fails as a deterrent, risks executing innocent people, and costs more than life without parole. “Capital punishment has not, in a single state, proven to be a deterrent to capital crime.” Lister said. “Society consists of human beings who make mistakes. There are those who are, occasionally, negligent, and some who are even dishonest…
Facts & Research
Recent Legislative Activity
,New Voices
,Dec 08, 2008
NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officer Changed Views Because of Death Penalty’s Risks
Michael May served as a Baltimore City police officer and as a military police officer. He formerly supported capital punishment, but changed his stance upon learning of innocent people who had been sentenced to death. Mr. May testified earlier this yar before the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment. He recently published an op-ed in the Baltimore Examiner explaining how his views changed and why he supports for repeal of Maryland’s death penalty. The full…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,Clemency
,New Voices
,Nov 17, 2008
NEW VOICES: 30 FBI Agents Call for Pardon in VA Case with Death Penalty Implications
On November 10 in Richmond, Virginia, thirty former FBI agents held a press conference calling for the pardon of four sailors, known as the Norfolk Four, who were convicted of rape and murder. Their convictions were based mainly on their own confessions, which were apparently made out of fear that they might otherwise receive the death penalty. The FBI agents pointed out that DNA and forensic evidence now points to a prison inmate who has confessed as the sole perpetrator of the crimes. They…
Policy Issues
Costs
,Deterrence
,New Voices
,Oct 02, 2008
NEW VOICES: Former San Quentin Warden Says Death Penalty “Detracts crucial resources from programs that could truly make our communities safe”
The former warden of San Quentin prison in California, Jeanne Woodford, regrets having taken part in executions and has called for replacing the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole. In an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, Woodford notes that after each execution, “someone on the staff would ask, ‘Is the world safer because of what we did tonight?’ We knew the answer: No.” The full article can be found…
Policy Issues
Costs
,New Voices
,Mar 31, 2008
NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officials Say “California’s death penalty is broken”
On March 28, two letters were sent to the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice–one from members of the law enforcement community and the other from judges, raising concerns about the state’s death penalty. Thirty law enforcement officers, including current and former prosecutors, police chiefs and other officers, signed a letter stating that “California’s death penalty is broken.” The letter cites multiple reasons why the state’s death…
Policy Issues
Costs
,Sentencing Alternatives
,Victims' Families
,New Voices
,Jan 21, 2008
NEW VOICES: Police Chief Says “The death penalty isn’t anywhere on my list”
In an op-ed in the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, police chief James Abbott stated that the death penalty is broken beyond repair and that the extra money spent pursuing executions could be better spent on crime prevention and the needs of victims. Abbott is the Police Chief of West Orange, New Jersey, and he served on the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission. He was a longtime supporter of the death penalty but eventually concluded that abolition was “just plain common sense.” Chief Abbott…
Policy Issues
Costs
,New Voices
,Nov 21, 2007
NEW VOICES: Veteran Police Officer Concludes ‘death penalty is inefficient and extravagantly expensive’
Norm Stamper, a 35-year veteran police officer from San Diego, recently wrote in The Mercury News that from his experience, “the death penalty is inefficient and extravagantly expensive.” Instead of spending millions of dollars on the death penalty, Stamper writes, “Spending scarce public resources on after-school programs, mental health care, drug and alcohol treatment, education, more crime labs and new technologies, or on hiring more police officers, would truly help create safer…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Executions Overview
,Nov 20, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former Texas Warden Reconsiders the Death Penalty
Jim Willet, former warden of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Walls Unit where Texas executions take place, recently described his experiences to the Dallas Observer as emotionally difficult for him. As warden during 1998 – 2001, three of the busiest years for Texas’ death chamber, Willet oversaw 89 executions. “The first time is unbelievable,” he told the Observer. “You have this healthy person – this person who was able to just jump up on the gurney – and you’ve said, ‘Kill this…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Jul 02, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former Florida Prison Warden Calls for End to Death Penalty
Eleven years after supervising his first execution as at the Florida State Prison at Starke, former warden Ron McAndrew is urging an end to the death penalty. McAndrew is calling on states to abandon capital punishment and replace it with life without parole, a punishment he notes is worse than the death penalty and protects states from executing an innocent person. He observes, “(T)he most severe punishment you could ever give anyone would be to lock them in a little cage made out of…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,New Voices
,May 31, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Chief Expresses Concerns about Innocence and the Death Penalty
In a guest column published in the Jurist, former FBI Director William S. Sessions underscored the importance of making DNA testing available for those facing execution. He also encouraged states to thoroughly review their capital punishment systems and to make reforms to ensure greater reliability. DNA testing, he noted, has revealed that police often do not have the right suspect in serious crimes. In about 25% of the cases where DNA was available and a suspect had…
Policy Issues
Costs
,Deterrence
,New Voices
,Mar 28, 2007
NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officer Says Death Penalty is Too Expensive and Does Not Deter Crime
Jim Davidsaver, a 20-year veteran with the Lincoln Police Department in Nebraska, recently wrote a column outlining his support for legislation that would have repealed the state’s death penalty. Davidsaver said he supported the measure, which failed to pass into law, because the death penalty does not deter crime and is too expensive. He noted that in his years of service with the police force he witnessed many horrific crime scenes, but none of the accused…
Facts & Research
Recent Legislative Activity
,New Voices
,Mar 15, 2007
NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officials Gather in Maryland to Oppose Death Penalty
Corrections officials, prosecutors and police chiefs recently gathered in Annapolis, Maryland, to voice support for a legislative measure that would repeal the state’s death penalty. “It is a human system, and because it is fallible and because it is human, it makes mistakes. Executions make those mistakes irreversible,” said Matthew Campbell, a former deputy state’s attorney for Montgomery and Howard counties. Gary J. Hilton, a former warden at the Trenton State Prison in New Jersey, added…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Jan 16, 2007
NEW VOICES: Former Ohio Corrections Director Calls for Ending Death Penalty
Reggie Wilkinson, who witnessed 19 executions during his 33 years with the Ohio Department of Corrections, recently stated that he would like to see executions ended in the state. Wilkinson, who served for 15 years as Director of the Department of Corrections and advocated for abandoning the state’s electric chair and replacing it with lethal injection, noted, “I would not oppose the abolition of the death penalty. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world with…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Nov 27, 2006
NEW VOICES: Former Death Row Warden Changes His Views
Dennis O’Neill had been an assistant warden at Florida State Prison for two years and warden at Union Correctional Institution for 7 years, both death row prisons. He eventually left the correctional system and became an Episcopal priest. He was assigned back to the town of Starke, Florida, where death row inmates reside. As a correctional officer, he had been involved in more than a dozen executions over 14 years, but now O’Neill opposes the death penalty. “For years, I told myself it was…
Policy Issues
Sentencing Alternatives
,New Voices
,Nov 09, 2006
NEW VOICES: Former Death Row Warden Calls for Clemency on Eve of Execution
The former warden of the Virginia prison that houses the state’s death row inmates has called for clemency for a man about to be executed on November 9. Page True was warden of the Sussex I State Prison and knew death row inmate John Schmitt for over 4 years. “The crime was just terrible,” True said, “but there’s a lot worse inmates that I’ve dealt with in my 36 years in prison systems than Mr.
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Oct 12, 2006
NEW VOICES: New Jersey Law Enforcement Official Discusses Problems with the Death Penalty
Edward Johnson is a former FBI Agent who currently oversees investigative work for the Union County (NJ) Prosecutor’s Office. He recently expressed his personal opinions about the state’s death penalty. He concluded that in New Jersey public opinion may now have moved to the point where the death penalty will be abolished. He noted, in…
Facts & Research
Recent Legislative Activity
,New Voices
,Sep 27, 2006
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Director Warns Against Stripping Death Penalty Appeals
The former Director of the FBI, William Sessions (pictured), along with Timothy Lewis, a former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, called on members of Congress to refrain from barring death row inmates and other defendants from the full access to the federal courts in their appeals. Some legislators have proposed eliminating federal habeas corpus review in many cases, and barring access to the federal courts to many of those raising challenges to their…
Facts & Research
Recent Legislative Activity
,New Voices
,Jan 13, 2006
NEW VOICES: California Moratorium Bill Gains Broad Support From Law Enforcement, Prosecutors and Judges
A group of 40 law enforcement officers, current and former prosecutors, and judges at the state and federal level have urged California lawmakers to enact a temporary halt to executions in the state while a commission examines the accuracy and fairness of the death penalty. In a letter to members of the California Assembly, the bi-partisan group of death penalty supporters and opponents wrote, “[G]iven that DNA testing and other new evidence has proven that more than 121 people who sat on…
Facts & Research
Clemency
,New Voices
,Jan 03, 2006
NEW VOICES: Former Warden and Supreme Court Justice Seek Clemency for California Man
Former California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin and former San Quentin warden Daniel Vasquez are urging California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant clemency to Clarence Ray Allen. Allen, who will turn 76 just a day before his scheduled execution on January 17, is blind and disabled, conditions that his attorneys have argued would make his execution cruel and unusual punishment. In a letter to Schwarzenegger, Grodin, who authored the court’s 1986 opinion upholding Allen’s…
Nov 29, 2004
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Chief and Texas Judge Call for Halt to Texas Executions
William S. Sessions, who served as director of the FBI from 1987 to 1993, and Charles F. Baird, a former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge from 1990 to 1998, have called for a halt to executions in Texas because of the risk of executing an innocent person. Sessions and Baird, both of whom are native Texans, cited the problems at the Houston Crime Lab as a principal reason for their doubts about the reliability of the death penalty system: Since November 2002, when its…
Oct 01, 2004
Texas Police Chief Calls for Halt to Executions in Wake of Scandal
In the wake of a scandal that has called into question the reliability of the police crime lab’s testing and handling of evidence in Harris County, Texas, Police Chief Harold Hurtt has said that executions of inmates from the county should not be scheduled until all relevant evidence has been reexamined to assure accuracy. He went on to note that the executions of nine individuals convicted in Harris County that are scheduled to take place before March 2005 should not be…
Apr 14, 2004
NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officials Support Bill to End Juvenile Death Penalty
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…
Mar 04, 2004
NEW VOICES: Police Chief Says Death Penalty Is Unwise Use of Limited Resources
West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, has told state lawmakers that resources devoted to the death penalty would be better spent elsewhere. He noted, “It is a practical issue. We have a death penalty law on the books, but we haven’t executed anyone since 1960, and it doesn’t look like anyone will be executed. The process is long, labor intensive and expensive. Now, any money we’ve put into death penalty cases has really…
Jul 18, 2003
Law Enforcement Views: Houston Police Chief Voices Concern About Prosecutors
Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford said that criminal defendants in Texas are at the mercy of prosecutors in an unfair system that emphasizes winning rather than justice. Bradford said that he believes there is sufficient probable cause to convene a court of inquiry to investigate the entire Police Department crime lab, not just the DNA portion (see below). Bradford also voiced support for changes that would help to balance the Texas justice system, which he believes currently works in favor…
Jun 26, 2003
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Chief Sessions Calls for Innocence Commission in Texas
NEW VOICES: Former FBI Chief Sessions Calls for Innocence Commission in Texas In a recent op-ed, William Sessions called on state legislators in Texas to pass a measure to create an Innocence Commission. The Commission would examine the Texas criminal justice system in an effort to protect against wrongful convictions. Sessions, a former director of the FBI and federal judge, noted that numerous exonerations , recent crime lab scandals (see below) in the state, and other troubling events…