April 25 USA: Death penalty debate depends on purpose of punishment To the Editor: [Last] week's opinion articles about the death penalty ["Checks and Balances"] did not touch on the real debate over capital punishment. The real debate that faces America is about our justice system as a whole. We must decide the purpose of punishing criminals before we can dole out sentences. If punishment is meant to be a deterrent, then sentences should reflect deterring future criminals. In such a case, the death penalty would seem appropriate as a warning against the most heinous of crimes. Others believe that punishment, however, is about justice; healing wounds in the moral fabric of society. This opinion holds that society should not tolerate murderers. By putting the worst criminals to death it would be felt that the great wrong of murder has been righted by an appropriate response. If punishment is instead meant to rehabilitate criminals to prevent them from committing crime again, then the death penalty should only be used against criminals who cannot be rehabilitated. In this case, sentencing would be dependent on the criminal's mental state, and not the actual crime committed. Before we can debate whether the death penalty is an acceptable form of punishment, we must first debate our reasons for punishing criminals. While we can agree with any combination of philosophies, it would be wrong to judge criminals according to different standards. While one may argue against the death penalty because it statistically is not an effective deterrent, you must also then evaluate our minimalist sentencing against underage drinking, because it obviously is not an effective deterrent either. The debate about the death penalty cannot be resolved without a clear understanding of the purpose of punishment. John Field----Undergraduate student (source: Letter to the Editor, The (Case Western Reserve University) Observer) ************ We don't have to be cruel when carrying out death penalty "When you have to kill a man," said Winston Churchill, "it costs nothing to be polite." When you choose to execute a condemned person, likewise, it costs little or nothing to do so without inflicting gratuitous pain. But reaching agreement on how to achieve that, as the Supreme Court's 7-2 decision upholding Kentucky's execution protocol shows, can be anything but cheap. The federal government and 36 states insist on maintaining the regrettable practice of capital punishment. The uncertainty over this issue resulted in an effective nationwide moratorium that lasted for months. Now, some states can be expected to resume executions. The court's mixed ruling, however, guarantees more lawsuits and more appeals. The court splintered on whether and why this particular method of lethal injection complies with the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." For the most part, the justices agreed authorities may not use a procedure that carries a genuine risk of needless suffering. But they couldn't reach a consensus on what is required to meet that standard. Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia denounced the entire effort. In their view, anything is permissible except methods that are actually meant to inflict torture as well as death never mind if they inflict torture through indifference or carelessness. But Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a three-justice plurality, reached the sensible conclusion that the Constitution forbids any method posing "a substantial risk of serious harm" in the form of pointless suffering. Lawyers for the two killers challenged Kentucky's use of a 3-drug protocol the first to induce a coma-like state, the second to cause paralysis and shut off breathing, and the third to stop the heart. If the first drug is administered incorrectly, they pointed out, the other drugs could produce suffocation and agony. The plurality agreed, but found that the state has adequate safeguards to ensure that doesn't happen. Roberts and Co. also concluded that the alternative method the inmates offered is untried and might be even worse. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, in dissent, noted that other states have adopted precautions to make sure the first drug has taken effect before the others are injected. Among them: speaking the inmate's name, touching eyelashes and using smelling salts to confirm unconsciousness. Maybe those steps aren't so foolproof that they should be required by the court. But it's hard to see why any state should mind incorporating them. One sure thing is that this ruling will generate more lawsuits and a blizzard of briefs to sort out its full implications. Instead of using money to prevent crime and provide secure prisons, a lot of states will get to waste it defending their brand of capital punishment. They could do themselves a favor by just giving it up. (source: Chicago Tribune) PENNSYLVANIA: Death Penalty----A rush to kill Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its support for the death penalty, several states are rushing to schedule executions. It's as if the court's approval of lethal injection has suddenly made it a health cure. What ails the nation's flawed system of capital punishment won't be remedied, though, by tinkering with "the machinery of death," to use Justice Harry A. Blackmun's words. States would be far wiser to continue their de facto moratorium on executions that held while the court considered this latest case. That would provide more time to examine and expose the many problems with capital punishment. Then, more states could follow New Jersey's sensible decision to get out of the execution business altogether. That's what Justice John Paul Stevens wants, and no voice is more credible on the subject. Stevens backed reinstatement of the death penalty 3 decades ago, but last week he said it should be ended. He quoted the late Justice Byron White, who contended executions represent "the pointless and needed extinction of life with only marginal contributions" to society. While a majority of the court last week deemed execution using lethal drugs a humane method, they did nothing to redress the fundamental unfairness and risks in applying the death penalty. Just the opposite, in fact. The months leading up to the April 16 ruling on lethal injection had led to the delay of dozens of executions around the country. In effect, it was a national moratorium. That provided a prism through which the nation could examine flaws in the death penalty, including its falling disproportionately on poor and minority defendants. Even worse, dozens of death row inmates have later been proved innocent, many through DNA evidence. As if to stack the deck against justice even further, in June the court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. granted states leeway to remove jurors who expressed even slight doubts about the death penalty. Another case under review - whether child rapists can be executed - could prompt the expansion of capital punishment for other non-homicide crimes, so this court clearly is headed the wrong way on the death penalty. During the de facto moratorium, the New Jersey Legislature and Gov. Corzine replaced the death penalty with life-without-parole in first-degree murder cases. But now that reprieves have been voided for the 3 prisoners in other states who had contested the constitutionality of lethal injection, the rest of America appears ready to plunge back into executions. That should not happen, especially in Pennsylvania, where work is under way to fund an Innocence Project to examine death row inmates' claims. That effort is sure to provide more evidence that the death penalty deserves to die. (source: Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer) CALIFORNIA: Man may face death penalty----Cook will have hearing about his mental state A Cathedral City man, who contends he is mentally retarded, has been convicted in a string of arsons and burglaries that resulted in the deaths of 2 people 10 years ago. Prosecutors in the case against Michael Cook, 36, of Cathedral City, who was convicted earlier this week, are seeking the death penalty. But before any kind of sentence is handed down, Cook will head to a 2nd court proceeding on April 29 to determine if his claims of mental retardation are true. Cook has spent the decade since his arrest in a state mental hospital when he hasn't been in a Riverside County jail cell. If he is found to be mentally retarded he cannot be executed under existing law, in which case he could be sentenced to life in prison. There was a decade delay in the case because Cook was only recently deemed competent to help in his own defense. A Riverside County Superior Court jury found Cook guilty Tuesday after weeks of testimony at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Ingrid Wyatt, public information officer for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, said Cook was convicted of 14 offenses: 2 counts of homicide. 3 counts of arson. 7 counts of burglary. 1 count of attempted burglary. 1 count of auto theft. The charges stemmed from crimes he committed between Jan. 17, 1998 and April 22, 1998. Authorities testified at trial that Cook had a pattern of going into mobile home parks, setting fire to trailers and then burglarizing neighboring homes. On two occasions that year, 2 women were burned alive in their mobile homes, said Cathedral City Police Department Sgt. Paul Herrera. Florence Mash, 84, was killed Jan. 24, 1998 in her home at Date Palm Country Club. Lucille Quigley, 86 was killed April 22, 1996 in Shadows RV Resort. Cook was arrested about 2 weeks later after police found him hiding in a garage on Ocotillo Road near Via de Anza Road in Cathedral City, Herrera said. Defense attorney John Hemmer, contends his client is mentally retarded and that the 2nd phase of the trial, coined the "mental retardation phase," will prove that. The hearing is necessary to determine whether Cook meets the standards of mental retardation as laid out in the California Penal Code. Anyone who meets that criteria cannot be put to death, according to existing law. In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing mentally retarded criminals constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment prohibited under the Eighth Amendment. A person is considered mentally retarded if he or she has an IQ of 70 or less. Hemmer would not say Wednesday exactly what Cook's IQ is, but said "it's sub-average." Cook "was diagnosed as being mentally retarded when he was 10 or 12," Hemmer said. "He's had a messed up childhood living with a mother and stepfather that abused him - every kind of abuse. I'm going to bring in school teachers, his foster mother and his sister to talk about what he went through as a child." Prior to his jury trial, Cook was held at the Riverside County Jail in Indio and the Patton State Hospital for the mentally ill in Patton since his arrest, Hemmer said. "They (doctors) found him incompetent because he didn't understand," Hemmer said. Wyatt said Wednesday that "it'd be really inappropriate for us to comment" on Cook's mental status before sentencing. "Anytime we seek the death penalty, it's a very serious case," she said. "We have veteran prosecutors, law enforcement involved in making that decision, the thoughts and feelings of the victims' family members." Even so, Hemmer said, there's no benefit in executing Cook. "I don't believe in the death penalty," Hemmer said. "If you want to kill someone, go to Iraq or Afghanistan. I don't feel like anyone has the right to put another person to death." (source: The Desert Sun) ILLINOIS: Moline man could face death penalty Eric D. Henry could face the death penalty or life in prison if he's convicted of murdering his neighbor Katherine Pedigo at a Moline apartment house. Henry, 34, made his first court appearance Thursday in Rock Island County Circuit Court where he faces counts of first-degree murder and felony residential burglary. According to the charges, Henry allegedly entered Pedigo's residence Sunday where he repeatedly stabbed and cut her. The Rock Island County Coroners office has said Pedigo died from a stab wound to her neck, but authorities have not said how many times she was stabbed or cut. Judge Thomas Berglund told Henry he faces 20 years to life in prison for Pedigo's murder and could face the death penalty if prosecutors ask for it. "I think it's premature at this point to know if the state would be requesting that or not," Berglund told Henry, who appeared in a red jump suit with several jail staff surrounding him. Henry's case qualifies for the death penalty because it was committed in the course of a residential burglary. Henry also faces up to 30 years in prison for the residential burglary charge. His criminal history, which includes numerous felony convictions out of Cook County, makes him eligible for an extended sentence on that charge, the judge said. According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Henry was released on parole last June. He had served more than a decade in prison for robbery, burglary and battery charges, among others. During the hearing, Pedigo's sisters sat in the front row and remained quiet. Henry looked at them and other audience members as he left the room but said nothing. Moline police have released few details about the case. Pedigos body was found in an apartment at 320 16th Ave. shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday when authorities investigated 2 fires that were intentionally set in the basement. Henry, who lives in an apartment at the same building, was arrested Wednesday morning when he returned to the residence. Henry is due back in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing where he will be represented by someone from the public defenders office. He remained in custody at the Rock Island County Jail Thursday on $3 million bond. (source: Quad-City Times) MISSISSIPPI: Death penalty: Berry facing the needle again Earl Wesley Berry is headed for a second date for lethal injection at the State Penitentiary at Parchman, unless the U.S. Supreme Court again says otherwise. Berry's attorneys have argued that this state's lethal injection is too painful - worse than Kentucky's. That's because the court April 16 ruled 7-2 the 3-drug cocktail used by Kentucky doesn't violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But the mix of chemicals and the way they are administered in Mississippi is similar to that in Kentucky, and is also used by the U.S. government and 34 other states, so it's doubtful the court will again step in. The court halted Berry's execution Oct. 30, just 19 minutes before he was scheduled to die for killing Mary Bounds, 56, in November 1987 in Chickasaw County. Some of Bounds' disbelieving relatives were angered to learn that after more than 2 decades, Berry would still live while their loved one had died at his hands. "You want to tell me we got a fair shake today?" her husband, Charles Bounds, asked. Mississippi has 65 inmates on death row, including Berry, awaiting lethal injection. Each day that passes that they live, the survivors of those they killed await justice. How's that for cruel and unusual punishment, as the decades awaiting closure go by? Berry is certainly deserving of his fate, given the facts of his case: On Nov. 29, 1987, Berry spotted Mary Bounds headed for choir practice outside Houston's First Baptist Church. He forced her into his car with the intent of raping her, before taking her down a gravel road into woods where he beat her to death. Berry confessed to the crime. But more than 20 years have passed with lawyers debating how cruel it would be to kill him. "The way he did her, it's not human. He stomped her," said Chickasaw County Sheriff's Investigator John A. Porter of Berry's victim. Who's debating for her? Before lethal injection, Mississippi used the gas chamber, which death penalty opponents argued was inhumane for causing suffocation. Before that, the state used Old Sparky, the portable electric chair that some argued was cruel because people sometimes fried to death. Then, before that, there was the snap of the neck or gag of hanging. With lethal injection, Berry would simply take a nap, albeit a long one. He might feel a burning sensation before he lost consciousness. That's a lot less "painful" than being "stomped" to death, like Berry admitted he did in killing Mary Bounds. (source: The Clarion-Ledger)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, PENN., CALIF., ILL., MISS.
Rick Halperin Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:45:41 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
