A new site launched by “Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty” demonstrates that capital punishment is no longer a partisan issue. Numerous Republicans around Montana recognize that the death penalty is a broken system that cannot be repaired and advocate for alternative sentencing.

On their website, you will find issues surrounding the death penalty that trouble these conservatives including: the extreme cost of maintaining the system, the chance for redemption, their pro-life stance, the risk of innocence, as well as concern about murder victims’ family members being dragged through a long, painful process.

They also include a list of notable conservatives, both in and outside of Montana, that are concerned about the death penalty. We applaud this organization for acknowledging and highlighting the many flaws in the death penalty system and their call for reform.

(Photo courtesy of zuzeeko.com)

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 dysfunction 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.

Georgia officials have scheduled a one-week window, beginning July 18 at noon, for the execution of intellectually disabled inmate Warren Hill for the murder of fellow inmate, Joseph Handspike, in 1990. Despite a state judge’s ruling that, under lower standards of proof, Hill indeed was intellectually disabled, the Georgia Supreme Court overruled the decision in 2003, which was upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

The execution date comes in the wake of a long legal battle over Georgia’s statute for determining if a defendant is intellectually disabled. Today, Georgia is the only state to require that defendants demonstrate their intellectual disability “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In the 2003 Georgia Supreme Court ruling, the majority justices argued that because Hill failed to clear the state’s highest bar of proof, Hill should not be exempted. The 11th Circuit’s decision concurred with this argument, contending that to be in compliance with Atkins v. Virginia (2002) the federal law “mandates that this federal court leave the Georgia Supreme Court decision alone — even if we believe it incorrect or unwise” because the authority to determine one’s intellectual capacity is given to state legislatures.

The federal abdication to state legislatures and the conflicting rulings on Hill’s intellectual capacity throughout this process demonstrate the arbitrariness in determining who is fit to be executed. While Hill may be determined to be fit for execution in Georgia, in another state, he might be protected from this sentence. This arbitrariness seems to be inconsistent with our Constitutional notions of fairness and equality before the law. Bill Kammer, one of Hill’s lawyers, said that “executing Warren Hill, a 52-year-old man whom a court has found to be more likely than not mentally retarded, would be a terrible miscarriage of justice.”

Hill’s lawyers will present to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday, July 13 at 9:00am. Please take action by signing this petition. The deadline for signatures is Thursday, July 12.

Photo courtesy of News 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 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 core 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 extremely 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.

We regret to report that on Monday, the North Carolina Legislature voted to override Governor Beverly Perdue’s veto of SB 416, a law that essentially guts the Racial Justice Act (RJA) – legislation that had allowed death row inmates to challenge their sentences by using statistics that proved racial bias played a role in their cases. The House voted 72-48 to reject the governor’s veto less than two hours after the Senate’s 31-11 vote on the bill.

Sarah Preston, Policy Director for the ACLU-North Carolina criticized the override, saying “This is a sad day for justice and for North Carolina. By gutting the Racial Justice Act, our legislature has turned its back on the overwhelming evidence of racial bias in our state’s death penalty system. Politicians have decided they would rather sweep disturbing information under the rug than work to ensure that racial bias plays no role in North Carolina’s death penalty.”

(Photo of NC Capitol courtesy of Ron’s View)

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 core 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 highly 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.

On Saturday, North Carolina Governor, Beverly Perdue, decided to veto the bill delivered to her by the North Carolina Legislature that would undermine the Racial Justice Act (RJA), a law in North Carolina that allows death row inmates to challenge their sentences based on statewide evidence of racial bias.

This is the second time that Governor Perdue has decided to veto legislation that would diminish the scope of the RJA, her first veto being in December of 2011. However, the political landscape has shifted in North Carolina with the current Legislature passing this most recent bill with enough support to override the Governor’s veto. The Senate is expected to vote on repealing the Governor’s veto today, and the House is expected to either follow or vote on Tuesday.

Despite the possibility of an overriding vote, Governor Perdue stood firmly by her convictions that the RJA was essential to ensure equality and fairness in the North Carolina justice system. In her statement about vetoing the legislation, Perdue said “It is simply unacceptable for racial prejudice to play a role in the imposition of the death penalty in North Carolina.”

Regardless of the outcome, we applaud Governor Perdue and all the advocates of North Carolina who are working to protect the gains of the RJA as a way towards a more equitable justice system for all.

Photo courtesy of the Watauga-Democrat

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 core 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 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 marks 40 years since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Furman v. Georgia, which found the application of the death penalty to be so arbitrary that it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Potter Stewart even likened receiving a death sentence to being struck by lightning. Four years later when the death penalty was reinstated, new sentencing procedures were supposed to make the system fairer and less arbitrary. But 40 years later, the death penalty system is as flawed as ever.

How can the death penalty be anything but arbitrary when factors such as the  quality of defense counsel, the race of the victim, and the county in which one is charged, continue to wield so much influence on who is sentenced to death? Evidence of arbitrariness is everywhere: 90% of Tennessee death row inmates were unable to hire their own defense at trial; a person is at least 3 times more likely to be sentenced to death if the victim is white; and approximately 40% of the inmates on Tennessee’s death row come from one county—Shelby–while half of the state’s counties have never sentenced anyone to death.

The system is so broken that the risk of executing an innocent person remains frighteningly real. Just last month, Columbia University law professor James Liebman published results of a comprehensive investigation into the case of Carlos DeLuna, who was executed in Texas in 1989. Professor Liebman concluded that DeLuna was almost certainly innocent and had been wrongly convicted “on the thinnest of evidence: a single, nighttime, cross-ethnic eyewitness identification and no corroborating forensics.”

Nationwide 140 inmates have been released from death rows when evidence of their innocence emerged, including 3 men in Tennessee. Michael McCormick and Paul House of Tennessee both spent 20 years each fighting their wrongful convictions before finally winning their freedom.

Across the country, states are moving away from the death penalty. In the last five years, five states have repealed this failed policy. TADP is working hard to educate more Tennesseans about just how broken this system is and to organize them to act.  We can’t wait on the courts to get involved but must get the word out in our local communities and reach out to our elected officials to tell them that it is time for the death penalty to go.

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

Arkansas has not carried out an execution since 2005, and it is unlikely that there will be another one in the near future since the state’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Arkansas’ lethal injection law is unconstitutional.

In a 5-2 decision, the Arkansas Supreme Court sided with 10 death row inmates who argued that the law violated the state’s separation of powers doctrine. Arkansas’ constitution states that only the legislature can set execution policy, but legislators handed over that authority to the Department of Corrections in the Method of Execution Act of 2009, letting them determine the chemicals used in lethal injections.

Unfortunately, this ruling does not abolish Arkansas’s death penalty, but  it does leave the state without a lawful way to carry out executions until a new law is passed. Since the court struck down the entire law about how the death penalty is administered, it not only stops lethal injection, but also prevents the state from using backup methods like electrocution.

It is not clear whether the state will appeal this ruling. Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe said he “will review what the options are, talk to the attorney general and key legislative leaders and will study the way other states have handled these rulings.”

The continued problems with lethal injection across the country, including in Tennessee, are symptomatic of the continued problems with the death penalty system as a whole–its lack of fairness, cost, and risk of executing an innocent person. Arkansas could spare itself a huge amount of money, bureaucracy, and human resources by ending the death penalty and applying the savings and resources to victims’ compensation and real crime prevention.

(Photo courtesy of: Arkansas Judiciary)

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 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 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.

Opal Ahrens is a pro at yard sales. She knows how to collect quality items from a variety of people and places, how to get the goods tagged and organized, and how to get the word out.  In the spring, Opal decided that she wanted to have another yard sale, but this time, she had personal inspiration–her nephew Paul House, who spent nearly 23 years on Tennessee’s death row for a crime that evidence (including DNA) demonstrated he did not commit.

Opal partnered up with Paul’s sister-in-law, Pam House, and they begin planning  a yard sale to benefit TADP.  Before this nightmare of Paul’s wrongful conviction happened to their own family, the two didn’t give the death penalty much thought. But since Paul’s ordeal, they have become passionate advocates for death penalty repeal.

Many of us feel overwhelmed when looking at a big issue like the death penalty, and we wonder how to begin to make a difference. But Opal and Pam didn’t let the task overwhelm them. Instead they focused, not on what they couldn’t do, but instead, on what they could do and then…here is the key… they did it!

Last Saturday, June 16, in Knoxville, they held a yard sale for TADP with Paul and  Joyce House helping with the sorting and labeling, and Marty, Paul’s brother, manning the money box. Marty had just come off a late shift of work with no sleep but volunteered to sit in the heat all day to help out.

The sale raised nearly $700 for TADP to continue our efforts to educate Tennesseans about the fatal flaws with the death penalty system.  But it did something else. It provided an opportunity for folks just looking for a good deal to meet Paul House, hear some of his story, and to witness a living example of the risk we take with a system so flawed that to date 140 people have been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death–and those are only the cases we know about.

This family’s commitment to the work of repeal is inspiring to me, and I wanted to share it with you. And who knows, maybe it will become a House family tradition! Not all of us have a lot of time or resources to dedicate to the work of repeal, but in big and small ways, we can make a difference. We all have some gift, skill, or passion that can be used to further the cause. Thank you House family for all your work and inspiration!

(Pictured left to right: Paul House, Joyce House, and legislative staff)

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 core trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be extremely 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.

Last Wednesday, North Carolina’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would essentially repeal the state’s Racial Justice Act, a groundbreaking law that allows a finding of racial bias in sentencing or jury selection in capital cases based on sophisticated statistical studies. The new proposed legislation would require courts to revert to the older and more problematic process of finding direct racial bias by the prosecution or jury against an individual defendant in order to reverse a death sentence, limiting courts to county or district, rather than state, statistical measures. This would drastically undermine the ability to demonstrate systemic racial bias. The Senate is expected to take up the newly proposed measure as early as Monday evening and is likely to pass the legislation with a veto-proof majority.

However, on Friday, a group of prominent civil rights leaders started a petition to urge the North Carolina Senate, the House of Representatives, the Governor and the North Carolina Council of State to stand firm in protecting civil rights and reject the bill.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is urging supporters to add their names to this important petition. Please click here in order to sign the petition and help voice your concern for preventing injustice and defending of civil rights

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 disfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as core 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 extremely 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.

On the eleventh anniversary of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh’s execution, Andrew Cohen writes in The Atlantic about a new book, Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure. In it, author Jody Lynee Madeira, an associate professor at Indiana University School of Law, examines the experiences of the survivors and victims’ families during McVeigh’s trial and execution and their struggle to find and define closure in the years since.

Madeira concludes from her interviews that closure is often a process rather than a distinctive moment or event and that each person experiences it differently, while some never do at all. It can also come in unique forms like conversations between perpetrators’ family members and victims’ families. In the book, she retells the story of Bud Welch, the father of bombing victim Julie Welch, and the relationship he formed with Timothy McVeigh’s father, Bill.

(Photo: Shari Sawyer, right, wipes a tear as she leans on the shoulder of her husband, Jay, after witnessing the execution of Timothy McVeigh via AP in The Atlantic)

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 disfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness 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 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.

Although in its 1986 ruling in Ford v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional to execute a person who is insane, every year individuals suffering from severe and persistent mental illness continue to be sentenced to death and executed in this country. A recent editorial in The New York Times highlights the case of Abdul Awkal, an Ohio death row inmate who was scheduled to be executed last Wednesday, but whose life was at least temporarily spared when Governor John Kasich granted a two week reprieve to allow for a thorough hearing.

Awkal, who was convicted of killing his wife and brother-in-law in 1992, has suffered from severe mental illness for decades. He lived through eight years of civil war in his home country of Lebanon before escaping to the U.S. and is thought to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has a history of mental breakdowns, suicidal depression, and hallucinations, and was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder. He has been deemed by several courts to be too mentally incompetent to assist in his own defense and he believes he is an advisor to the CIA and is being executed because he has angered them, and they want him dead.

Early last week, a state trial judge found that there was enough evidence to justify a hearing about Awkal’s sanity, but said there was not time to obtain witnesses, and he did not have the power to issue a stay of execution. The Ohio Supreme Court refused to grant a stay before Governor Kasich stepped in.

If a thorough review of Awkal’s history of severe and persistent mental illness would’ve been taken into consideration long ago, perhaps a death sentence could have been avoided. Perhaps millions of dollars could’ve been saved and used instead on mental health treatment and prevention services. As the editorial concludes, however, Awkal’s story is not uncommon. “The death penalty system fails to take adequate account of severe mental illness, whether at trial, at sentencing or in postconviction proceedings. This is yet another reason the penalty should be abolished and further evidence of the grave injustices committed in this system.”

(Photo courtesy of Publik15 via Suite101.com)

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 malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction 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.