[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., FLA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

May 6



VIRGINIA:

Virginia Death Row Inmates Prevail in Fourth Circuit



A federal appeals court Friday upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of 
Virginia death row inmates, finding that their living conditions amounted to 
cruel and unusual punishment.

In a 33-page opinion, Judge James Wynn in the Fourth Circuit affirmed a ruling 
by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which found 
that the state was “deliberately indifferent” to the physical and psychological 
harm caused by the state prison system’s accommodations for death row inmates.

Thomas Porter, Anthony Juniper, and Mark Lawlor – death row inmates who were 
housed in the state’s Sussex I State Prison about 40 miles south of Richmond – 
sued the state Department of Corrections in 2014.

According to Wynn, the inmates lived in 71-square-foot cells – about 1/ the 
size of a standard parking space. They were allowed 1 hour of outdoor 
recreation 5 days a week, a 10 minute shower 3 days a week, could have a TV and 
a CD player, and had access to the prison library to check out books. Their 
living spaces were continuously lit for safety purposes.

But it was the fact that the inmates lived in solitary confinement for 23 or 24 
hours a day that the district court found to violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban 
on cruel and unusual punishment, and Wynn agreed.

The judge said that, contrary to the lower court’s ruling, a “legitimate 
penological justification can support prolonged detention of an inmate” in 
solitary confinement. However, Wynn said that evidence in this case established 
that the inmates’ living conditions were unconstitutional.

“In sum, the undisputed evidence established both that the challenged 
conditions of confinement on Virginia’s death row created a substantial risk of 
serious psychological and emotional harm and that State Defendants were 
deliberately indifferent to that risk,” Wynn said in his opinion.

He pointed to reports filed by the inmates in which they described experiencing 
paranoia, hallucinations, and appetite and sleep disturbances from living in 
solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time.

Judge Robert King joined Wynn in affirming the lower court’s ruling.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer noted that Virginia’s 
Department of Corrections made changes to inmates’ living conditions a year 
after this case was filed. He said the plaintiff inmates concede that their 
living conditions no longer violate their rights.

Improvements included more recreational time and access to family members. 
Additionally, the state spent $2 million building a new “dayroom” and an 
outdoor recreation yard.

Niemeyer agreed that solitary confinement was constitutionally unsound, but he 
questioned why the appeals court was agreeing to uphold an injunction that is 
now moot because of the accommodation improvements.

“It simply cannot be claimed that the district court’s award of equitable 
relief in 2018 was ‘necessary to correct’ a violation of a federal right when 
the 2015 changes had, by the plaintiffs’ own concession, already corrected the 
alleged violation and no new violation was in any way being threatened,” 
Neimeyer said.

The inmates’ attorneys and the Virginia Department of Corrections did not 
immediately respond to requests for comments Friday.

(source: Courthouse News)








FLORIDA:

Judge to rule whether lethal drug is 'cruel' for serial killer Bobby Joe Long



A Hillsborough County judge is expected to rule Monday whether the execution of 
Bobby Joe Long through lethal injection would be a cruel and unusual 
punishment.

During a hearing Friday, a doctor from California testified about the 
anesthetic drug etomidate, which is one of the first drugs administered during 
the execution. Dr. Steven Yun said Long should have any an adverse reaction to 
the drug, based on the serial killer’s medical history.

However, Long’s attorney said his client had traumatic brain injury when he was 
younger and suffers from epilepsy. He argued that his condition, coupled with 
the cocktail of lethal drugs, could, could cause him to have a seizure during 
the execution.

During the hearing, Long's attorney challenged the doctor's expertise, pointing 
out he didn’t even read up on the drug before his testimony.

"As a critical practicing anesthesiologist, I don't need to read basic 
textbooks to review my knowledge on etomidate, the same way I don't need to 
review my car manual to drive my car," explained Dr. Yun.

Long is responsible for the murder of at least 8 victims and kidnapping and 
torture of at least one other. He was convicted and sent to Florida’s death row 
in 1986.

Governor Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant, and his execution date was 
scheduled for May 23. Lisa McVey, a survivor who escaped Long's clutches and 
because a Hillsborough County deputy, said she plans to attend the execution.

(source: Fox News)








OHIO:

Forgiveness, not death penalty, says Journey of Hope



Forgiveness was the message shared today at a community event where families of 
murder victims and exonerated death row inmates spoke against capital 
punishment.

Recently, Governor Mike Dewine put all executions on hold here in Ohio. While 
that is a positive step in the eyes of those who spoke at today's event, they 
hope to eliminate the need for executions altogether.

Bill Pelke has come a long way to talk to the dozens of people at the Vineyard, 
Columbus.

"I live in Anchorage Alaska," Pelke said for openers. Back in the 80s he and 
his grandmother lived in Indiana. In 1985 she was murdered by a group of 
teenage girls posing as Bible study students.

"One of the girls grabbed a vase off the end table and hit [my grandma] over 
the head, and as she fell to the floor another girl pulled a knife out of her 
purse and began to stab her," Pelke related.

The 15-year-old girl who did the stabbing was sentenced to death.

"I thought if they're going to execute people for killing people then they 
should execute the person that killed my grandmother, and so I had no problem 
when the judge sentenced her to death."

But it didn't take long for that to change.

"I envisioned tears coming out of my grandmother's eyes and streaming down her 
cheeks, and I knew they were tears of love and compassion."

Pelke was part of an effort to reduce the girl's sentence to 60 years and has 
been working to eliminate the death penalty ever since.

"If you have love and compassion for all humanity, you're not going to see 
anybody put into the death chamber and their life taken from then."

Ohio has had the death penalty since 1803 and is one of 30 states that still 
has it. For now, Governor Dewine has put executions on hold until a new method 
can be devised that courts will find Constitutional.

Pelke says the hiatus is good, but he wants to see the death penalty abolished 
like it has been in neighboring states.

None of Ohio's neighbor states are actively pursuing executions.

(source: NBC News)