[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., TENN., OKLA., ARIZ., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 26



KENTUCKY:

Priest Thinks Kentucky Could Be Next Southern State to Abolish Death Penalty


Priest and abolitionist Father Patrick Delahanty says he thinks Kentucky could 
be the next southern state to abolish the death penalty. Delahanty says he's 
been working to abolish the death penalty in Kentucky for about 28 years and 
thinks the state is between 2 and 5 years from doing so.

According to to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Kentucky accounts for only 3 
of 1,108 southern executions since 1977, second only to West Virginia with none 
because it abolished the death penalty in 1965. Delahanty says he is encouraged 
by the balanced discussion of the death penalty at August's Interim Joint 
Committee on Judiciary meeting. He says achieving his goal depends on educating 
people about capital punishment and gaining more supportive voices in the 
legislature.

"It's going to take both parties and it's going to take people who see it as 
not a political issue but a justice issue," said Delahanty. "And there are 
members of both parties who see that. So that's another factor that's helping 
in Kentucky."

Delahanty says he doesn't see any other southern state discussions of the death 
penalty progressing as quickly as in Kentucky. Maryland is the only other 
southern state without capital punishment, abolishing it just last year.

(source: WMKS news)






TENNESSEE:

Court reverses Bartlett murder conviction on death-row inmate


The Tennessee Supreme Court ordered a new trial for a man convicted in the 
heinous 2003 murders of a Bartlett couple.

Harry Lee Jones was sentenced to death on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder. He was 
tried in Clarence and Lillian James' 2003 death, in which he allegedly stabbed, 
bound, and then strangled the elderly couple during a home invasion. Jones was 
also accused of killing a man in Florida days later.

During Jones' 2009 trial, the court "erroneously allowed the state to present 
evidence of the subsequent murder of Carlos Perez in a motel room in Melbourne, 
Florida."

Presenting evidence of the defendant's other crimes in court is generally not 
acceptable, and the supreme court pointed out significant differences between 
the Fla. and Tenn. murders and said that the evidence should not have been 
admitted.

According to the WMC Action News 5 report on the 2009 trial, evidence from the 
murder of 19-year-old Perez was actually introduced during this trial. He was 
killed in the same manner as the couple.

A court of criminal appeals held that the Perez murder qualified as a signature 
crime; that made for a slim exception to allowing evidence in 1 case to be 
presented in another.

Judge Camille McMullen said the Perez murder did not meet the strict 
requirements for the exception to apply.

In conclusion, the supreme court ordered a new trial Thursday and ruled that 
the state may seek the death penalty again.

(source: WMC news)






OKLAHOMA:

Chamber will be ready for upcoming executions, director Robert Patton says----3 
lethal injections are planned before 2015.


The reconstruction of Oklahoma's execution chamber is nearly complete and will 
be ready for 3 upcoming lethal injections, the state's prison director said 
Thursday.

At a Board of Corrections meeting in Enid, director Robert Patton described how 
workers at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary had taken "the execution chamber 
down to the floor" to add space, improve lighting and make room for new medical 
equipment.

An overhaul of the state's execution protocol is almost finished as well, based 
on the recommendations of a state investigation prompted by the April 29 
execution of Clayton Lockett that went awry.

Witnesses at Lockett's execution described him as mumbling, grimacing and 
writhing on the gurney after he had been declared unconscious from a 
combination of drugs Oklahoma had never before used. He died about 10 minutes 
after Patton technically stopped the execution, as Gov. Mary Fallin was 
preparing to issue a stay.

Lockett was on death row for the 1999 murder of Stephanie Neiman, who was 
kidnapped and assaulted along with 2 friends and a baby. Lockett shot her and 
ordered his accomplices to bury her while she was still breathing.

The state's investigation into his death cited problems with the IV that was 
supposed to deliver the lethal drugs as "the single greatest factor" behind 
problems during the 43-minute execution. There was also no backup plan if 
things went wrong, the report stated.

The remodeled execution chamber will be opened to media and state officials in 
October and a revised protocol is expected to be approved soon, Patton said.

The cells where inmates are held prior to executions received an extensive 
remodel, adding security cameras, lighting and better visuals for the 
supervising officers.

The execution chamber's operations room - where executioners push the lethal 
drugs into IVs - has been expanded, with better lighting. Court records had 
previously described that room as no bigger than a walk-in closet and so dimly 
lit that executioners are given a flashlight to see.

If something went wrong, the executioners were to stick colored pencils through 
holes in the drug room wall to communicate with the doctor and others in the 
death chamber. This was one of the procedures that the state investigation 
recommended changing.

The agency has adopted all the changes recommended by that report that it has 
the authority to, Patton said, and considers those changes "to be mandates."

The protocol revisions have been made with the assistance of an outside 
"medical expert" hired by the Attorney General's Office, he said.

Patton previously told reporters he would describe Lockett's execution as 
"concerning" and evidence that procedures needed overhauling, but not 
"botched."

The doctor and paramedic overseeing Lockett's lethal injection attempted more 
than a dozen times to start an IV, ending up with a femoral vein IV that 
ultimately failed.

The lethal injection drugs - midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium 
chloride - had begun to form a golfball-sized pool of fluid in his tissue 
instead of flowing into his bloodstream. An autopsy states that Lockett died of 
"execution by lethal injection," but the state's investigation states: "This 
investigation could not make a determination as to the effectiveness of the 
drugs at the specified concentration and volume."

Patton said he was unaware of several problems until after the execution, 
including that the doctor and paramedic overseeing the execution didn't have 
the proper size needles for a femoral IV or an ultrasound machine to aid them 
and that only 1 vein was used.

Patton was not in the execution chamber; he was sitting with media witnesses 
and in the hallway on the phone with the governor's legal staff. He said at his 
"insistence," he will be in the execution chamber whenever possible at all 
future executions, and the phones to the governor's office will be moved inside 
as well.

The state's report cited communication problems between the execution team, 
officials on site and the governor's office as contributing to difficulties 
that night.

Last week, a federal judge strongly urged state officials to delay 3 upcoming 
executions, noting Oklahoma is running out of time to improve its execution 
process before then.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot also denied a request by the state to stay 
proceedings in a federal lawsuit filed by 21 death-row inmates challenging 
Oklahoma's execution protocols.

The plaintiffs who filed the suit include 3 inmates with upcoming execution 
dates. Charles Warner's execution is set for Nov. 13, followed by the scheduled 
executions of Richard Glossip on Nov. 20 and John Grant on Dec. 4.

Warner is set to be executed for the 1997 rape and murder of an 11-month-old 
girl in Oklahoma City.

Glossip is set to die Nov. 20 for his role in the 1997 death of Barry Van 
Treese, who owned the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City where Glossip worked.

Grant was sentenced to die for the 1998 murder of Gay Carter, a food service 
supervisor at the Dick Connor Correctional Center in Hominy, where he was 
serving time for a prior conviction.

(source: Tulsa World)






ARIZONA:

Jodi Arias Trial: One More Hearing Before Penalty Phase Retrial Starts


Jodi Arias is set for a court appearance later this week ahead of the start of 
jury selection in her penalty phase retrial.

The 34-year-old was found guilty of murder last year in the 2008 killing of her 
ex-boyfriend but jurors couldn't agree on a sentence. While her conviction 
stands, the retrial will determine whether she is sentenced to death or life in 
prison.

Arias is set for court Friday with jury selection beginning Monday.

The retrial is expected to last into December. It will not be televised live 
after the judge ruled that no video footage may be broadcast until after the 
verdict.

Arias admitted that she killed Travis Alexander but claimed it was 
self-defense. Prosecutors argued it was premeditated murder carried out in a 
jealous rage.

(source: Associated Press)






USA:

A case in favor of the death penalty----In certain cases, it would be immoral 
not to use the death penalty


It's a valid punishment for a life-ending crime 20% Killing someone is wrong no 
matter what the circumstances are 60% There are too many shades of gray to make 
a conclusive statement 20%

I hope those who oppose capital punishment can see the sound case for the use 
of the death penalty as a legitimate and moral punishment for the worst crimes 
a person can commit. By addressing many concerns of death penalty 
abolitionists, I hope to show that not only is capital punishment moral, but it 
also would be immoral not to enforce the death penalty in certain situations.

Those opposed to the death penalty make many claims about the "wrongness" of 
capital punishment. Many points of opposition are simply irrelevant to the 
discussions on the moral legitimacy of capital punishment, such as the amount 
of money spent in appeals, the length of time between sentencing and execution 
and a higher conviction rate for minorities.

These problems reflect injustices and inefficiencies in our legal system, not 
inherent wrongness of the death penalty. Unequal justice is still justice, no 
matter how uneven the application. I would challenge those who complain that 
capital punishment is distributed unequally to find any punishment that is 
equally distributed. One simply does not exist. While problems - especially 
discrimination - within our society and legal system need to be fixed, they 
don't make the death penalty wrong.

Additionally, we cannot accept the claim that state-managed executions 
"condone" killing. There is a great difference between the murderer, who kills 
in cold blood, harming an innocent victim, and the state, which legitimizes the 
process through a court trial and numerous appeals to end the life of a 
convicted murderer. Those who kill irreparably harm the victim, the victim's 
family and society at large. Their lives are an appropriate price to pay.

To say nobody is deserving of the death penalty is a ridiculous statement. 
Nobody would say the killing of Osama bin Laden was unjust. If Adolf Hitler 
hadn't committed suicide, would anyone have stood to defend his life at 
Nuremberg? How many people does someone need to kill, however brutally, before 
we finally understand the value of life is something worth recognizing?

Opponents of the death penalty have a good response to the value of the 
murderer's life, but not the victim. The charge that those who advocate the 
death penalty fail to value human life is false. Those who advocate the use of 
the death penalty value the life of an innocent victim of murder for its true 
worth: 1 human life. There is no principle more egalitarian and respectful of 
human life than this. While the death penalty is harsh, irreversible and 
dramatic, so is the act of taking an innocent life.

If we oppose the capital punishment, aren't we implying that the value of a 
victim???s life is less than that of his killer? If so, how much less is it? 
Does someone need to kill 2 people to be executed? 3 people? Three thousand 
people? Does he need to do it in a horrific way, such as raping or torturing 
his victim before he finally kills him or her? Does he need to kill certain 
people? An entire room of small children? The logic of those who fundamentally 
oppose the death penalty falls short in these instances and many others.

There is a simple way to avoid using the death penalty: If criminals choose not 
to murder people, they won't be subject to execution. Until that day, we should 
value a victim's life for what it is worth and trust the state to carry out its 
sentence.

(source: Sam Wallace is a junior government and politics major----The (Univ. 
Maryland) Diamondback)

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

The capital punishment argument runs deeper than morality----The justification 
for anti-death penalty arguments rests on our prosperity


It's a valid punishment for a life-ending crime 20% Killing someone is wrong no 
matter what the circumstances are 60% There are too many shades of gray to make 
a conclusive statement 20%

Public rhetoric tends to break down extremely controversial issues into 2 polar 
sides, such as pro-life versus pro-choice, the war on drugs versus legalization 
and environmentalism versus development. Surface-level discussions always seem 
to clash on a single point, something represented as a moral tug-of-war instead 
of a wide, contoured field of thought.

Before thinking it through, I always thought of the death penalty in these 
terms of me versus some unseen immoral faction that still lives by primitive 
codes of law. I still don't believe the death penalty is right, but more 
thorough consideration has absolutely unseated me from that lazy state of mind.

Something I often forget to consider about the justice system is how much of it 
is preemptive. Prison isn't a place to send criminals; it's there to scare 
people so they don???t become criminals. If we can agree that torture is 
unacceptable, then the 2nd-best deterrent is death. After all, if we can't 
follow through with punishments, the rule of law becomes increasingly useless. 
When weighing homicide against being tried and sentenced to death, hopefully, 
most criminals would be deterred, resulting in fewer homicides.

That being said, death is as unacceptable a deterrent as torture. The homicide 
rate in this country is dropping, and I could hardly say it's thanks to the 
prevalence of capital punishment. There's no single reason the rate has 
dropped, but the death sentence is nobody's front runner.

If the prison system were unsustainable - which it might soon be, considering 
that the average maximum-security federal prisoner cost $33,000 in 2013, 
according to The Washington Post, and prison populations are growing all the 
time - then it might be worth it to consider decreasing the number of prisoners 
by deterring people from crime, as some argue, by sentencing more criminals to 
death.

Philosophically, I'm part of the camp that believes you can't put a price on 
human life - not because it's intangible, but because no amount of money could 
excuse using the death penalty as a cost-cutting measure. It's a moral 
statement, and I hate to hinge a counterargument solely on a moral statement, 
but I think it would be worse to try and combat this one with anything more 
complicated than that. To put it explicitly, there are other ways we can save 
money in the prison system right now than by killing people.

So no, after mulling it over, I am not convinced. I hope some might be, or 
might look at the debate in a fuller spectrum than before. It's a cleaner way 
of understanding to what extent one's beliefs are true. If the national 
homicide rate were higher, or if the federal government were suffering 
crippling costs from the prison system, I have to admit I would probably 
reconsider. It's a chilling thought, and I'm happy to live in a world where I 
don't have to think that way.

(source: Emma Atlas is a senior government and politics major----The (Univ. 
Maryland) Diamondback)

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

Holder's legacy: counterterrorism to civil rights


Eric Holder, who is resigning as attorney general, leaves a legacy built over 
six years during which he was in the vanguard of administration policymaking 
but also the subject of intense criticism from Republicans. A look the legacy 
of the nation's first black attorney general and one of President Barack 
Obama's longest-serving Cabinet members:

---

TERRORISM

Holder declared that waterboarding was torture, ordered a review of CIA 
interrogations and defended the use of drone strikes overseas. His Justice 
Department successfully prosecuted terrorism suspects, including Osama bin 
Laden's son-in-law. He was widely criticized by Republicans and some Democrats 
for his plan to try professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 
other alleged co-conspirators in New York, a plan he ultimately dropped.

---

CIVIL RIGHTS

He fought against voter ID laws, urged federal prosecutors to shy away from 
seeking mandatory minimum prison sentences for nonviolent criminals, introduced 
new clemency criteria and backed proposals to give leniency to certain drug 
convicts. He also advanced legal protections for gay couples, declaring in 2011 
that the Justice Department no longer would defend the constitutionality of a 
1996 law that prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

---

DEATH PENALTY

Though not a proponent of the death penalty, Holder approved pursuing capital 
punishment in numerous federal cases. But in the aftermath of a botched 
execution earlier this year in Oklahoma, Obama asked Holder to study the 
protocols used by states in applying the death penalty. The Justice Department 
already was reviewing practices used by the Bureau of Prisons and had placed a 
moratorium on federal executions.

(source: Associated Press)

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

On the road and making a film...


Dear friends,

Fall is in full swing and that means my writing sabbatical is over and I'm out 
on the road. September took me to Texas where I peacefully protested the 
execution of Willie Trottie with others who also envision a day when we will no 
longer live in a country with a government that kills its own citizens. I also 
talked to people about my story and the state of the death penalty at Caroll 
University in Waukesha, Wisconsin and St. Cyprian Church and St. John Bosco 
High School in California.

It takes a hardworking team to keep everything running smoothly while I'm 
traveling across the country and I'm happy to have a tireless group of people 
working with me at the Ministry Against the Death Penalty. In this month's 
newsletter, you'll hear from our newest addition, Griffin Hardy, who just 
started an internship with us at DePaul University in Chicago, working 
alongside Rachael Hudak, who is, among other things, the National Coordinator 
of the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project.

I've also been busy working with a wonderful team on a documentary, "Sister", 
about my work and the influences in my life. I am so excited to be engaged in 
this project, as it has given me the chance to reconnect with many people from 
my past, including many who were my first teachers in social justice.

My friend Shed Boren from Miami is the executive producer of "Sister", making 
it all possible. Directing the film is Joe Cardona, who has established a 
reputation for making award-winning documentaries that grip the heart, many of 
which have been shown on PBS. His most recent documentary was The Day It Snowed 
in Miami, about the struggle for gay rights in that city, and before that Joe 
directed Haiti: Nou Bouke ("We are tired"). You can view the entire documentary 
online. Joe was recently featured on NBC News as one of five outstanding 
Latinos dedicated to preserving and cherishing Hispanic cultural heritage. 
Working alongside Joe is a great guy and highly regarded cinematographer, Jose 
Vazquez. They make quite a team.

Rose Vines, who is communications director and general factotum with us at the 
Ministry Against the Death Penalty, is the producer for "Sister". Rose took the 
photos above to give you a little taste of the goings-on during the 1st round 
of filming in New Orleans. If you click that image, you'll be able to view our 
"Sister" photo album on Facebook.

>From the heart,

Helen Prejean, C.S.T.

(source: Ministry Against the Death Penalty)