[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., MO., OKLA., UTAH, WYO.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 10


KANSAS:

It's a life-death-matter, so choose life



Is there a disconnect in the mind of the public between the execution of the 
fetus through abortion and the execution of adults facing capital crimes?

Lawmakers are drafting new rules each year to eliminate abortions in Kansas. On 
the other hand, there seems to be a lack of support for the elimination of 
state-sponsored murder of adults guilty of capital crimes. Our media frequently 
reminds people of high abortion numbers. No one is invited to see an abortion, 
but many pictures are provided showing vital and moving human figures in the 
womb that are examples of aborted fetuses.

The execution of adults is viewed by a select number of people, but seating is 
limited. There always is a curtain or blind that can be closed if a public 
murder becomes messy. Clayton Lockett's execution in Oklahoma went terribly 
wrong after the lethal injection process began. 43 minutes later, he finally 
died of a heart attack.

Kansas' original death penalty law was abolished on Jan. 30, 1907. To celebrate 
that event the Kansas Coalition against the Death Penalty designates Jan. 30 of 
each year as Abolition Day. In 1935, a new capital punishment law was written, 
partially in response to a list of famous professional criminals, such as Alvin 
"Old Creepy" Karpos, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd and, of course, Clyde Barrow 
and Bonnie Parker, moving through Kansas.

Hanging was the method of execution during those days, but Gov. George Docking 
gave life sentences to men on death row. He said, "I just don't like killing 
people." The last executions in Kansas were in 1965, with the hangings of 
Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the infamous killers of the Clutter family in 
Holcomb.

The current death penalty law took effect in 1994. Today, 10 men are appealing 
their death sentence, as the law requires. When the new death penalty law was 
reinstated, it was estimated that it would cost the state $2.4 million to $4.2 
million each year. With our governor and state lawmakers looking for ways to 
save money, I would hope serious consideration would be given to eliminating 
the death penalty as a way of saving money. It is estimated that the average 
cost of just 1 case ending with the death penalty is $1.2 million. In contrast, 
the mean cost of incarcerating someone for life is $740,000. Eliminating the 
death penalty saves money.

A recent study showed that under Colorado's capital sentencing system, death is 
not handed down fairly. It is arbitrary. As a former Colorado judge said, "The 
death penalty is simply the result of happenstance, the district attorney's 
choice, the jurisdiction in which the case is filed, perhaps the race or 
economic circumstance of the defendant." This is true throughout the nation. 
This is the reason 18 states have eliminated capital punishment, and governors 
in many more states will commute death sentences.

But where is the compassion for the family member who must go through the 
trauma of the many trials of the person who committed the crime? Where is the 
compassion for the many who are on death row only because they could not afford 
a good lawyer? Where is the compassion for all the inmates on death row that 
may be innocent? Since 1973, 150 people in the United States have been released 
from death row after new evidence found them innocent.

The Charter for Compassion says we must "honor the inviolable sanctity of every 
single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute 
justice, equity and respect," especially when the issue of life or death is 
concerned - whether it is a preborn fetus or an adult charged with a capital 
crime.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said, even back in the 1990s, that the executions he 
had permitted had neither "made us safer" nor "more noble as a society." He 
could not "participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong." 
I would hope the citizens of Kansas would agree. I have not heard the latest 
from our governor about his stand on the death penalty. Perhaps he should hear 
from us about this question. There's also a chance to talk to legislators 
today. If interested, contact Mary at mary at ksabolition.org.

It is a matter of life and death. We should all choose life.

If you choose to comment, or even submit your own thoughts for our Compassion 
series, please visit our website at www.spiritualityresourcecenter.com.

(source: David Carlson is a member of the Spirituality Resource Center and a 
retired clergyman, active and residing in Lindsborg----Salina Journal)








MISSOURI----impending execution

Lethal injection concerns part of bid to spare Missouri man



An attorney for a Missouri inmate who's scheduled to die this week is seeking 
to halt the execution over concerns about the state's secretive process of 
obtaining and using lethal injection drugs.

Walter Timothy Storey is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for killing a 
neighbor in St. Charles in 1990. After a state-record 10 executions in 2014, 
Storey would be the 1st person put to death this year in Missouri.

Missouri refuses to name the compounding pharmacy where it obtains the 
pentobarbital used in executions and won't disclose details about testing of 
the drug. Attorney Jennifer Herndon said Monday that creates the risk that 
Storey could suffer a painful death, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Herndon also claims Missouri violates its own protocol by using a 2nd drug, 
midazolam. Missouri officials have said the state offers midazolam as a 
sedative to help calm the condemned inmate before the execution, but the state 
does not consider use of the sedative to be part of the execution process. The 
inmate can opt not to take it.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already turned down the stay request. 
Herndon has appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and plans to appeal to the 
U.S. Supreme Court. She also will seek clemency from Gov. Jay Nixon, she said.

Storey, 47, has been sentenced to death 3 separate times in the Feb. 2, 1990, 
death of Jill Frey, a 36-year-old special education teacher.

Storey was living with his mother when he became upset over his pending 
divorce. He was drinking beer and ran out of money so he went to Frey's 
neighboring apartment to steal money for more beer.

Court records show he climbed her balcony and entered through an unlocked 
sliding glass door. He attacked Frey in her bedroom, slitting her throat, 
breaking 6 ribs and causing other injuries. Frey died of blood loss and 
asphyxiation.

The next day, Storey went back to the apartment and tried to remove 
incriminating evidence, even scrubbing Frey's fingernails to remove signs of 
his DNA.

Storey was first convicted and sentenced to death in 1990. The Missouri Supreme 
Court tossed the sentence, citing concerns about ineffective assistance of 
counsel and "egregious" errors committed by Kenny Hulshof, a special prosecutor 
in the Missouri attorney general's office who was later elected to Congress.

Storey was tried again in 1997, and sentenced again to death. That conviction 
was also overturned, this time over a procedural error by the judge. Storey was 
sentenced to death a third time in 1999.

Herndon said Storey is remorseful and has spent "thousands of hours" working in 
a restorative justice program in prison, trying to help crime victims.

"I think that's how he expresses taking responsibility and his remorse," 
Herndon said.

(source: Associated Press)








OKLAHOMA:

Nitrogen Gas Death Penalty Bill Clears Oklahoma Panel



Oklahoma would be the 1st state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates under a 
bill that has unanimously cleared a Senate committee.

With no debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 Tuesday to authorize 
"nitrogen hypoxia," which depletes oxygen supply in the blood to cause death.

The bill's author, Moore Republican Sen. Anthony Sykes, says it's likely the 
bill will be amended before the session is over.

3 lethal injections remain on hold in Oklahoma while the U.S. Supreme Court 
considers whether Oklahoma's 3-drug method is constitutional.

A House committee studied the use of nitrogen gas to execute inmates after a 
botched lethal injection last spring sparked the legal challenge.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Oklahoma Debates Use of Nitrogen Gas for Executions



With executions in Oklahoma on hold amid a constitutional review of its lethal 
injection formula, Republican legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the 1st 
state to allow the use of nitrogen gas in executions.

2 bills scheduled for hearings this week in legislative committees would make 
death by "nitrogen hypoxia" a backup method. Representative Mike Christian, an 
Oklahoma City Republican, said: "You wouldn't need a medical doctor to do it. 
It's a lot more practical. It's efficient."

The United States Supreme Court is reviewing Oklahoma's 3-drug method in a 
challenge sparked by a botched lethal injection last spring in which an inmate 
groaned and writhed on the gurney before a problem was discovered with an 
intravenous line.

The case centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate 
unconscious before the 2nd and 3rd drugs are administered. 3 scheduled lethal 
injections in Oklahoma have been delayed pending the high court's review.

Oklahoma officials concede midazolam is not the preferred drug for executions, 
but death penalty states have been forced to explore alternatives as 
manufacturers of more effective drugs refuse to sell them for use in lethal 
injections.

(source: Associated Press)








UTAH:

Capital punishment legislation fails to consider real problems



State governments could save millions to even billions of taxpayer dollars 
simply by replacing capital punishment with life without the possibility of 
release. Capital punishment is too expensive an option to consider.

The state of Utah is considering legislation that would reinstate the firing 
squad as a method of execution. The decision to expend considerable time and 
taxpayer funds to deliberate on such a measure is in response to one of the 
many issues surrounding capital punishment - the difficulty in acquiring 
approved death penalty drugs.

However, this legislation will only add to the legal morass creating more 
litigation. The bill only attempts to address a single symptom of an 
irrevocably broken death penalty system that is afflicted with chronic and 
systemic dysfunction, which is increasingly being viewed as an affront to 
conservative values.

Capital punishment comes with an innate risk to innocent life. Because humans 
and governments are imperfect, the danger of executing the wrong person is 
real. It is impossible to say how many innocent people may have been wrongly 
executed, but it is known that around 150 people nationally have been wrongly 
convicted, sentenced to die and later released from death row. Mistaken 
eyewitness testimony, faulty and even forged forensic evidence, and 
prosecutorial misconduct continually drive wrongful convictions.

Adding to the unnecessary risk to innocent life is the fact that the death 
penalty is tremendously more expensive than life without parole, and capital 
punishment has even led to budget crises and tax increases. More than a dozen 
cost studies all point to similar conclusions - that state governments could 
save millions to even billions of taxpayer dollars simply by replacing capital 
punishment with life without the possibility of release.

Meanwhile, the death penalty doesn't fit within the framework of a limited 
government. Many conservatives are skeptical of government power, but there is 
no greater authority than the power to take human life. Our government 
currently retains the power to execute U.S. citizens, but conservatives should 
be aware of the dangers this authority can pose. Many don't trust the 
government to carry out prosaic actions, let alone making life-and-death 
decisions over U.S. citizens.

The death penalty comes with an enormous human and fiscal cost while it fails 
to satisfy any form of a positive cost-benefit analysis. Many murder victims' 
families have found that capital punishment fails them because of the structure 
of the death penalty system. The multiple trials, complex appeals process and 
constant media attention can inflict additional harm on family members. Capital 
punishment even fails at one of its most central purported goals. After 
reviewing 30 years of studies, the National Research Council found no valid 
evidence supports the notion that capital punishment deters murder.

The death penalty has become the proverbial ship with a thousand leaks. While 
the Utah Legislature considers the best method of executing people to attempt 
to address a single issue, conservatives are abandoning a broken death penalty 
system with increasing frequency. Icons including Col. Oliver North, Dr. Ron 
Paul, Jay Sekulow, Richard Viguerie and many others find capital punishment to 
be directly inconsistent with their conservative values of protecting innocent 
life, promoting fiscal responsibility and limiting the size and scope of 
government. Considering the death penalty's hefty human and fiscal price, it 
produces no real tangible benefits. It's just a failed government program.

(source: Marc Hyden was born in Salt Lake City. Today he is the National 
Advocacy Coordinator with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. Marc 
has served in various legislative positions in North Carolina and 
Georgia----Deseret News)








WYOMING:

Execution By Firing Squad Goes To The House Floor



The House Judiciary Committee voted 5 to 4 to recommend a bill that would allow 
executions by firing squad in the state. The Department of Corrections says 
acquiring the drugs to provide lethal injections has become more and more 
difficult. Lawmakers says they need to find another option in case someone ends 
up on death row.

Thermopolis Representative Nathan Winters voted against the bill because he has 
concerns that such executions might be cruel and unusual.

"If society is going to execute an individual what is the most humane way of 
doing that? And without the evidence, I don't know that I can vote for another 
way of performing an execution."

Rock Springs Republican Mark Baker opposes the death penalty, but says there's 
no rush to find a solution since nobody is on death row. The bill heads to the 
House floor.

(source: Wyoming Public Media)