[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, NEB., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 21



OHIO:

Death penalty delay: Catalyst for change?


Ohio's postponement of executions until 2017 could be a catalyst for change.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced the delay, citing 
difficulties obtaining the necessary drugs. Sister Andrea Koverman, program 
manager for the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center in Cincinnati, said 
it's an opportunity to expand the dialogue about ending the death penalty.

Koverman said Ohio has faced deep problems with capital punishment, pointing to 
a task force report that found that in 93 % of death-penalty cases, the state 
failed to apply basic standards of fairness and equity.

"93 % is just appalling, so bringing all of the flaws and the injustices that 
are built into the system to public awareness has really fueled growing 
opposition," she said. "People just really don't know the facts and the truths 
about the system."

The same report revealed racial disparities, with those who kill Caucasians 
more than 3 times more likely to receive the death penalty than those convicted 
of killing African-Americans.

Convicted murderer Dennis McGuire was the last person put to death in Ohio. His 
execution in 2014 took an unexpectedly long 26 minutes, during which he 
repeatedly gasped and snorted.

A poll from Pew Research Center found that 7 in 10 Americans support the death 
penalty. But Koverman contended that capital punishment is not proven to be an 
effective deterrent to murder - and that receiving the death penalty in Ohio 
can be dependent upon where a person is charged.

"The idea that it's only used for the worst of the worst isn't true," she said. 
"It depends a great deal on what county you???re in because the trials are so 
expensive that many counties can???t afford to have capital cases so they don't 
put it on the table."

Then there is the impact on innocent bystanders. Koverman said executions are 
emotionally damaging to prison staff and families of the victims.

"They are put through this prolonged process of appeals and they can't put it 
to rest and have closure," she said. "Not to mention the effect it has on the 
family members of the person that???s executed. There are other people affected 
for generations after that."

According to the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, Ohio spends at least 
$17 million a year on capital cases, diverting money from other 
crime-prevention priorities.

The task force report is online at supremecourt.ohio.gov. The Pew poll is at 
people-press.org.

(source: Morrow County Sentinel)






NEBRASKA:

Ricketts says Nebraska continues to work with DEA to import lethal injection 
drugs


Because Nebraska lacks lethal injection drugs, the state remains unable to 
carry out an execution even though a voter petition drive has successfully 
postponed the recent repeal of the death penalty.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday his administration continues to work with the 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to import the necessary drugs from India. 
Until the drugs are obtained, the governor declined to speculate on whether an 
execution could take place before voters decide the future of capital 
punishment in November 2016.

"One step at a time. Right now we're still working with the DEA on bringing in 
the drugs," Ricketts said during a morning press conference at the State 
Capitol. "We'll take it one step at a time. We still have work to do there."

Officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have said Nebraska cannot 
import sodium thiopental, 1 of the 3 drugs called for in the state's lethal 
injection protocol. The state has paid $54,400 to an India drug broker for 
sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide to replace expired supplies of the 
drugs.

Last week, Secretary of State John Gale said his office had verified the 
petition drive had collected more than 143,000 signatures from registered 
voters who wanted to see the death penalty question placed on the ballot. The 
total was more than enough to put the Legislature's repeal of capital 
punishment on hold until the vote takes place next year.

The Legislature repealed the death penalty over the governor's veto. Ricketts 
gave $200,000 of his own funds to the petition drive.

Death penalty opponents have sued to block the question from being listed on 
the general election ballot. They argue petition organizers failed to list 
Ricketts as one of the drive's sponsors, which is required under state law.

Ricketts contends he was not a sponsor, just a supporter of keeping Nebraska's 
death penalty.

Meanwhile, the death penalty issue in Nebraska continues to garner national 
attention. This week, a crew from "The Daily Show" was at the Capitol to shoot 
a segment on Nebraska's death penalty debate.

(source: omaha.com)

***********

Nebraska Death Penalty Plagued by Wrongful Convictions, High Costs - NGO


The proposal to postpone the repeal of death penalty in Nebraska is irrational 
because the state's capital punishment program is flawed with wrongful 
convictions and high costs, US advocacy group Conservatives Concerned About the 
Death Penalty Advocacy Coordinator Marc Hyden told Sputnik.

"No matter how much money Governor Ricketts and his family spend on this 
referendum, it does not change the basic fact that they are trying to sell 
Nebraskans a lemon - a government program plagued by wrongful convictions, high 
costs, and long delays," Hyden said.

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

Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Executive Director Stacy 
Anderson claims that the political battle to abolish the death penalty in the 
US state of Nebraska has become an issue of conscience for the state's 
Senators, advocacy group

Hyden added that "the broken nature" of the capital punishment in Nebraska has 
been "on full display with the ongoing fiasco surrounding the Governor's 
attempts to illegally import lethal injection drugs from overseas."

The coordinator said that over the next year rights groups will be educating 
Nebraskans about the "unavoidable problems" that come with the state's death 
penalty.

"At the end of the day, Nebraskans will have the opportunity to voice their 
disgust over the flawed death penalty system - just like the super-majority of 
Nebraska lawmakers who voted for its repeal," Hyden said.

In October, 3 US state - Oklahoma, Montana, Arkansas - placed a hold on all 
death row executions.

Capital punishment is currently legal in 31 US states, while the practice has 
been abolished in the other 19 states.

More than 800 people have been executed in the United States in the past 15 
years. The largest number of executions, 85, occurred in 2000. 35 people were 
executed in the United States in 2014.

(source: sputniknews.com)






USA:

States cite Utah's firing squads while debating death penalty methods


Ohio's decision to delay executions another full year while it hunts for lethal 
injection drugs highlights an ongoing dilemma faced by the remaining death 
penalty states.

Although support for capital punishment continues, states are struggling to 
find a legal means to carry it out, and that has created an opening for 
opponents hoping to end the death penalty permanently.

"It really underscores the public's growing distrust and dissatisfaction with 
state corrections departments being able to administer the death penalty," 
Kevin Werner, who leads Ohioans to Stop Executions, said Tuesday.

Shortages and legal fights over drugs and their source are occurring in several 
states, among them Arkansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Yet capital punishment 
supporters say older methods such as hanging, electrocution and the firing 
squad are still viable options.

"We've got plenty of electric and plenty of rope," said state Sen. Bill Seitz, 
a Cincinnati Republican.

On Monday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich used reprieves to push back 11 executions 
scheduled for next year and one in early 2017. Ohio now has 25 inmates 
scheduled to die, including some in 2019.

Ohio's prison agency said it needs more time to find drugs. It hasn't executed 
anyone since January 2014.

(source: Associated Press)

***********

NAE report is 'one giant leap for abolition of death penalty'


The shift away from supporting the death penalty among evangelicals is "a big 
deal", according to Shane Claiborne.

On Monday the board of the National Association of Evangelicals approved a 
resolution that changed its 1973 resolution that favoured the death penalty. It 
did not remove support for the death penalty, but does now acknowledge 
evangelicals who oppose it.

Claiborne, a Christian activist based in Philadelphia, told The Washington Post 
that despite not being a reversal in position, the shift is significant:

"What it shows is that there is not a consensus to be pro-capital punishment," 
he said. "It flags both social and theological concerns and affirms the growing 
movement of evangelicals who are against the death penalty."

Arguably, the death penalty has been part of public policy because of 
conservative Christians, not in spite of them according to Claiborne.

Contrasting the evangelical position on capital punishment with its position on 
abortion, he said:

"While evangelicals have been champions for life on abortion, we've been the 
cheerleaders for death when it comes to execution.

"Over 85 % of executions in the last 40 years have been in the Bible belt. As 
death penalty scholar and death row chaplain Dale Recinella puts it, 'The Bible 
belt has become the death belt.'"

He challenged this reality, highlighting the cruel irony that while 
evangelicals sing "Amazing Grace" on a Sunday, they are happy to show a convict 
none when it comes to capital punishment:

"The Bible would be much shorter without grace. But for far too long we've 
missed the fact that every time we execute someone we undermine the very 
message of God's redeeming love."

Referencing the execution of Kelly Gissendaner last month in Georgia, Claiborne 
held up her time in prison as an "exemplary model of rehabilitation loved 
deeply by prisoners and guards alike." Despite her faith, the support of 
hundreds of pastors and Pope Francis, Gissendaner was executed by a person who 
shared her Christian faith.

Claiborne saw hope in the statement from the NAE, saying "grace has a foot in 
the door of evangelicalism. The new resolution is one small step for the NAE, 
but is one giant leap for abolition."

NAE President Leith Anderson said that a growing number of evangelicals are 
calling for government resources to be moved away from the death penalty.

It remains that 71 % of white evangelicals support the death penalty, according 
to a March 2015 Pew Research Center survey. This is less than 2011, when the 
support was at 77 %.

Millennial and non-white evangelicals are sending an anti-death penalty 
message, according to Samuel Rodriguez, who leads the National Hispanic 
Christian Leadership Conference.

"This is coming from very conservative evangelicals who are staunchly 
pro-life," Rodriguez said. "They don't see it as a liberal issue."

Claiborne hoped that "a generation from now ... a post-death-penalty world 
looks back and sees Christians standing on the side of life... in the name of 
the executed and risen Christ."

(source: Christian Today)

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

Where Your State Stands On The Death Penalty----Ohio is just one several states 
looking for new supplies after European pharmaceutical companies started 
blocking the use of their drugs for lethal injections


Ohio just joined the ranks of 38 other states in the U.S. that are not carrying 
out executions. The state's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said on 
Monday that it's delaying the execution of dozens of death row inmates, citing 
difficulties obtaining the proper drugs, according to reports.

The next execution in Ohio won't take place until at least 2017, which means 
capital punishment will be put off for 2 full years because of difficulties 
finding the right drugs for executions. Ohio is just one of several states 
looking for new supplies after European pharmaceutical companies started 
blocking the use of their drugs for lethal injections, according to the 
Associated Press. Both Oklahoma and Arkansas halted executions for dozens of 
inmates earlier this month, citing various issues over lethal injection drugs.

Other states, anticipating a lethal drug shortage, have come up with backups. 
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert approved in March the use of firing squads in case 
lethal injection drugs are unobtainable.

(source: vocativ.com)