[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., LA., KAN., OKLA., S. DAK.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 29



GEORGIA:

Georgia's Most Recent Execution May Have Violated The US Constitution



Tuesday night, Georgia executed a man for murder - despite a panel of experts 
unanimously labeling him as intellectually disabled.

As such, his death at the hands of the state may have violated the US 
Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

While serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend in 1985, the man who 
was executed, Warren Hill, fatally beat one of his fellow inmates. The court 
system sentenced him to die for his crime despite his lifelong intellectual 
disability.

Here's why the execution of Hill, 54, may violate the Constitution. A Supreme 
Court case in 2003, Atkins v. Virginia, found executing "mentally retarded" 
individuals violates the Eight Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

All experts, including 3 appointed by Georgia, concluded that a "preponderance 
of evidence" showed that Hill was intellectually disabled. Georgia, however, 
requires proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" that a defendant is intellectually 
disabled in order to spare them from the death penalty.

This higher burden of proof essentially means that it's more likely the state 
will execute intellectually disabled people. Georgia is the only state to 
require such a strict burden of proof in these kinds of cases.

In court papers, Hill's lawyers also argued that Georgia's standard violated 
the Supreme Court's decision last year in Hall v. Florida. That decision found 
Florida was too rigid in setting a strict IQ cutoff of 70 to spare people from 
the death penalty.

"Like Florida's strict IQ cutoff at issue in Hall, Georgia's 
beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard for intellectual disability 'den[ies 
individuals] the basic dignity the Constitution protects' and 'contravenes our 
Nation's . . . duty to teach human decency as the mark of the civilized world," 
Hills lawyers argued.

Despite all of this, Hill was pronounced dead at 7:55 p.m. by a lethal 
injection.

Hill's case continues a wave of controversy over states executing the mentally 
ill and disabled. In August 2013, Florida executed John Ferguson, a 65-year-old 
schizophrenic man who called himself the "Prince of God." The Supreme Court 
declined to hear a final argument from his lawyers. Advocates also said Andrew 
Reid Lackey, an Alabama man executed in July 2013, suffered from mental 
illness.

(source: businessinsider.com)

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

Statement by the Spokesperson on the execution of Warren Lee Hill in the US 
State of Georgia on 27 January 2015



The execution of Warren Lee Hill in the US State of Georgia on 27 January 2015, 
in spite of the indications that he suffered from a mental disability, is 
contrary to widely accepted human rights norms and to the minimum standards set 
forth according to international human rights law.

We regret that the numerous calls for clemency, including those of the EU, went 
unheeded.

The European Union is opposed to the use of capital punishment under all 
circumstances and aims at its universal abolition, seeking a global moratorium 
on the death penalty as a first step.

(source: europa news)








LOUISIANA:

Louisiana death penalty study in early phases



Does the death penalty increase the cost of Louisiana murder cases? That's what 
a group at the Capitol wants to figure out.

This comes after a new study in Nevada suggests a capital punishment trial is 
more expensive than life behind bars.

"Our mission here is to determine the actual cost of prosecuting a capital case 
as opposed to a non-capital case," said John DeRosier, District Attorney for 
Calcasieu Parish and subcommittee co-chairman of the Capital Punishment Fiscal 
Impact Commission.

But before that mission can be accomplished, the commission must answer a big 
question- how many parishes should the study consider?

The Nevada study looked at just 2 of the state's 16 counties.

In East Baton Rouge Parish alone, the Defense Bar says there are currently 22 
capital cases while some parishes have none.

"We have quite a bit of data on capital defense throughout the state," said Jay 
Dixon, LA State Public Defender.

To help with determining the size of the study, the commission is calling on 
the Public Defender's office.

"We probably have more data than just about any state that has done this. 
Basically a mountain of information, that other states do not have access to," 
said Dixon.

The Legislative Auditor will also play a major part.

"We will compare apples to apples," said Irina Hampton, Performance Auditor 
with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor

The commission wants the auditor's office to put boots on the ground- send 
staff to each potential parish in the study, analyze court records, and talk to 
judges and private lawyers.

In the middle of planning its approach, the group also mentioned the nation's 
anti-death penalty movement, those who want capital punishment abolished, 
people like Sidney Garmon.

"They're concerned about the amount of money that the state is spending on this 
form of punishment instead of taking that money and putting it into programs 
that will make our community safer," said Garmon, Executive Dir. of the LA 
Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

The commission will next meet February 25th. They've set a goal to finish the 
study by New Year's Day next year.

(source: WAFB news)








KANSAS:

Death penalty ---- Becker again makes good-sense case for repeal



Rep. Steven Becker, R-Buhler, has become a leading advocate for repealing the 
death penalty in Kansas. He speaks on the issue with his usual good common 
sense and provides a certain credibility as a former Reno County District Court 
judge.

Becker filed a bill Monday to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a 
life-in-prison sentence without possibility of parole. Becker offered both a 
fiscal and a moral argument, noting that capital punishment is multifold more 
expensive to the state and that the danger of sentencing innocent people is 
real.

He also sponsored a repeal bill last year.

"How can we impose the irreversible absolute certainty of death when we do not 
require the absolute certainty of guilt?" Becker said at the time.

By one count, 150 people convicted and sentenced to death since 1971 have been 
exonerated.

And Wichita lawyer Stephen Robison, who chaired a Kansas Judicial Council 
committee studying the cost of the death penalty, last year said that the cost 
of prosecution and appeal of capital punishment cases is 3 to 4 times that of 
non-death penalty cases. When Kansas needs to save every penny it can, that 
should be a compelling argument for political conservatives in Topeka.

This week, Becker noted another inconsistency in conservative doctrine, which 
typically holds that life is sacred when it comes to abortion but not when it 
comes to capital punishment.

Becker borrowed conservative standard-bearer Gov. Sam Brownback's line from his 
State of the State speech earlier this month when he said that "from the 
beginning of life to the end of life, Kansas is the most pro-life state in 
America."

"How can we claim to be pro-life when we impose the death penalty?" Becker 
asked. "Every advocate for and champion of the sanctity of life knows that it 
applies to all life, not just innocence."

So, what say you, governor? The Legislature will follow your lead on 
abortion-related bills this session. It's time for you to champion this 
pro-life cause, too. It's time for our state to stop standing in judgment of 
life and death and instead to lock up our worst criminals for life.

(source: John D. Montgomery, Hutchinson News editorial board)








OKLAHOMA:

Richard Glossip Reacts To News That He Won't Be Executed This Week: 'It's So 
Unbelievable'



Death row inmate Richard Glossip described Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court order 
suspending his impending execution as "so unbelievable."

"I've felt amazing today," Glossip said hours after he heard the news, sounding 
elated and buoyed by hope.

Glossip laughed easily during a conversation with The Huffington Post, talking 
excitedly about reconnecting with family and learning just how far news of his 
case has spread around the world. The Associated Press characterized the 
Supreme Court's decision as one that "came as no surprise," to which Glossip 
said, "Unless it's your life on the line, you don't know how heavy it is."

Glossip, who has been on Oklahoma's death row for 17 years, was scheduled to 
die Thursday by lethal injection. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to take 
up a case involving Glossip and two other Oklahoma death row inmates, who claim 
their state's lethal injection method is unconstitutional and amounts to cruel 
and unusual punishment. Glossip's fate remained in limbo until Wednesday's 
announcement.

"I'm really happy that the Supreme Court ordered the stay so that the 
litigation can be carefully considered and Richard has more time," Kathleen 
Lord, one of Glossip's lawyers, told HuffPost. "Anything can happen with time. 
And Richard is not done telling his story."

Glossip, 51, was convicted of 1st-degree murder in 1998 and was sentenced to 
death based on the testimony of one witness, Justin Sneed. Sneed confessed to 
beating a hotel owner to death with a baseball bat, claiming that Glossip 
promised him $10,000 to do it. In exchange for his testimony, Sneed was spared 
death row himself and instead sentenced to life in prison.

Glossip has staunchly maintained his innocence from the start, and his case has 
attracted the support of high-profile death penalty opponents. Outside the 
Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Wednesday, several of those 
supporters, who had been visiting Glossip under the belief it would be their 
last time seeing him, celebrated.

"It's such a surreal situation to be sitting with someone very near to 
execution," Sister Helen Prejean, a nun known for her memoir Dead Man Walking 
and Glossip's spiritual adviser, told HuffPost. "Then when you get the news -- 
I was ecstatic."

Prejean added that she "leapt out of her chair" after hearing Glossip's 
execution would be stayed. She said the news was not only a relief to Glossip's 
supporters, but to prison guards as well. "None of them wanted to be here if 
this was going to happen to him," she said Several guards had requested the day 
of Glossip's execution off, Prejean said.

Glossip, who was able to visit with his guests Wednesday in the prison's law 
library while he sat beside them in a locked cage, said he nearly broke down 
and cried at the ability to reach out and touch his family. Prior to Wednesday, 
he said he had not been able to see his eldest daughter, Christina 
Glossip-Hodge, in person in 25 years. It was also the 1st time he and Prejean 
met face to face.

A day earlier, dozens of Glossip's supporters hand-delivered a printout of a 
Change.org petition, which has now collected nearly 35,000 signatures, to the 
office of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R). The petition asks Fallin to stop the 
execution.

While the governor can't grant Glossip clemency, she has the authority to delay 
his execution by 60 days, and there's no limit to the amount of times she can 
do that. Fallin's office, however, has indicated that she's unlikely to do so.

"I disagree with the necessity to grant Glossip yet another round of legal 
appeals," Fallin said in a statement emailed to HuffPost following Wednesday's 
news. "However, given that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear his case, 
it is entirely appropriate to delay his execution until after the legal process 
has run its course."

Wednesday's Supreme Court order doesn't affect Glossip's death row status, but 
additional time before his execution may work in his favor. Should his lawyers 
uncover more evidence that suggests he's innocent, the state could grant him an 
appeal. Moreover, the state's Pardon and Parole Board could allow Glossip 
another clemency hearing, which could result in his sentence being commuted to 
life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Glossip's last clemency hearing was in October, when the state clemency board 
voted unanimously against him. Before the hearing, Sneed's daughter penned a 
letter to the board, claiming her father wished he could recant his testimony 
pinning the crime on Glossip, but it was submitted too late and couldn't be 
used as evidence.

"For a couple of years now, my father has been talking to me about recanting 
his original testimony. But has been afraid to act upon it, in fear of being 
charged with the death penalty," the letter read. "His fear of recanting, but 
guilt about not doing so, makes it obvious that information he is sitting on 
would exonerate Mr. Glossip."

Glossip's loved ones said they hope Wednesday's news will inspire Sneed to 
recant. "I have an innate hope that Justin Sneed will by awakened by close of a 
call we had today," Crystal Martinez, who authored the Change.org petiton, told 
HuffPost. "If that doesn't happen, I hope we can use all the injustices done to 
him during trial and finally bring him home -- alive."

Wednesday's Supreme Court order left open the possibility of carrying out 
lethal injections that don't involve midazolam, the controversial drug at the 
heart of Glossip's case, in the interim. Should they choose to move forward 
with an execution before the case is decided, Oklahoma's Department of 
Corrections would need to give death row inmates at least 10 days notice and 
choose a method that meets state protocols. It's unclear whether Oklahoma 
officials will pursue this option, and the Supreme Court will likely rule on 
the case by the end of June.

Oklahoma's execution methods came under scrutiny in April, after death row 
inmate Clayton Lockett died 45 minutes after being injected with a combination 
of drugs that had never been used together, including midazolam. Lockett 
writhed, clenched his teeth and struggled against the restraints holding him to 
a gurney before prison officials halted the execution, according to witnesses. 
He then died from a heart attack.

"It was a horrible thing to witness," Lockett's attorney, David Autry, told The 
Associated Press at the time. "This was totally botched." Fallin, who defended 
the execution, was attending a basketball game at the time.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court declined to stay the execution of Charles 
Warner, another Oklahoma death row inmate. "My body is on fire," Warner, the 
1st to be killed since Lockett, said after he was injected.

Meanwhile, in the wake of Wednesday's news, Glossip and his supporters said 
they won't stop fighting.

"I'm hoping this victory for Richard shows how horribly broken the system is," 
Prejean said. "And that it takes death off the table as an option that 
government can exercise over its citizens."

(source: Kim Bellware & Carly Schwartz, Huffington Post)

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

Inmate Gives Rare Glimpse Of Life On Death Row



A prisoner facing the death penalty has told Sky News how he spent the final 
days before his execution date laughing at episodes of the British comedy 
series Last Of The Summer Wine.

Richard Glossip was due to die by lethal injection on Thursday, but with just 1 
day to go, the US Supreme Court gave him and 2 other prisoners a stay of 
execution until it can hear submissions on 1 of the drugs used in the process.

Glossip, who has always insisted he is innocent, is accused of hiring a 
colleague to murder Barry Van Treese, the owner of the motel where they worked.

Justin Sneed, who beat his victim to death with a baseball bat in 1997, 
testified against Glossip in a plea deal which meant he escaped a death 
sentence, and will spend the rest of his life in jail.

Glossip refused a plea deal, which would have led to life imprisonment.

He is the only 1 of the 49 men on Oklahoma's death row who did not actually 
commit a murder, and he had no criminal record before his arrest.

He told Sky News that he spent what he thought were his last days watching the 
Yorkshire-based comedy on the TV in his cell, and his favourite character was 
Compo.

"He chose to lead a life so simple. He doesn't need fancy cars or homes. He's 
happy just going out, and laying on a hill somewhere, laying on the grass, 
having a cup of tea, or doing something silly," Glossip said in a phone call 
from his prison cell.

"I love watching that show because it just makes you feel really good. It's 
helped me a lot. I think Last Of The Summer Wine is one of the most incredible 
shows ever made."

Glossip has described his days and attitude on death row.

"I try never to have a bad day," he said.

"I wake up and I try to find the good in every day. I laugh, and the guards 
watch me and think I'm weird, cause I'm laughing.

"If something happens and I should be executed, I don't want to go out hating 
people, or being angry at the world for what happened to me.

Glossip will be spared until at least May or June, when the US Supreme Court 
will decide on whether the lethal injection is a fair method of execution.

"I would rather go out peacefully and hoping that there's something on the 
other side that makes it all worthwhile," he said.

(source: eagle.co.uk)








SOUTH DAKOTA:

Debate On Death Penalty Heats Up In Pierre



Expect plenty of debate on the death penalty.

Lawmakers filed 4 bills today dealing specifically with the controversial 
punishment.

1 bill would repeal the death penalty, making it illegal in the state. A 
similar measure failed last year.

The 2nd bill would add to the current law.

It would require a jury to determine the defendant is a threat to the community 
and too dangerous to be in prison.

If a jury decides a defendant is not a threat, he or she would receive a life 
sentence instead.

The other 2 proposals deal with the victims of violent crimes.

1 would require a victim's feelings against the death penalty be included in a 
pre-sentencing hearing.

The final bill would allow you to check a box when get your driver license.

Here's what it would say, "should I die as the result of a violent crime, it is 
my wish that no person found guilty of homicide for my killing be subject to a 
death sentence."

If you agree to that and check the box, your name would go on a statewide 
registry which can only be accessed if you are a victim of a violent crime.

That information would be able to be used in court.

(source: keloland.com)