[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CALIF., USA, MO. S.C.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 14


TEXAS:

Texas executions threatened as stocks of death penalty drug run low----Most 
prolific judicial killing state in America has only enough sedative for 6 more 
executions – and could run out by June


Texas, the powerhouse of the death penalty in America which last year executed 
more than twice the number of prisoners than any other state, is running out of 
supplies of lethal drugs and may be incapable of carrying out further death 
sentences beyond June.

The state prides itself on its robust approach to the death penalty, and last 
year administered the ultimate punishment to 13 death row inmates. The nearest 
competitor on the league table of judicial killings was Alabama, with 6.

Yet Texas has only sufficient quantities in its stores of pentobarbital – the 
middle drug of the triple lethal injection – to serve in 6 more executions. 
That number of executions are scheduled to take place on the state's books over 
the next 4 months.

The dwindling supplies in the nation's most prolific death penalty state 
underline the crisis that is sweeping the 34 states that still have the death 
sentence on their books. Last summer, Lundbeck, the Danish company that makes 
pentobarbital under the trademark Nembutal, placed strict restrictions on its 
distribution to prevent it falling into the hands of US executioners.

Georgia, the state that caused outrage in September when it put to death Troy 
Davis despite considerable doubts about his guilt, is also running low on 
stocks of the drug it used to kill him. It has only enough pentobarbital to 
kill four more prisoners – the same number of executions as it carried out in 
2011.

The severity of America's lethal injection drought has been uncovered by the 
human rights group Reprieve. Using freedom of information appeals, its 
investigator Maya Foa has calculated the remaining stocks in Texas and Georgia 
of pentobarbital, a barbiturate used to put prisoners to sleep before they are 
administered a separate drug to stop their heart.

Her calculations show that Texas has 27 vials of Nembutal left in its stocks, 
with each vial containing 2.5g of the sedative. The state needs 2 vials to 
inject into each condemned prisoner, and a further 2 as a back-up in case of 
problems with the first, as outlined in its official execution procedures.

That is sufficient for 6.75 executions.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice declined to confirm how much 
pentobarbital it had in its stores, saying it was seeking to keep the quantity 
secret "for security reasons".

Similarly, Georgia has 17 vials of pentobarbital left, Reprieve has calculated 
– just over four executions' worth.

"These shows that the restrictions on sale of medical drugs to US corrections 
departments are starting to bite. States that practice the death penalty are 
now reaching a desperate situation," Foa said.

"It's getting harder and harder for them to get hold of these drugs and 
eventually they will be forced to recognise that medicines should not be used 
to execute people."

Difficulties over lethal injections has already put a halt to executions in 
several other states. California has a moratorium in place until at least 2013 
as a result of legal wrangling over the procedure, while Ohio has also been 
forced to put its executions on hold because it was found by the courts to be 
straying from its own protocols in administering the drugs.

The question hanging over death rows across the country is what happens when 
states like Texas run dry of pentobarbital. Will they move on to a new 
alternative sedative in the hope of bypassing restrictions on sales of the 
medicines, or will they try to procure Nembutal through circuitous routes?

Legitimate channels through which the drug can be obtained are fast closing. A 
ban has been imposed since last December across the European Union on selling 
the constituent parts of the lethal injection to US prisons.

The next execution in Texas is scheduled for 28 February, when Anthony Bartee 
is set to die for murdering a 37-year-old man in 1996. Rick Perry, who has 
presided over 238 executions since becoming governor of the state, wore that 
record as a badge of pride during his presidential run for the Republican 
nomination, telling a cheering debate audience that he had never struggled to 
sleep at night by the idea that anyone might have been innocent.

(source: The Guardian)

*********************

Berlinale Behind Bars----Werner Herzog Looks for the Human Side of Death Row


Their crimes are monstrous. But renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog seeks 
to show that death row inmates in the US are not monsters. His new series of 
documentaries, showing at the Berlin International Film Festival this week, 
provides a different look at those up for execution.

James Barnes sits in his orange colored prison jumpsuit and talks about how 
he's always been in trouble. As a youngster, he killed his family's cats, set 
fires and committed other crimes. Now, Barnes is sitting on Florida's death row 
awaiting execution for killing at least three women, including his wife, whom 
he strangled and stuffed in a closet.

Barnes is 1 of 5 inmates featured in "Death Row," a film series directed by 
legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog. The series is being shown at the 
Berlin International Film Festival this week.

Barnes accepts full responsibility for his crimes and is repentant. In his 
conversation with the German film director, the inmate does not appear to be a 
monster at all. And that's just what Herzog wanted to show.

The purpose of the series is to humanize the murderers, not to excuse their 
crimes, Herzog, 69, said in a statement released Monday. "The crimes of the 
persons in the films are monstrous, but the perpetrators are not monsters."

'I Respectfully Disagree'

Herzog, a Munich native, is firmly against the death penalty, in line with the 
overwhelming sentiment of his fellow Germans. "A State should not be allowed -- 
under any circumstance -- to execute anyone for any reason," Herzog said in the 
statement.

He referred to the millions of innocent people killed by the Nazi government of 
his native country during World War II. But the killing of innocents is a 
secondary issue, he said. Government-sponsored executions are just wrong.

Still, says Herzog, his intent with his four-part series about death row, which 
portrays five people awaiting executions in Texas and Florida, is not to tell 
Americans what they should do about capital punishment.

"As a guest in the United States, and being German, I respectfully disagree 
with the practice of capital punishment," he says. "I would be the last one to 
tell the American people how to conduct their criminal justice."

Herzog doesn't excuse the crimes. He tells the story of Linda Carty, probably 
the most revolting of the series. Carty is one of 10 women on death row in 
Texas. She was convicted of masterminding a bogus home invasion on a 
Mexican-American couple with the goal of stealing the family's newborn child. 
The mother was found dead with duct tape over her nose and mouth and a plastic 
bag tightly sealed over her head. Though Carty denies any involvement in the 
gruesome and bizarre crime, there is overwhelming evidence supporting her 
guilt.

Reviewing the Death Penalty

Herzog, in a statement, denied there is any "activist's anger from my side" and 
said he doesn't commiserate with the inmates or in any way befriend them. 
"There is no false sentimentality," he said. But "there is a strong sense that 
these individuals are human beings."

It is perhaps no coincidence that most of Herzog's portraits are of inmates in 
Texas. The state has been responsible for by far the most executions in the 
United States. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), a 
non-profit based in Washington, Texas has executed 478 inmates since 1976. The 
number 2 spot goes to Virginia, with 109, followed by Oklahoma with 97 and 
Florida with 71.

Herzog's film comes at a time in which many state governments in the US are 
reviewing their death penalty statutes. Last year Illinois got rid of the death 
penalty. In 2009, New Mexico voted to abolish the death penalty. It was 
repealed in New York and New Jersey in 2007. In Oregon, Governor John Kitzhaber 
halted all executions last year, though the death penalty is still technically 
legal. The next state likely to abolish the death penalty is Connecticut, 
DPIC's executive director Richard Dieter said.

Dieter said popular films may have more of an effect, but documentaries are 
becoming increasingly important and are attracting more moviegoers in the US. 
"Anything that will increase the discussion will add to the possibilities of 
getting rid of it," he said of the death penalty.

Still an overwhelming majority -- 34 of the 50 US States -- still has the death 
penalty on the books. That disturbs not only Herzog, but many of his 
compatriots.

The Human Side of Death Row

Last year German Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler rejected 
US requests to provide a German-manufactured drug used in lethal injections to 
US states facing shortages, despite requests from then-US Commerce Secretary 
Gary Locke to help ease the shortage.

"I noted the request and declined," Rösler said at the time.

In September, Germany along with countries all over Europe, reacted with 
protests to the execution of African American Troy Davis, who was put to death 
in Georgia. Davis was convicted of killing a white police officer in 1989. He 
maintained his innocence until the end and his supporters said there were 
serious doubts about his guilt. Davis, 42, was executed by lethal injection.

Hank Skinner, another subject in the Herzog series, was luckier. The Texas 
inmate was sentenced to death 18 years ago for the fatal stabbing of his 
girlfriend and her two mentally impaired sons. His execution has been scheduled 
three times -- the second time he got his reprieve only 23 minutes before his 
scheduled execution.

Skinner, a vivid story teller, gives a harrowing account of his remaining 
minutes before he thought he was going to die. It's just one of the film 
series' many moments that shows viewers the human side of death row.

(source: Spiegel Online)






CALIFORNIA:

SAFE California Initiative seeks shift on death penalty


In 1978, California voters overwhelmingly approved the Briggs Death Penalty 
Initiative that vastly expanded the number of crimes punishable by death. The 
sponsors of the proposition argued that it would allow prosecutors to seek just 
punishment for crimes of murder. Now, California's death row currently houses 
more than 700 inmates, more than any state in the union.

Its supporters argued it would send a strong message to criminals – commit 
murder in California and expect a quick trip to the gas chamber – but it hasn't 
worked out that way. In the almost 35 years since it was approved, the state 
has executed 13 convicted murderers. Now, the Briggs Family that sponsored the 
1978 initiative supports the SAFE California Initiative that would replace the 
death penalty in California with a sentence of life without parole.

Ron Briggs, member of the Board of Supervisors in El Dorado, CA. In 1978, 
Briggs, his father, and his brother sought to expand the death penalty through 
the Briggs Death Penalty Initiative.

(source: Southern California Public Radio)






USA NEW YORK)----federal death penalty

Waka Flocka Flame Associate Facing Death Penalty


An associate of rapper Waka Flocka Flame is facing the death penalty after he 
was charged with 3 counts of murder in New York on Monday (13Feb12). Aspiring 
hip-hop star Ra Diggs, real name Ronald Herron, was indicted in a Brooklyn 
Federal Court for the slaying of Frederick Brooks in 2001, Richard Russo in 
2008, and Victor Zapata in 2009 on Monday afternoon.

He was acquitted of the first killing after two witnesses refused to testify 
against him, but he later bragged about getting away with murder on Twitter.com 
and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly tells the New York Daily News, "His 
Tweets were premature."

Herron has long been accused of being a gang leader of the drug enterprise 
Gowanus Houses and now Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch is calling for 
appropriate action, stating, "Ronald Herron and his gang terrorised a Brooklyn 
community for more than a decade and he temporarily got away with murder by 
threatening and intimidating witnesses only to return to the streets of 
Brooklyn to kill and kill again."

Herron, who has been behind bars for 2 years on federal charges of running a 
crack and heroin ring, faces the death penalty if convicted.

(source: contactmusic.com)

***********

MINDSCAPES


Many topics in the United States are put up for dispute every day. Capital 
punishment is often the topic of much controversy. Many individuals believe 
that the death penalty should be put into use, while others believe that it is 
detrimental to society. However, there is no dispute in my eyes; capital 
punishment is wrong. It is unconstitutional, immoral, has many imperfections, 
is expensive, and does not reduce crime. First of all, the death penalty 
violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits cruel and 
unusual punishments. In the case of Furman v. Georgia, the consequence of the 
death penalty was deemed as a cruel and unusual punishment. Though Furman's 
case was indeed a unique situation, we cannot repeatedly evaluate the 
constitutionality of this same issue. If capital punishment is deemed 
unconstitutional in one case, it must be deemed similarly in all cases.

However, constitutionality is not the only aspect that should be examined. The 
case against the death penalty is even more valid when we examine class, race, 
and gender prejudices. According to DeathPenaltyInfo.org, 42 % of death row 
inmates are black. This is especially strange considering blacks only make up 
12.6 % of the United States population. The numbers show that the criminal 
justice system tends to put minorities on death row. This cannot be just. Don't 
we stand for “liberty and justice for all”? How can a prejudiced system be 
fair? Additionally, suspects who are in lower social classes cannot afford 
better attorneys to defend them. Still others are wrongfully accused and 
executed because of the flaws of the justice system. In the past 35 years 
alone, 138 inmates were exonerated from death row after evidence of their 
innocence was found. Though there may not be enough evidence at the time of 
trial, jurors will oftentimes blame suspects out of pure prejudice. 
Unfortunately, race and economic standing often skews a court's decision to put 
a suspect on death row. In this way, the justice system can ruin the precious 
lives of many.

Another significant reason why capital punishment should be abolished is 
because it does not, in fact, reduce crime. Studies have shown that states that 
enforce the death penalty have a higher crime rate than states that do not 
enforce the death penalty. Though this may not have a concrete correlation to 
deterring crime rates, it surely does not lessen the rate of violent crime.

Additionally, enforcing capital punishment is more expensive than keeping a 
criminal in prison for life. This is money that our economy simply does not 
have. As a nation that is trillions of dollars in debt, we cannot spare any 
more money than is absolutely necessary. The money spent on the death penalty 
is not a necessary expense. By getting rid of the death penalty, our nation can 
save money and begin to rebuild our economy. Perhaps we can put this money to 
better use in areas such as education or medical research.

Lastly, capital punishment is immoral. How can we, as fellow human beings, have 
the right to execute another? After all, “an eye for an eye makes the whole 
world blind.” If this is true, we cannot kill another just because we believe 
we have the justification to do so. We cannot justify this gruesome act by 
following Hammurabi's code. Our acts are accountable to whatever higher power 
one believes in; we are not accountable to each other. It is not in our 
authority to decide who lives and who dies. And, after all, isn't execution 
just the murder of yet another individual?

The death penalty is wrong and dehumanizes our society. It is a cruel and 
unusual punishment and wrongly accuses men and women annually. Because the 
United States justice system makes many mistakes, innocent individuals will 
continue to lose their lives to a flawed system. Furthermore, it is 
discriminatory, does not reduce crime, and is too costly. From an ethical 
standpoint, the death penalty is immoral and does not solve the problem at 
hand. Unless we deter capital punishment in all fifty states, our nation will 
not advance economically, socially, and ethically.

Goshen Central High School

Goshen, NY

(source: my.hsj.org)






MISSOURI:

Reggie Clemons is Troy Davis


The case of Reggie Clemons represents everything that is wrong with the death 
penalty and the U.S. criminal justice system.

His case reminds us of Troy Davis, a black man who was executed by the state of 
Georgia in September, despite strong evidence of innocence, no physical 
evidence, another suspect and unreliable witnesses, not to mention worldwide 
protests.

In 1993, Clemons was sentenced to death in St. Louis, Missouri as an accomplice 
to the 1991 murder of Julie and Robin Kerry -- two white women who plunged to 
their deaths off the Chain of Rocks Bridge into the Mississippi River. He was 
19 at the time of the killings, with a clean record.

He was beaten by police, denied a lawyer, and coerced into making a false 
confession. As Amnesty International reported, there was no physical evidence 
linking Clemons to the murders. Even the prosecution admitted that Clemons did 
not murder the victims, nor did he plan the crime.

2 other young black men, Marlin Gray and Antonio Richardson, were sentenced to 
death along with Clemons. Gray was executed, and Richardson had his sentence 
reduced to life. Two sketchy eyewitnesses were essential to Clemons' death 
conviction. Daniel Winfrey, a white co-defendant, pled guilty to a lesser 
offense in exchange for his testimony against the black defendants. Winfrey 
allegedly told a cellmate he would "say anything" to get a plea bargain, and 
"no one is going to believe a bunch of niggers." He is now a free man on 
parole.

Meanwhile, Thomas Cummins, the victims' cousin, originally confessed to killing 
the women, which he told police stemmed from an argument after he tried to have 
sex with Julie. Cummins also claimed he fell 90 feet off the bridge and swam to 
safety, which was unlikely given that he was dry and unscathed. Despite the 
inconsistencies in his statements, the charges against Cummins were dropped 
after he identified Clemons and the other suspects. Cummins received a $150,000 
settlement in a police brutality suit.

Meanwhile, Clemons and Gray both claimed police brutality and coercion but were 
ignored. Clemons -- who had been beaten by police and was ordered hospitalized 
by the judge at his arraignment -- was coerced into confessing to rape. He did 
not confess to murder. And the audiotaped forced confession was admitted as 
evidence of his guilt.

This is where the problems for Reggie Clemons were only just beginning. To sum 
it up, he just couldn't win, and the system seemed to conspire against him. His 
defense attorneys were unprepared for trial and neglectful, and the deck was 
stacked against him, as was the jury. The prosecutor, Assistant Circuit 
Attorney Nels Moss, who was disciplined by the court and had a pattern of 
misconduct, disproportionately excluded black prospective jurors, leaving a 
mostly white pro-death penalty jury in this heavily black city.

And then there was the rape kit and lab reports from one of the victims, buried 
in police headquarters for years, and never revealed at trial. One could 
reasonably assume that if that evidence had been helpful to his case, Moss 
would not have hidden it.

Police torture and false testimony, crooked prosecutors and a stacked jury, 
incompetent defense counsel and missing evidence. Let's not forget raw racism. 
These are the key ingredients of a horrid dish called American justice. And 
sadly, this is why Reggie Clemons is facing execution. This is a prime example 
of what happens when criminal behavior in the police station and the courtroom 
sends an innocent man to his death. But unlike Troy Davis in Georgia, Cameron 
Todd Willingham, Ruben Cantu, Carlos DeLuna, or Larry Griffin in Missouri, 
Reggie Clemons is still alive.

There is still time to save him. We can fix this.

On the other hand, we cannot fix our system of capital punishment. According to 
the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973, 140 innocent men and women 
have been freed from death row in 26 states, each spending an average of nearly 
10 years in prison awaiting execution.

David A. Love is the Executive Director of Witness to Innocence, a national 
nonprofit organization that empowers exonerated death row prisoners and their 
family members to become effective leaders in the movement to abolish the death 
penalty.

(source: Huffington Post)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

Home invasions could carry death penalty under new bill


Home invasions are rare in Pickens and Anderson counties, officials say, but 
when the crimes happen the victims are often traumatized.

A Westminster man, in Oconee County, was tied up at gunpoint Saturday in his 
home and robbed, according to deputies. The perpetrator is still being sought.

Right now the assailant would likely be prosecuted for burglary but state 
legislators have introduced bills that would create a new category, home 
invasion, for such crimes.

The bill provides for punishments of 20 years or more for a home invasion and 
would open the door to a death penalty case if someone dies during the 
invasion.

“It’s the new thing in the crime world,” said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a 
Charleston Democrat who introduced the House bill.

“It’s a fad,” he said. “It’s something criminals get from movies and music. 
They want a bad rep so they kick down a door. We’re not going to stop it unless 
we take a hard stance.”

He said the crime is growing in his area and victims have been tied up, raped 
or beaten.

The bill has already struck out four times, said Jeff Moore, executive director 
of the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association.

He isn’t confident in the bill’s chances this year, although he supports it.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to tackle its version of the bill, the 
Home Invasion Protection Act, on Tuesday but canceled its meeting and will 
likely reschedule for next week, a committee clerk said.

Moore said the bill has strong opposition from members of the committee, who he 
said have long opposed creating new laws when existing laws already punish the 
crimes. State Sen. Glenn McConnell, a Charleston Republican and chairman of the 
committee, did not respond to a request for comment.

Moore said those opposed to the bill believe it would be another statute that 
could be covered by existing laws and approving it would run counter to a 
sentencing reform movement from 2010.

20 years ago, he said, the “crime de jour” was carjacking and there was 
opposition to adding carjacking statutes because auto theft and kidnapping 
charges already existed.

Moore said that carjackings were rising fast at the time and extra penalties 
were needed and the category of carjacking was eventually added.

Home invasions are similar to burglaries in many ways. Both crimes can involve 
someone breaking into a house while armed to steal things.

The difference between the crimes is big, Gilliard said.

A successful burglary avoids any homeowners while a home invasion actively 
targets them, often to terrorize them or for the criminal to bolster his street 
reputation, he said.

Gilliard’s House bill includes drive-by-shootings alongside home invasions 
while the Senate bill covers only home invasions.

“It’s still bullets flying into a house,” he said. “It’s no different than 
someone coming into your house.”

Gilliard said he wants House leadership to take his bill out of subcommittee so 
it can join with the similar Senate version.

Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper said that home invasions are rare in 
Anderson County. One recent and well-publicized case, in which several people 
are accused of breaking into a home and later engaging in a shootout at McClure 
Road in the county, would not meet the definitions of a home invasion.

There was nobody at the home when the accused burglars entered so it would be 
considered a burglary case.

Skipper said that despite the rarity of the crime, he supports the bill.

“It gives us a bit more teeth in the law,” he said. “When you break in, knowing 
people are there, the penalty should be more severe.”

Skipper said Tuesday, and told residents from around McClure Road in December, 
that many, if not most, home invasions are not random acts and the perpetrator 
knows the victim to some degree.

“With that said, it is still traumatic on those folks,” he said.

Pickens County Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan agreed.

He said in one case about a year ago, possibly the most recent home invasion 
case in the county, investigators determined that the perpetrators had bought 
drugs from their victim the day before and went back armed and miffed.

He said home invasions are not a frequent problem in his county but he agrees 
with the proposed extra layer of penalties for those targeting people who are 
in their homes.

Moore said home invasions are one of the few crimes that he takes active 
measures to prevent in his own life.

He locks his door each time he leaves, even when someone is home.

“Home invasions are fraught with violence,” he said. “I’ve seen too many 
accounts of these crimes; they often end very tragically. So it certainly it is 
something I pay attention to in my own life.”

(source: Anderson Independent Mail)