[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MASS., CONN., DEL., FLA., MO., UTAH, CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 31



MASSACHUSETTS:

A Brief History Of Mass. Capital Punishment From The Salem Witch Trials To 
Tsarnaev


The last execution in Massachusetts took place in 1947, and the death penalty 
was ruled unconstitutional in 1984. Even so, the history of state sanctioned 
executions in the Commonwealth is a long one. Folks will of course remember the 
Salem Witch Trials and religious fervor that sent more than 2 dozen to their 
deaths in the 1630s. Since then, the complicated story of the Massachusetts 
death penalty has unfolded:

At high tide, this small island and stone pyramid are barely visible. This is 
Nixes Mate, located in the Boston Harbor, and its history is grisly. In 1726, 
infamous pirate chief William Fly was brought to Boston and executed. His body 
was then gibbeted - hung by chains - on Nixes Mate as a warning to other 
sailors not to turn to piracy. Fly is remembered for having berated his 
undertaker for tying his noose incorrectly. Fly famously removed the noose, 
retied it, and then put it back on his own neck.

Fort Warren was built on George's Island, a small plot of land off the Boston 
Harbor, in the mid 1850s. Although the structure never saw a direct attack, it 
was used for trainings and housing soldiers and prisoners during a number of 
American wars. One of those prisoners was Confederate soldier Andrew Lanier, 
who was imprisoned on the island in 1861. In an attempt to free him, Lanier's 
wife traveled north from Georgia and, dressed in drag, crept onto the island 
late one stormy night. During the escape attempt, a Union soldier knocked a 
pistol from Mrs. Lanier's hand. The gun went off, killing her husband. Mrs. 
Lanier was hanged on the island. Her last request was to be executed in 
feminine clothes. Lacking these, it's said that the soldiers draped her body 
with black drapes. For this reason, and some spooky sightings, she is known as 
the Lady in Black.

In one of the most famous accounts of state executions, 2 innocent men were put 
to death in 1927. On April 15, 1920, as is commemorated by this plaque in 
Braintree, 2 men were murdered in an armed robbery. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo 
Vanzetti, Italian-born anarchists living in Boston, were convicted of the 
murders in a lengthy trial that drew international attention. Despite pleas and 
protests from thousands and multiple attempts to appeal (all of which were 
denied), the pair of radicals were sent to the electric chair at the 
Charlestown State Prison. Over 10,000 people viewed their bodies over the 
course of a 2 day funeral in Boston's North End.

Charlestown State Prison, where Sacco and Vanzetti were housed and executed, 
once stood where Bunker Hill Community College stands today. The prison was 
built during the 1800s and housed thousands of prisoners before being shut down 
in 1955. Before its closure, the prison witnessed the last execution to be 
carried out in Massachusetts. Phillip Bellino and Edward Gertson, 2 gangsters 
who were conviceted of murdering a former U.S. Marinem, were executed by 
electric chair on May 9, 1947. 4 years later, Massachusetts restricted the 
death penalty, removing mandatory sentencing requirements for some crimes. The 
death penalty was then abolished in the state in 1984.

Residents of Massachusetts have had to grapple with the death penalty in recent 
years. Although the crime carried out by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother, 
Tamerlan, happened in Massachusetts, it was a crime tried in federal court, 
which allows death penalty sentencing. The case was controversial because it 
took place in the Commonwealth, where more than 1/2 of the population is 
against capital punishment. To be on a jury for a case where prosecutors are 
seeking the death penalty, you must be willing to vote for that sentence. Many 
believe that the trial should have been moved out of state for that reason.

(source: WGBH news)






CONNECTICUT:

Connecticut court denies stay of death penalty abolishment


The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request by prosecutors to 
put on hold its landmark decision eliminating the state's death penalty while 
justices consider another appeal of capital punishment.

The decision was the 2nd time this month that justices have upheld their 4-3 
ruling in August that the death penalty violates the state constitution. The 
court on Oct. 8 turned down a request by prosecutors to reconsider the ruling.

Justices said Friday that their ruling is final and that it would be improper 
and bad precedent to grant a stay to a party that loses an appeal but hopes to 
succeed in a different case.

A deeply divided Supreme Court, in the appeal of convicted killer Eduardo 
Santiago, said a 2012 state law that abolished capital punishment for future 
crimes must be applied to the 11 men who still faced execution for killings 
that happened before the law took effect. Santiago had faced the possibility of 
lethal injection for a murder-for-hire killing in West Hartford in 2000.

A majority of justices said the death penalty "no longer comports with 
contemporary standards of decency" and doesn't serve any "legitimate 
penological purpose."

Prosecutors had asked the Supreme Court to stay its decision in the Santiago 
case while the justices consider the appeal of convicted killer Russell Peeler 
Jr.

Peeler claims in his appeal, filed in 2008, that the state's death penalty 
amounted to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. He was sentenced to 
death for ordering the 1999 killings of an 8-year-old boy and his mother in 
Bridgeport, when the boy was expected to be a key witness against him in a 
fatal shooting.

(source: Associated Press)






DELAWARE:

A Dover legislator plans to revive death penalty bill in House


One state legislator plans to suspend the rules, and bring the death penalty 
repeal to the Delaware House floor.

Once the General Assembly returns to Legislative Hall in January, 
Representative Sean Lynn plans to suspend rules and bring Senate Bill 40, which 
would repeal the death penalty, to the house floor for a hearing and vote.

The bill was voted down 6-5 by the House Judiciary Committee in May, and Lynn, 
a Democrat from Dover, says it's not the democratic way for this bill to 
languish in committee.

Lynn adds that he thinks the bill, in its present form, would pass the full 
house, but he is worried amendments could be added to Senate Bill 40 that would 
cause his colleagues to vote it down.

Lynn didn't say if he plans to suspend the rules on the 1st day of the session, 
but he did say will do so in January.

(source: delaware1059.com)






GEORGIA:

Study group to address intellectual disabilities in Georgia's death penalty 
cases


A "teach-in" session on the standard of proof for intellectual disability in 
death penalty cases in Georgia will be offered on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 7-9 
p.m. The event, sponsored by the archdiocesan Disabilities Ministry and the 
PAPE (Proof to a Preponderance of the Evidence) Project, will be held at the 
Chancery, 2401 Lake Park Drive, SE, Smyrna. Doors will open at 6 p.m. All are 
welcome to attend.

Georgia is the only state in the U.S. that uses the most difficult standard of 
proof in order to meet the legal standard of intellectual disability in death 
penalty cases "beyond a reasonable doubt." This standard is a fairly 
challenging legal obstacle to overcome, and Georgia is an outlier in requiring 
it. Of the 33 states that still have the death penalty, 22 states use the 
standard of "preponderance of the evidence."

Because of Georgia's incredibly high standard of proof, the state continues to 
execute people with developmental disabilities, including Warren Lee Hill, who 
was executed on Jan. 27. Had Hill been convicted of the same crime in any other 
state, he would not have been eligible for the death penalty.

The PAPE Project is a coalition led by the Georgia Council on Developmental 
Disabilities, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and Georgia 
Catholics Against the Death Penalty. The group will be advocating for a bill 
during the 2016 legislative session that will change the current standard of 
proof to the "preponderance of the evidence" in death penalty cases involving 
people with intellectual disabilities.

This information session is offered to all, but is encouraged for those with a 
direct connection to the project. Because people with intellectual disabilities 
are highly vulnerable in the current state of Georgia's criminal justice 
system, especially with the death penalty, people with disabilities, family 
members and other disability advocates are asked to attend, including those who 
have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system and those who are 
interested in criminal justice reform.

An overview of the topic will be provided, as well as an outline of the 
advocacy work crucial to move this significant piece of legislation forward and 
put Georgia back on the right side of history.

Attendance is free, but registration is requested.

(source: The Georgia Bulletin)






FLORIDA----new execution date

Gov. Rick Scott signs death warrant for serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin


Gov. Rick Scott signed a death warrant Friday for serial killer Oscar Ray 
Bolin, one of the most notorious criminals in Tampa Bay history.

The governor ordered that Bolin be put to death for the 1986 slaying of 
26-year-old Teri Lynn Matthews.

He is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Jan. 7 at Florida State 
Prison, near Starke. But his death warrant will trigger another appeal as well.

It is the 1st death warrant for Bolin, 53, who has been tried 10 times for 3 
murders over the past 2 decades. His convictions were repeatedly overturned on 
appeal.

2 death sentences stuck for the murders of Matthews and 17-year-old Stephanie 
Collins, who vanished in November 1986 from a Carrollwood shopping plaza.

Collins' brother, Michael, said he plans to attend the execution with his 
brother and their mother.

"The family is absolutely ecstatic," he said. "After almost 30 years, we can 
almost put this behind us."

Bolin is also serving a life sentence for the murder of Natalie Holley, a 
25-year-old restaurant manager, whose body was found in a Tampa orange grove in 
January 1986.

Matthews was abducted from a Land O'Lakes post office in the early morning of 
Dec. 5, 1986. Her car was found in the parking lot with the engine running and 
the driver's side door open. Her mail was scattered on the ground.

Her body was found the same day, wrapped in a sheet on the side of a rural 
Pasco County road. She had been raped and bludgeoned to death with a wooden 
club.

The case went unsolved until 1990. That year, Bolin's ex-wife told authorities 
he had committed the murder.

His half-brother, Phillip Bolin, later testified that he was with his brother 
when Matthews was killed. The younger Bolin, who was 13 at the time, recalled 
seeing Matthews' body wrapped in a sheet on the ground outside his house. He 
said he saw his brother beat Matthews with a club before loading her body into 
the back of a truck.

The spot where her body was found was about 500 yards from the home where the 
brothers once lived.

Matthews' mother, Kathleen Reeves, attended every trial. She could not be 
reached for comment Friday. When Bolin was retried for her daughter's murder in 
2001, she spoke about waiting for justice with the mothers of Bolin's two other 
victims.

"We have to stick together because everything seems to be falling away," she 
said.

Michael Collins, 47, choked back tears Friday as he spoke about his sister.

"She was one of those people who should have lived to 120," he said, "not 17."

Bolin, a former carnival worker known as "Needles," is suspected of other 
murders. He and a cousin were once accused of killing a 30-year-old woman in 
Texas. Prosecutors there did not seek an indictment, saying the Florida cases 
were stronger.

The death warrant came a day after the state executed Jerry Correll, an Orlando 
man convicted of killing his daughter, ex-wife, her mother, and sister in 1985.

Correll's was the 1st execution to take place in the state 10 months. It was 
the 22nd execution authorized by Scott, who has presided over more executions 
than any other governor since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)






MISSOURI:

Sister Helen speaks out over Missouri death penalty


Sister Helen Prejean, author of 2 books, stopped at Avila University Friday as 
part of a statewide tour speaking out against the death penalty.

In the midst of the Ernest Lee Johnson case, Prejean says that Missouri is the 
"worst killing state in the country, per capitol; Missouri kills people faster 
more than any other state in the country."

Prejean did not spent time legislators.

Prejean says her mission is to educate the public that the death penalty is not 
a deterrent to crime, and they will push for change.

(source: KMBZ news)






UTAH:

Utah Firing Squad Execution: Judge Denies Death Row Inmate's Appeal


A district judge denied Utah death row inmate Ron Lafferty's appeal Friday in 
which he said that execution by firing squad is cruel and unusual punishment. 
Utah legalized the use of firing squad for death penalty in May as a backup in 
case lethal injections were not available.

Lafferty was handed a death sentence after a 1984 conviction for the murders of 
his sister-in-law Brenda Wright Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, 
in Utah County. The 74-year-old chose to die by firing squad when he was 
sentenced 30 years ago as such an option was provided to the death row inmates 
at the time.

However, his lawyers said that Lafferty was not legally capable of receiving 
such a death penalty. Lafferty had said that firing squad execution would lead 
to persisting, unnecessarily painful death, the Associated Press reported. U.S. 
District Judge Dee Benson wrote in his ruling that the U.S. Supreme Court never 
overturned a state's chosen method of execution as cruel and unusual and that 
Lafferty could appeal the execution method in Utah state court, according to 
AP.

Utah is the only state in the U.S. that allows executions by firing squad if 
lethal injection drugs are not available. The Beehive State's approval for 
firing squad executions met with criticism and the American Civil Liberties 
Unions called the move "brutal" and "barbaric."

The last person be executed by the firing squad method was Ronnie Lee Gardner, 
who was convicted of murder in 1984. The 49-year-old was executed in 2010.

(source: IB Times)






CALIFORNIA:

Hopper wants death penalty reform


Sutter County District Attorney Amanda Hopper is working with partners to 
gather support for legislation to reform the death penalty.

She says without reform, the death penalty would be lost.

"There are certain acts that are so heinous and unconscionable that they 
warrant the severest of punishments. To take away the death penalty as an 
option for sentencing reduces accountability and subverts justice," Hopper said 
Friday.

2 men are currently awaiting execution for victimizing Yuba-Sutter residents.

Eric Houston was sentenced to death in 1993 after he murdered 4 people and 
injured 9 in a violent attack at Lindhurst High School the previous year.

Robert Rhoades tortured and murdered an 8-year-old Bridge Street School boy in 
1996. He was sentenced to the death penalty by a jury in 1999.

Victims of what Hopper called the "worst-of-the-worst" crimes, have been denied 
justice by costly delays, she said.

"California hasn't executed an inmate since 2006. But that doesn't mean we 
can't fight the wrongs in our court system and our government. We can't just 
give up," she said.

(source: Appeal-Democrat)

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

Los Alamitos Double Murder Defendant Will Face Death Penalty at Trial, Judge 
Rules----The ruling means that community theater actor Daniel Patrick Wozniak 
will finally go to trial for the 2010 murders.


An accused double murderer's attempt to have the death penalty dismissed as a 
possible punishment was denied today, clearing the way for his capital case 
trial to begin next month.

Daniel Patrick Wozniak's motions to dismiss the death penalty and delay his 
trial were denied by Orange County Superior Court John Conley. Wozniak's 
attempt at an evidentiary hearing on allegations of outrageous governmental 
conduct was also denied.

It was a turnabout for the Orange County District Attorney's Office, which was 
booted from prosecuting Scott Dekraai, the worst mass killer in the county's 
history, by another judge who found that sheriff's deputies and prosecutors 
were dishonest in months of testimony on allegations of outrageous governmental 
misconduct. That ruling is under appeal.

Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, the attorney for Dekraai and Wozniak, 
was attempting to "bootstrap alleged misconduct in over 40 other cases to 
demonstrate that the death penalty should be dismissed for Mr. Wozniak," Conley 
wrote in his ruling. "However, the appellate courts have been uniform in 
stating that the outrageous government misconduct doctrine cannot be based on 
violations of other persons' rights, i.e., it cannot be asserted vicariously."

Conley cited the appellate court's ruling in the case against defendants 
convicted in the beating death of John Derek Chamberlain in the Orange County 
Jail because fellow inmates mistakenly thought he was a child molester. Even in 
that case, where an investigation found deputies "engaged in abhorrent conduct 
and were derelict in their duties," it did not affect the defendants' rights to 
a fair trial.

Judges frown on dismissing a case because it could lead to the freeing of a 
dangerous person, Conley wrote.

On the one hand, Conley praised Sanders and his team's lengthy legal arguments, 
which amounted in some cases to hundreds of pages with thousands more pages of 
exhibits. He said it showed ":amazing diligence and unprecedented thoroughness 
of preparation."

On the other hand, the legal arguments displayed an "informal style, more 
consistent with a university research paper than a legal brief," Conley wrote.

For example, it sometimes cites informal, non-legal sources for facts, (for 
example), the OC Weekly, Los Angeles Times, websites, a flyer from a law 
school, what comments prosecutors allegedly made to the media as reported by 
the media, testimony in a civil deposition, copies of a civil complaint, 
letters, emails, etc.," Conley wrote. "The briefing frequently engages in 
undisguised speculation."

Conley also brushed aside Sanders' argument that his client's jailers worked 
with producers of the MSNBC show "Lockup" to get Wozniak to participate in an 
embarrassing interview that would make him seem callous to jurors because he 
denies wrongdoing.

Wozniak, "an intelligent adult, signed a written waiver form for the television 
crew that all of his statements to them could later be played on nationwide 
television to potentially millions of viewers," Conley wrote.

Also, in the interview, Wozniak "comes across as a genial, sensitive guy, 
denies the charges and comments on how nice the victims were" before he claims 
he was so upset he tried suicide and "shows the viewer that he has turned to 
the Bible for solace," Conley wrote.

Sanders has tried to argue that prosecutors have withheld exculpatory evidence 
from defense attorneys and used jailhouse informants to solicit damning 
statements that violate their constitutional rights for 3 decades, making it 
impossible for his team to trust prosecutors in the Wozniak case.

The common thread in the Wozniak and Dekraai cases is that informant Fernando 
Perez spoke with both men in custody.

In the Dekraai case, the Perez conversations with Dekraai led prosecutors to 
wire the defendant's cell, which captured Dekraai making callous remarks about 
the murders he committed at a Seal Beach beauty salon.

In Wozniak's case, prosecutors concede Perez spoke with Wozniak, but he was 
acting on his own and the District Attorney's Office has no interest in using 
any of that evidence against him because he allegedly confessed to the killings 
anyway, so establishing his guilt is not expected to be too difficult.

The trial itself is expected to take about 3 weeks. Attorneys will return to 
court on Wednesday to discuss the wording of questionnaires to be sent to a 
large pool of prospective jurors as a weeding-out process.

Next Friday, the attorneys will argue a motion challenging the alleged 
confession on Wozniak's claim that he invoked his right to counsel and police 
kept questioning him anyway. Prosecutors say Wozniak freely volunteered to tell 
them what he did.

Jury selection could begin by mid-November, with opening statements in early 
December.

"I'm very pleased," said Steve Herr, the father of one of the victims. "It 
looks like we're going to get started next month, which is what we were always 
asking for."

Wozniak is accused of shooting Samuel Herr after luring him to the Los Alamitos 
Joint Forces military base in May 2010.

Prosecutors allege he then used the victim's cell phone to trick another 
friend, Juri Kibuishi, into going to Herr's Costa Mesa apartment, where Wozniak 
shot her and then made it look as if Herr killed her during a sexual assault.

Wozniak, who then allegedly returned to the base to dismember Herr's body, is 
accused of committing the crimes to steal from the victims to pay for his 
wedding and honeymoon.

(source: patch.com)

********

Family Of Murder Victims Seek Death Penalty Reforms In California


Advocates for death penalty reform are trying to get sweeping changes made in 
the way California's justice system.

On Friday, a large group of power players - among them people who have lost 
loved ones to murder - made their case to the media.

The group, in turn, wants the voters to make the final call on their reform 
ideas at the ballot box.

KCAL9's Dave Lopez attended the gathering.

Kermit Alexander, onetime NFL player, was among those who spoke. A gang member 
killed his mother and three other relatives.

"He put 3 shots into my mother's head," said Alexander choking back tears. The 
gang member - namely Tiequon Aundray Cox - was sentenced to death in 1865, and 
is still on death row.

"And her last words were 'Please don't hurt my mother and sister,'" said Marc 
Klaas, speaking about his daughter Polly.

Her murderer was sentenced to death 22 years ago.

"That isn't justice for my daughter," Klaas said.

The murder victim's families were surrounded by DA's and law enforcement 
officials who all said the system needs fixing.

The group said they had a budget of $2 million - money already raised to help 
in an awareness campaign.

They said they hoped to gather 350,000 signatures on petitions to get their 
reform measures on the November 2016 ballot.

Among the reforms:

-- An immediate appeal for the convicted.

-- Reduced waiting time. It can take up to5 years to get an attorney.

-- The average time on death row is 17 years. Advocates want to get that down 
to 8-10 years.

-- They also want to eliminate death row and single cells for inmates and put 
convicts among the general prison population.

The reform advocates said today that when they first introduced these reforms 
in 2014, they made a mistake - they lacked funding for an awareness campaign. 
And now they have it.

17 of the current 750 inmates on death row have been there for more than 30 
years, Lopez reported.

(sowurce: cbsla.com)






USA:

Will the Roberts court abolish capital punishment?


The U.S. Supreme Court appears on track to revisit the constitutionality of the 
death penalty, with recent remarks from justices and world leaders sparking 
fresh optimism from opponents of capital punishment.

The high court under Chief Justice John Roberts has in recent terms agreed to 
rule on cases related to how states handle death penalty prosecutions and 
conduct executions, but has yet to weigh in on whether the practice violates 
the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Some court watchers say that will soon change, pointing to signals suggesting 
an appetite among some of the justices to delve into that question in the near 
future, if not this term.

"There is a feeling that this is not a long shot with the court anymore," said 
Cassandra Stubbs, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital 
Punishment Project. "I think there is no question we have 4 votes."

Many in the legal field have pointed to Justice Stephen Breyer's dissenting 
opinion in a case known as Glossip v. Gross as evidence of the court's 
trajectory. The case, decided last year, centered on whether state can use of 
the drug midazolam in lethal injections.

While the majority ruled in the affirmative, some viewed Breyer's dissent - 
which was joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg - as practically inviting 
lawyers defending death row inmates to bring a broad challenge, and providing a 
blueprint for what it might look like.

"Today's administration of the death penalty involves three fundamental 
constitutional defects: serious unreliability, arbitrariness in application, 
and unconscionably long delays that undermine the death penalty's penological 
purpose," Breyer wrote. "Perhaps as a result, most places within the United 
States have abandoned its use."

Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said 
there are a handful of capital punishment cases working their way through the 
courts. But which, if any, the justices will grant this term is anyone's guess.

The court has wide discretion to choose which cases it takes and, though it 
takes just 4 to grant a hearing, the justices weigh many factors in deciding 
which ones to consider.

"Just because the magic words 'the death penalty is unconstitutional' appear 
doesn't mean they represent the issue that the court seems to be interested 
in," Dunham said.

Though it takes 4 votes to take a case, the justices still need at least 5 
votes to stay an execution - a tall order on a court generally considered to 
lean right.

But even conservative Justice Antonin Scalia says it could happen.

During a speech last month at a Tennessee college, Scalia said he "wouldn't be 
surprised" if the court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional, suggesting 
there are at least 4 justices that hold that view, according to a report in The 
Los Angeles Times.

Based on decisions in past Eighth Amendment cases, the ACLU's Stubbs said 
Justice Anthony Kennedy - often the court's swing vote member - is likely to be 
the 5th vote against the death penalty.

The speculation comes amid renewed attention on the divisive issue, sparked 
most recently by Pope Francis' call during September's address to Congress for 
the "global abolition" of the death penalty.

President Obama, who supports the death penalty in certain cases, has himself 
shown signs of shifting his position, particularly after a botched execution in 
Oklahoma last year that prompted him to order a study of issues surrounding 
capital punishment.

The White House said Obama was "influenced" by the pope's remarks in 
Washington. And in a recent interview with The Marshall Project, Obama said he 
finds the practice of the death penalty "deeply troubling." He went on to 
reference racial disparities in its application, how long it takes to carry 
out, inmates who have been found innocent and recent executions that, as he 
said, have been "gruesome and clumsy."

"All of this has led me to express some very significant reservations," Obama 
said.

Proponents of the death penalty, however, push back against the notion that the 
tide has begun to turn against the death penalty.

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, 
pointed to an October Gallup poll showing stable support.

The poll found that 63 % of Americans favor the death penalty for convicted 
murderers, numbers that proved generally consistent with attitudes in 2008.

Stubbs however said polls that ask if Americans prefer the death penalty to 
life in prison without parole reflect a dramatic shift.

"It's not opposition in theory; it's opposition to the death penalty as we've 
applied it in America," Stubbs said. "What we've seen is we can't get it 
right."

Public support or not, Scheidegger said cases challenging the death penalty 
have been coming before the court for over 50 years.

"It's not something that is a new idea," he said. "I would not expect them to 
grant certiorari on a question of whether the death penalty violates the Eight 
Amendment in the foreseeable future."

Even so, Scheidegger said potential vacancies on the Supreme Court coupled with 
a new president could threaten a practice that's legal in 31 states.

"It's been a consistent pattern that justices nominated by Democratic 
presidents are more criminal friendly than those appointed by a Republican 
president," he said. "I would expect that pattern to continue to hold."

For now, the court has only agreed to hear questions on procedural aspects of 
death penalty cases. On Monday, for example, the court will hear arguments in 
Foster v. Chatman, which questions if race was used to discriminate against 
potential jurors in a capital case out of Georgia.

Scheidegger said these types of cases have very little to do with the justice 
of the case, but rather are designed to chip away at capital punishment.

"Polls consistently show the death penalty is just and right in some cases," he 
said. "They are trying to grind it down through a war of attrition."

(source: thehill.com)