Every so often, the gallop poll asks its respondents about the death penalty, and the results are always illuminating. Gallop’s most recent results show, what I think demonstrates the big disconnect in our thinking in America about the death penalty.

When asked straight up if they support the death penalty about two-thirds (65%) of respondents answer yes. This number hasn’t really changed in the last twenty years. But it’s when we get into the next questions that things get interesting. When asked which they would favor, the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for murder, LWOP actually leads executions by a statistically insignificant 1 % (48% to 47%). What this says is that the vast majority of Americans don’t want the death penalty; they want to be safe i. e. not have convicted murderers back out on the street, which is a perfectly understandable sentiment. So when they’re offered the possibility of LWOP, most find that acceptable.

Then, for me, things get really interesting, in the next two items:

1) the majority of Americans think an innocent person has been executed in the last five years.

2) only one in five Americans think that the death penalty serves as any kind of a deterrent.

So most Americans think that innocent people get executed and that executions don’t deter other murders. So why would anyone still support the death penalty? Two answers spring to mind. The first is ignorance. Perhaps everyone doesn’t know just how serious the problem with convicting the innocent is, or that the death penalty is extremely economically biased, or that it targets the mentally ill. One of the most common arguments made against LWOP is that it costs tax payers too much. Of course, this argument doesn’t stand up to the facts. Every legitimate study finds that the cost of the death penalty is far greater than that of LWOP.

The other reason, is strict vengeance. This is the justification that we can’t argue with as easily. The drive for vengeance is not a rational one, and the rational arguments just discussed make little headway. What we can say is that emotions like vengeance are a very poor basis for public policy. So let’s talk about the public policy. And this one simply fails the test. The good news in the poll is that more and more Americans are realizing this.

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well that’s how adam liptak and ralph blumenthal put it in their article published in the ny times today…though it’s not exactly how i would have phrased the question..;.

but with paul reid, darryl holton, and stephen hugueley all trying to give up their appeals and all suffering from severe mental illness it is the issue we will be discussing and dissecting in detail over the next 12 weeks…

but check out what the national alliance on mental illness, the national association of social workers, and the national mental health association all have to say on the issue…

to read judging whether a killer is sane enough to die just click here (you will need to create a free id and password to enter the ny times web site if you don’t already have one) …

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 claim 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 heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very 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.

while the tennessee supreme court just set a june 28th execution date for sedley alley it should be noted that one justice dissented in the order…

retiring justice adolpho birch, jr. has consistently objected to death sentences in tennessee because the state has no functioning proportionality review in place …

we will miss justice birch high standard of ethical behavior regarding this issue…

meanwhile we have 2 executions scheduled for june 28th … gotta get back to work …

peace out – <3

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 claim 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 disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be very much 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.

Today the Tennessee Supreme Court set and execution date for Sedley Alley – despite the existence of DNA evidence that has never been tested which could prove his innocence. When is the execution? one might ask. The answer: June 28th.

Now ignoring the fact that the date is very near at hand, that date might sound familiar to you. Why? Because it is the same date that Paul Reid is scheduled to die!

There is much to write, so many things wrong, that it is almost hard to choose, but this is a unique moment to focus on other hidden human costs of the death penalty. The psychic strain that executions put on prison employees.

Now, whether or not you believe in the death penalty, taking a healthy man from his cell in the middle of the night, strapping him to a gurney, and slowly poisoning him, is not an easy task. Executioners in the middle ages were shrouded, to hide them, separate them, from their unseemly task. Today, corrections officers don’t wear shrouds, but are protected by endless protocol. Members of a strap down team all have individual, compartmentalized tasks. One straps down the right arm, another the left leg. A different technician inserts the needles, yet another person pushes the button that begins the flow of deadly chemicals. All of these procedures are meant to separate any one person from the psychic trauma of killing a person. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence suggests that the strain of participating in an execution can be serious. In his book, Death at Midnight: Confessions of an Executioner, former Mississippi warden Don Cabana relates his own experiences with two executions after which he had to leave his job. Here in Tennessee, guards from unit 2 (death row) are not assigned to strap-down teams; participating in the execution of a person they have been personally guarding is deemed too hard.

Now imagine all that strain. All the tension in the prison. All the press and media. All the energy draining experiences of dealing with the families of the executed and the victim. And now imagine it all doubled because the state of Tennessee has chosen to execute two men in the same night. Imagine slowly leading the sobbing members of the executed inmates family out of their viewing room only to know that another man was saying his last goodbyes and that, a few hours later you would have escort his sobbing loved ones out as well. Imagine having to give the order to proceed, a heart-wrenching order, even if you are just doing your job and believe that it is right, not once, but twice in one evening.

Imagine it all, if you can.

I’m not sure that I can or want to imagine the pain and stress that such a double killing could exact on corrections officers. But I think it once again shows that, in pursuing executions, the state isn’t concerned about people, even its own employees. It is interested in revenge. I hope and pray, for all of our sakes, that we can find another way.

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 malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness 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 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.

Paul Bottei and Kelley Henry, Sedley Alley’s lawyers, have presented two well thought out and reasoned responses to the Attorney General’s request for a new execution date being set. They make the excellent point that it is absurd to imagine that all the legal proceedings for determining if DNA testing should occur will be completed by June 1 (the original date requested by Paul Summers) or any date in the very immediate future.

You can read the initial brief here: http://www.tncourts.gov/OPINIONS/TSC/CapCases/Alley/05312006/opposesetdate.pdf

And the supplemental brief here: http://www.tncourts.gov/OPINIONS/TSC/CapCases/Alley/05312006/supp.pdf

The number one reason Tennessee has had only one execution in the last forty years is lawyers like these making terrific arguments and keeping their clients alive.

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 soul trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness 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.

Yesterday, Judge Otis Higgs of Memphis, issued his formal opinion rejecting Sedley Alley’s request for DNA testing. As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the judge refused to even hear the testimony of two expert witnesses from the defense, but, sadly, the failure of justice didn’t stop there.

Reading Judge Higgs’ opinion yesterday evening, I couldn’t help but be astonished at the lengths to which our criminal justice system can go to avoid fairness. The legalese and myopic focus of judges, prosecutors, and sometimes Governors and state representatives as well quite simply shocks me.

For a taste, the Judge refused to hear testimony from a private investigator showing the many problems with the Sedley Alley conviction. Evidence that Alley was under police surveillance at the time the murder occurred for instance. Or evidence pointing to another man as the potential killer. In fact the judge referred numerous times to the “overwhelming” evidence against Alley, and specifically focused on Alley’s supposed confession.

If you’ve been following this case, this should strike you as very surprising. It’s true, Alley gave a “detailed confession,” but the supposed details simply do not match those of the crime! The Judge even references this (obliquely) in his opinion saying that Alley claimed to have stabbed Marie Collins in the head with the pointed end of the screwdriver, and then saying that the medical examiner stated that the wound on Collins’ head could have been made by being struck by a screwdriver – but not by the pointed end! In 1989, eight different people confessed to being the Central Park rapist – and they all turned out to be innocent! Now of course all of this could be settled by a legitimate taping of Alley’s entire confession, as mandated by law, but of a more than 2 hour confession, less than 1 hour is on tape, with seven different places where the tape was stopped.

But since this evidence wasn’t presented at trial (some had been withheld from the defense until recently), Judge Higgs refused to hear any of it, allowing him legal cover in continually referring to the supposedly overwhelming evidence.

And this cover was important, because the “strong” case against Alley was Judge Higgs’ reason to deny DNA testing. Apparently, with such an air-tight case, DNA pointing to another culprit would not absolutely have exonerated Alley, and therefore, he shouldn’t be allowed to proceed with the testing.

As unbelievable as the previous statement may have been, it gets worse. The state argued that many of the pieces of evidence couldn’t be tested because they had been destroyed or not maintained adequately. Wait! What!? That’s right, the state has destroyed or contaminated evidence, including fluid samples and the tree branch so central to the case, so it should be allowed to execute Alley.

Now I know that this has been a long post, so let’s review some quick points:

1) The state withheld evidence at trial, so that evidence is now inadmissible

2) The police improperly failed to record all of Alley’s supposed confession

3) The state has destroyed or contaminated a large amount of potential DNA evidence, making it unavailable for testing.

4) The state claims that even if another person’s semen, saliva, blood, and hair was found on Suzanne Collins’ body, the conviction of Sedley Alley would still have gone without a hitch.

5) The Tennessee Supreme Court is likely to set another execution date for Alley today.

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 soundness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction 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 malfunction 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.