Archive for

June, 2011



New Book Looks at Collateral Damage of Death Penalty

In his new book, The Ultimate Sanction: Understanding the Death Penalty Through Its Many Voices and Many Sides, Dr. Robert M. Bohm examines capital punishment through interviews with victims’ and offenders’ families, prosecutors, investigators, judges, and prison wardens. Bohm, a professor of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida, suggests that we must, “begin to understand the reach of capital punishment beyond just the victim and the perpetrator.” Throughout the book Bohm explores issues of deterrence, retribution, and fairness, concluding that society would be wise to consider the collateral damage of the death penalty when issuing the ultimate sanction.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile malfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be so dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Federal Judge Rules Florida Death Penalty Procedure Unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled last Monday that Florida’s death penalty sentencing procedure, which does not require juries to make specific findings regarding the factors that make a murder case death eligible, is unconstitutional.  Legal experts across the state suggest that the ruling could have a significant impact on a number of cases and may even lead to stays of execution. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez found that Florida’s current sentencing procedures violate a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision that stuck down portions of Arizona’s death penalty statutes.  In giving his ruling, Martinez wrote, “The defendant has no way of knowing whether or not the jury found the same aggravating factors as the judge. Indeed, the judge, unaware of the aggravating factor or factors found by the jury, may find an aggravating circumstance that was not found by the jury.”

Following the ruling, Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, spoke not only about the ruling, but systemic problems plaguing Florida’s death penalty system. “This is yet another sign of the systematic injustices that make up Florida’s death penalty system, which is already plagued by wrongful convictions, racial inequities, the highest rate of exonerations and inadequate legal representation. As the foundation of Florida’s death penalty system continues to crumble, it becomes harder to justify.”

Martinez’s decision came in the case of Paul Evans, who will now get a new sentencing hearing. Evans’ murder conviction still stands.

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Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as soul trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be highly dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile disfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

DPIC Publishes New Report on 35th Anniversary of Death Penalty Reinstatement

Entitled “Struck by Lightning: The Continuing Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty Thirty-Five Years After Its Reinstatement in 1976,” this report by the Death Penalty Information Center details how despite years of attempted reform, the use of capital punishment in the U.S.  remains “arbitrary and unfair.” In conjunction with statistics showing disparities grounded in geography, race, and socioeconomic status, the report also explains how the majority of Justices serving on the Supreme Court in 1976 have since determined that the “death penalty experiment failed.” The report concludes, “Thirty-five years of experience have taught the futility of trying to fix this system.  Many of those who favored the death penalty in the abstract have come to view its practice very differently.  They have reached the conclusion that if society’s ultimate punishment cannot be applied fairly, it should not be applied at all.”

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Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as soul trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be so dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Tennessee Supreme Court Allows for DNA Test

On June 16, the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the ruling of a lower court allowing for Rudolph Powers to finally get DNA testing that could prove his innocence. Powers has spent 30 years in a Tennessee prison on two rape convictions. At the age of 21, he was arrested in Memphis near a shopping center where he worked. He has always maintained that he was misidentified by the victims and did not commit the rapes. Powers was sentenced to life and 50 years to run consecutively. He is now 51 years old.

Prosecutors argued to the Court that even if DNA results taken from one of the rape kits excluded Powers, the test wouldn’t prove innocence because the evidence could have come from a consensual sexual partner of the victim. Lower courts agreed with prosecutors, but the state Supreme Court overturned their rulings, finding that DNA results linking the semen to someone else would cast major doubt on his conviction

Craig Cooley, staff attorney with the Innocence Project and Powers’ attorney, reacted to the news of the court’s decision saying, “I’m ecstatic. I always thought we had the law and common sense on our side.”

According to the Innocence Project, of the 272 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States, eyewitness misidentification testimony was a factor in 75% of these cases, making it the leading cause of wrongful conviction. False confessions and incriminating statements led to wrongful convictions in 25% of cases. Other factors include unvalidated or improper forensic science and relying on the testimony of jailhouse snitches. 

These DNA exonerations provide irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions are not rare events, and neither are they isolated, having occurred in 34 states. Still, though DNA is an amazing tool, many cases do not have DNA evidence available to test. Since 1973, 138 individuals have been released from death rows nationwide when evidence of their wrongful convictions emerged. However, DNA was a factor in only 17 of these cases.
If Mr. Powers had received a death sentence, he would likely, after 30 years, have already been executed by the state of Tennessee.  We cannot risk the execution of the innocent by continuing to use the death penalty. Two men who spent 20 years each on Tennessee’s death row were freed when the courts finally heard the evidence of their wrongful convictions–including DNA. Other inmates in Tennessee, like Clark McMillan, have also been released because  of DNA evidence after serving decades in prisons for crimes that they didn’t commit. There is too much room for error in our current system to justify the use of the death penalty with alternative sentencing available.
Finally, Rudolph Powers will now get his test and his day in court.
 
Read more.         

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Procedural Limitations May Allow Texas Inmate with an Intellectual Disability to be Executed

In 2002 the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute individuals with intellectual disabilities. In spite of this ruling, Texas appears poised to execute Milton Mathias. Mathias, whose I.Q. of 62 places him well below the guidelines established in Atkins v. Virginia, was convicted in 1999 . A recent op-ed piece in the Houston Chronicle, offers a brief overview of Mathias’ case, including a report by an experienced f0rensic psychologist that Mathias has an intellectual disability. The author of the article also points out that the federal judge who denied a stay of execution for Mathias failed to realize that her ruling would preclude litigation in state district court. By the time the judge realized her error, the case had moved out of her jurisdiction. With the execution scheduled for today, Mathias’ fate now rests in the hands of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Governor Rick Perry. In speaking about the case,  Andrea Keilen, executive director of the Texas Defender Service, pointed out, “What is really troubling is that in this case process has trumped substance. The evidence of mental retardation is compelling, overwhelming, and, because the state courts heard it, the federal courts have not allowed the evidence to be introduced.”

As much as we all wish Milton Mathias’ story to be an isolated incident, we know that it is not. Whether by error or intent, people with intellectual disabilities are sentenced to death and executed in our country every year. Our system is not  fail-safe, nor will it ever be. Allowing the execution of someone with an intellectual disability reflects a facet of our national psyche unbecoming of a civilized society.

The issue is not accountability. If someone is found competent to stand trial, then he or she can be found guilty and sentenced for the crime.  Society must be protected from dangerous individuals.  The question is not about  guilt or innocence, but sentencing.  Do we really believe that people with intellectual disabilities or those suffering from psychotic delusions because of a severe mental illness are the worst of the worst and should be executed when there are other sentences available?  Is this the kind of society we want to be?

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Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be very dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Iowa Law Professor Leaves Legacy of Outstanding Research and Concern for Others

David Baldus, renowned death penalty researcher and Iowa University law professor, died Monday, June 13th. During his time at Iowa, Baldus “taught criminal law, anti-discrimination law, capital punishment and federal criminal law, and was nationally recognized for his research on the death penalty.” His most influential research involved studying capital cases in Georgia during the 1970s and 1980s. Baldus and his fellow researchers found that defendants accused of murdering a white person were 4.3 times more likely to receive the death penalty than defendants who were accused of murdering a person of color. Considered a consummate professional, Baldus received national attention when his reports were cited in McKlesky v. Kemp, a U.S. Supreme Court case involving racial discrimination and the death penalty. While many will remember him for his excellent research, others, such as University of Iowa Law Professor Josephine Gittler, will remember a “wonderful friend and colleague.” Sandy Boyd, former president of the University of Iowa echoed similar sentiments. ” He was one of the nation’s outstanding law professors and a great citizen of the university. He had a great warmth and concern for others.”

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Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness conditions that can be highly dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Danish Company Toughens Stance on Use of Execution Drug

Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck Inc. will now be doing more to ensure one of their products, pentobarbital, is not used to execute people. Lundbeck Inc., the sole U.S. manufacturer of the drug, released a statement pointing to new protocol, such as switching to specialist wholesalers and “end user clauses”, which should make it more difficult for states to obtain the drug for executions. The company’s chief executive, Ulf Wiinberg, also took the step of sending letters to state officials “warning that it is not safe to use the drug in untested ways, including in lethal injection protocols.” Wiinberg made it clear that Lundbeck Inc. is “willing to try to stop Nembutal’s (pentobarbital) misuse even if we can’t guarantee that it will necessarily work. Obviously we would like to do the right thing.” Several states began using pentobarbital following a shortage of sodium thiopental, including Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

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Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile disfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be highly dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile disfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

North Carolina House of Representatives Passes Bill Exempting People with Mental Illness from Capital Punishment

Last week the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill that will keep people with severe and persistent mental illness off death row. The bill, according to sponsor Sarah Stevens, states that if “someone has a severe mental disability they shall not receive capital punishment.” For defendants to meet the requirements outlined in the bill, they must have a documented history of mental illness prior to committing the crime.  Representative Rick Glazier emphasized this point, arguing, “the important thing to summarize is this is not the person who comes in and who is slightly depressed or ate a package of Twinkies that day and got a sugar high. This is the person who has the severe pervasive mental disability. The defense has the burden of proof to show and to ultimately prove to the jury or judge by clear convincing evidence that the mental disability manifested some time prior to the act.” Defendants who are found to have a history of mental illness can still be found guilty and are only exempted from capital punishment. Proponents of the bill also argue that, if enacted, the new law will save the North Carolina Department of Justice from subsequent appeals that are the norm when mental health becomes a factor in trials. Such appeals cost the state roughly $10,080 per hearing. Having passed in the House of Representatives, the bill will now be taken up in the Senate.

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Photo provided by Dave Crosby

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile malfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as soul trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Mental Illness Causes Mixed Emotions in Victims’ Family Members

In describing her immediate feelings toward Jared Loughner, the man who shot her and killed six others, Suzi Hileman used to speak of hate. That was before Hileman and her husband saw Loughner in court, where he was found incompetent to stand trial. When asked how she felt after the hearing, one in which Loughner acted out and had to be restrained by federal marshals, Hileman recounts a range of emotions.

“I went from fury to sad, and I don’t want to be sad. I don’t want to be sad.”

Her husband offers similar sentiments, calling Loughner, “pitiful” and childlike.  The Hilemans response rings true for a number of victim’s family members who encounter a defendant with a mental illness.

Nick and Amanda Wilcox, whose daughter, Laura, was murdered in 2001 at behavioral health clinic, also struggled when their daughter’s murderer, Scott Thorpe, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

“I don’t like the name of it. He is guilty. He did do it.”

Thorpe was later made competent to stand trial and sentenced to life in prison at the Napa State Hospital.  Since their daughter’s murder, the Wilcoxes have traveled the country, including Tennessee, advocating for mental health reform and death penalty repeal.

The experiences of the Hilemans and the Wilcoxes highlight the need for change in how we address and adjudicate crimes where the defendant shows clear signs of severe and persistent mental illness. We need a system that takes into consideration the need for accountability, but also recognizes the limited culpability of many with severe and persistent mental illness. One possible solution is being discussed in the North Carolina legislature this week. The bill, which will come before the House of Representatives either today or sometime next week, would require a pretrial hearing to determine if a defendant has severe mental disability that significantly impairs a persons ability to “appreciate the nature, consequences, or wrongfulness of the person’s conduct in the criminal offense; exercise rational judgment in relation to the criminal offense; or conform the person’s conduct to the requirements of law in connection with criminal offense.” If the defendant is found to fit the requirements, the trial would proceed, but the death penalty would be prohibited. This would allow for a guilty verdict while still recognizing the limited culpability of the defendant, not only acknowledging the seriousness of the illness, but avoiding a protracted appeals process for the victims’ families while saving the state millions of dollars.

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Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile disfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be very dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

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