[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----UTAH, CALIF., WASH., US MIL.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 31



UTAH:

Utah Bill to Expand Death Penalty Offenses Clears Hurdle



A Utah lawmaker wants to make it a possible death penalty offense to kill a 
security guard or paramedic, but prosecutors are warning that change could 
threaten capital punishment.

The Deseret News reports Democratic Sen. Karen Mayne said Monday her plan would 
help protect emergency first responders who might be targeted. A Senate 
committee approved her proposal 5-1.

The Utah Chiefs of Police Association supports it, saying all first responders 
put themselves in harm's way to protect the public.

But deputy Salt Lake County district attorney William Carlson warns other 
states have seen death penalty thrown out if the list of capital crimes grows 
too long. Utah law already has 60 aggravating factors that can invoke the death 
penalty.

Republican Sen. Todd Weiler cited that concern as he voted against the bill.


(source: Associated Press)








CALIFORNIA:

California's new lethal injection plan already faces hurdles: Drugs barred from 
import or execution use



California has proposed a new method of lethal injection, but the 2 drugs that 
could be used to execute inmates are extremely difficult to obtain.

The new protocol, slightly revised from a previous proposal, would allow 
executioners to use a single infusion of Pentobarbital or Thiopental to put 
condemned inmates to death. Both drugs are barbiturates.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has barred the import of Thiopental, and 
the manufacturer of Pentobarbital has prohibited the drug from being used in 
executions, said Ana Zamora, criminal justice director of the ACLU of Northern 
California.

"The state cannot lawfully procure either of those drugs through a reputable 
channel," she said.

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice 
Legal Foundation, agreed that drug availability remained a potential obstacle.

He said compounding pharmacies could make the drugs if the ingredients could be 
imported from Asia, an issue now before a federal court in Texas.

Scheidegger and his group joined prosecutors in winning passage of Proposition 
66, a 2016 ballot measure intended to speed up executions. He said he expects 
the new protocol to become final within a month or 2.

Other hurdles toward resuming executions still remain, however. Injunctions 
against executions are still pending in both federal and state court.

Those injunctions might be removed by the end of the year, said Scheidegger. 
His group has already moved to end the state injunction.

"None of them have any legal basis but it does take time to get these hurdles 
removed by the courts," he said.

Zamora complained the new protocol was essentially the same one rejected last 
year by a state law office before Proposition 66 became final.

It "contains a lot of the same problems, legal and practical problems, that the 
courts have been pointing to for years and years," she said.

Legal challenges have blocked executions in California for 12 years. More than 
a dozen death row inmates no longer have any appeals left but they could not be 
executed until the federal court case is resolved.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg, an Obama appointee now presiding 
over a Northern California case, will have to determine whether the new 
protocol violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. Supreme Court rulings favor proponents of the death penalty on the law, 
but courts move slowly. Whatever Seeborg decides is likely to be appealed.

(source: Los Angeles Times)








WASHINGTON:

Enforce the death penalty



Our governor and attorney general are going against the will of the people. The 
last time the death penalty was on the state ballot, it passed by a margin of 3 
to 1. How can a few individuals supersede the will of the people? I thought it 
was a government for the people, by the people, not run by a few select 
individuals with their own private agenda.

The death penalty needs to be kept in place. If there are flaws in the system, 
they need to be corrected. There is currently no deterrent for those who commit 
1st-degree murder. They get life in prison without the possibility of parole, 3 
meals a day, medical/dental, library, TV and an exercise yard. That's no 
hardship compared to a family member who is left with multiple children to 
raise alone.

If it is too expensive, review the appeals process and limit the number of 
appeals. If a law enforcement officer is killed, there should be no appeal.

Ask your representatives to vote "no" on SB 6052 - retain the death penalty. If 
all else fails, the death penalty should once again be placed on the ballot and 
let the people decide whether or not the death penalty should be abolished.


Dennis Franklin, Camas

(source: Letter to the Editor, The Columbian)








US MILITARY:

On this day in history: The only death sentence for desertion in WWII is 
carried out

By Luke Ryan 01.31.2018#Military History Email Share Tweet On Jan. 31, 1945, 
Pvt. Eddie Slovik, 24, was led out by an armed detachment in the late morning 
in eastern France. He wore his uniform, though it was stripped of all 
insignias, rank and other designations; a green military blanket was draped 
over his shoulders. The members from the 109th Regiment put a black hood over 
his head, as Slovik said his last words to the attending Chaplain: "Okay, 
Father. I'll pray that you don't follow me too soon." They fired 11 rounds from 
their M1 Garands into him, killing him immediately.

Pvt. Slovik was the 1st and only soldier in WWII to be executed for desertion. 
He was the 1st to receive such a fate since the Civil War, as no Americans were 
executed in WWI for deserting either. There were many prosecuted cases of 
desertion in WWII, but most resulted in imprisonment, and only Slovik's ended 
up in an actual execution. Most of the other executions were due to crimes like 
murder or rape.

Slovik was initially denied a spot in the draft, due to his criminal record - 
however, the growing need in WWII forced the military to lower their standards. 
He was drafted and sent to the 28th Infantry Division, despite his objections. 
As he was headed to the front lines, he and his friend, John Tankey, used the 
confusion of battle to slip away during an artillery barrage. Though they 
eventually returned after 6 weeks, Tankey explained their actions and they 
escaped punishment.

Continuously trying to get himself reassigned, Slovik eventually told his chain 
of command that he was "too frightened to serve in a rifle company" and he 
would run away if he was assigned to one. He was told that this would mean 
desertion, but he insisted that he would run away anyway.

Still, they kept him at his infantry unit, and so he promptly walked several 
miles to the rear and presented a cook with a note that said,

I, Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik, 36896415, confess to the desertion of the United 
States Army. At the time of my desertion we were in Albuff in France. I came to 
Albuff as a replacement. They were shelling the town and we were told to dig in 
for the night. The following morning they were shelling us again. I was so 
scared, nerves and trembling, that at the time the other replacements moved 
out, I couldn't move. I stayed there in my fox hole till it was quiet and I was 
able to move. I then walked into town. Not seeing any of our troops, so I 
stayed over night at a French hospital. The next morning I turned myself over 
to the Canadian Provost Corp. After being with them 6 weeks I was turned over 
to American M.P. They turned me loose. I told my commanding officer my story. I 
said that if I had to go out there again I'd run away. He said there was 
nothing he could do for me so I ran away again AND I'LL RUN AWAY AGAIN IF I 
HAVE TO GO OUT THERE.

-- Signed Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik A.S.N. 36896415"

The cook pushed the letter up the chain of command, who, again, told him this 
meant desertion and asked him to destroy the letter. He did not, and was 
eventually taken into custody. Slovik figured he would face imprisonment like 
many of the other deserters, but he was wrong. During his ensuing 
court-martial, a legal officer allowed him the opportunity to jump back into 
combat and avoid his sentence, to which he again refused. They carried out the 
court-martial and he was sentenced to death, executed on January 31, 1945.

There are only a handful of crimes that carry the death penalty in the United 
States military. These are:

Mutiny or sedition

Misbehavior before the enemy

Subordinate compelling surrender

Improper use of countersign

Forcing a safeguard

Aiding the enemy

Espionage

Improper hazarding of vessel

Murder

Rape

However, that does not necessarily mean that they will always warrant the death 
penalty. These are the charges that can carry the death penalty during a time 
of war:

Desertion

Assaulting or willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer

Lurking as a spy or acting as a spy

Misbehavior of a sentinel or lookout

The most recent U.S. service member to receive the death penalty is Nidal 
Hasan, who was the former Major responsible for the mass shooting on Fort Hood, 
killing 13 and wounding 32 in 2009. He and 4 others await their executions.

More recently, much controversy was stirred regarding the desertion of Sgt. 
Bowe Bergdahl. He was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, downgraded from 
life in prison and further downgraded from 14 years.

(source: sofrep.com)