[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----ARK., MO., NEB., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 21




ARKANSAS:

Governor Asa Hutchinson On Executions Decision


KNWA/Fox 24 spoke with Governor Asa Hutchinson at the Capitol Tuesday morning 
on the topic of the on-going execution battle, prior to the call being made to 
halt Wednesday's executions.

Hutchinson told KNWA/Fox 24 that the death penalty is one of the toughest 
things he has to deal with as Governor. He emphasized the importance of due 
process and proof of guilt for those sentenced, but said the review process 
needs to be addressed.

"It's really more a problem of the system and how the courts are having to have 
an endless review and that needs to be shortened, tightened up. You never want 
to have any doubt, when the death penalty is carried out," said Hutchinson.

The Governor did release a statement via Twitter Tuesday afternoon in regards 
to the decision: "I am disappointed for the families of the victims since the 
Court ruling will mean more delays and more uncertainty. I am gratified the 
Supreme Court ruled that Judge Griffen exceeded his authority and acted 
improperly by issuing the stay. While the case is sent back to have a full 
hearing, it is my hope that the Court will expedite the case so that 20 year 
delays do not become 21 year delays."

(source: nwahomepage.com)

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

State Legislators React To Execution Stay


The Arkansas State Supreme Court issued the stay to give inmates on death row 
enough time to challenge a state law that keeps certain details of execution 
drugs secret.

Although the stay was granted, several topics surrounding the death penalty had 
politicians on both sides of the aisle split.

The state is currently debating the legality of keeping lethal injection drug 
names secret.

State Representative Greg Leding opposed the death penalty.

"We have got to have a criminal justice system that's built on delivering 
justice, not carrying out revenge," Leding said.

Leding, a democrat from Fayetteville, said he also knew the death penalty was a 
controversial topic in the state.

"It's a complex issue, and it inspires a lot of passions on both sides," Leding 
said.

Some republicans agreed with Leding, saying the topic is controversial.

Cave Springs Senator Bart Hester said the state does make the contents of their 
lethal injection drugs public. However, they don't release who the drugs are 
produced by.

"We do tell [inmates] what we are going to use, we just don't tell them who 
mixed them," Hester said. "The moment you notify [a company] that you are using 
their pills, or their drugs, as an execution drug, then they pull it off the 
shelves. And, then you can't get ahold of [the product.]"

Leding said he didn't fully agree.

"I think anybody sentenced to capital punishment absolutely deserves to know 
how it will be carried out. They deserve absolute transparency," Leding said.

Leding, as an opponent to the death penalty, said the state made the right call 
to postpone the executions set to take place in October.

"I think it was the right decision in this particular case," Leding said. "if 
we are going to do this, we need to get it right."

Although Hester said he understood the court's reasoning, he still isn't sure 
if other Arkansans will.

"I'm not certain why people will want to spend so much time and resources on 
defending people that murder our cops, and rape and murder our children," 
Hester said.

(source: 5newsonline.com)






MISSOURI:

Missouri man behind videotaped rapes and murders challenges death penalty


The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments today from a man sentenced to 
death, who with his girlfriend brutally raped, tortured, and killed 2 women and 
videotaped the attacks.

Richard Davis was convicted of 1st-degree murder and multiple counts of 
assault, rape, and sodomy, for the May 2006 attack on Marsha Spicer of 
Independence. His then girlfriend, Dena Riley, is serving life without parole 
after taking a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Both also pleaded guilty 
to a similar attack on Michelle Huff-Ricci of Kansas City. The attacks of both 
women were videotaped.

Davis claims his attorneys were ineffective to the point of violating his 
constitutional rights. He says a psychiatrist should have been called to 
testify about him having bipolar disorder, and having been prescribed a 
psychotropic medication that should have been taken with a mood stabilizer. He 
also says a psychologist should have testified about abuse he suffered as a 
child. He's asking the court to throw out his death sentence and give him a new 
trial or penalty phase.

The Court has previously upheld his death sentence. Riley is serving life in 
the state prison at Chillicothe.

Once the court hears those arguments, it could consider the case for any length 
of time before issuing a decision.

(source: missourinet.com)






NEBRASKA:

US Death Penalty Opponents Campaign in Nebraska Before Key 2016 Vote - NGO


Opponents of capital punishment plan an educational blitz across the US state 
of Nebraska before state residents decide in a referendum next year whether to 
scrap the death penalty, advocacy group Equal Justice USA Executive Director 
Shari Silberstein told Sputnik.

"A strong team of top Republican campaign strategists is coming together to 
begin this dialogue with the people of their state," Silberstein said on 
Tuesday. "Nebraskans now have 12 months to learn about this failed policy."

On Monday, another US advocacy group Nebraskans for the Death Penalty submitted 
the proper number of signatures to postpone the repeal of the Nebraska death 
penalty, putting a referendum on the issue onto the 2016 election ballot.

"The more people learn about the death penalty, the less they like it," 
Silberstein noted. "Everywhere you turn, people are reconsidering their views 
on the death penalty."

The National Association of Evangelicals, Silberstein pointed out, released on 
Tuesday a new position on the death penalty that moved the Protestant Christian 
body toward a more nuanced view that recognizes growing concerns and opposition 
to the issue.

(source: sputniknews.com)






CALIFORNIA:

People of Faith Abolishing the Death Penalty Featuring Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H*


Best known for his 8 years on M*A*S*H and 5 seasons on Providence, Mike Farrell 
will be speaking at Westwood United Methodist Church on the subject of "People 
of Faith Abolishing the Death Penalty" on Sunday, November 1st, 2015, at 
11:30am.

"Westwood UMC is known as a safe place to discuss challenging issues of faith, 
and we are excited to have Mike join us once again to share his unique 
perspectives," commented Rev. John Woodall, Senior Pastor. "This is a great 
opportunity to learn from someone who has spent the greater part of his life 
addressing the death penalty."

A life-long opponent of the death penalty, Farrell has "seen too many death 
rows." President of the board of Death Penalty Focus since 1994, he speaks, 
debates, writes extensively and engages in campaigns across the country in 
opposition to state killing. He is currently involved in an international 
effort in support of a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

Alongside his work as an actor, director, and producer, Farrell has embarked on 
a long-time effort of activism and social awareness often focused on the issues 
surrounding the death penalty. He has traveled the world for the last 30 years 
as part of prominent international human rights and peace delegations. This 
work led to his helping establish the Southern California Committee of Human 
Rights Watch, where he served for 10 years as co-chair. A social justice 
advocate, he served for 3 years as a member of the State of California's 
Commission on Judicial Performance.

Admission and parking are free of charge.

Westwood United Methodist Church is located at 10497 Wilshire Blvd. in Los 
Angeles, California. For more information, visit www.westwoodumc.org

About Westwood United Methodist Church

With 2 unique gatherings on Sundays at 10am, The Sanctuary (traditional, 
liturgical) and The Loft (modern, conversational), Westwood UMC is a Christian 
community where all people are welcome regardless of age, race, economic 
status, marital status, or sexual orientation. We are focused on making 
disciples committed to justice, kindness, and walking humbly with God.

(source: pr.com)






USA:

Un-cruel and unusual----Talking Backward | An originalist case against the 
death penalty


Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in two 
cases challenging the constitutionality of specific impositions of the death 
penalty. Both Montgomery v. Louisiana and Hurst v. Florida concern procedural 
technicalities rather than the broad issue of whether the Eighth Amendment 
forbids capital punishment. Nevertheless, many in the legal community who hold 
strong opinions on that issue are watching the cases closely.

There are 2 main reasons for this: Firstly, there is the fact that in his 
dissenting opinion in Glossip v. Gross, decided at the end of last term, 
Justice Stephen Breyer - who often speaks for the court's 4-member liberal wing 
- wondered aloud about the overall constitutionality of capital punishment. 
Since a minority vote of 4 out of 9 justices can bring a case before the court, 
many read the opinion as an invitation to bring such a case. Secondly, there is 
the fact that the past few weeks have seen a spike in activity within America's 
death chambers. Since the beginning of September, there have been 5 executions 
carried out in the U.S., and 2 last-minute postponements.

As an irresolute libertarian generally suspicious of government's competency 
and good faith, I tend to philosophically oppose the death penalty, thinking it 
unwise to give the state power to take away an individual's life, especially 
since the punishment cannot be undone if erroneous.

However, as one resolutely committed to democracy and the rule of law, I wish 
to see courts upholding the law strictly as it is written rather than their own 
visions of justice and morality; I am broadly suspicious of theories of "living 
constitutionalism" which assert that judges should continually re-interpret the 
meaning of constitutional text in order to align its mandates with their own 
visions of "contemporary morality." I contend that to do so would concentrate 
far too much power over policy in the hands of unelected judges.

In the contemporary legal atmosphere, such convictions align me loosely with 
the "originalist" school of theory, which contends that text and history are 
the only legitimate lenses through which to view constitutional questions, and 
that deference should be given to the "original public meaning" of the 
Constitution. Since nobody in 1791 understood the Eighth Amendment to prohibit 
executions, and since the Fifth Amendment explicitly condones state takings of 
life, provided due process, originalists contend that the Constitution permits 
the death penalty.

I can't help but think, however, that the popular originalist theory of what 
"cruel and unusual punishment" means places undue emphasis on the original 
meaning of "cruel" as opposed to "unusual." And while capital punishment almost 
certainly does not meet the 1791 definition of cruelty, I think there is good 
reason to suspect that it may meet the 1791 definition of unusuality.

Thomas Sheridan's "Complete Dictionary of the English Language," published in 
1790, defines "unusual" as "not common, infrequent, rare." What is significant 
about this definition is not its precision, but rather its demand for context; 
something can only be rare or uncommon in a particular space and time. Trees 
are rare in the Sahara desert, but not in New Hampshire. Capital punishment was 
indubitably common in 1789, but is it today?

In short, no. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 8,760 people were 
convicted of murder or nonnegligent manslaughter in 2006, the last year for 
which there are comprehensive figures on state convictions. Of these, only 173 
were sentenced to die. In other words, the likelihood of being sentenced to 
death for killing someone in 2006 was 2 %. Death sentences become even more 
erratic in appearance when one takes into account well-demonstrated racial 
imbalances in their application and the fact that all of the death sentences 
imposed since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, have resulted from 
cases originating in just 20 % of U.S. counties. To any reasonable person, 
whether born in 1990 or 1790, the death penalty of 2006 looks rare. To an 
originalist of integrity, this has to be significant.

I wish to conclude by apologizing for the gross over-generalizations I have 
employed throughout this piece. In my defense, I offer only the claim that real 
constitutional theorists perhaps have editors less ruthlessly concise than 
mine.

(source: Alec Ward is a College junior from Washington, D.C., studying 
history----The Daily Pennsylvanian)