Part two of former NCADP intern Rachel Lawler's account of the vigil outside Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina on the morning of Samuel Flippen's execution:
Those of us who were to participate in the direct action did a lot of praying over several hours, for clemency, for hope. Shortly after midnight, it was announced that the Governor had denied clemency. I was standing near one of Sammy's young cousins who fell to the ground and sobbed "Why, why?" I wish that there was something I could have done to console him, but I knew that no words would have been able to abate the incredible despair. It was then that we circled, joined hands in prayer, and then proceeded to walk out of the designated area and further down the road for approximately a half mile, before turning around and walking back toward the prison.
Strangely, I felt at peace during this walk. I knew that I was doing the right thing. Petitions, calls, media, blogs, nothing else had worked to stop this execution. Direct action was the only remaining option. I was not going to let the execution happen silently and without expressing my dissent, nor were the others with whom I was walking in solidarity. Silence is consent.
During our walk toward the prison we sang "Salvator mundi, salva nos," which increased in volume as we drew nearer to the prison. We were walking along the opposite side of the street and when we finally arrived directly across and waited for a car to pass, all eyes were on us.
We crossed the street together and did not stop at the crosswalk, at which point public property ends. We continued to walk and were then notified that we were on state property and if we refused to leave, we would be charged with second degree trespassing. Four people, dressed in black, had planned to stay and risk arrest. Three others (I included) laid hands and prayed for them, but had not planned to risk arrest. After the first warning, and what turned out to be the only warning, an officer said "You are now under arrest for trespassing," at which point the three of us backed away (we were expecting additional warnings) and to the other side of the crosswalk.
Joined by several others who had walked with us, but not trespassed, we sang a hymn for them and read the following Lamentations:
"When all prisoners of the land
Are crushed under foot,
When human rights are perverted
In the presence of the Most High,
When one's case is subverted,
--Does the Lord not see it?
Let us test and examine our ways,
And return to the Lord.
Let us lift up our hearts
as well as our hands,
To God in Heaven.
We have transgressed and rebelled,
And you have not forgiven.
My eyes flow with rivers of tears
Because of the destruction of my people.
My eyes will flow without ceasing,
Without respite,
Until the Lord from heaven looks down,
And sees."
I was participating that night, first and foremost, on behalf of myself and my convictions, not necessarily on behalf of any organization (especially ones that have policies about civil disobedience!) We all stood and watched as those who had refused to leave were handcuffed, led away, searched, put into the paddy wagon to be taken downtown where, as we would later find out, they would each be held on a ridiculous $5,000 bail (raised from $3,000 the time prior, $1,000 before that, and a written promise the first time). Two of the participants chose not to post bail and were released later that day.
The action was over. Clemency had been denied. There was nothing left to do except wait, anxiously, in dread to hear that Sammy Flippen had been executed. It was somewhat reassuring to hear earlier that night from one of his family members that he was at peace and was prepared for his fate.
At 2 a.m., when most of the state of North Carolina was fast asleep, we were outside facing Central Prison, knowing at that very moment that the life of a man was being ended unnaturally and at the hands of the state. Some children had long ago fallen asleep on the ground, but were awoken by ubiquitous cries and sobs when the family members got the news – Sammy was dead. A young, female cousin cried out in sorrow and confusion "Why did they have to do this?"
And the truth is, Sammy Flippen's death was unnecessary. His death did not bring Britnie back. It was obvious, however, that it caused an immense amount of additional pain. Opponents of the death penalty who were present could do nothing but stand and allow their physical presence there with the family to be an offering of support. An uncle of Sammy's prayed for the family and afterward, there was nothing left to do. Sammy's mother and father exited Central Prison and some family members were escorted out of the cage area and into the cars that the mother and father were driving. Sammy's mother and father thanked us for all that we did. I only wish we could have done more. Signs were disassembled, barriers were removed, small puddles of wax from vigil candles that had dripped and melted over the course of the evening remained on the sidewalks; tears had evaporated.
I'd say that we all walked away that night a bit worse off than when we arrived. We bore witness, not visually, but to the best extent we could, to the extinguishing of a man's life and future and the devastating effect that it had on his family members. I arrived back at the Nazareth House that night and realized that for several hours, sharp pains (which I attributed to the stress of the evening) in my stomach had gone unnoticed because of all the commotion. I could barely sit at the kitchen table with the others who were eating, solemnly. None of Sammy's family showed up that night. But I don't blame them. I can't even imagine how they felt. In a sense, I was glad that there were so many of them there that night, so that they wouldn't be alone in their sorrow; they had one another to endure with. Although I wish that I'd never again have to be outside of a prison when an execution is taking place, I will continue to do all that I can, for as long as it's necessary. My experience in North Carolina only strengthened my resolve to work for achieving complete abolition of the death penalty. It is definitely exhausting (physically and emotionally), but it is what I must do.
If you would like to see some really dramatic pictures from this vigil, go
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Tyrone Noling, meet Ruben Cantu
Well, actually Tyrone Noling can't meet Ruben Cantu because, as misfortune would have it, Ruben Cantu is dead, and no one has found a cure for that yet.
Hat tip (yet again) to Scott over at Ohio Death Penalty Information for pointing out this Leonard Pitts column, which appeared in the Miami Herald and Hoston Chronicle, among other places. I'm publishing it here in its entirety for no other reason than we first blogged last week on the case of Tyrone Noling and have blogged repeatedly (and sometimes futile, or so it seems) on the case of Ruben Cantu:
Where is justice with innocent on Death Row?
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
So I read in the paper where another man is about to be lied to death.
The first such story I am aware of was published last year in the Houston Chronicle. It concerned a street punk named Ruben Cantu, who was executed in 1993 for shooting two men, killing one. Cantu was sentenced based on the word of a single witness, the shooting survivor. That man now says it wasn't Cantu who shot him and that he was pressured to say otherwise by police. The Chronicle concluded that Cantu almost certainly did not commit the crime for which he was killed.
Ruben Cantu, meet Tyrone Noling. Noling is a resident of Death Row at Ohio State Penitentiary whose story was told last week by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Noling, a petty thief, was convicted of the 1990 murder of an elderly couple. The case against him was based on testimony from three members of his gang who told the court Noling forced his way into the home of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig and shot them to death.
All three now say they were lying, two in exchange for lesser charges and a third in exchange for immunity. They say they were coached and coerced by Ron Craig, an investigator for the prosecutor's office. For instance, Butch Wolcott, the man who received immunity, could not describe the murder scene until Craig took him there. Wolcott told the Plain Dealer the investigator also gave him access to the evidence file.
THE WORD OF THIEVES
Wolcott still had trouble getting his story straight. He claimed Noling used a phone cord yanked from the wall to bind his victims. But the phone cord was found intact and the couple were not tied.
And yet on the word of this man and two others -- one of whom recanted on the witness stand -- Noling was sentenced to death. No murder weapon, no DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing except the word of three thieves. Noling was 18 at the time of the murders.
I am no fan of capital punishment under even the best of circumstances. Its faults are legion, including that it is biased by race, gender, geography and class, is more expensive than lifetime incarceration, has no deterrent value, and once applied cannot be reversed in the event of error. The death penalty is a crude, vestigial remnant of frontier justice and an embarrassment to any sense or pretense of moral authority this nation might claim. The best thing we can do with it is end it.
NO CONSCIENCE, NO FACTS
But, even if I didn't feel that way, I'd still be appalled by the idea that a man can be sent to Death Row based on little more than some guy's word.
Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci feels differently. He told the paper none of this causes him to lose sleep, which is pretty much what you'd expect him to say. Belief in the death penalty requires a facade of certitude. Conscience is an inconvenience. Facts even more so. Don't know what you know. Don't ask, don't tell.
And never mind that while the probably innocent are being nudged toward conviction, the certainly guilty get away with murder. Never mind that justice is perverted, subverted and denied in the name of justice. Most of all, never mind that you can be sent to death without a shred of evidence except the word of liars given every reason to lie.
LOOKING THE OTHER WAY
Tyrone Noling was a punk. Ruben Cantu was, too. And it is easy, from the perch of middle-class respectability, middle-class fear, not to care overmuch that they were treated unfairly. It requires only moral cowardice and a willingness to look the other way. These things we have in abundance.
What we have in lesser supply is the guts to see and say the obvious: The law should not allow the death penalty in cases hinging solely on witness testimony. That has nothing to do with sympathy for devils. It has everything to do with the integrity and credibility of a broken system.
If we don't care about Cantu or Noling, we should at the very least care about that.
Hat tip (yet again) to Scott over at Ohio Death Penalty Information for pointing out this Leonard Pitts column, which appeared in the Miami Herald and Hoston Chronicle, among other places. I'm publishing it here in its entirety for no other reason than we first blogged last week on the case of Tyrone Noling and have blogged repeatedly (and sometimes futile, or so it seems) on the case of Ruben Cantu:
Where is justice with innocent on Death Row?
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
So I read in the paper where another man is about to be lied to death.
The first such story I am aware of was published last year in the Houston Chronicle. It concerned a street punk named Ruben Cantu, who was executed in 1993 for shooting two men, killing one. Cantu was sentenced based on the word of a single witness, the shooting survivor. That man now says it wasn't Cantu who shot him and that he was pressured to say otherwise by police. The Chronicle concluded that Cantu almost certainly did not commit the crime for which he was killed.
Ruben Cantu, meet Tyrone Noling. Noling is a resident of Death Row at Ohio State Penitentiary whose story was told last week by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Noling, a petty thief, was convicted of the 1990 murder of an elderly couple. The case against him was based on testimony from three members of his gang who told the court Noling forced his way into the home of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig and shot them to death.
All three now say they were lying, two in exchange for lesser charges and a third in exchange for immunity. They say they were coached and coerced by Ron Craig, an investigator for the prosecutor's office. For instance, Butch Wolcott, the man who received immunity, could not describe the murder scene until Craig took him there. Wolcott told the Plain Dealer the investigator also gave him access to the evidence file.
THE WORD OF THIEVES
Wolcott still had trouble getting his story straight. He claimed Noling used a phone cord yanked from the wall to bind his victims. But the phone cord was found intact and the couple were not tied.
And yet on the word of this man and two others -- one of whom recanted on the witness stand -- Noling was sentenced to death. No murder weapon, no DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing except the word of three thieves. Noling was 18 at the time of the murders.
I am no fan of capital punishment under even the best of circumstances. Its faults are legion, including that it is biased by race, gender, geography and class, is more expensive than lifetime incarceration, has no deterrent value, and once applied cannot be reversed in the event of error. The death penalty is a crude, vestigial remnant of frontier justice and an embarrassment to any sense or pretense of moral authority this nation might claim. The best thing we can do with it is end it.
NO CONSCIENCE, NO FACTS
But, even if I didn't feel that way, I'd still be appalled by the idea that a man can be sent to Death Row based on little more than some guy's word.
Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci feels differently. He told the paper none of this causes him to lose sleep, which is pretty much what you'd expect him to say. Belief in the death penalty requires a facade of certitude. Conscience is an inconvenience. Facts even more so. Don't know what you know. Don't ask, don't tell.
And never mind that while the probably innocent are being nudged toward conviction, the certainly guilty get away with murder. Never mind that justice is perverted, subverted and denied in the name of justice. Most of all, never mind that you can be sent to death without a shred of evidence except the word of liars given every reason to lie.
LOOKING THE OTHER WAY
Tyrone Noling was a punk. Ruben Cantu was, too. And it is easy, from the perch of middle-class respectability, middle-class fear, not to care overmuch that they were treated unfairly. It requires only moral cowardice and a willingness to look the other way. These things we have in abundance.
What we have in lesser supply is the guts to see and say the obvious: The law should not allow the death penalty in cases hinging solely on witness testimony. That has nothing to do with sympathy for devils. It has everything to do with the integrity and credibility of a broken system.
If we don't care about Cantu or Noling, we should at the very least care about that.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Quote of the day
"The major public housing project in this country is building prison cells."
-- Ralph Nader
(Hat tip Texas Students Against the Death Penalty)
-- Ralph Nader
(Hat tip Texas Students Against the Death Penalty)
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Yet again: Innocent and on death row
Hat tip to Scott over at Ohio Death Penalty Information.
Looks like we've got another innocent person on death row -- this one in Ohio. Guy's name is Tyrone Noling and folks, this one is a death penalty trifecta -- you've got a false confession, you've got prosecutorial misconduct and you've got perjured witnesses.
Scott's got excerpts and a good roundup of the case, in addition to all the links you'll need, right here.
Meanwhile, you can see a web site that has been launched to support Noling (still under construction) by going here.
Looks like we've got another innocent person on death row -- this one in Ohio. Guy's name is Tyrone Noling and folks, this one is a death penalty trifecta -- you've got a false confession, you've got prosecutorial misconduct and you've got perjured witnesses.
Scott's got excerpts and a good roundup of the case, in addition to all the links you'll need, right here.
Meanwhile, you can see a web site that has been launched to support Noling (still under construction) by going here.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The blogging will resume when morale improves
Or something like that. Actually, we've been taking a few days off. We'll be back soon -- I promise!
Meanwhile, please check out the continuing Tuesday's Focus series at our sister blog.
Meanwhile, please check out the continuing Tuesday's Focus series at our sister blog.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Quote of the day
"People are largely unaware of the information critical to a judgement on the morality of the death penalty … if they were better informed they would consider it shocking, unjust and unacceptable."
-- Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
-- Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Today's mailbag
Lots of hate email is coming in to NCADP today in the wake of today's execution in Ohio.
I don't mind it -- it is par for the course and very easy for me to hit the "delete" button (not so easy for the interns, I sometimes fear). What is surprising to me is how the hate mail fluctuates from execution to execution. When blacks are executed, we ALWAYS get more hate mail than when whites are executed -- and the hate mail usually comes with racial epithets attached. (Draw your own conclusions here about whether the death penalty brings out the worst in us.)
Today we had a trifecta. The person being executed was black, mentally ill, and he was allegedly a Satan worshiper. Hate mail? Indeed.
I don't mind it -- it is par for the course and very easy for me to hit the "delete" button (not so easy for the interns, I sometimes fear). What is surprising to me is how the hate mail fluctuates from execution to execution. When blacks are executed, we ALWAYS get more hate mail than when whites are executed -- and the hate mail usually comes with racial epithets attached. (Draw your own conclusions here about whether the death penalty brings out the worst in us.)
Today we had a trifecta. The person being executed was black, mentally ill, and he was allegedly a Satan worshiper. Hate mail? Indeed.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Prosecutor, Recuse Thyself!
The conservative San Antonio Express-News joins the equally conservative Dallas Morning News, which has joined the moderate Houston Chronicle in urging an independent investigation into the conviction and execution of Ruben Cantu.
Regular readers of this blog know that late last year the Houston Chronicle published a two-part series in which it strongly suggested that Cantu was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted, sentenced to death and later executed.
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed promptly announced she would look into the matter, which at the time seemed like a Good Thing. Since that announcement, however, she has dragged her feet, stonewalled at every opportunity and delayed things indefinitely. On top of that, conversations leaking out of her office indicate that it lacks the professionalism and objectivity needed to get things done right.
So. As the state's leading (conservative) newspapers have editorialized, it is time for District Attorney Reed to recuse herself. It is time for an independent investigation. It is time for truth to be known, even though it is too late for justice for Ruben Cantu.
For those of you who are interested in the fact that Texas has now executed not one, not two but three people who in all likelihood were innocent (and Missouri likely has executed a fourth), you can read more about the Cantu case at the bottom of this post -- I've included tons of links from the Express-News web site.
Editorial: Cantu case merits independent probe
San Antonio Express-News
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed made the right move when she opened an investigation into allegations that a San Antonio man may have been wrongfully executed.
However, she now needs to step away from the probe into the Ruben Cantu case and allow an independent investigator to take over.
Cantu was executed in 1993 for the Nov. 8, 1984, robbery and murder of Mexican-born contractor Pedro Gomez.
The case was reopened after three witnesses, including a key eyewitness, claimed firsthand knowledge of Cantu's innocence.
The increasing controversy sparked by the case leaves Reed in a no-win situation.
Those opposed to her handling the case note that she ruled on the Cantu appeal and set his execution date.
Technically, that is correct. She did rule on the appeal, but not in any way that changed the final outcome.
She had no choice but to set his execution date.
As the judge of the 144th District Court, Reed was required to set an execution date for Cantu. Judge Roy Barrera Jr. had tried the case in the 144th District Court. Reed inherited the case when she was elected to that bench.
The law determines the parameters on setting an execution date, leaving the judges who have jurisdiction over death penalty cases with little leeway.
A state district judge earlier this summer ruled he had no power to remove Reed from the investigation, but that does not prevent her from doing so voluntarily.
A final report on the current investigation is not expected until late fall. Regardless of the outcome, some people will be unhappy.
Reed's hard-nosed law enforcement attitude and determination not to walk away from a tough situation could hurt her politically in the long term.
That is not reason enough to voluntary relinquish the case, but new questions about her investigators are.
Recorded conversations between investigators from Reed's office and a former police officer involved in the case have raised questions about bias within her office. Her investigators belittled the claim that Cantu was wrongfully executed, the Express-News and Houston Chronicle reported in stories detailing the recordings.
Reed can erase questions about the objectivity of the probe by removing her office from the proceedings and asking an independent law enforcement agency to do it.
It's the right thing to do. The public must be confident that the investigation is conducted without preconceived notions about the result.
More links:
Recent coverage
Death and Doubt: Read the Houston Chronicle series on the conviction and execution of Ruben Cantu
07/25/2006: Tapes spur calls for DA to relinquish Cantu case
07/22/2006: Tapes hint minds are made up on Cantu
07/09/06: Cops' past further clouds questionable execution
06/10/06: DA stays in charge of execution probe
05/12/06: Civil rights group bares execution probe role
03/19/06: Politics swirls in death probe
12/13/05: Advocates say Texas needs innocence panel
12/01/05: DA considers charge as execution probed
Former DA Millsap now rejects capital punishment
Editorial: Clemency granted as doubts increase
Editorial: Execution in 1993 raises serious issues
Regular readers of this blog know that late last year the Houston Chronicle published a two-part series in which it strongly suggested that Cantu was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted, sentenced to death and later executed.
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed promptly announced she would look into the matter, which at the time seemed like a Good Thing. Since that announcement, however, she has dragged her feet, stonewalled at every opportunity and delayed things indefinitely. On top of that, conversations leaking out of her office indicate that it lacks the professionalism and objectivity needed to get things done right.
So. As the state's leading (conservative) newspapers have editorialized, it is time for District Attorney Reed to recuse herself. It is time for an independent investigation. It is time for truth to be known, even though it is too late for justice for Ruben Cantu.
For those of you who are interested in the fact that Texas has now executed not one, not two but three people who in all likelihood were innocent (and Missouri likely has executed a fourth), you can read more about the Cantu case at the bottom of this post -- I've included tons of links from the Express-News web site.
Editorial: Cantu case merits independent probe
San Antonio Express-News
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed made the right move when she opened an investigation into allegations that a San Antonio man may have been wrongfully executed.
However, she now needs to step away from the probe into the Ruben Cantu case and allow an independent investigator to take over.
Cantu was executed in 1993 for the Nov. 8, 1984, robbery and murder of Mexican-born contractor Pedro Gomez.
The case was reopened after three witnesses, including a key eyewitness, claimed firsthand knowledge of Cantu's innocence.
The increasing controversy sparked by the case leaves Reed in a no-win situation.
Those opposed to her handling the case note that she ruled on the Cantu appeal and set his execution date.
Technically, that is correct. She did rule on the appeal, but not in any way that changed the final outcome.
She had no choice but to set his execution date.
As the judge of the 144th District Court, Reed was required to set an execution date for Cantu. Judge Roy Barrera Jr. had tried the case in the 144th District Court. Reed inherited the case when she was elected to that bench.
The law determines the parameters on setting an execution date, leaving the judges who have jurisdiction over death penalty cases with little leeway.
A state district judge earlier this summer ruled he had no power to remove Reed from the investigation, but that does not prevent her from doing so voluntarily.
A final report on the current investigation is not expected until late fall. Regardless of the outcome, some people will be unhappy.
Reed's hard-nosed law enforcement attitude and determination not to walk away from a tough situation could hurt her politically in the long term.
That is not reason enough to voluntary relinquish the case, but new questions about her investigators are.
Recorded conversations between investigators from Reed's office and a former police officer involved in the case have raised questions about bias within her office. Her investigators belittled the claim that Cantu was wrongfully executed, the Express-News and Houston Chronicle reported in stories detailing the recordings.
Reed can erase questions about the objectivity of the probe by removing her office from the proceedings and asking an independent law enforcement agency to do it.
It's the right thing to do. The public must be confident that the investigation is conducted without preconceived notions about the result.
More links:
Recent coverage
Death and Doubt: Read the Houston Chronicle series on the conviction and execution of Ruben Cantu
07/25/2006: Tapes spur calls for DA to relinquish Cantu case
07/22/2006: Tapes hint minds are made up on Cantu
07/09/06: Cops' past further clouds questionable execution
06/10/06: DA stays in charge of execution probe
05/12/06: Civil rights group bares execution probe role
03/19/06: Politics swirls in death probe
12/13/05: Advocates say Texas needs innocence panel
12/01/05: DA considers charge as execution probed
Former DA Millsap now rejects capital punishment
Editorial: Clemency granted as doubts increase
Editorial: Execution in 1993 raises serious issues
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Tuesday's Focus: Christina Lawson
Just a reminder that our sister blog, The Journey of Hope, has a continuing series called Tuesday's Focus. It looks at different people affected by the death penalty -- murder victims' family members, exonerated inmates, and people who have lost loved ones to execution.
Check out the latest installement in the series -- a look at Christina Lawson's journey.
Check out the latest installement in the series -- a look at Christina Lawson's journey.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
'Nobody is going to hire me. It's poisoned my career'
Irony alert here. This is a follow-up to yesterday's blog on the doctor in Missouri who has overseen more than 50 executions. Seems that now the doctor has been outed, he is afraid he will not be able to find work. "It's poisoned my career," he said of the reports that he is the one who has overseen lethal injection executions. Here is the latest Associated Press story of this continuing saga:
Execution Doctor Defends Record
A surgeon at the center of Missouri's debate over lethal injection defended his medical record Monday and said he doubted the state can meet a judge's order that an anesthesiologist help with executions.
In his 1st public interview, Dr. Alan Doerhoff of Jefferson City told The Associated Press he has assisted in dozens of executions, saying he felt obligated to help since he'd received his education from the state.
"If the state needs my assistance, I'm more than willing to help," said Doerhoff, a self-described "country" surgeon who graduated from the University of Missouri medical school in 1969.
Doerhoff's role in Missouri executions emerged in June when he testified anonymously, and behind a screen, in a death penalty case challenging the state's lethal injection procedures. That month, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. stopped executions, and ruled that the state needed a board-certified anesthesiologist to ensure the procedure used posed no risk of unnecessary pain and suffering.
The judge expressed concerns that Doerhoff, who was not identified in court papers, was dyslexic. The judge also said he worked under no written protocol in mixing the lethal drugs and overseeing the executions, despite his lack of training in anesthesiology.
Doerhoff, 62, now denies he is dyslexic, saying only that he sometimes transposes long numbers. On Sunday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch identified Doerhoff, saying he'd been sued for malpractice more than 20 times and was publicly reprimanded by the Missouri Board of Healing Arts in 2003 for failing to disclose malpractice suits to a Jefferson City hospital where he had staff privileges. Doerhoff told the AP: "We're in a malpractice crisis where doctors are sued lots of times. If you're working, you're going to get sued."
He said the omission of paperwork on his malpractice suits was an office manager's error and not an attempt to falsify his record. He said the reprimand did not affect his license and ability to practice medicine. Healing Arts Executive Director Tina Steinman declined to address the specifics of the case Monday, but said that any time a license is disciplined, it is considered serious.
Doerhoff also doubts Missouri will find another doctor, much less a board-certified anesthesiologist, to assist in future executions. The risk of being identified is too great, he said, adding: "They won't want to be on the front pages of the newspaper."
Doerhoff said he performed prison surgeries from 1974 to 1999, has made medical trips to Latin America to help in poor communities, and currently is medical director for a skin care clinic. He said he's ready to return to work in small hospitals. But he said with recent news coverage "nobody is going to hire me. It's poisoned my career."
(source: Associated Press)
Execution Doctor Defends Record
A surgeon at the center of Missouri's debate over lethal injection defended his medical record Monday and said he doubted the state can meet a judge's order that an anesthesiologist help with executions.
In his 1st public interview, Dr. Alan Doerhoff of Jefferson City told The Associated Press he has assisted in dozens of executions, saying he felt obligated to help since he'd received his education from the state.
"If the state needs my assistance, I'm more than willing to help," said Doerhoff, a self-described "country" surgeon who graduated from the University of Missouri medical school in 1969.
Doerhoff's role in Missouri executions emerged in June when he testified anonymously, and behind a screen, in a death penalty case challenging the state's lethal injection procedures. That month, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. stopped executions, and ruled that the state needed a board-certified anesthesiologist to ensure the procedure used posed no risk of unnecessary pain and suffering.
The judge expressed concerns that Doerhoff, who was not identified in court papers, was dyslexic. The judge also said he worked under no written protocol in mixing the lethal drugs and overseeing the executions, despite his lack of training in anesthesiology.
Doerhoff, 62, now denies he is dyslexic, saying only that he sometimes transposes long numbers. On Sunday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch identified Doerhoff, saying he'd been sued for malpractice more than 20 times and was publicly reprimanded by the Missouri Board of Healing Arts in 2003 for failing to disclose malpractice suits to a Jefferson City hospital where he had staff privileges. Doerhoff told the AP: "We're in a malpractice crisis where doctors are sued lots of times. If you're working, you're going to get sued."
He said the omission of paperwork on his malpractice suits was an office manager's error and not an attempt to falsify his record. He said the reprimand did not affect his license and ability to practice medicine. Healing Arts Executive Director Tina Steinman declined to address the specifics of the case Monday, but said that any time a license is disciplined, it is considered serious.
Doerhoff also doubts Missouri will find another doctor, much less a board-certified anesthesiologist, to assist in future executions. The risk of being identified is too great, he said, adding: "They won't want to be on the front pages of the newspaper."
Doerhoff said he performed prison surgeries from 1974 to 1999, has made medical trips to Latin America to help in poor communities, and currently is medical director for a skin care clinic. He said he's ready to return to work in small hospitals. But he said with recent news coverage "nobody is going to hire me. It's poisoned my career."
(source: Associated Press)
Monday, July 31, 2006
'Read my lips: I don't do them'
On Sunday the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a front-page, above-the-fold expose in which the newspaper revealed that a doctor who has overseen more than 50 executions in Missouri had numerous legal and ethical problems, including being sued for malpractice more than 20 times, being disciplined by a state medical board, having his treatment privileges suspended at several local hospitals and failing to report his lawsuits and ethics violations when required.
The doctor oversaw executions in that he would set up the IV lines, prepare the chemicals, etc. He did everything except press the buttons that caused the chemicals to flow into the inmates.
When asked about his role in executions, he replied, "Read my lips: I don't do them."
Reuters picked up the story yesterday; it ran on page A-2 of today's Washington Post. I am appending their shortened version below. You can see the full St. Louis Post-Dispatch story by going here.
Mo. Execution Doctor Had History of Errors
Reuters
Monday, July 31, 2006; A02
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 30 -- A doctor who oversaw dozens of Missouri executions until his questionable practices led a judge to suspend executions in the state has been sued for malpractice more than 20 times and has a history of making medical mistakes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.
Alan R. Doerhoff, 62, also has been banned from at least two Missouri hospitals and was publicly reprimanded by the state's Board of Healing Arts in 2003 because he was trying to conceal malpractice claims from hospitals where he was working, the newspaper reported.
The state attorney general's office was aware of the reprimand, but the state Department of Corrections continued to employ Doerhoff to handle lethal injections, the Post-Dispatch said.
Doerhoff, who had already supervised 48 executions, supervised six more after the reprimand, the newspaper reported. The inmate who would have been the seventh -- Michael A. Taylor, who raped and murdered a teenager in Kansas City in 1989 -- appealed earlier this year.
The state tried to keep Doerhoff's identity a secret in the appeal by Taylor, who said the heart-stopping drug given in lethal injections can cause excruciating pain if the inmate is not first given proper levels of anesthesia.
Lawyers reviewing execution logs found that the anesthesia Doerhoff had prepared for Taylor's execution before it was stayed in February was only half the amount it should have been, and records of previous executions indicated similar improperly prepared doses.
The doctor then admitted that he was dyslexic and sometimes transposed numbers.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan suspended executions until the state hires a board-certified anesthesiologist to ensure that the drugs in lethal injections are properly prepared.
The Post-Dispatch said that when a reporter approached Doerhoff at his home Thursday and asked about his role in executions, he replied, "Read my lips: I don't do them."
Then, the newspaper reported, Doerhoff shut the door.
The doctor oversaw executions in that he would set up the IV lines, prepare the chemicals, etc. He did everything except press the buttons that caused the chemicals to flow into the inmates.
When asked about his role in executions, he replied, "Read my lips: I don't do them."
Reuters picked up the story yesterday; it ran on page A-2 of today's Washington Post. I am appending their shortened version below. You can see the full St. Louis Post-Dispatch story by going here.
Mo. Execution Doctor Had History of Errors
Reuters
Monday, July 31, 2006; A02
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 30 -- A doctor who oversaw dozens of Missouri executions until his questionable practices led a judge to suspend executions in the state has been sued for malpractice more than 20 times and has a history of making medical mistakes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.
Alan R. Doerhoff, 62, also has been banned from at least two Missouri hospitals and was publicly reprimanded by the state's Board of Healing Arts in 2003 because he was trying to conceal malpractice claims from hospitals where he was working, the newspaper reported.
The state attorney general's office was aware of the reprimand, but the state Department of Corrections continued to employ Doerhoff to handle lethal injections, the Post-Dispatch said.
Doerhoff, who had already supervised 48 executions, supervised six more after the reprimand, the newspaper reported. The inmate who would have been the seventh -- Michael A. Taylor, who raped and murdered a teenager in Kansas City in 1989 -- appealed earlier this year.
The state tried to keep Doerhoff's identity a secret in the appeal by Taylor, who said the heart-stopping drug given in lethal injections can cause excruciating pain if the inmate is not first given proper levels of anesthesia.
Lawyers reviewing execution logs found that the anesthesia Doerhoff had prepared for Taylor's execution before it was stayed in February was only half the amount it should have been, and records of previous executions indicated similar improperly prepared doses.
The doctor then admitted that he was dyslexic and sometimes transposed numbers.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan suspended executions until the state hires a board-certified anesthesiologist to ensure that the drugs in lethal injections are properly prepared.
The Post-Dispatch said that when a reporter approached Doerhoff at his home Thursday and asked about his role in executions, he replied, "Read my lips: I don't do them."
Then, the newspaper reported, Doerhoff shut the door.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Doug Berman's Questions
Saw this over at Steve Hall's Stand Down Texas blog and decided to, er, appropriate it:
Doug Berman's Questions
Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy has a post on lethal injection challenges and renews his notion that the attention given to capital litigation distracts from the issues affecting tens or hundreds of thousands of people in the criminal justice system. In this post he specifically references the recent NPR series on conditions at supermax prisons and the emotional costs of such confinement. LINK
These discussions, along with the just noted NPR series on solitary confinement, gets me revved up again about the harmful and distracting obsession everyone has with the death penalty. There is now nationwide constitutional litigation disrupting the imposition of lawful capital punishments because there is a chance that a few murders might suffer pain right before being executed. Meanwhile, more than 25,000 prisoners are subject to the extreme mental and physical suffering that is known to accompany confinement in Supermax or control-unit prisons. And yet, there is little or no litigation or even attention paid to this issue.
Why don't persons who claim to be so concerned about human dignity focus more on the tens of thousands of humans suffering every day from extreme prison confinement rather than on the few humans who might suffer pain on the way to being executed?
Doug Berman's Questions
Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy has a post on lethal injection challenges and renews his notion that the attention given to capital litigation distracts from the issues affecting tens or hundreds of thousands of people in the criminal justice system. In this post he specifically references the recent NPR series on conditions at supermax prisons and the emotional costs of such confinement. LINK
These discussions, along with the just noted NPR series on solitary confinement, gets me revved up again about the harmful and distracting obsession everyone has with the death penalty. There is now nationwide constitutional litigation disrupting the imposition of lawful capital punishments because there is a chance that a few murders might suffer pain right before being executed. Meanwhile, more than 25,000 prisoners are subject to the extreme mental and physical suffering that is known to accompany confinement in Supermax or control-unit prisons. And yet, there is little or no litigation or even attention paid to this issue.
Why don't persons who claim to be so concerned about human dignity focus more on the tens of thousands of humans suffering every day from extreme prison confinement rather than on the few humans who might suffer pain on the way to being executed?
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Meet Sammy Flippen
Sammy Flippen is scheduled to be executed by the state of North Carolina on Aug. 18. This should never have been a death penalty case. A group of Sammy's friends has launched a blog to publicize his case. Here's the intro:
Hello, my name is Jill Wilkes and welcome to my site about Samuel Flippen. Sammy is a close and dear friend of mine. I have known Sammy since we were kids because we went to the same high school and church for many years together. I can remember us sitting and talking together on church youth outings and I remember what a joyful, funny person he was in high school. Everybody loved Sammy!
Yes, that was a long time ago, but Sammy is still that same person. I know because I have been visiting him in prison for the last 10 years. I am hosting this blog because I want to share with people what an amazing person it takes to not let 12 years of prison change him into a cold and bitter person. He is still a peaceful, funny, NORMAL guy. He IS NOT a danger to society and he DOES NOT have a violent personality which he has demonstrated by years of good behavior in prison. SAMMY DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE PUT TO DEATH!!!
Hello, my name is Jill Wilkes and welcome to my site about Samuel Flippen. Sammy is a close and dear friend of mine. I have known Sammy since we were kids because we went to the same high school and church for many years together. I can remember us sitting and talking together on church youth outings and I remember what a joyful, funny person he was in high school. Everybody loved Sammy!
Yes, that was a long time ago, but Sammy is still that same person. I know because I have been visiting him in prison for the last 10 years. I am hosting this blog because I want to share with people what an amazing person it takes to not let 12 years of prison change him into a cold and bitter person. He is still a peaceful, funny, NORMAL guy. He IS NOT a danger to society and he DOES NOT have a violent personality which he has demonstrated by years of good behavior in prison. SAMMY DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE PUT TO DEATH!!!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Please visit our sister blog
Please check out the Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing blog. They are blogging on a series called "Tuesday's Focus," which details the stories of people who have lost loved ones to murder and nonetheless oppose the death penalty, as well as people who have lost loved ones to execution, and innocent people who have been sentenced to death.
Monday, July 24, 2006
From the lighter side
Scott from Ohio Death Penalty Information sent this my way:
The scary thing, of course, is that those persons responsible for euthanizing dogs and cats have more experience than those persons responsible for administering lethal injections to human beings.
Dog survives lethal injection, is nearly burned alive
The Associated Press
Salt Lake Tribune
OGDEN - A dog thought to be dead from a lethal injection started to wake up after being put into the crematorium at the Ogden Animal Shelter. Shelter officials immediately removed it from the oven and administered another injection to euthanize the animal, Animal Services Manager Bob Geier said.
Geier said the dog had received a euthanasia shot, and, in keeping with
standard procedure, staff members checked its reflexes before putting it into the crematorium last week. The dog had appeared dead.
Animals react differently to the euthanasia and sedation drugs, Geier said.
''I feel we did our due diligence,'' he said. Every shelter employee who euthanizes animals goes through an extensive training program, he said.
Geier said the animal was euthanized because it had a history of biting
people and had failed a temperament test. John Paul Fox, chief
investigator for the Humane Society of Utah, said some animals, especially ones that are very old or young, or have survived major injuries, can survive standard doses.
He said it is not common for animals to survive euthanasia, but it does
happen from time to time. Some animals can stop showing signs
of life for some time before coming back from deep unconsciousness.
Fox said animal handlers need to check a variety of life signs
to be sure the animal is dead, which is why there is so much training involved in the practice.
Fox said employees at the shelter plan to invite a doctor to conduct more training on euthanasia procedures.
The scary thing, of course, is that those persons responsible for euthanizing dogs and cats have more experience than those persons responsible for administering lethal injections to human beings.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Strange machinery of death
By way of Ohio Death Penalty Information Center, we learn of this editorial which appeared in the Denver Post:
Strange machinery of death
It's one thing for life to imitate art. But now the debate over the death penalty in America is starting to look like a parody of comedian Steven Wright's macabre question about whether they sterilize the needles used to execute criminals by lethal injection.
The state of Missouri last week told a federal judge that it cannot meet his demand to hire a board-certified anesthesiologist to assist in executing prisoners by lethal injection because it cannot find one willing to do so. It seems the doctors take seriously the line in the Hippocratic Oath, which commands: "First, do no harm."
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. last month halted executions in Missouri until the state made sweeping changes in how it executes death-row inmates to ensure the there was no risk of unnecessary pain and suffering.
Last week, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon told the judge the state could not meet the weekend deadline for such changes. Nixon said letters were sent to 298 anesthesiologists in Missouri and southern Illinois requesting their services at executions, but none volunteered. Missouri has executed 66 prisoners by lethal injection since 1989.
Failing to find a willing anesthesiologist, Missouri officials plan to substitute other medical personnel to administer the three-drug execution procedure. "To enforce \[the judge's demand\] may effectively bar implementation of the death penalty in Missouri," Nixon wrote. "Surely that is not what the court intended."
We're not so sure about that. Judges from the U.S. Supreme Court on down display a deep ambivalence about legal executions. The high court recently issued a bizarre ruling upholding a Kansas law requiring the death penalty when jurors find mitigating and aggravating factors in a case to be exactly balanced - a situation the law calls "equipoise."
That ruling was in stark contradiction to a 1991 finding by the Colorado Supreme Court that held aggravating factors must outweigh mitigating factors to justify execution. The federal ruling won't change Colorado law. But it underscores again the apparently irresolvable contradictions surrounding the death penalty.
It is a maxim in the U.S. justice system that the burden of proof never rests on the defense. But now the U.S. Supreme Court has seemingly sanctioned a situation where a jury can tell a defendant, "Sir, we can't make up our mind about what to do with you, so we guess you have to die."
If, that is, the court can find a qualified professional willing to insert the needle.
Strange machinery of death
It's one thing for life to imitate art. But now the debate over the death penalty in America is starting to look like a parody of comedian Steven Wright's macabre question about whether they sterilize the needles used to execute criminals by lethal injection.
The state of Missouri last week told a federal judge that it cannot meet his demand to hire a board-certified anesthesiologist to assist in executing prisoners by lethal injection because it cannot find one willing to do so. It seems the doctors take seriously the line in the Hippocratic Oath, which commands: "First, do no harm."
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. last month halted executions in Missouri until the state made sweeping changes in how it executes death-row inmates to ensure the there was no risk of unnecessary pain and suffering.
Last week, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon told the judge the state could not meet the weekend deadline for such changes. Nixon said letters were sent to 298 anesthesiologists in Missouri and southern Illinois requesting their services at executions, but none volunteered. Missouri has executed 66 prisoners by lethal injection since 1989.
Failing to find a willing anesthesiologist, Missouri officials plan to substitute other medical personnel to administer the three-drug execution procedure. "To enforce \[the judge's demand\] may effectively bar implementation of the death penalty in Missouri," Nixon wrote. "Surely that is not what the court intended."
We're not so sure about that. Judges from the U.S. Supreme Court on down display a deep ambivalence about legal executions. The high court recently issued a bizarre ruling upholding a Kansas law requiring the death penalty when jurors find mitigating and aggravating factors in a case to be exactly balanced - a situation the law calls "equipoise."
That ruling was in stark contradiction to a 1991 finding by the Colorado Supreme Court that held aggravating factors must outweigh mitigating factors to justify execution. The federal ruling won't change Colorado law. But it underscores again the apparently irresolvable contradictions surrounding the death penalty.
It is a maxim in the U.S. justice system that the burden of proof never rests on the defense. But now the U.S. Supreme Court has seemingly sanctioned a situation where a jury can tell a defendant, "Sir, we can't make up our mind about what to do with you, so we guess you have to die."
If, that is, the court can find a qualified professional willing to insert the needle.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Forgiveness is hard, but it can be done
Hat tip to Kansas Death Penalty Focus for finding this interesting piece:
Mother whose son was murdered says death penalty isn’t answer
Murder leaves a multitude of emotions and pain is the worst. A pain so deep, high and wide, no words are big enough to describe it. You can’t get around or through it.
And then there is an anger, anger at everything, wanting revenge, the knowledge everything is beyond your control and a feeling of total helplessness.
How do I know this — my son was murdered in 1982. I wanted to hurt the person who murdered my son like he had hurt me, I wanted to poke his eyes out, among other things, but I never wanted him dead. I wanted him to wake up every day knowing he was in prison because of decisions he had made.
I resented my taxes paying for his room and board. Strange as it seems, I learned it is cheaper to keep someone in prison for life than it is to put them to death. The cost of the legal procedures including the last-minute appeals to prevent capital punishment far exceed paying for their room and board.
However, there is a cost greater than money for family members and friends of the victim. And that is waiting for the legal procedures to be finished.
It is hard to work at healing as long as there are court dates to cope with. Each date is like pouring salt in a wound. Once more you are forced to listen to all the legal words.
Once more things you might have started to resolve are torn apart. I have heard victims express disappointment after the offender was put to death. They expected to feel better, but they didn’t.
I am grateful there was not a death penalty when my son was killed. I didn’t have to deal with going court appearances. I could put the offender out of my mind, start to work at healing and go on with my life without more legal interruptions.
It’s very hard to do, but it can be done.
— Wilma Loganbill,
Hesston
Mother whose son was murdered says death penalty isn’t answer
Murder leaves a multitude of emotions and pain is the worst. A pain so deep, high and wide, no words are big enough to describe it. You can’t get around or through it.
And then there is an anger, anger at everything, wanting revenge, the knowledge everything is beyond your control and a feeling of total helplessness.
How do I know this — my son was murdered in 1982. I wanted to hurt the person who murdered my son like he had hurt me, I wanted to poke his eyes out, among other things, but I never wanted him dead. I wanted him to wake up every day knowing he was in prison because of decisions he had made.
I resented my taxes paying for his room and board. Strange as it seems, I learned it is cheaper to keep someone in prison for life than it is to put them to death. The cost of the legal procedures including the last-minute appeals to prevent capital punishment far exceed paying for their room and board.
However, there is a cost greater than money for family members and friends of the victim. And that is waiting for the legal procedures to be finished.
It is hard to work at healing as long as there are court dates to cope with. Each date is like pouring salt in a wound. Once more you are forced to listen to all the legal words.
Once more things you might have started to resolve are torn apart. I have heard victims express disappointment after the offender was put to death. They expected to feel better, but they didn’t.
I am grateful there was not a death penalty when my son was killed. I didn’t have to deal with going court appearances. I could put the offender out of my mind, start to work at healing and go on with my life without more legal interruptions.
It’s very hard to do, but it can be done.
— Wilma Loganbill,
Hesston
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Interview with a nurse
Recently the PBS program "Now" broadcast a quite comprehensive report on the debate over whether medical practitioners should participate in executions. The whole thing can be found here.
One section I found interesting, and at times chilling, was this interview with a nurse. She prepares people for execution in Georgia by inserting the IV:
"Nurse Karen"
Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa spoke with "Karen," a nurse, about her participation in 14 executions at a prison in Jackson, Georgia. Karen, who did not want her identity disclosed for fear of retribution, has worked as a nurse for 26 years.
HINOJOSA: What is it like in an execution chamber?
KAREN: It almost feels like an operating room because it kind of has a chill in the air. It's just a simple gurney in there, and there's a Plexiglas window where witnesses are on the other side of the window and benches that look like church pews. That's where the witnesses sit and can
actually look through the window and see the inmate on a gurney.
HINOJOSA: What exactly is your role in the execution?
KAREN: Once the inmate is actually brought in and strapped on a gurney then we go in and, just like you would do with any patient in the hospital, you treat them just like a patient. We've always addressed them and talked to them and told them exactly what we're going to do. You put the tourniquet on. You use your alcohol to help cleanse the area and insert the IV catheter
into the site ... tape it down and then hook up just regular IV fluids into the site. Then we leave them hooked up to regular IV fluids and then leave the area.
HINOJOSA: And in that moment when you're finding the vein, what are you
thinking?
KAREN: At that time, I'm just looking at it as an IV that needs to be started. We normally carry on a conversion with the inmate. And they have always been very nice. A lot of times some of them would even make a comment 'that didn't hurt like I thought it was going to.' So they're just like regular patients laying there. Even if you're putting somebody to death, you want it to go as quickly and as painlessly as possible because you're trying to show respect for that person still.
HINOJOSA: And where do you go at that point?
Even if you're putting somebody to death, you want it to go as quickly and as painlessly as possible...
KAREN: Just back behind the curtain. After, they get everything else set up, read the death order and bring in any witnesses. Then they start the injections ... and everybody from you prison officials, your state officials that are around, your officers that are there, everybody is very quiet throughout everything ... Death comes so quickly. You're talking about from the start of the injection until the end, six, eight minutes at most ... And then you just kind of leave and it's over ... You don't do a lot of thinking about it.
HINOJOSA: What are the conversations like among the medical personnel who are in the room before the injection and after?
KAREN: During the time when we're waiting we're actually talking about anything and everything else. You're not focusing on what's going to happen. You know, we may talk about what we just had for supper. Or you talk about what was going on at the job you just left, talk about your family. You just have normal conversations.
HINOJOSA: What about nurses or doctors who say the Hippocratic Oath says that medical professionals should never do any harm to any patient. And by participating in an execution of somebody who, perhaps, doesn't want to be killed, then you're doing harm to that person. You're not caring for the patient.
KAREN: I look at them at an execution as [going through] a terminal illness. At the time that they were sentenced, they were diagnosed with a terminal illness. When they go through all of their appeals and everything, that's just like going on any kind of chemotherapy, radiation, whatever. And if all their appeals fail, then basically it's their terminal illness coming to an
end. And therefore, I think it's with any patient, they need to have the dignity up until the very end. And I think that dignity is by having actual trained people to help them.
HINOJOSA: So would you have an issue if you didn't just have to insert the IV but if you had to push the button to get the poisons into their system? Would that be a problem for you?
KAREN: I would not want to actually do the injections.
HINOJOSA: Why?
KAREN: I guess it's very strange because I don't know what the real big difference is ... I don't mind actually inserting the lines because that is something that I have been trained to do. But as far as administering an overdose, I just wouldn't want to do that.
HINOJOSA: So for you, there are some ethical issues?
...as far as administering an overdose, I just wouldn't want to do that.
KAREN: Yes.
HINOJOSA: And how, when you're thinking about this, when you're alone and you're contemplating this, how do you figure it out in your mind.
KAREN: I believe in the death penalty and I do believe that by the time it comes time for somebody to actually have the injection, you know, they have been through all their appeals. But I think that that's something that should actually be done by someone in the prison system.
HINOJOSA: Because giving someone an overdose for you, as a nurse, means what?
KAREN: That's just not something you're supposed to knowingly do.
HINOJOSA: When people say to you, you know what, Karen, as a nurse, you have simply become an agent of the state. And the state is using your skills for the purpose of the state which is to kill someone. You say?
KAREN: Basically, I don't feel that way. And I'm a nurse in so many other ways. And even though, maybe, a couple of times a year I do work for the state and help them to carry out executions I don't feel that makes me any less a nurse or any less a person. I mean, somebody's got to do it. And I just believe that it's something that I'm almost called to do because I do
have the skills.
HINOJOSA: I know it's a difficult question, but do you consider yourself an executioner?
KAREN: No, I don't. I don't know that I consider anybody an executioner. Even the people that I know who push the drugs I don't consider them an executioner either. I look at it as the state is the executioner. We're just carrying out procedures.
HINOJOSA: Tell me about the one execution that was, in fact, difficult for you.
KAREN: There was one particular inmate who actually, after his crime, had been converted to Christianity and was very vocal about it. But, at the time of his execution, when he gave his last words, all of his last words were of compliments to the prison, to the officers who had been with him through the years and had treated him as a person. He went on to say that even though he
had been saved and he knew he was going to heaven that he did know that God expected him to take his punishment for the crime that he had done ... and that man's punishment for the murders that he committed was for him to be put to death. So he was willingly taking it. There were tears in everybody's eyes, even all the officers. You know, these big guys that you thought probably never would even think about crying and especially about an inmate. There wasn't a dry eye ... you felt good about it because he was so willing to accept his punishment ... it was just one that you'll always remember.
HINOJOSA: Have you been harassed because you've taken part in executions?
KAREN: My personal harassment has been minimal compared to other people that I actually worked with in the executions ... Some of the doctors actually had notes put on their cars, calls made to their office all different kind of calls calling them murderers. Most of it just went as far as phone calls and notes but you still don't know if people will go to that extent, what all else they will do.
HINOJOSA: We spoke to five of your former colleagues, doctors who took part in executions. None of them were willing to speak to us even if we gave them anonymity. Does that surprise you?
KAREN: Not really because of the harassment that some of them have gotten I can understand that they would be afraid that it would hurt their private practice. I think, more than anything, they are afraid of how some of their patients would respond to it. Not knowing how everybody feels that they would be afraid that some of their patients would be offended because of
some of the publicity that has been out there.
HINOJOSA: What is the thing that you ultimately would fear the most if you were talk about this publicly and show your face?
KAREN: That the people that I work with now as far as patients and patients' families and things like that, that there would be someone that would look on it that I was a killer. "How can you care for my family member and, you know, this is what you do." In the area that I live, the majority of people are very supportive but for that reason I just prefer not to be known to
people that really don't know me.
One section I found interesting, and at times chilling, was this interview with a nurse. She prepares people for execution in Georgia by inserting the IV:
"Nurse Karen"
Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa spoke with "Karen," a nurse, about her participation in 14 executions at a prison in Jackson, Georgia. Karen, who did not want her identity disclosed for fear of retribution, has worked as a nurse for 26 years.
HINOJOSA: What is it like in an execution chamber?
KAREN: It almost feels like an operating room because it kind of has a chill in the air. It's just a simple gurney in there, and there's a Plexiglas window where witnesses are on the other side of the window and benches that look like church pews. That's where the witnesses sit and can
actually look through the window and see the inmate on a gurney.
HINOJOSA: What exactly is your role in the execution?
KAREN: Once the inmate is actually brought in and strapped on a gurney then we go in and, just like you would do with any patient in the hospital, you treat them just like a patient. We've always addressed them and talked to them and told them exactly what we're going to do. You put the tourniquet on. You use your alcohol to help cleanse the area and insert the IV catheter
into the site ... tape it down and then hook up just regular IV fluids into the site. Then we leave them hooked up to regular IV fluids and then leave the area.
HINOJOSA: And in that moment when you're finding the vein, what are you
thinking?
KAREN: At that time, I'm just looking at it as an IV that needs to be started. We normally carry on a conversion with the inmate. And they have always been very nice. A lot of times some of them would even make a comment 'that didn't hurt like I thought it was going to.' So they're just like regular patients laying there. Even if you're putting somebody to death, you want it to go as quickly and as painlessly as possible because you're trying to show respect for that person still.
HINOJOSA: And where do you go at that point?
Even if you're putting somebody to death, you want it to go as quickly and as painlessly as possible...
KAREN: Just back behind the curtain. After, they get everything else set up, read the death order and bring in any witnesses. Then they start the injections ... and everybody from you prison officials, your state officials that are around, your officers that are there, everybody is very quiet throughout everything ... Death comes so quickly. You're talking about from the start of the injection until the end, six, eight minutes at most ... And then you just kind of leave and it's over ... You don't do a lot of thinking about it.
HINOJOSA: What are the conversations like among the medical personnel who are in the room before the injection and after?
KAREN: During the time when we're waiting we're actually talking about anything and everything else. You're not focusing on what's going to happen. You know, we may talk about what we just had for supper. Or you talk about what was going on at the job you just left, talk about your family. You just have normal conversations.
HINOJOSA: What about nurses or doctors who say the Hippocratic Oath says that medical professionals should never do any harm to any patient. And by participating in an execution of somebody who, perhaps, doesn't want to be killed, then you're doing harm to that person. You're not caring for the patient.
KAREN: I look at them at an execution as [going through] a terminal illness. At the time that they were sentenced, they were diagnosed with a terminal illness. When they go through all of their appeals and everything, that's just like going on any kind of chemotherapy, radiation, whatever. And if all their appeals fail, then basically it's their terminal illness coming to an
end. And therefore, I think it's with any patient, they need to have the dignity up until the very end. And I think that dignity is by having actual trained people to help them.
HINOJOSA: So would you have an issue if you didn't just have to insert the IV but if you had to push the button to get the poisons into their system? Would that be a problem for you?
KAREN: I would not want to actually do the injections.
HINOJOSA: Why?
KAREN: I guess it's very strange because I don't know what the real big difference is ... I don't mind actually inserting the lines because that is something that I have been trained to do. But as far as administering an overdose, I just wouldn't want to do that.
HINOJOSA: So for you, there are some ethical issues?
...as far as administering an overdose, I just wouldn't want to do that.
KAREN: Yes.
HINOJOSA: And how, when you're thinking about this, when you're alone and you're contemplating this, how do you figure it out in your mind.
KAREN: I believe in the death penalty and I do believe that by the time it comes time for somebody to actually have the injection, you know, they have been through all their appeals. But I think that that's something that should actually be done by someone in the prison system.
HINOJOSA: Because giving someone an overdose for you, as a nurse, means what?
KAREN: That's just not something you're supposed to knowingly do.
HINOJOSA: When people say to you, you know what, Karen, as a nurse, you have simply become an agent of the state. And the state is using your skills for the purpose of the state which is to kill someone. You say?
KAREN: Basically, I don't feel that way. And I'm a nurse in so many other ways. And even though, maybe, a couple of times a year I do work for the state and help them to carry out executions I don't feel that makes me any less a nurse or any less a person. I mean, somebody's got to do it. And I just believe that it's something that I'm almost called to do because I do
have the skills.
HINOJOSA: I know it's a difficult question, but do you consider yourself an executioner?
KAREN: No, I don't. I don't know that I consider anybody an executioner. Even the people that I know who push the drugs I don't consider them an executioner either. I look at it as the state is the executioner. We're just carrying out procedures.
HINOJOSA: Tell me about the one execution that was, in fact, difficult for you.
KAREN: There was one particular inmate who actually, after his crime, had been converted to Christianity and was very vocal about it. But, at the time of his execution, when he gave his last words, all of his last words were of compliments to the prison, to the officers who had been with him through the years and had treated him as a person. He went on to say that even though he
had been saved and he knew he was going to heaven that he did know that God expected him to take his punishment for the crime that he had done ... and that man's punishment for the murders that he committed was for him to be put to death. So he was willingly taking it. There were tears in everybody's eyes, even all the officers. You know, these big guys that you thought probably never would even think about crying and especially about an inmate. There wasn't a dry eye ... you felt good about it because he was so willing to accept his punishment ... it was just one that you'll always remember.
HINOJOSA: Have you been harassed because you've taken part in executions?
KAREN: My personal harassment has been minimal compared to other people that I actually worked with in the executions ... Some of the doctors actually had notes put on their cars, calls made to their office all different kind of calls calling them murderers. Most of it just went as far as phone calls and notes but you still don't know if people will go to that extent, what all else they will do.
HINOJOSA: We spoke to five of your former colleagues, doctors who took part in executions. None of them were willing to speak to us even if we gave them anonymity. Does that surprise you?
KAREN: Not really because of the harassment that some of them have gotten I can understand that they would be afraid that it would hurt their private practice. I think, more than anything, they are afraid of how some of their patients would respond to it. Not knowing how everybody feels that they would be afraid that some of their patients would be offended because of
some of the publicity that has been out there.
HINOJOSA: What is the thing that you ultimately would fear the most if you were talk about this publicly and show your face?
KAREN: That the people that I work with now as far as patients and patients' families and things like that, that there would be someone that would look on it that I was a killer. "How can you care for my family member and, you know, this is what you do." In the area that I live, the majority of people are very supportive but for that reason I just prefer not to be known to
people that really don't know me.
Friday, July 14, 2006
The Trials of Darryl Hunt: Two Perspectives
A group of NCADP interns recently viewed a special showing of The Trials of Darryl Hunt, which details the story of an innocent person who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in North Carolina. Interns Y. Eugina Huang (who we call "Yuji") and Rachel Lawler (who we call "Rachel") shared their views afterwards.
Yuji writes:
Innocent until proven guilty?
Unfortunately, if you are a poor black man in a Southern state accused of raping and killing a “white rose,” it’s the other way around. The system needs a scapegoat, and one black man’s freedom means as much as the next one’s. This is the land of sweet tea and generous hospitality, but it is also the land of trees that once bore “strange fruit,” of de facto segregation and the Klan.
This is the subject of The Trials of Darryl Hunt, a powerful documentary about race, class, and how twenty years of a man’s life were stolen from him by a jury of his (white) peers. In 1984, a young white woman was killed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This was an era before reliable DNA testing, but positive identifications from a drug addict, a Klansman, and a convicted criminal led to the arrest of Darryl Hunt, a young black man. An all-white jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Well, at least he didn’t get the death penalty, right?
What’s the difference? In our moral system, we hold freedom as a paramount value. In other words, it’s all the way up there with life and the pursuit of happiness and all that jazz. To take away a man’s freedom is tantamount to taking his life, especially if this is wrongfully done in the name of justice for all.
How many other Darryl Hunts are out there, not just in the South but throughout the nation? We cannot ignore the fact that there are men and women wrongfully convicted, serving sentences they do not deserve. And this is not limited to those on death row—what about those serving life sentences, or even those unjustifiably serving lesser sentences? No matter how few, these human beings are a significant minimum.
Innocent until proven guilty. Right.
And Rachel writes:
On Tuesday evening several of us from NCADP viewed an advanced screening of the documentary “The Trials of Daryl Hunt”.
I think that a more apropos (and admittedly a bit lengthier) name for the film is: “The Indelible Spirit of an Amazingly Courageous and Inspirational Man Named Daryl Hunt”.
This film did a fantastic job of chronicling how a completely innocent man was twice convicted and sentenced to life. His case was riddled with prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, blatant racism within the community. Sounds like a real pick-me-up, right? But it was. This man never once faltered in his claim of innocence, even to the detriment of his freedom when he refused a plea bargain that would have set him free (on time served) if he plead to 2nd-degree manslaughter. He then went to trial and was found guilty for the 2nd time. Throughout the film the humanity, love, faith, and spirit within this man persevered and were what helped him to carry on when all odds were against him.
Afterwards, a panel discussion was held featuring Daryl, one of his lawyers, and a representative from Open Society Policy Center.
See this documentary!!!
Yuji writes:
Innocent until proven guilty?
Unfortunately, if you are a poor black man in a Southern state accused of raping and killing a “white rose,” it’s the other way around. The system needs a scapegoat, and one black man’s freedom means as much as the next one’s. This is the land of sweet tea and generous hospitality, but it is also the land of trees that once bore “strange fruit,” of de facto segregation and the Klan.
This is the subject of The Trials of Darryl Hunt, a powerful documentary about race, class, and how twenty years of a man’s life were stolen from him by a jury of his (white) peers. In 1984, a young white woman was killed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This was an era before reliable DNA testing, but positive identifications from a drug addict, a Klansman, and a convicted criminal led to the arrest of Darryl Hunt, a young black man. An all-white jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Well, at least he didn’t get the death penalty, right?
What’s the difference? In our moral system, we hold freedom as a paramount value. In other words, it’s all the way up there with life and the pursuit of happiness and all that jazz. To take away a man’s freedom is tantamount to taking his life, especially if this is wrongfully done in the name of justice for all.
How many other Darryl Hunts are out there, not just in the South but throughout the nation? We cannot ignore the fact that there are men and women wrongfully convicted, serving sentences they do not deserve. And this is not limited to those on death row—what about those serving life sentences, or even those unjustifiably serving lesser sentences? No matter how few, these human beings are a significant minimum.
Innocent until proven guilty. Right.
And Rachel writes:
On Tuesday evening several of us from NCADP viewed an advanced screening of the documentary “The Trials of Daryl Hunt”.
I think that a more apropos (and admittedly a bit lengthier) name for the film is: “The Indelible Spirit of an Amazingly Courageous and Inspirational Man Named Daryl Hunt”.
This film did a fantastic job of chronicling how a completely innocent man was twice convicted and sentenced to life. His case was riddled with prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, blatant racism within the community. Sounds like a real pick-me-up, right? But it was. This man never once faltered in his claim of innocence, even to the detriment of his freedom when he refused a plea bargain that would have set him free (on time served) if he plead to 2nd-degree manslaughter. He then went to trial and was found guilty for the 2nd time. Throughout the film the humanity, love, faith, and spirit within this man persevered and were what helped him to carry on when all odds were against him.
Afterwards, a panel discussion was held featuring Daryl, one of his lawyers, and a representative from Open Society Policy Center.
See this documentary!!!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Remembering Carol Byars
Carol Byars, a member of the Journey of Hope family, passed away this week. She was a leaders in the victims' movement to abolish the death penalty and a powerful voice for the healing power of forgiveness.
Here is Carol's story:
When I met Jimmy, little did I know how knowing him would change my life. He was the love of my life. Although I was barely more than a child, I also knew I would marry him someday. And I did, at the age of eighteen. We had our first child less than a year after. At twenty-one I was pregnant with my second child. Even at so young of an age, I knew this kind of relationship was rare.
It was the Labor Day of that year when everything so drastically changed. Since I was pregnant and not up to the usual BBQ and such, I went to my mom's to rest and Jimmy went to his mom's to watch the game. Sometime during that day there was an argument with his mother's neighbors. I have had some conflicting stories through the years so there are details that I still don't know. But this is what happened as I know it.
When the altercation started, there was the usual anger and name calling. It was said, "Wait till John Earl gets home, and he will take care of this." When he arrived home, the argument started again. He got his gun and first shot Jimmy's ten year old brother Sonny. He then shot Jimmy's sixteen year old brother Bryan. I think there was a scuffle with his other brother Pete and he was beat with the butt of the shotgun. All of this happened very quickly. The gun had just been turned on Jimmy's mother when he ran and opened the front door and yelled to stop.
That's when John Earl turned and shot Jimmy. He was shot from twenty feet with a twelve gauge pump shotgun through a screen door. So he not only had all of the scatter from the shot gun, he also had a lot of screen from the door.They didn't think Jimmy would make it past the first night but he lived almost a year. He was awake and alert in ICU for most of that time, so he felt every pain and disappointment in his attempted recovery. But he was an amazing man.
During all those months in the hospital, he came to the realization that he had to let go of all of the anger he felt towards this man. Even with the knowledge that he would never see his daughters grow up, he let go. I know he did this for my benefit as well. It also gave me permission to let go, heal, and move on with my life, though it took me a little longer than it did Jimmy.
Now I have forgiven and moved on. For me it means trying to stop that circle of violence. That includes state executions. Healing will never happen by holding onto the pain of the past. That is where an execution holds us, focused on the pain of the past. I think it's time to find a new way of dealing with our crime problem. There has been enough pain to go around.
Carol was a member of the Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing, Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, Murder Victims Families for Human Rights, Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death penalty, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. She will be greatly missed. We love you Carol.
Carol Byars Quotes:
"It is past time for being silent about the death penalty. In Texas, we’re executing record numbers each year. Things have gotten so bad because people have all been silent and let things get bad. We are told many times that we are not supposed to forgive – that when people do horrible things to us we should do something just as bad in retribution. Those of us who know better – those of us who know the power of forgiveness – need to speak up. Every chance we get, we need to challenge the mentality that compassion is a weakness. Compassion is the toughest thing of all, but it’s the only thing that works to restore peace in our live."
"When my husband was killed a piece of me died with him, but in time I discovered the only way to heal was to let go of the pain and anger. I chose to honor his memory through compassion and forgiveness, not by creating more victims."
Here is Carol's story:
When I met Jimmy, little did I know how knowing him would change my life. He was the love of my life. Although I was barely more than a child, I also knew I would marry him someday. And I did, at the age of eighteen. We had our first child less than a year after. At twenty-one I was pregnant with my second child. Even at so young of an age, I knew this kind of relationship was rare.
It was the Labor Day of that year when everything so drastically changed. Since I was pregnant and not up to the usual BBQ and such, I went to my mom's to rest and Jimmy went to his mom's to watch the game. Sometime during that day there was an argument with his mother's neighbors. I have had some conflicting stories through the years so there are details that I still don't know. But this is what happened as I know it.
When the altercation started, there was the usual anger and name calling. It was said, "Wait till John Earl gets home, and he will take care of this." When he arrived home, the argument started again. He got his gun and first shot Jimmy's ten year old brother Sonny. He then shot Jimmy's sixteen year old brother Bryan. I think there was a scuffle with his other brother Pete and he was beat with the butt of the shotgun. All of this happened very quickly. The gun had just been turned on Jimmy's mother when he ran and opened the front door and yelled to stop.
That's when John Earl turned and shot Jimmy. He was shot from twenty feet with a twelve gauge pump shotgun through a screen door. So he not only had all of the scatter from the shot gun, he also had a lot of screen from the door.They didn't think Jimmy would make it past the first night but he lived almost a year. He was awake and alert in ICU for most of that time, so he felt every pain and disappointment in his attempted recovery. But he was an amazing man.
During all those months in the hospital, he came to the realization that he had to let go of all of the anger he felt towards this man. Even with the knowledge that he would never see his daughters grow up, he let go. I know he did this for my benefit as well. It also gave me permission to let go, heal, and move on with my life, though it took me a little longer than it did Jimmy.
Now I have forgiven and moved on. For me it means trying to stop that circle of violence. That includes state executions. Healing will never happen by holding onto the pain of the past. That is where an execution holds us, focused on the pain of the past. I think it's time to find a new way of dealing with our crime problem. There has been enough pain to go around.
Carol was a member of the Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing, Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, Murder Victims Families for Human Rights, Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death penalty, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. She will be greatly missed. We love you Carol.
Carol Byars Quotes:
"It is past time for being silent about the death penalty. In Texas, we’re executing record numbers each year. Things have gotten so bad because people have all been silent and let things get bad. We are told many times that we are not supposed to forgive – that when people do horrible things to us we should do something just as bad in retribution. Those of us who know better – those of us who know the power of forgiveness – need to speak up. Every chance we get, we need to challenge the mentality that compassion is a weakness. Compassion is the toughest thing of all, but it’s the only thing that works to restore peace in our live."
"When my husband was killed a piece of me died with him, but in time I discovered the only way to heal was to let go of the pain and anger. I chose to honor his memory through compassion and forgiveness, not by creating more victims."
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
at the intersection of homicide and suicide...
did you know that there are over 30,000 suicides each year in the united states???well, the amnesty international program to abolish the death penalty blog reported last week that 3 "volunteers" were scheduled for execution this week...fortunately one, bobby wilcher in mississippi, was stayed ...
but this question about "volunteering" for execution has had interesting light shed on it by professor john blume in his article killing the willing: "volunteers," suicide and competency ...
the lil' jesuit dude down in tennessee blogged about this phenomena yesterday with eloquence and you should check it out...
and then comment back here - this deserves your input in a conversation...
peace out - <3
Monday, July 10, 2006
uh, have you seen my backbone anywhere???
if you're in florida...or texas... you may think that your governor is pretty bad on the death penalty and for the most part you'd be pretty right on...but consider that tennessee had just it's second execution in 46 years ~ 2 weeks ago - in a case where dna testing was fought by the state and sedley alley was executed with uncertainty clouding the circus to the very end...
governor bredesen issued a 15 day reprieve on may 16th stopping the execution over the dna testing issue - but he did not order the testing, he gave the attorneys one last shot to get the courts to order the evidence released for testing ...
even jeb bush and his lil' brother (while governor of texas) took that wimpy lil' step ...
in spite of the best efforts of barry scheck and the innocence project no testing was ever done...
you can read our governor's thoughts on his role by clicking here ... but i warn you, if you have trouble with spinelessness tread carefully!!!
Sunday, July 09, 2006
go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own...
Into a dancer you have grownFrom a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie the reason you were alive
But you'll never know...
-Jackson Browne, 1974-
ever wonder if the work to educate people about the failure's of the death penalty system is bearing fruit??? the answer is yes - consider this note i received a couple of days after the june 28th execution in tennessee and my thanks to the writer for sharing it with me and permitting me to share it with you...
peace out...
"...my opinions about the death penalty have changed so much since meeting you. I was really never on one side or the other. But I feel completely against the death penalty now after talking to you ... and being able to see a different side to the situation.
I was watching the news last Tuesday night and my kids were with me. They asked me about what an execution was and how it happened. I explained it to them in very basic terms since they are 7 & 10. Wednesday morning ______ woke up and crawled into bed with me and said, "Mom, did they execute the man last night?", I said "yes" and he said he was thinking about it and was sad.
So, see how what you've shared with me has now affected a new generation. I just thought you should hear that story."
Friday, July 07, 2006
Monday, July 03, 2006
Next-to-last Fast and Vigil Update
(Almost) last but certainly not least, we now hear from NCADP intern and abolitionist Y. Eugina Huang. Eugina is a second-year student at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where she is a W&L Scholar. In the fall, she intends to declare a double-major in Politics and Philosophy, with dual concentrations in the Shepherd Poverty Program and the University Scholars Program. She enjoys music, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and people.
When my friends ask what I did for my birthday this year, I tell them, “I spent the day outside the Supreme Court at the 13th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty.” Their usual response is, “Oh, so you didn’t get to celebrate your birthday?” Quite the contrary!
Upon arriving at the Fast & Vigil, I was able to interview David Plecenik, a soon-to-be college freshman from Pennsylvania. Raised Catholic, he tells me that he has always believed in the ethic of life and has just recently become involved in the movement. When asked how he has been faring with only water since Wednesday night, his response is simple—“It’s well worth it.”
The rally started then, with the camera rolling, the sun reflecting off the white marble of the Supreme Court steps, and the American flag flying high above us. And there, between the Supreme Court and the Capitol, everyone heard the voices of the movement—powerful voices, voices of the exonerated, beautiful voices, voices of murder victims’ family members, voices in song, voices of the crowd.
But from all of the voices we heard, one stands out in my mind. I found Luke, a fifth grader from Canada, sitting on the ground holding a sign. I asked him to tell me one interesting thing that he learned during the Fast & Vigil. His response?
“Umm… how to stop the death penalty. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
When my friends ask what I did for my birthday this year, I tell them, “I spent the day outside the Supreme Court at the 13th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty.” Their usual response is, “Oh, so you didn’t get to celebrate your birthday?” Quite the contrary!
Upon arriving at the Fast & Vigil, I was able to interview David Plecenik, a soon-to-be college freshman from Pennsylvania. Raised Catholic, he tells me that he has always believed in the ethic of life and has just recently become involved in the movement. When asked how he has been faring with only water since Wednesday night, his response is simple—“It’s well worth it.”
The rally started then, with the camera rolling, the sun reflecting off the white marble of the Supreme Court steps, and the American flag flying high above us. And there, between the Supreme Court and the Capitol, everyone heard the voices of the movement—powerful voices, voices of the exonerated, beautiful voices, voices of murder victims’ family members, voices in song, voices of the crowd.
But from all of the voices we heard, one stands out in my mind. I found Luke, a fifth grader from Canada, sitting on the ground holding a sign. I asked him to tell me one interesting thing that he learned during the Fast & Vigil. His response?
“Umm… how to stop the death penalty. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
Still updating: Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty
The Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty is over, but we still have a few more updates to bring you. This installment comes from NCADP intern Matthew Rankin, who is a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Matthew, one of the latest additions to NCADP’s collection of abolitionist interns, is president of his campus fraternity, Gamma Lambda Chapter Phi Kappa Sigma.
In the abolitionist movement it can be easy to forget exactly what we are fighting for. Events like Starvin’ for Justice ‘06 put that into perspective for me. It reminded me exactly what we are fighting for: individuals. Our movement is not just a broad fight based on ideology but also a fight that if won will touch the lives of individual people across the country.
When I arrived at the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to join the crowd of abolitionists, I was immediately welcomed by those who had enough energy to greet me. It was a very warm place and not just because of the sun; the hearts that stood at the vigil were filled with love.
As I walked around the event I could not stop myself from thinking, “this is why I am fighting the death penalty.” I also realized something else that day; that our fight is much bigger than just me or the organization that I work for. People like Bill Pelke, “Paul the Peace Walker,” Christine Lawson and many others helped me remember that our fight is not centered at the NCADP. Millions of people across the globe want to abolish the death penalty and if the NCADP is successful we will give a voice to those people.
As I began distributing literature to passers-by, I was reminded that not everyone wants to abolish capital punishment, which I can accept. What I can not accept is those who are not educated on the subject. People in our country cannot continue to support the death penalty without knowing the facts. Support for the death penalty, unfortunately, all too often is rooted in ignorance. It is this ignorance that we must fight.
Starvin’ for Justice ‘06 was a powerful experience for me and I was only out there a couple of hours. I have nothing but respect and love for the people who gathered below the steps of the Supreme Court to make their voices heard.
In the abolitionist movement it can be easy to forget exactly what we are fighting for. Events like Starvin’ for Justice ‘06 put that into perspective for me. It reminded me exactly what we are fighting for: individuals. Our movement is not just a broad fight based on ideology but also a fight that if won will touch the lives of individual people across the country.
When I arrived at the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to join the crowd of abolitionists, I was immediately welcomed by those who had enough energy to greet me. It was a very warm place and not just because of the sun; the hearts that stood at the vigil were filled with love.
As I walked around the event I could not stop myself from thinking, “this is why I am fighting the death penalty.” I also realized something else that day; that our fight is much bigger than just me or the organization that I work for. People like Bill Pelke, “Paul the Peace Walker,” Christine Lawson and many others helped me remember that our fight is not centered at the NCADP. Millions of people across the globe want to abolish the death penalty and if the NCADP is successful we will give a voice to those people.
As I began distributing literature to passers-by, I was reminded that not everyone wants to abolish capital punishment, which I can accept. What I can not accept is those who are not educated on the subject. People in our country cannot continue to support the death penalty without knowing the facts. Support for the death penalty, unfortunately, all too often is rooted in ignorance. It is this ignorance that we must fight.
Starvin’ for Justice ‘06 was a powerful experience for me and I was only out there a couple of hours. I have nothing but respect and love for the people who gathered below the steps of the Supreme Court to make their voices heard.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Day Four from the Fast & Vigil
This update comes from NCADP intern Rachel Lawler, who has now fasted for just about 84 hours as part of the ongoing Fast & Vigil to abolish the Death Penalty on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Arlene I will be heading out there shortly to join the folks for the annual rally:
Good morning all you abolitionists out there. Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Gregg decision -- a decision that promised to remedy a broken death penalty system that had been identified four years prior, in Furman. It promised to get rid of the imbued racism and arbitrariness. But I think we can all agree that the promises were not fulfilled. And it's time for all of us to speak to that point.
The third day of the Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty was just as amazing as the first and second days. Aside from getting a funny looking tanline of the outline of my sunglasses (which was an added and unexpected bonus), I also got the chance to hear some amazing speakers. In the past three days I have been completely inspired and awed by the speakers who shared with us their amazing stories of hope, activism, and healing.
The first death penalty speaker I ever saw was a member of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, Rev. Walter Everett. In this man I saw such capacity for forgiveness, such amazing spirit... it just blew me away. Hearing stories from Bill Pelke, Christina Lawson, George White, and so many others has been truly inspiring. No one should have to endure what they've been through, but to hear the strength in their voices as they help us understand (to the extent that we can) what it's like, has been an irreplacable, unforgettable experience. I hope to join them for part of their Journey of Hope in Virginia this fall. Everyone should hear their stories!
Mmm food... I'm excited to break the fast tonight. So. Very. Excited. Food..........
Good morning all you abolitionists out there. Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Gregg decision -- a decision that promised to remedy a broken death penalty system that had been identified four years prior, in Furman. It promised to get rid of the imbued racism and arbitrariness. But I think we can all agree that the promises were not fulfilled. And it's time for all of us to speak to that point.
The third day of the Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty was just as amazing as the first and second days. Aside from getting a funny looking tanline of the outline of my sunglasses (which was an added and unexpected bonus), I also got the chance to hear some amazing speakers. In the past three days I have been completely inspired and awed by the speakers who shared with us their amazing stories of hope, activism, and healing.
The first death penalty speaker I ever saw was a member of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, Rev. Walter Everett. In this man I saw such capacity for forgiveness, such amazing spirit... it just blew me away. Hearing stories from Bill Pelke, Christina Lawson, George White, and so many others has been truly inspiring. No one should have to endure what they've been through, but to hear the strength in their voices as they help us understand (to the extent that we can) what it's like, has been an irreplacable, unforgettable experience. I hope to join them for part of their Journey of Hope in Virginia this fall. Everyone should hear their stories!
Mmm food... I'm excited to break the fast tonight. So. Very. Excited. Food..........
Friday, June 30, 2006
Day Two update on the Fast & Vigil
Today’s blog entry comes from NCADP intern Jonathan Sheehan. This fall, Jonathan will be a high school senior at Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. He enjoys playing baseball and soccer and one of his career goals is “someday to run for public office.”
Which is a good thing – can you imagine what the climate will be like for abolish the death penalty if more abolitionists entered politics?
Here is Jonathan’s report from the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court:
“Equal Justice Under Law.”
These words are carved in the marble over the pillars that support our nation’s Supreme Court building. Just below the steps of this American landmark stood 30 or so protestors, holding signs and demonstrating their support for the abolition movement. Quotes from Justice Byron White, Coretta Scott King, and others could be seen on signs and t-shirts alike. As a man walked by the vigil, I heard him remark, “Take them executed people to your house and let them live with you.”
I just wish he had stayed the rest of the morning.
As I stood in the heat, I recognized death row exoneree Shujaa Graham standing in the shade listening to his walkman. Mr. Graham and I met this past week at the Death Penalty Information Center’s Thurgood Marshall awards. He gave me a big hug, and we started to discuss his many reasons for being at the vigil. Mr. Graham spent three years on California’s San Quentin death row, before being released in 1979. His experiences have prompted him to travel the country and speak to high school and university students. His message is clear and concise: “Learn what you can [about the death penalty] and understand the reality.”
Information is power. Shujaa Graham knows that if people learn all there is to learn, someday we will outlaw “the lynching that is the death penalty.”
As the morning drew on, guests spoke adamantly in favor of abolition. Kurt Rosenberg, director of the “Witness to Innocence” program, stood up with an unusual group of men behind him. They were a small fraction of the astounding 123 death row exonerees, people freed from death row since the 1970s after evidence emerged of their innocence. This lineup included Ray Krone (Arizona), Ronald Keine (New Mexico), Gary Beeman (Ohio), Harold Wilson (Pennsylvania) and Shujaa Graham (California). Harold Wilson was the 122nd person exonerated from death row, having been released on Nov. 15, 2005. He is sure his wrongful conviction was influenced by the all-white jury that convicted him.
As I stood and listened to these men give gut-wrenching accounts of the horrible injustices they faced, I couldn’t help looking repeatedly at those big marble words above the Supreme Court:
“Equal Justice Under Law.”
Indeed.
Which is a good thing – can you imagine what the climate will be like for abolish the death penalty if more abolitionists entered politics?
Here is Jonathan’s report from the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court:
“Equal Justice Under Law.”
These words are carved in the marble over the pillars that support our nation’s Supreme Court building. Just below the steps of this American landmark stood 30 or so protestors, holding signs and demonstrating their support for the abolition movement. Quotes from Justice Byron White, Coretta Scott King, and others could be seen on signs and t-shirts alike. As a man walked by the vigil, I heard him remark, “Take them executed people to your house and let them live with you.”
I just wish he had stayed the rest of the morning.
As I stood in the heat, I recognized death row exoneree Shujaa Graham standing in the shade listening to his walkman. Mr. Graham and I met this past week at the Death Penalty Information Center’s Thurgood Marshall awards. He gave me a big hug, and we started to discuss his many reasons for being at the vigil. Mr. Graham spent three years on California’s San Quentin death row, before being released in 1979. His experiences have prompted him to travel the country and speak to high school and university students. His message is clear and concise: “Learn what you can [about the death penalty] and understand the reality.”
Information is power. Shujaa Graham knows that if people learn all there is to learn, someday we will outlaw “the lynching that is the death penalty.”
As the morning drew on, guests spoke adamantly in favor of abolition. Kurt Rosenberg, director of the “Witness to Innocence” program, stood up with an unusual group of men behind him. They were a small fraction of the astounding 123 death row exonerees, people freed from death row since the 1970s after evidence emerged of their innocence. This lineup included Ray Krone (Arizona), Ronald Keine (New Mexico), Gary Beeman (Ohio), Harold Wilson (Pennsylvania) and Shujaa Graham (California). Harold Wilson was the 122nd person exonerated from death row, having been released on Nov. 15, 2005. He is sure his wrongful conviction was influenced by the all-white jury that convicted him.
As I stood and listened to these men give gut-wrenching accounts of the horrible injustices they faced, I couldn’t help looking repeatedly at those big marble words above the Supreme Court:
“Equal Justice Under Law.”
Indeed.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Day One update on the Fast & Vigil
This report from NCADP intern Rachel Lawler, who spent part of the day down at the U.S. Supreme Court:
Today is the first day of the annual Fast & Vigil at the Supreme Court of the United States. The event began last night with a “Last Supper” at a nice restaurant close to SCOTUS. Attendees were activists, murder victims’ family members, death row family members, and even baby Isaac. The food was delicious and the company was even better. We all laughed over George recounting stories of Mike’s mishaps, while munching on hummus. This is my first Fast & Vigil and also my first time fasting for more than one day. So far I’ve been able to stave off hunger pangs with Gatorade, water, caffeine gum, and Tabasco sauce. My food/beverage intake will be limited to these three things until July 3rd at midnight.
I just returned to the NCADP office after distributing literature about the death penalty to hundreds of Hill workers, tourists, and students. Spending several hours doing this may seem redundant, pointless, even a complete waste of time to some. However, I have always believed that one of the reasons why some people support the death penalty is because they simply don’t know the truth about it. I’d think to myself, “If only they knew the real facts, then perhaps they’d feel differently about it.” So today was the perfect opportunity for me to increase the public’s awareness of the flaws inherent in our death penalty. If I handed a flyer to even one person who after reading it, decides to reexamine their views and ends up opposing the death penalty, then the day was a success. And hey, I got to work on my tan too!
Today is the first day of the annual Fast & Vigil at the Supreme Court of the United States. The event began last night with a “Last Supper” at a nice restaurant close to SCOTUS. Attendees were activists, murder victims’ family members, death row family members, and even baby Isaac. The food was delicious and the company was even better. We all laughed over George recounting stories of Mike’s mishaps, while munching on hummus. This is my first Fast & Vigil and also my first time fasting for more than one day. So far I’ve been able to stave off hunger pangs with Gatorade, water, caffeine gum, and Tabasco sauce. My food/beverage intake will be limited to these three things until July 3rd at midnight.
I just returned to the NCADP office after distributing literature about the death penalty to hundreds of Hill workers, tourists, and students. Spending several hours doing this may seem redundant, pointless, even a complete waste of time to some. However, I have always believed that one of the reasons why some people support the death penalty is because they simply don’t know the truth about it. I’d think to myself, “If only they knew the real facts, then perhaps they’d feel differently about it.” So today was the perfect opportunity for me to increase the public’s awareness of the flaws inherent in our death penalty. If I handed a flyer to even one person who after reading it, decides to reexamine their views and ends up opposing the death penalty, then the day was a success. And hey, I got to work on my tan too!
The Fast and Vigil has begun!
The Annual Fast and Vigil Against the Death Penalty has begun. We will be blogging on this event and sharing our content with The Journey of Hope blog.
In addition, a brand new blog has been launched by the soon-to-be betrothed Beth and Abe. We'll be checking their site for updates -- you can see it here.
In addition, a brand new blog has been launched by the soon-to-be betrothed Beth and Abe. We'll be checking their site for updates -- you can see it here.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
One that made me go "whoaaa."
Every now and again, when reading up on the death penalty news around the country, I stumble across a story that makes me sit up and go "whoa."
Here's a perfect example:
Dyslexic doctor stays secret: Testimony persuaded judge to halt Missouri executions
Officials said Tuesday that they would not disclose the name of the dyslexic surgeon in charge of Missouri's lethal injections, whose testimony that he sometimes confuses figures helped persuade a federal judge to halt the state's executions.
Officials want to protect the surgeon, called John Doe I in court documents, from "harassment of various sorts," said Brian Hauswirth, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections. He said he would not elaborate.
In October, a U.S. magistrate judge ordered the surgeon's identity concealed to protect the state's security interests and the doctor's privacy. Death penalty critics said the state had little justification to keep a lid on the surgeon's identity. "It's shameful that you would put someone who suffers from dyslexia in charge of administering chemicals that kill someone," said Gino F.Battisti, a lawyer from St. Louis who has represented death row inmates. "People have a right to know how the system works."
Kent Gipson, whose law firm Public Interest Law Center, based in Kansas City, has represented Missouri death row inmates, said he thought that the "state is worried that if this guy gets found out and gets his medical license jerked, they'll never find another doctor to help them execute people."
People...people, people, people. Can you say "Hippocratic Oath?" The one that includes the words "Do no harm."
Jeez.
Here's a perfect example:
Dyslexic doctor stays secret: Testimony persuaded judge to halt Missouri executions
Officials said Tuesday that they would not disclose the name of the dyslexic surgeon in charge of Missouri's lethal injections, whose testimony that he sometimes confuses figures helped persuade a federal judge to halt the state's executions.
Officials want to protect the surgeon, called John Doe I in court documents, from "harassment of various sorts," said Brian Hauswirth, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections. He said he would not elaborate.
In October, a U.S. magistrate judge ordered the surgeon's identity concealed to protect the state's security interests and the doctor's privacy. Death penalty critics said the state had little justification to keep a lid on the surgeon's identity. "It's shameful that you would put someone who suffers from dyslexia in charge of administering chemicals that kill someone," said Gino F.Battisti, a lawyer from St. Louis who has represented death row inmates. "People have a right to know how the system works."
Kent Gipson, whose law firm Public Interest Law Center, based in Kansas City, has represented Missouri death row inmates, said he thought that the "state is worried that if this guy gets found out and gets his medical license jerked, they'll never find another doctor to help them execute people."
People...people, people, people. Can you say "Hippocratic Oath?" The one that includes the words "Do no harm."
Jeez.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Carlos De Luna, Part Three
The third and final installment of the Chicago Tribune's Carlos De Luna series can be found here. Meanwhile, the pro-death penalty crowd is crowing that the Tribune hasn't actually proven that an innocent person has been executed.
If ignorance is bliss, than the life of a retentionist must truly be joyous and carefree.
If ignorance is bliss, than the life of a retentionist must truly be joyous and carefree.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Part two, Carlos De Luna
You can read part two of the Chicago Tribune series regarding the wrongful execution of Carlos De Luna here.
Another new blog in town
Three days and a number of hours before the annual Fast & Vigil and we have a new blog that will be covering the events.
Of course, Abolish the Death Penalty and The Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing blog also will be providing updated coverage. Stay tuned!
Of course, Abolish the Death Penalty and The Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing blog also will be providing updated coverage. Stay tuned!
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Carlos De Luna update
As we wait for part two of the Chicago Tribune's three part series to be posted on their web site late tonight, we have this update.
The Associated Press has picked up part one of the series and moved this story:
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A newspaper investigation raises questions about the execution of a man for a 1983 slaying at a Corpus Christi service station.
Carlos De Luna was executed 16 years ago for the fatal stabbing of Wanda Lopez, a gas station clerk and a single mother. De Luna was swiftly convicted and sentenced to death even though the parolee proclaimed he was innocent. He identified another man as the killer.
The Chicago Tribune, in the first of a three-part series published Sunday, said it has uncovered evidence strongly suggesting that De Luna's acquaintance, Carlos Hernandez, was the one who killed Lopez. Hernandez died in 1999.
Hernandez's friends and relatives, ending years of silence, said the felon bragged that De Luna went to Death Row for a murder he committed.
The case was compromised by shaky eyewitness investigation, sloppy police work and a failure to thoroughly pursue Hernandez as a possible suspect, the newspaper reported.
De Luna's prosecutors maintain the right man was convicted, though the lead prosecutor acknowledged being troubled by some of the new information. A former police detective said he now thinks the wrong man was executed.
No DNA or other conclusive proof of De Luna's guilt or innocence is available. The store did not have a security camera.
The newspaper learned of the De Luna case from a Columbia University law professor who had begun to look into evidence pointing to Hernandez. De Luna was executed by lethal injection in 1989.
The Associated Press has picked up part one of the series and moved this story:
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A newspaper investigation raises questions about the execution of a man for a 1983 slaying at a Corpus Christi service station.
Carlos De Luna was executed 16 years ago for the fatal stabbing of Wanda Lopez, a gas station clerk and a single mother. De Luna was swiftly convicted and sentenced to death even though the parolee proclaimed he was innocent. He identified another man as the killer.
The Chicago Tribune, in the first of a three-part series published Sunday, said it has uncovered evidence strongly suggesting that De Luna's acquaintance, Carlos Hernandez, was the one who killed Lopez. Hernandez died in 1999.
Hernandez's friends and relatives, ending years of silence, said the felon bragged that De Luna went to Death Row for a murder he committed.
The case was compromised by shaky eyewitness investigation, sloppy police work and a failure to thoroughly pursue Hernandez as a possible suspect, the newspaper reported.
De Luna's prosecutors maintain the right man was convicted, though the lead prosecutor acknowledged being troubled by some of the new information. A former police detective said he now thinks the wrong man was executed.
No DNA or other conclusive proof of De Luna's guilt or innocence is available. The store did not have a security camera.
The newspaper learned of the De Luna case from a Columbia University law professor who had begun to look into evidence pointing to Hernandez. De Luna was executed by lethal injection in 1989.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
I read the news today, oh boy
The news we've been waiting for is out: Today the Chicago Tribune, in the first of a three-part investigative series, is reporting that Texas executed an innocent person.
You can see NCADP's press release by going here.
To read the Chicago Tribune series (and you really must) visit www.chicagotribune.com
You can see NCADP's press release by going here.
To read the Chicago Tribune series (and you really must) visit www.chicagotribune.com
Friday, June 23, 2006
Foreshadowing tomorrow's news...
Date of Execution:
December 7, 1989
Offender:
Carlos DeLuna #744
Last Statement:
"I want to say I hold no grudges. I hate no one. I love my family. Tell everyone on death row to keep the faith and don’t give up."
Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice
December 7, 1989
Offender:
Carlos DeLuna #744
Last Statement:
"I want to say I hold no grudges. I hate no one. I love my family. Tell everyone on death row to keep the faith and don’t give up."
Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Keep an eye on the blog
It's been a few days since we've updated. News sometimes feels like it moves slowly in the sweltering summer months.
That's about to change. Please keep an eye on the blog over the next 24 to 48 hours. Something significant this way comes...
That's about to change. Please keep an eye on the blog over the next 24 to 48 hours. Something significant this way comes...
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
There's a new blog in town
Everyone welcome The Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing blog.
Run by Journey chairman Bill Pelke, with the backup and assistance of NCADP, the Journey blog will tell the stories of people whose lives have been touched with murder and forgiveness.
Run by Journey chairman Bill Pelke, with the backup and assistance of NCADP, the Journey blog will tell the stories of people whose lives have been touched with murder and forgiveness.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Part One: Words from Vermont
For the past few days, Rachel Lawler, an NCADP intern, has been up in her home state of Vermont, working to oppose a rare federal death penalty trial that has taken place up there. (Vermont has no state death penalty but in a case of John Ashcroft-induced federalism-in-reverse, the U.S. Justice Department has secured the first death sentence in modern Vermont history.)
Rachel is a pre-law student at Woodbury College in Vermont with aspirations of working as a public defender. She currently serves as Amnesty International USA’s State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator (SDPAC) for Vermont, is a founding member of Vermonters Against the Death Penalty, and sat in on the entire US v. Fell trial during the summer of 2005. She loves hot sauce.
This is part one of Rachel's report:
On Friday, June 16th a man was sentenced to die in Vermont. The defendant and a now-deceased codefendant (who committed suicide while in prison) were charged with two death-eligible crimes: carjacking resulting in death and kidnapping resulting in death. The victim was a woman named Terry King.
You may be thinking to yourself, “What? A death sentence in Vermont?” But it’s the truth and it was made possible thanks to the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA) and in this case specifically, Fmr. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Back in 2001, the prosecutors drafted a plea bargain that would have sentenced the defendant to life without possible release in exchange for a guilty plea. But when that was submitted for Ashcroft’s approval, he decided to ignore the Government’s proffer that the defendant’s terrible childhood was enough to mitigate circumstances away from being a death penalty case. The defendant had a childhood that most of us cannot even begin to imagine living through. He suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from practically everyone in his life, witnessed his parents stab each other during a drunken argument, he was abandoned by both of them by the time he was 13. Everyone in his life gave up on him. And then society did by condemning him to die.
Why did the Attorney General choose to dismiss this evidence? Perhaps it was because the case could have been tried in either New York or Vermont and at the time, New York’s death penalty statute had not yet been declared unconstitutional, whereas Vermont hadn’t had a death sentence handed down in its state since 1954. Perhaps it was because a report had just been released by the Department of Justice that cited disturbing statistics about the federal death row. Pursuing a death sentence in this case enabled him to even out some less-than-favorable statistics. Who knows.
Rachel is a pre-law student at Woodbury College in Vermont with aspirations of working as a public defender. She currently serves as Amnesty International USA’s State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator (SDPAC) for Vermont, is a founding member of Vermonters Against the Death Penalty, and sat in on the entire US v. Fell trial during the summer of 2005. She loves hot sauce.
This is part one of Rachel's report:
On Friday, June 16th a man was sentenced to die in Vermont. The defendant and a now-deceased codefendant (who committed suicide while in prison) were charged with two death-eligible crimes: carjacking resulting in death and kidnapping resulting in death. The victim was a woman named Terry King.
You may be thinking to yourself, “What? A death sentence in Vermont?” But it’s the truth and it was made possible thanks to the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA) and in this case specifically, Fmr. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Back in 2001, the prosecutors drafted a plea bargain that would have sentenced the defendant to life without possible release in exchange for a guilty plea. But when that was submitted for Ashcroft’s approval, he decided to ignore the Government’s proffer that the defendant’s terrible childhood was enough to mitigate circumstances away from being a death penalty case. The defendant had a childhood that most of us cannot even begin to imagine living through. He suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from practically everyone in his life, witnessed his parents stab each other during a drunken argument, he was abandoned by both of them by the time he was 13. Everyone in his life gave up on him. And then society did by condemning him to die.
Why did the Attorney General choose to dismiss this evidence? Perhaps it was because the case could have been tried in either New York or Vermont and at the time, New York’s death penalty statute had not yet been declared unconstitutional, whereas Vermont hadn’t had a death sentence handed down in its state since 1954. Perhaps it was because a report had just been released by the Department of Justice that cited disturbing statistics about the federal death row. Pursuing a death sentence in this case enabled him to even out some less-than-favorable statistics. Who knows.
Part Two: Words from Vermont
This is part two of NCADP intern Rachel Lawler's report on recent events in Vermont:
Two events were organized by a group I belong to, known as Vermonters Against the Death Penalty (VTADP). The first event was a vigil on Thursday evening to remember victims of homicide. We thought that framing the vigil around this subject was especially important given the fact that revictimization of the victims family members is one of the most disturbing consequences of our broken death penalty system. We were able to draw a modest crowd of 50 people to City Hall Park in Burlington. A notable fact, however, is that we were joined by people from all throughout the Northeast: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
The same group of people was featured in the 2nd event, a press conference held on Friday after the sentencing. Each speaker addressed a different aspect within the abolitionist movement including regional trends, their own state’s struggle against the death penalty, and two speakers addressed their own personal experiences with losing a loved one to homicide – refuting the misconception that the death penalty system will help them heal.
The revictimization that VTADP wanted to bring to the public’s attention was glaringly obvious in the victims’ family members’ statements in Friday’s court proceedings. Many, if not all of them cited how grueling the past six years were for them, how they had to endure litigation, uncertainty, compounded with the immense and unimaginable pain of losing someone they loved so dearly. If anyone spoke to the fact that the death penalty system does not provide healing, it was the family members. With every motion that was filed, with every media story, the family was forced to defend the memory of the one they lost. Had the plea bargain been accepted six years ago, they could have been on their way to healing. But we as a society have forced them to endure additional pain, pain that will continue for the next decade as the appeals process begins.
The defendant’s speech was short and almost inaudible over the hum of the air conditioning system. He apologized for what he did and accepted his punishment as “no less than what [he] deserved”. The response of the family members was that it didn’t matter to them; nothing he could say or do would ever elicit forgiveness from them. It is terrible to think that they had to endure losing someone so close to them, and their hearts remain so hardened by the experience. No one should ever have to feel this way.
I can’t imagine having society judge and condemn me based only upon one thing that I’ve done in my lifetime. Can you imagine it? I, myself, along with many reading this have probably done something in their lifetime that they deeply regret doing. I know that I certainly have learned from my mistakes and have allowed such experiences to change me for the better, and I have gained insight from them. Who are we to say that others are incapable of this same process? Does a person’s worst action negate the humanness within them? Their capacity for redemption? The death penalty system wants to convince us that it does.
Well, I’m back in Washington, DC now. Away from the reporters, away from the court room that made me physically ill. Yet, the struggle towards abolition continues. My work with this one case has taught me so much about the death penalty, our legal system, and the injustices that are perpetuated by both. Ever since I became aware of these things, I’ve been unable to cease in my abolition work. I encourage everyone reading this to learn everything they can about the death penalty, because knowledge is empowering. This trial was just one amongst so many with similar, pervasive injustices. This work is disheartening, frustrating, and disappointing. But let me be clear in saying that it is worth it. Nationwide abolition will happen. But only if we persist in our efforts and do not falter. We must never let this be simply work. It must remain our passion, as we continue putting our heart into what we do. It is that which will keep us going when all odds are against us.
Two events were organized by a group I belong to, known as Vermonters Against the Death Penalty (VTADP). The first event was a vigil on Thursday evening to remember victims of homicide. We thought that framing the vigil around this subject was especially important given the fact that revictimization of the victims family members is one of the most disturbing consequences of our broken death penalty system. We were able to draw a modest crowd of 50 people to City Hall Park in Burlington. A notable fact, however, is that we were joined by people from all throughout the Northeast: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
The same group of people was featured in the 2nd event, a press conference held on Friday after the sentencing. Each speaker addressed a different aspect within the abolitionist movement including regional trends, their own state’s struggle against the death penalty, and two speakers addressed their own personal experiences with losing a loved one to homicide – refuting the misconception that the death penalty system will help them heal.
The revictimization that VTADP wanted to bring to the public’s attention was glaringly obvious in the victims’ family members’ statements in Friday’s court proceedings. Many, if not all of them cited how grueling the past six years were for them, how they had to endure litigation, uncertainty, compounded with the immense and unimaginable pain of losing someone they loved so dearly. If anyone spoke to the fact that the death penalty system does not provide healing, it was the family members. With every motion that was filed, with every media story, the family was forced to defend the memory of the one they lost. Had the plea bargain been accepted six years ago, they could have been on their way to healing. But we as a society have forced them to endure additional pain, pain that will continue for the next decade as the appeals process begins.
The defendant’s speech was short and almost inaudible over the hum of the air conditioning system. He apologized for what he did and accepted his punishment as “no less than what [he] deserved”. The response of the family members was that it didn’t matter to them; nothing he could say or do would ever elicit forgiveness from them. It is terrible to think that they had to endure losing someone so close to them, and their hearts remain so hardened by the experience. No one should ever have to feel this way.
I can’t imagine having society judge and condemn me based only upon one thing that I’ve done in my lifetime. Can you imagine it? I, myself, along with many reading this have probably done something in their lifetime that they deeply regret doing. I know that I certainly have learned from my mistakes and have allowed such experiences to change me for the better, and I have gained insight from them. Who are we to say that others are incapable of this same process? Does a person’s worst action negate the humanness within them? Their capacity for redemption? The death penalty system wants to convince us that it does.
Well, I’m back in Washington, DC now. Away from the reporters, away from the court room that made me physically ill. Yet, the struggle towards abolition continues. My work with this one case has taught me so much about the death penalty, our legal system, and the injustices that are perpetuated by both. Ever since I became aware of these things, I’ve been unable to cease in my abolition work. I encourage everyone reading this to learn everything they can about the death penalty, because knowledge is empowering. This trial was just one amongst so many with similar, pervasive injustices. This work is disheartening, frustrating, and disappointing. But let me be clear in saying that it is worth it. Nationwide abolition will happen. But only if we persist in our efforts and do not falter. We must never let this be simply work. It must remain our passion, as we continue putting our heart into what we do. It is that which will keep us going when all odds are against us.
Friday, June 16, 2006
"Human Kind"
In Gloucester, Massachusetts, high school students have written and are performing an original play based in part on the true story of NCADP board member Bud Welch, whose daughter, Julie, died in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City:
Death penalty foe flying in to see play
By Douglas A. Moser, Staff writer
Gloucester Daily Times
Bud Welch has gotten phone calls from students before, he said Wednesday, mostly college students researching term papers.
But the Oklahoma City man said he got his first call from actors inspired by his story in March, when members of the Gloucester High Drama Club contacted him about his daughter Julie. The call led Welsh to fly to Boston yesterday afternoon to visit Gloucester for an encore performance of the club's original production, "Human kind," tonight at 7 in the high school auditorium.
The students called him because their play about the compassion of a murder victim's family and their reconciliation with the murderer echoes Welch's experience. Julie Welch died in the domestic terror attack that destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Bud Welch had been a death penalty opponent but had a quick change of heart after the attack. "There were a couple months when I wanted the (bomber) fried, no question about that," he said in a telephone interview. But after the heat of the tragedy cooled, Welch said, he believed Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of engineering and conducting the attack, should not be put to death.
"I was finally able to recognize that taking somebody out of a cage and killing them doesn't help the healing process," he said. "In fact, it retards it. It revictimizes the family members and creates a whole new set of victims" in the family of the condemned.
"Human kind," collectively written over the winter by members of the Drama Club, is about the family of a murder victim, the murderer on death row and the murderer's family. After the play was written, cast members researched the death penalty and came across the story of Welch, who campaigned against the death penalty during the trial, conviction and condemnation of McVeigh. The bomber was executed June 11, 2001, the first prisoner executed by the federal government since 1963.
Welch, who cofounded the Cambridge-based organization Murder Victims Families for Human Rights, which opposes the death penalty and counsels the families of victims, said he was honored to have inspired the Gloucester students. He said he had been invited to a show earlier in the year he could not make.
Members of the cast said they were thrilled to have Welch fly east to see the play. "We wanted him to come for so long, and we didn't think it was possible," said Willie Norris, a cast member. Director Christine de Lima, a Gloucester High alumna and veteran of the Drama Club, said she talked to Welch while the cast was performing the play in a state competition. "He contacted us the day after the preliminary round" March 4, she said. "We actually kept it a secret, which was really hard to do. When we sat them down and told them, some of them cried. It was an awesome moment."
Death penalty foe flying in to see play
By Douglas A. Moser, Staff writer
Gloucester Daily Times
Bud Welch has gotten phone calls from students before, he said Wednesday, mostly college students researching term papers.
But the Oklahoma City man said he got his first call from actors inspired by his story in March, when members of the Gloucester High Drama Club contacted him about his daughter Julie. The call led Welsh to fly to Boston yesterday afternoon to visit Gloucester for an encore performance of the club's original production, "Human kind," tonight at 7 in the high school auditorium.
The students called him because their play about the compassion of a murder victim's family and their reconciliation with the murderer echoes Welch's experience. Julie Welch died in the domestic terror attack that destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Bud Welch had been a death penalty opponent but had a quick change of heart after the attack. "There were a couple months when I wanted the (bomber) fried, no question about that," he said in a telephone interview. But after the heat of the tragedy cooled, Welch said, he believed Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of engineering and conducting the attack, should not be put to death.
"I was finally able to recognize that taking somebody out of a cage and killing them doesn't help the healing process," he said. "In fact, it retards it. It revictimizes the family members and creates a whole new set of victims" in the family of the condemned.
"Human kind," collectively written over the winter by members of the Drama Club, is about the family of a murder victim, the murderer on death row and the murderer's family. After the play was written, cast members researched the death penalty and came across the story of Welch, who campaigned against the death penalty during the trial, conviction and condemnation of McVeigh. The bomber was executed June 11, 2001, the first prisoner executed by the federal government since 1963.
Welch, who cofounded the Cambridge-based organization Murder Victims Families for Human Rights, which opposes the death penalty and counsels the families of victims, said he was honored to have inspired the Gloucester students. He said he had been invited to a show earlier in the year he could not make.
Members of the cast said they were thrilled to have Welch fly east to see the play. "We wanted him to come for so long, and we didn't think it was possible," said Willie Norris, a cast member. Director Christine de Lima, a Gloucester High alumna and veteran of the Drama Club, said she talked to Welch while the cast was performing the play in a state competition. "He contacted us the day after the preliminary round" March 4, she said. "We actually kept it a secret, which was really hard to do. When we sat them down and told them, some of them cried. It was an awesome moment."
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
In Texas, the stonewall continues
From today's Houston Chronicle:
Conflict of interest
San Antonio district attorney should step aside and allow an independent probe of Cantu's execution.
When she was a judge more than a decade ago, Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed reviewed the appeal and then scheduled the execution of Ruben Cantu, whose guilt has been cast in doubt by an extensive Houston Chronicle investigation. In response, Reed re-opened the case but declined to recuse herself from the probe, even though she is an elected official who has a clear interest in its outcome.
Cantu was executed in 1993 for a murder he allegedly committed in San Antonio as a teen-ager. Since then a key eyewitness, Juan Moreno, has recanted his testimony, claiming he was pressured by police. Another person corroborates Cantu's claim that he was out of the city when the crime was committed. Cantu's co-defendant, David Garza, who has changed his account, now claims Cantu was innocent.
Last week a San Antonio judge ruled he had no authority to grant Garza's request that he replace Reed with a special prosecutor. During the hearing Reed testified as a witness and demonstrated why she should step down and allow an independent investigation.
Asked by Garza's lawyer, Keith Hampton, if investigators should examine her role in the case, Reed snapped, "I didn't do anything criminal in this case. Don't look at me like that, counsel." Reed referred to Moreno by saying, "I didn't sit in the witness chair and lie." Such statements indicate Reed has strong personal feelings about the Cantu case that might color the outcome of an investigation.
Attorney Hampton attempted to present a letter signed by 22 law professors and other legal experts who contend that Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit lawyers from participating in cases in which they had ruled as judges. One of them, University of Houston Law Center Professor Robert P. Schuwerk, told the Houston Chronicle that if Reed was exposed as a person who had made a fatal error as a judge, it would clearly conflict with her interests.
District attorneys are elected officials. If Reed runs again, she would have to appeal to a heavily Hispanic electorate. It clearly would not be to her advantage as a San Antonio politician to be known as the person who wrongly sent a Hispanic teenager to his execution. Even if she were able to conduct an impeccable and impartial re-examination of the Cantu case, the district attorney's history would create the appearance of conflict and taint the eventual findings.
Reed apparently is unable to apply a fairly straightforward principle of jurisprudence, avoidance of conflict of interest, to herself. Perhaps that is the most potent argument for her removal from the investigation.
Conflict of interest
San Antonio district attorney should step aside and allow an independent probe of Cantu's execution.
When she was a judge more than a decade ago, Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed reviewed the appeal and then scheduled the execution of Ruben Cantu, whose guilt has been cast in doubt by an extensive Houston Chronicle investigation. In response, Reed re-opened the case but declined to recuse herself from the probe, even though she is an elected official who has a clear interest in its outcome.
Cantu was executed in 1993 for a murder he allegedly committed in San Antonio as a teen-ager. Since then a key eyewitness, Juan Moreno, has recanted his testimony, claiming he was pressured by police. Another person corroborates Cantu's claim that he was out of the city when the crime was committed. Cantu's co-defendant, David Garza, who has changed his account, now claims Cantu was innocent.
Last week a San Antonio judge ruled he had no authority to grant Garza's request that he replace Reed with a special prosecutor. During the hearing Reed testified as a witness and demonstrated why she should step down and allow an independent investigation.
Asked by Garza's lawyer, Keith Hampton, if investigators should examine her role in the case, Reed snapped, "I didn't do anything criminal in this case. Don't look at me like that, counsel." Reed referred to Moreno by saying, "I didn't sit in the witness chair and lie." Such statements indicate Reed has strong personal feelings about the Cantu case that might color the outcome of an investigation.
Attorney Hampton attempted to present a letter signed by 22 law professors and other legal experts who contend that Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit lawyers from participating in cases in which they had ruled as judges. One of them, University of Houston Law Center Professor Robert P. Schuwerk, told the Houston Chronicle that if Reed was exposed as a person who had made a fatal error as a judge, it would clearly conflict with her interests.
District attorneys are elected officials. If Reed runs again, she would have to appeal to a heavily Hispanic electorate. It clearly would not be to her advantage as a San Antonio politician to be known as the person who wrongly sent a Hispanic teenager to his execution. Even if she were able to conduct an impeccable and impartial re-examination of the Cantu case, the district attorney's history would create the appearance of conflict and taint the eventual findings.
Reed apparently is unable to apply a fairly straightforward principle of jurisprudence, avoidance of conflict of interest, to herself. Perhaps that is the most potent argument for her removal from the investigation.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Kaine did it.
He did it. He stayed Walton's execution for six months, pending an independent review of Walton's mental capacity.
Which is exactly and precisely as it should be. Which is exactly and precisely what has been called for all along.
When the state and the courts cannot or will not do their jobs, executive clemency is the proper and just course.
Of course, some folks in the right-wing blogosphere are going nuts. And Kaine is taking major hits for this, with opportunistic politicians (excuse the oxymoron!) taking potshots.
But today, Virginia has a governor it can be proud of.
A governor with guts. A governor who did the right thing.
Which is exactly and precisely as it should be. Which is exactly and precisely what has been called for all along.
When the state and the courts cannot or will not do their jobs, executive clemency is the proper and just course.
Of course, some folks in the right-wing blogosphere are going nuts. And Kaine is taking major hits for this, with opportunistic politicians (excuse the oxymoron!) taking potshots.
But today, Virginia has a governor it can be proud of.
A governor with guts. A governor who did the right thing.
Kaine did it.
He did it. He stayed Walton's execution for six months, pending an independent review of Walton's mental capacity.
Which is exactly and precisely as it should be. Which is exactly and precisely what has been called for all along.
When the state and the courts cannot or will not do their jobs, executive clemency is the proper and just course.
Of course, some folks in the right-wing blogosphere are going nuts. And Kaine is taking major hits for this, with opportunistic politicians (excuse the oxymoron!) taking potshots.
But today, Virginia has a governor it can be proud of.
A governor with guts. A governor who did the right thing.
Which is exactly and precisely as it should be. Which is exactly and precisely what has been called for all along.
When the state and the courts cannot or will not do their jobs, executive clemency is the proper and just course.
Of course, some folks in the right-wing blogosphere are going nuts. And Kaine is taking major hits for this, with opportunistic politicians (excuse the oxymoron!) taking potshots.
But today, Virginia has a governor it can be proud of.
A governor with guts. A governor who did the right thing.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Regarding Percy Walton
Tonight at 9 p.m. EST the state of Virginia is scheduled to execute Percy Walton.
There is no doubt that Walton committed the crimes for which he was convicted -- he pleaded guilty in 1997 to shooting Jessie and Elizabeth Kendrick, an elderly couple, and later killing his neighbor, Archie Moore, stuffing his body in a closet and sprinkling it with cologne.
There is also no doubt that Walton is profoundly mentally ill and possibly mentally retarded. His attorneys say he believes that his execution not only will bring his victims back to life (if only!) but it might also secure him a spot on national television, raise his grandfather from the dead and earn him a trip to Burger King on a motorcycle.
Walton's attorneys say that Walton, 27, who experts have testified is mentally retarded and schizophrenic, has spent most of his time on death row pacing his cell, collecting piles of salt and pepper packets and babbling nonsensically to himself.
As has been frequentally noted on this blog, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that in order to be executed, one simply must understand that one is being executed and why one is being executed.
This bar is too high. But that notwithstanding, Walton would appear to not wholly grasp the concept of execution (unless there is some religion out there that I am unaware of that says when you die, you go to Burger King on a motorcycle).
There is also the question of mental retardation. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia that states can't execute mentally retarded people. Unfortunately, the Court left it to the states to define mental retardation -- and all of a sudden, lo and behold, there was hardly a single mentally retarded person among the nation's approximately 3,400 people on death row.
(Two interesting side notes. First, the state of Virginia continues to try to execute Atkins. Remember: the Supreme Court did not say that Atkins is mentally retarded. They simply said you can't execute mentally retarded people. Second, the state of Texas decades ago tried to argue "future dangerousness" in the case of one person facing a death sentence by pointing out that he was mentally retarded. Then, after Atkins v. Virginia came down the state reversed itself and argued that the inmate was not mentally retarded, even though the state had used this very argument to secure a death sentence! I'm not sure what word I'm looking for here, but perhaps "dissembling" comes to mind.)
Anyway, back to Walton. He has been measured with an IQ of 66, but according to the courts he has not proved he is mentally retarded.
Severe mental illness, and an argument for mental retardation, and yet in less than 12 hours, this execution is scheduled to go forward.
You know what? If I were a supporter of the death penalty, I would be fighting with every bit of power in me to stop this execution. It plainly demonstrates what a mockery the death penalty system (and appellate system) is.
We're really about to execute someone who thinks that after the execution he is going to ride to Burger King on a motorcycle?
Come now.
Governor Kaine, are you listening? You now have 11 hours to stop this madness.
There is no doubt that Walton committed the crimes for which he was convicted -- he pleaded guilty in 1997 to shooting Jessie and Elizabeth Kendrick, an elderly couple, and later killing his neighbor, Archie Moore, stuffing his body in a closet and sprinkling it with cologne.
There is also no doubt that Walton is profoundly mentally ill and possibly mentally retarded. His attorneys say he believes that his execution not only will bring his victims back to life (if only!) but it might also secure him a spot on national television, raise his grandfather from the dead and earn him a trip to Burger King on a motorcycle.
Walton's attorneys say that Walton, 27, who experts have testified is mentally retarded and schizophrenic, has spent most of his time on death row pacing his cell, collecting piles of salt and pepper packets and babbling nonsensically to himself.
As has been frequentally noted on this blog, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that in order to be executed, one simply must understand that one is being executed and why one is being executed.
This bar is too high. But that notwithstanding, Walton would appear to not wholly grasp the concept of execution (unless there is some religion out there that I am unaware of that says when you die, you go to Burger King on a motorcycle).
There is also the question of mental retardation. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia that states can't execute mentally retarded people. Unfortunately, the Court left it to the states to define mental retardation -- and all of a sudden, lo and behold, there was hardly a single mentally retarded person among the nation's approximately 3,400 people on death row.
(Two interesting side notes. First, the state of Virginia continues to try to execute Atkins. Remember: the Supreme Court did not say that Atkins is mentally retarded. They simply said you can't execute mentally retarded people. Second, the state of Texas decades ago tried to argue "future dangerousness" in the case of one person facing a death sentence by pointing out that he was mentally retarded. Then, after Atkins v. Virginia came down the state reversed itself and argued that the inmate was not mentally retarded, even though the state had used this very argument to secure a death sentence! I'm not sure what word I'm looking for here, but perhaps "dissembling" comes to mind.)
Anyway, back to Walton. He has been measured with an IQ of 66, but according to the courts he has not proved he is mentally retarded.
Severe mental illness, and an argument for mental retardation, and yet in less than 12 hours, this execution is scheduled to go forward.
You know what? If I were a supporter of the death penalty, I would be fighting with every bit of power in me to stop this execution. It plainly demonstrates what a mockery the death penalty system (and appellate system) is.
We're really about to execute someone who thinks that after the execution he is going to ride to Burger King on a motorcycle?
Come now.
Governor Kaine, are you listening? You now have 11 hours to stop this madness.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Happy birthday to Blog
Somehow we missed the blog's birthday last Friday -- must be all the excitement we're having around here!
This blog was born on June 2, 2004. Since then, a little more than 67,000 of you have stopped by for a visit.
We appreciate it, and we'll try to keep the blog interesting, fresh and vital.
This blog was born on June 2, 2004. Since then, a little more than 67,000 of you have stopped by for a visit.
We appreciate it, and we'll try to keep the blog interesting, fresh and vital.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
A third way on the death penalty?
This week Gallup released new poll numbers on the death penalty. A plurality of Americans now prefer life sentences (48%) over the death penalty (47%), even though 65% of Americans do not oppose the death penalty in the abstract. The difference between these two numbers is arguably the most important statistic in the Gallup poll and in the current discussion on the death penalty, the growing number of Americans who favor the death penalty in the abstract but would not themselves impose it and do not believe it is necessarily good policy.
The coordinating efforts by such groups as NCADP, Equal Justice USA, and their financial backers, have helped grow this new demographic by opening up dialogue between groups who have historically opposed the death penalty and others such that may share a common interest, such as pro-life groups, evangelicals and libertarians. Gallup's questions indicate that this group of "morally support but in practice favor life" consists of approximately 1 in 6 Americans. This numbers has been growing every year. Perhaps the Gallup poll's findings could be best summed up in the words of the Cato Institute's founder, Edward H. Crane, "[m]y own view on capital punishment is that it is morally justified, but that the government is often so inept and corrupt that innocent people might die as a result. Thus, I personally oppose capital punishment."
The results of this outreach are being felt beyond polls like Gallup. Death row today is almost 10% lower than it was at the turn of the millennia due chiefly to a lower number of new death sentences. While part of that reduction may be due to other factors, the decline in death sentences seemingly buttress Gallup's findings, a third way on the death penalty, those who are not opposed morally to the death penalty but think that there is a better way than governments killing what they deem to be its worst miscreants.
The coordinating efforts by such groups as NCADP, Equal Justice USA, and their financial backers, have helped grow this new demographic by opening up dialogue between groups who have historically opposed the death penalty and others such that may share a common interest, such as pro-life groups, evangelicals and libertarians. Gallup's questions indicate that this group of "morally support but in practice favor life" consists of approximately 1 in 6 Americans. This numbers has been growing every year. Perhaps the Gallup poll's findings could be best summed up in the words of the Cato Institute's founder, Edward H. Crane, "[m]y own view on capital punishment is that it is morally justified, but that the government is often so inept and corrupt that innocent people might die as a result. Thus, I personally oppose capital punishment."
The results of this outreach are being felt beyond polls like Gallup. Death row today is almost 10% lower than it was at the turn of the millennia due chiefly to a lower number of new death sentences. While part of that reduction may be due to other factors, the decline in death sentences seemingly buttress Gallup's findings, a third way on the death penalty, those who are not opposed morally to the death penalty but think that there is a better way than governments killing what they deem to be its worst miscreants.
DPIC, the Travelling Jesuit over at the TCASK & my own blog have more.
Friday, June 02, 2006
What do Tennessee, Texas and Virginia have in common?
Each state is preparing to execute a severely mentally ill person. We're not talking about run-of-the-mill mental illness. We're talking totally whacked.
Okay, so "totally whacked" isn't a medical or scientific term. But consider:
believes that he is the target of surveillance and abuse by the “military government” which has manipulated his life and decisions since the 1980s. Reid writes that since 1985, “most every person who has any type of association or contact with me, usually first has to go through the military government.”
This includes, according to Reid, his attorneys, who he believes are under the control of the military government, and nearly every other person he has ever met. He believes that the “military government” has been using him as a lab rat, denying him success to try to force him to commit crimes. Without this interference, Reid says, he would have several law degrees, practice in a huge Houston firm, have a beautiful wife, and be rich. He even believes that the government possesses surveillance tapes that would exonerate him, but that it refuses to release them.
While awaiting trial, Walton expressed his belief that he could not be seen if he had his eyes closed. He also told his relatives he was Jesus Christ and that he was a millionaire. He told others he looked forward to his execution because then he would be able to return to life immediately and resurrect his dead family members. In 1999, a psychiatrist, a neuropsychologist and a neurologist assessed Walton's mental health for his appeals and found that he suffers from severe chronic schizophrenia.
Years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that a person could be executed as long as he understands that is being executed and why he is being executed. Putting aside for a moment the fact that all three of these men should be spared under the Ford v. Wainwright standard, the bar set by the U.S. Supreme Court for establishing mental illness is simply too high.
Culpability is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system. If I commit murder, I am much more culpable for my actions than a person who is severely mentally ill, severely mentally retarded, etc. Put another way, an 8-year-old who does something wrong is less culpable than an adult who does something wrong -- that is why we do not send 8-year-olds to prison.
Many people don't realize that of the 3,300-plus people on death rows across the country, hundreds of people are severely mentally ill. The New York Times has a front-page story that examines this issue. It's worth a read. You can find it here.
Okay, so "totally whacked" isn't a medical or scientific term. But consider:
- In Tennessee, Paul Dennis Reid faces a June 28 execution date despite the fact that a neurologist found that Reed has a "chronic, schizophrenia-like psychosis which has severely impaired his ability to weigh, deliberate, inform, and cooperate.”
believes that he is the target of surveillance and abuse by the “military government” which has manipulated his life and decisions since the 1980s. Reid writes that since 1985, “most every person who has any type of association or contact with me, usually first has to go through the military government.”
This includes, according to Reid, his attorneys, who he believes are under the control of the military government, and nearly every other person he has ever met. He believes that the “military government” has been using him as a lab rat, denying him success to try to force him to commit crimes. Without this interference, Reid says, he would have several law degrees, practice in a huge Houston firm, have a beautiful wife, and be rich. He even believes that the government possesses surveillance tapes that would exonerate him, but that it refuses to release them.
- In Texas, Scott Panetti is down to his final appeals and an execution date could be set soon. Panetti represented himself at trial and wore cowboy costumes to court, delivered rambling monologues, put himself on the witness stand and sought to subpoena the pope, Jesus and John F. Kennedy. David R. Dow, a law professor at the University of Houston who has met more than 75 death row inmates, visited Panetti at his lawyers' request. "Of all the people I have met on death row, he's the gold-medal-crazy winner," Professor Dow said.
- In Virginia, Percy Walton faces a June 8 execution date despite the fact that, according to his lawyers, he is a shell of a human being, severely mentally ill and cognitively impaired and completely unaware that he faces imminent execution.
While awaiting trial, Walton expressed his belief that he could not be seen if he had his eyes closed. He also told his relatives he was Jesus Christ and that he was a millionaire. He told others he looked forward to his execution because then he would be able to return to life immediately and resurrect his dead family members. In 1999, a psychiatrist, a neuropsychologist and a neurologist assessed Walton's mental health for his appeals and found that he suffers from severe chronic schizophrenia.
Years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that a person could be executed as long as he understands that is being executed and why he is being executed. Putting aside for a moment the fact that all three of these men should be spared under the Ford v. Wainwright standard, the bar set by the U.S. Supreme Court for establishing mental illness is simply too high.
Culpability is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system. If I commit murder, I am much more culpable for my actions than a person who is severely mentally ill, severely mentally retarded, etc. Put another way, an 8-year-old who does something wrong is less culpable than an adult who does something wrong -- that is why we do not send 8-year-olds to prison.
Many people don't realize that of the 3,300-plus people on death rows across the country, hundreds of people are severely mentally ill. The New York Times has a front-page story that examines this issue. It's worth a read. You can find it here.
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