A recent Associated Press article highlighted the important role that murder victims’ family members played in last week’s passage of the death penalty repeal bill in Connecticut. Nearly 180 relatives of crime victims urged their legislators to repeal the death penalty by sharing their stories in private meetings with them, organizing petition drives, and speaking out at news conferences.

Although it is unusual to have such a large number of murder victims’ families involved in a repeal campaign, victims have been and continue to be an important part of abolition efforts throughout the country.  Speaking from their own experiences, these families find that seeking the death penalty is a long, painful, and uncertain process that only prolongs their suffering. It also diverts millions of dollars that could be better spent on needed support services for victims’ families, as well as on resources to help solve murder cases.

As other states move closer to repeal, we are hopeful that lawmakers will not only consider the extreme costs, risk of innocence, and unfairness of the death penalty, but will also listen carefully to those most affected by murder and weigh the variety of concerns articulated by these families.

(Photo: Victoria Coward, Taila Levine and Winston Levine, the mother, sister and father respectively of New Haven homicide victim Tyler Coward (pictured as baby) attended a press conference to show their opposition to the death penalty. Brad Horrigan/New Haven Register) .

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 soul trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction 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.

Late last night, the Connecticut House of Representatives passed the repeal bill 86-62, receiving bi-partisan support after nearly 10 hours of debate. The legislation passed the state Senate last week and now heads to Governor Daniel Malloy, who has said he will sign the bill into law, making Connecticut the 17th state to abolish the death penalty, and the fifth in the last five years.

Congratulations to all of those who have worked so hard for years to make this happen!

(Photo: Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey gives a last speech before the state House of Representatives voted to repeal the death penalty. Credit: John Woike via the Hartford Courant)

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 malfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness 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 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.

This week, a man who was facing the death penalty is being given a second chance in court. In 1999, Timothy McKinney was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of Donald Williams, an off-duty Memphis police officer, who was working as a security guard at Crumpy’s Comedy Club in Memphis on Christmas night. Earlier that evening, McKinney had an altercation with Williams and police quickly identified him as the suspect after Williams was shot later that night in the back of the neck. McKinney has always maintained his innocence.

In 2010, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals granted McKinney a new trial after reviewing the troubling facts of his case. They ruled that McKinney’s representation at trial created “cumulative prejudice of such magnitude” that his right to a fair proceeding was prejudiced. The court stated, “there is reasonable probability that, absent their deficiencies, the outcome of both the guilt phase and the sentencing phase of the trial would have been different. The nature and extent of counsel’s deficiencies rendered the entire proceeding fundamentally unfair.”

McKinney’s new trial began this Monday in Shelby County. TADP is hopeful the grave doubts in this case will finally be addressed.

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 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 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.

After 11 hours of impassioned debate, the Connecticut Senate voted 20-16 to repeal the state’s death penalty early Thursday morning. The bill will now go before the House of Representatives, which is expected to pass it, and then to the desk of Governor Dannel Malloy, who has promised to sign it into law.

This has been a long battle for abolitionists in Connecticut. In 2009, state lawmakers in both houses tried to pass a similar bill, but were ultimately blocked by then Governor Jodi Rell. The legislation was halted again last year when two Democratic legislators changed their minds after speaking with Dr. William Petit, an outspoken death penalty supporter and the only survivor of a 2007 triple murder that took the lives of his wife and two daughters. The two defendants in that case have since been sentenced to death row, and senators who were influenced by the case were able to now support repeal. The bill would abolish the death penalty for all future cases and does not directly affect sentences of current death row inmates. There are currently 11 inmates on death row in Connecticut, and there has only been one execution in the state in 51 years.

TADP congratulates our colleagues in Connecticut who have worked so hard to make repeal a reality. If the legislation moves forward as expected, Connecticut would become the fifth state in five years to abandon this costly, unfair, and broken system.

(Image: The Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford. Source: Yale Daily News / Wikipedia)

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 health 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 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.

Twenty people from across Tennessee gathered at the state capitol yesterday for TADP’s annual Justice Day on the Hill. We met with state lawmakers to educate them about our broken death penalty system and why it must be repealed.

Among our number were murder victims’ family members who shared their stories and opposition to the death penalty, explaining that it is a painful, lengthy process that diverts resources away from critical services for victims as well as from solving cold cases. Paul House, one of Tennessee’s three exonerees, and his mother, Joyce House, also made visits, sharing Paul’s story of being locked up on death row for nearly 23 years before evidence of his wrongful conviction emerged.

Members of both parties engaged in thoughtful conversations with TADP supporters and seemed more open than ever to discussing the issue and listening to the concerns. Tennesseans are growing increasingly concerned about this issue and its impact on our state, and lawmakers are aware of this changing reality.

Thank you to all of those who participated in our lobby day. With your continued effort, support, education and persistence, Tennessee will one day end the death penalty as we hope Connecticut is ready to do, even as I am writing this blog.

After  years of organizing and educating, Connecticut’s Senate is scheduled to vote on repeal today. If the bill passes the Senate, it will then go before the House for a vote and then to Governor Malloy, who has already committed to signing it. This would make Connecticut the 5th state to abolish the death penalty in five years, following Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, and New York. Go Connecticut!!!

Photo credit: By Chris1050

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 disfunction can be the symptom a strong health 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 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.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in favor of death row inmates in Tennessee, Arizona, and California who fought to keep sodium thiopental, an anesthetic that has long been used as part of the three-drug cocktail in lethal injections, from entering the country.

Last year the U.S. manufacturer of the drug announced that they would no longer produce it. While some states switched to pentobarbital, other states have still been trying to obtain sodium thiopental from overseas manufacturers. Judge Leon agreed with the plaintiffs in this case, insisting that the Food and Drug Administration is breaking the law by allowing the importation of this unapproved drug. Though the FDA has declined to comment on the ruling, the Obama administration had argued that it had discretion to allow unapproved drugs into the U.S. and contended that the death row inmates lacked standing.

Leon, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, went even further than blocking the FDA from allowing the drug into the country and scolding them for “stubbornly clinging to every last ounce of [their] discretionary authority.” He also ordered them to immediately notify state correctional departments who have foreign-manufactured sodium thiopental and inform them that it is illegal to use it and that they must return the drug to the FDA.

Brad Berenson, a lawyer for the death row inmates, said that “it was especially gratifying that the court recognized that even the most despised members of our society are entitled to the protections Congress gave to all Americans in the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.”

Judge Leon wrote “Here, the threatened injury–that unapproved foreign thiopental will fail to anesthetize plaintiffs properly during execution, causing conscious suffocation, pain, and cardiac arrest– is, to say the least, severe. Indeed, few in our society are more vulnerable than a death row inmate facing lethal injection.”

(photo credit: darrenjsylvester)

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 malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile disfunction 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 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.

The defendant has already been found guilty, and now the jurors must decide his fate: life or death.  On Sunday, March 18, the more than 100 people who gathered at St. Henry’s Church in Nashville were charged with making such a decision in the sentencing trial of Jesus, set in a modern day courtroom.

Illinois public defender Jeanne Bishop and former federal prosecutor and professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota, Mark Osler, served as the attorneys in the trial, along with their co-counsel who are both students of Mark’s.  Mark and Jeanne have enacted the trial in several states and just a few weeks ago, enacted it before a packed house at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee.

Mark had the idea for this trial about a decade ago and began researching the parallels between Jesus sentencing and death and modern death penalty laws. This research led to his book,  Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment.  Mark then met Jeanne at a People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Conference in Atlanta a few years ago, and the collaboration began.

Jeanne is an elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is a long time death penalty opponent, and is a member of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights (MVFHR). Her sister, Nancy Bishop Langert, was murdered in 1990, along with Nancy’s husband and their unborn child.  Jeanne is clear that the death penalty would have done nothing to honor her sister’s memory. Instead, Jeanne left her work in corporate law to begin a career as a public defender, serving those who often have little voice or resources.

As a public defender, Jeanne represents many indigent people in her work and sees parallels between Jesus’ trial and the issues involved in defending those charged with with capital crimes today, including paid informants and questionable witnesses.

The trial itself includes testimony from several witnesses, including Simon Peter, a Roman centurion,  the rich young ruler, and Malchus–the high priest’s slave whose ear Peter severs when Malchus comes with the crowd to arrest Jesus. After the closing arguments, the audience is divided into groups to serve as the jury in order to determine sentencing.  On Sunday, all gave Jesus a sentence of less than death after deliberating for 20 minutes as to whether or not he met the aggravators for a death sentence.

No matter what the audience’s feelings about the death penalty are, Mark and Jeanne hope that this experience helps them to think about Jesus’ trial in a different way, providing a new perspective on the issue of the death penalty and the way it is currently applied and administered.

Particularly at this time of the year, as Christians experience the season of Lent through which Jesus’ followers prepare for his execution, the trial provides yet another way of living that experience anew and reflecting on its implications for the death penalty today, a penalty primarily affecting the poor, people of color, and those with mental illness or disability.

Thanks to Jeanne and Mark and St. Henry’s for a powerful  Lenten lesson.

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 soundness problem such as heart 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 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.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signing legislation to repeal that state’s death penalty. With the stroke of a pen, Illinois became the fourth state to end its use of the death penalty in just four years, joining  New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

In a recent opinion editorial, Illinois assistant public defender Charles W. Hoffman wrote, “The rightness of that decision is more clear than ever. Violent crime rates have not climbed. The public is no less safe. And the pursuit of justice has been served, not undermined.”

Between 1977 –when Illinois reinstated capital punishment– and 1999, 20 innocent men who had been sentenced to death were exonerated when evidence of their wrongful convictions emerged. In 2000, former Illinois Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on the death penalty in an effort to avoid having his state execute an innocent person and to allow time for study commissions to investigate the state’s capital punishment system. Over a decade later, it was finally concluded that the death penalty is broken beyond repair and Governor Quinn eradicated it.

The movement toward repeal continues as more and more people realize the unfairness, risk of innocence, and high costs of the death penalty. New death sentences and executions are at 40 year lows, public support for the death penalty has waned, and states like Maryland and Connecticut are close to repeal. Oregon’s governor has also halted all executions.

As we reflect on the victory in Illinois, let us recommit our efforts to ensuring that the remaining death penalty states will also realize a more efficient and effective justice system.

(Photo: Abolitionists watch IL Governor Pat Quinn sign the bill to repeal the death penalty in Illinois. Courtesy of Equal Justice USA)

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 malfunction 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 heartiness 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.

An article that appeared in today’s Bristol Herald Courier details the case of Nickolus Johnson, a Tennessee death row inmate who was sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2004 killing of Bristol Police Officer Mark Vance.  According to his attorney, Johnson is only in the beginning of his appeals process. The victim’s mother, Karen Vance, says that the process has been far too long already. Unfortunately, the reality is that the appeals process in death cases goes on for many years -even decades- putting victims families through further court dates, uncertainty, and pain.

Often those who support the death penalty argue that the lengthy process should be expedited and that it is ridiculous that it takes decades for an execution to take place after a defendant is convicted and sentenced. In Tennessee, inmates serve an average length of 22 years on death row. Such a lengthy process serves no one. However, given our fallible and convoluted system, it often takes decades to determine if someone has been wrongfully convicted.

Since 1973, 140 people have been released from death rows nationwide when evidence of their wrongful convictions emerged, three of which have been in Tennessee. In two of these Tennessee cases, it took over 20 years each for DNA evidence, demonstrating the wrongful convictions of these men, to be considered by a court.  Given the multitude of problems in these cases- inadequate counsel, mistaken eyewitness testimony,  etc.- these 140 exonerees’ lives literally depended on this appeals process. In a 2007 American Bar Association (ABA) report that outlined 93 guidelines for a fair and accurate system, Tennessee fully complied with only seven. Such results hardly give us confidence that the system is working properly.

The current system drags families like the Vances through an agonizing process, and change is desperately needed. But, because the system is not able to always get it right, the only effective solution is to repeal the death penalty, making life without parole the maximum punishment in Tennessee. Doing so would provide swifter justice for victims’ families, eliminate the risk of executing innocent people, save taxpayers millions of dollars, and still ensure public safety.

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 soundness problem such as soul 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 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.

The Baltimore Sun recently reported that a group of legal scholars and attorneys, including two former Maryland attorney generals and former Maryland governor, were sending letters and preparing a report for Maryland legislature advocating the repeal of the death penalty.

The group is focused on clearing up misconceptions about the new death penalty law passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2009. The new law primarily reformed evidentiary standards and trial procedures in death penalty cases. For example, the death penalty can only be sought when there is biological or video evidence connecting the defendant to the crime. Also, the new law added a “second phase to the sentencing trials,” which substantially adds to the cost of death penalty trials, according to Jane Henderson, executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions.

The letters and report argue that the new law does not limit the death penalty, but simply adds to its arbitrariness. Henderson commented that the evidentiary limits obscure the focus of prosecutors away from “the nature of the crime and remorse of the criminal” towards the more arbitrary fact of what kind of evidence is available. The only way to effectively eliminate these problems of arbitrariness and costs is to repeal the death penalty in Maryland.

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 dysfunction 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.