Sept. 23
DELAWARE:
Del. Supreme Court to decide fate of those on death row
The Delaware Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether or not to convert
the sentences of men on death row to life in prison before the end of the year.
After narrowly ruling that the state's death penalty was unconstitutional in
August, the Delaware Supreme Court must now decide the fate of 13 men awaiting
execution.
Attorney General Matt Denn (D) declined to appeal the death penalty ruling, but
says these executions should be carried out.
Death penalty supporters argue the state has an obligation to carry out those
original sentences so victims' family members can get closure.
But those who backed a legislative repeal effort here say those men were given
a death sentence under a flawed system that the courts later overturned.
Lawyers for Derrick Powell, who killed Georgetown Police officer Chad Spicer in
2009 and had requested a life sentence at trial, will argue the case.
Oral arguments are Dec. 7.
(source: delawarepublic.org)
ALABAMA----female faces death penalty
Saraya Atkins guilty of capital murder in 2014 robbery, shooting----Shakai
Atkins, 20, was arrested on March 12, 2014 after a fatal shooting in Coden.
Atkins was convicted of capital murder Thursday, Sept. 22 and faces the death
penalty or life in prison without parole.
A jury in Mobile County has found 22-year-old Saraya Atkins guilty of capital
murder, robbery and theft in the 2014 shooting death of Robert Perry, 66.
Police say Atkins and another woman, Kymberli Lindsay, 27 robbed and then
killed Perry.
Perry was shot to death on March 11, 2014.
As the jury deliberated on a verdict, D.A. Ashley Rich consoled the nine family
members of Perry as they waited for the jury's decision.
Atkins' 8 family members sat shoulder to shoulder in the rows across from
Perry's. Before the jury gave the verdict, 5 police officers came into the
courtroom and filled the middle rows in case there was an emotional out burst
from family members.
After the verdict was read and the judge dismissed the jurors, Atkins put her
head down and burst into tears. After she was led out with officers, she could
be heard crying loudly in the hallway near the judges' chambers.
The trial will now enter a penalty phase where the jury will decide if Atkins
should receive the death penalty or life without parole. The District
Attorney's office will now push for the death penalty as their stance has been
that Perry's murder was premeditated by Atkins.
Atkins attorneys will push back and continue to assert that the robbery was the
only part of the incident that was premeditated. If they are able to convince
the jury of that in the penalty phase Atkins would receive a life without
parole sentence.
"She didn't have any money and she was going to get the money she needed," said
District Attorney Ashley Rich.
The shooting came after Perry had been asked by his stepdaughter Stephanie
Finney, 45, to take her to look at a used car she wanted to purchase from a man
on Craigslist. Perry, said Rich earlier in the trial, drove his wife's red
Toyota Prius to Finney's home on Bayou Jonas Drive to pick her up.
Finney had planned on cashing her $1,900 income tax check at the money store in
the Wal-Mart in Tillman's Corner and meet the seller of the used car at that
same Wal-Mart.
Rich told jurors Atkins had been facing some personal troubles of her own that
led her and Lindsay to cross paths with Perry and Finney that day.
"She didn't have any money and she was going to get the money she needed," said
Rich.
Rich said Atkins and Lindsay decided to ride to the Bel-Air Mall and find a
license plate to steal off another white Chevrolet vehicle that matched her
own. Rich said video surveillance at the Dillard's store shows both women
unscrewing the license plate off a woman's vehicle and putting it on Atkins
car.
As soon as Finney left the store, Lindsay followed her to see what vehicle she
gets into before getting back in the car with Atkins. Perry and Finney drove to
the back side of the Garden Center at Wal-Mart and meet the seller of the used
car. Atkins and Lindsay pull into a parking space at a distance and watch.
Finney decides not to buy the car after checking it out with Perry and they
decide to head home. Atkins and Lindsay realize this and follow the pair, 15
miles away, to Bayou Jonas Drive. Once they get about half way up the street,
Atkins speeds up and cuts Perry off forcing him to slam on his brakes and hit
the rear of Atkins car in the wet weather.
"She gets out the car with that loaded revolver screaming, 'Give me your
wallet," said Rich.
Perry rolled down the window and tried to give her his wallet and Atkins
screams again.
"I don't want your wallet, I want her wallet," said Rich to the jurors.
Finney hands her wallet to Atkins, who reaches inside the driver side window
with the revolver to get the wallet. Perry tries to grab the gun and the wallet
falls. He told Finney to run before the first gunshot went off and missed Perry
going through the open passenger door as Finney tried to escape.
During the struggle for the gun, Perry gave up and tried to slide out the
passenger side of the car. The second shot struck Perry in the left arm and
pierce his jugular vein and exited his right side. The third gunshot went into
the driver seat and into the gas tank.
"She opens the car door as he's dying and takes the wallet and flees," said
Rich.
Rich said Lindsay never got out the car and that Atkins did not realize that
Bayou Jonas Road was a dead end street as they sped off. The 2 women got out of
the vehicle and ran into the woods for about 2 miles before getting caught by
Mobile County Sheriff's Office deputies. The $1900 in cash wasn't found until
after the 2 women were booked inside metro jail.
"The $1,900 dollars in cash was found in their vaginas and the revolver was
found in the floorboard of the Chevy," said Rich.
Defense Attorney James Vollmer had maintained the homicide was not planned.
"This is not capital murder, it's felony murder," Vollmer said during opening
statements. "As difficult as this may be to say, but she intended to rob
someone but not to kill someone."
He said audio of Atkins statements to police detectives after being arrested
clearly shows that.
"Once she learned of his death from detectives later that night she was
horrified," said Vollmer.
(source: al.com)
OHIO:
Murder suspect Grate indicted on 23 counts in Ashland County, may face death
penalty ---- Prosecutor says he will 'strongly recommend' the death penalty if
Grate is found guilty
Murder suspect Shawn Grate faces a total of 23 felony charges including four
counts of aggravated murder which carries a death penalty specification after
an Ashland County grand jury issued an indictment Thursday.
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell announced the new charges Thursday
afternoon via Twitter.
"These are some of the most horrific crimes I've seen in my 15 years as a
criminal prosecutor," Tunnell said after the indictment was released. "Given
these depraved actions and the gruesome evidence, I will be strongly
recommending the death penalty if a jury finds this defendant guilty."
Grate, 40, also faces 4 counts of kidnapping, 2 counts of gross abuse of a
corpse, 4 counts of rape, 4 counts of burglary, and 1 count each of tampering
with evidence, aggravate robbery, unauthorized use of a vehicle, robbery and
breaking and entering.
According to the indictment, there are 2 counts of aggravated murder for each
identified victim, 1 for the murder and 1 because the murder was committed
during a kidnapping.
Grate is scheduled to appear in Ashland County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 29
at 8:30 a.m for a video arraignment.
In addition to the charges that are death penalty eligible (one for each of the
two murders), the maximum prison sentence that could be given for conviction of
all these crimes is 166 years. Ashland County has had only two death penalty
eligible murders in the last 20 years: Maxwell White in 1996 for the murder of
State Highway Patrol Trooper James Gross and Brian Siler in 2001 who was
convicted of murdering his wife.
All 23 counts in the Grate indictment are related to the 3 Ashland County
victims.
Tunnell thanked the agencies that have assisted with the case to date,
including the City of Ashland Division of Police, the Muskingum Watershed
Conservancy District, the Ashland County Coroner, the Ashland County Sheriff,
the Ohio Attorney General's office, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Investigation.
Grate is being held in Ashland County Jail on $1 million bond after initially
being charged with 2 counts of murder and 1 count of kidnapping. He pleaded not
guilty Monday to the charges.
Grate was arrested Sept. 13 after a woman called 911 and said she was being
held against her will in a home near East Fourth Street in Ashland. Upon their
arrival, police found the woman and Grate. The woman is not being identified
because she is a sexual assault victim and the Ashland County Prosecutor does
not identify victims of sexual assault.
Grate was taken into custody and police and BCI investigators searched the 2
homes on Covert Court, near the Fourth Street Laundromat. 2 bodies were
discovered in one of the homes. The victims were identified as 43-year-old
Stacey Stanley of Greenwich and 29-year old Elizabeth Griffith of Ashland.
Grate also led investigators to a body in a wooded area near a burned-out home
on Park Avenue East in Madison Township. Authorities have not yet identified
the victim.
Earlier this week, Mansfield Police announced they have re-opened the
investigation into the death of Mansfield resident Rebekah Leicy. Leicy was
reported missing in February of 2015 and her body was found in rural Ashland
County in March 2015. Her death was ruled as a probable drug overdose by the
Cuyahoga County Coroners Office as there were no signs of physical trauma.
Grate has also been tied to a 2005 murder in Marion County. He reportedly
admitted to authorities that he killed a woman there in 2005. On March 10,
2007, Marion County authorities discovered the remains of a woman who has never
been identified.
Tunnell led the Grand Jury investigation and will prosecute the case along with
First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gary P. Bishop and Special Prosecutor Mark
R. Weaver.
According to the website for the law firm Isaac Wiles where Weaver is a
partner, prior to entering private practice, Weaver was the Deputy Attorney
General of Ohio. The website states Weaver is often asked to act as a Special
Prosecutor in criminal cases around the state and has prosecuted murderers,
rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals. He teaches Criminal
Procedure and Constitutional Law to the Ohio Public Safety Leadership Academy
and has been a featured speaker to the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association,
the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Pennsylvania District
Attorneys Association.
(source: The Richland Source)
****************
Ashland prosecutor seeks death penalty against suspected serial killer
The Ashland County prosecutor will seek the death penalty against a suspected
serial killer.
Today, the Ashland County Grand Jury handed a down a 23 felony count indictment
against Shawn M. Grate.
The charges including 2 counts of Aggravated Murder, each one of which would be
punishable either by life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty.
Additional charges include kidnapping, rape, burglary and gross abuse of a
corpse.
In additional to the death penalty, the maximum prison sentence that could be
given for conviction of all these crimes is 166 years.
"These are some of the most horrific crimes I've seen in my 15 years as a
criminal prosecutor," Prosecutor Christopher R. Tunnell led said after the
indictment was released. "Given these depraved actions and the gruesome
evidence, I will be strongly recommending the death penalty if a jury finds
this defendant guilty."
No trial date has been announced. A video arraignment is scheduled for
September 29.
Grate has waived his right to have his trial held within a set number of days.
The full list of felony counts are:
1.Aggravated Murder of Elizabeth A. Griffith (F1)
2.Second charge of Aggravated Murder of Elizabeth A. Griffith (F1)
3.Kidnapping of Elizabeth A, Griffith (F1)
4.Gross Abuse of the Corpse of Elizabeth A. Griffith (F5)
5.Burglary of the residence of Elizabeth A. Griffith (F3)
6.Tampering with Evidence (F3)
7.Aggravated Murder of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F1)
8.Second charge of Aggravated Murder of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F1)
9.Kidnapping of Stacey J. Hicks, aka: Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F1)
10.Second charge of Kidnapping of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F1)
11.Rape of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F1)
12.Aggravated Robbery of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F1)
13.Gross Abuse of the Corpse of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F5)
14.Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle of Stacey J. Hicks/Stanley (F5)
15.Kidnapping of Jane Doe (F1)
16.Rape of Jane Doe (F1)
17.Second charge of Rape of Jane Doe (F1)
18.Third charge of Rape of Jane Doe (F1)
19.Robbery of Jane Doe (F3)
20.Burglary (F3)
21.Burglary (F3)
22.Burglary (F3)
23.Breaking and Entering (F5)
(source: WCMH news)
NEBRASKA:
Death penalty no longer good policy
I spent my professional life in law enforcement and was fortunate to serve as
the Lincoln police chief and director of the Nebraska Crime Commission. I
believe I understand public safety.
For many years I supported the death penalty. There were times I felt I could
inflict the death penalty on some of our murderers myself, but that's just an
angry and emotional reaction. Such emotion is common, but it???s neither
thoughtful nor wise. Today it is clear to me the death penalty is no longer
good policy.
In November we vote on the death penalty. I feel obligated to speak up about
the ineffectiveness of the death penalty and its inability to keep us safe. The
most effective punishments are those that are guaranteed. You may occasionally
drive over the speed limit, but you don't when you see a police cruiser behind
you. It's the certainty of punishment compelling us.
There's no certainty with the death penalty today. We've not had an execution
in this state in nearly 20 years. Essentially, it is not deterrence.
Perhaps an even greater reason the death penalty isn't a deterrent is that
people who commit murder rarely think about consequences. Most murderers are
acting out of anger, under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, are mentally
ill, emotionally out of control or a mix of these. There are many law
enforcement professionals who agree there's no public safety benefit to the
death penalty.
In 1995 and 2008, 500 police chiefs across the country were asked to rank the
tools they found most effective in preventing violent crime. In these surveys
the death penalty was ranked absolutely last. Chiefs recognized more officers
on the street, reducing drug abuse or having effective programs for the
mentally ill were much more likely to reduce crime than having or increasing
the use of the death penalty.
In a 2009 poll, 61 percent of chiefs said death penalty cases were hard to
close and take up a lot of police time. This is another problem with the death
penalty: It requires a great deal of time and resources not only for police but
also for prosecutors and courts. Even if we are comforted by the symbolism of
having a death penalty, it has unintended negative consequences for the
resources available to protect society.
A recent study by Creighton economist Dr. Ernie Goss says Nebraska's death
penalty costs an average of $14.6 million every year because of the additional
investigations, extra trials, decades of appeal and other mandated processes
making death penalty cases different than life without parole.
Given the complexity of capital cases and the U.S Supreme Court's strict
guidelines for how they must be handled, it's no surprise we have this enormous
price tag.
I would prefer these resources be used more wisely to help law enforcement and
other parts of the criminal justice and mental health systems. Nebraska has
quality men and women in law enforcement, as well as competent professionals
throughout the system of justice.
I would like to see the $14.6 million now spent on a symbolic, unused death
penalty invested in programs professionals consider effective in preventing
violent crime. An urgent and current example of this need is the struggling
Department of Correctional Services with its understaffed and overcrowded
correctional facilities.
It's a shame and dangerous that we are failing to provide our corrections'
officers the support they need to do their jobs. With proper staffing and
tools, our correctional facilities can be a secure place for inmates, guards
and the public.
Voters have an important opportunity in November to make a wise choice, not an
emotional one, about where to put our resources. Choosing to retain the
decision of the Legislature to end Nebraska's symbolic death penalty
demonstrates Nebraskans aren't interested in emotional symbols, but want to
invest in real solutions to violent crime and smart public safety policy.
(source: Opinion; Allen Curtis was Lincoln police chief from 1988 to 1993 and
director of the Nebraska Crime Commission from 1994 to 2005. He is in the
Nebraska Police Officers Association Hall of Fame----Lincoln Journal Star)
CALIFORNIA:
California Judge Blasts OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' Dishonesty In Death Penalty
Case
A California Superior Court judge voiced incredulity today that Orange County
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens continues to disobey a January 2013 discovery order in
a pending death penalty case that exposed widespread law enforcement corruption
and prompted calls for a U.S. Department of Justice probe.
"When should I expect full compliance with my lawful orders?" Judge Thomas M.
Goethals asked Deputy County Counsel Elizabeth Pejeau, who represents Hutchens
whose department has continually hidden embarrassing, key evidence in People v.
Scott Dekraai and sent deputies to court where they've committed perjury to
cover up illegal acts. "3 1/2 years isn't enough time?"
Pejeau conceded the sheriff and her staff repeatedly had been tardy turning
over records - a laughable understatement - but argued, despite overwhelming
evidence to the contrary, "They didn't try to bury it."
Because of Hutchens' brazen dereliction of duty and Pejeau's disingenuous spin,
a bit of history is necessary.
Deputy District Attorney Dan Wagner and the sheriff pretended they'd fully
complied with Goethals' discovery orders in 2013. A year later, deputies, who
violated constitutional safeguards by using jailhouse informants to pressure
pre-trial inmates into making incriminating statements, claimed during special
evidentiary hearings that they didn't employ informants and knew of no records
that would explain how snitches ended up in cells next to high-profile
government targets like Dekraai.
After those hearings, Deputy Public Defender Scott Sanders, Dekraai's lawyer,
discovered in late 2014 that deputies had hidden a records system called TRED
that contradicted the officers' sworn testimony. Goethals reopened the hearing,
forced the deputies to testify again, listened to more falsehoods and declared
them liars. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, whose cases were the
beneficiaries of the deputies' schemes, and Hutchens have refused to apologize
or impose discipline for the misconduct. In fact, the county's 2 top law
enforcement officials angrily insist all errors were innocent mistakes.
However, as punishment for the cheating, Goethals, a well-respected, former
homicide prosecutor, recused Rackauckas and his entire staff from Dekraai in
March 2015. He cited concerns they couldn't be trusted to insure the
prosecution team would behave ethically. The case landed in the lap of
California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is presently appealing Goethals'
ruling.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Sanders learned Hutchens also had hidden a second
records system called "The SH Log" that was used daily by special handling
deputies to document informant contacts and movements in government "capers" to
trample defendants' constitutional rights. In June, Wagner, Dekraai's
prosecutor, conceded the log's 1,157 pages contain impeachment evidence that
Sanders should have received years ago.
It turns out the log documents deputy jail activities from 2008 to late January
2013. Oddly, Hutchens would have Goethals believe that the log suddenly ended
just days after he issued his discovery order in Dekraai and that there is no
replacement system. The judge today told Pejeau that she and the sheriff can't
reasonably argue their present claim: That the log was vital to jail security,
protection of informants and confidential investigations, but just ended. He
believes that stance is continual evasiveness and asked county counsel if she
is denying the existence of a new, secret version of the log.
"I absolutely cannot make that representation," said Pejeau, who claimed "the
sheriff is still looking" to see what other evidence she possesses that should
have been surrendered.
"How long are we going to search for an order that was issued in 2013,"
Goethals asked.
Pejeau replied that she could make no "guarantees" about when Hutchens, whose
antics are featured in this week's Moxley Confidential, would finally comply
with his order.
"Isn't that kind of sad, Ms. Pejeau?" the judge said. "I gave an order in
January 2013. It's now 2016 . . . I don't have any confidence [I'll win
compliance]."
Pejeau fired back, "I wouldn't expect you to [believe us]," adding lamely, "But
that doesn't mean the sheriff isn't working to fix that issue."
The judge demanded again to know if the log had been replaced, saying, "It just
doesn't make any logical sense [that it would have disappeared]. It just seems
unlikely . . . I should have had full answers years ago."
Dodging the obvious reality that a sheriff running a para-military organization
doesn't need 3.5 years to learn what records are in her possession, Pejeau
conceded, "I expect there will be additional things [surrendered to Sanders]."
"So do I," Goethals replied.
Sanders said he is stunned Hutchens and other police officials act as if they
can pick and chose which court orders they will obey.
"This dishonesty is so much worse than we ever imagined," he told Goethals.
"And it will go on into perpetuity . . . [Hutchens, prosecutors and deputies]
were going to keep quiet forever . . . They all took an oath of silence. This
is a tremendous cultural problem [in OC law enforcement agencies]."
The judge scheduled an Oct. 28 hearing to give the public defender portions of
the log with redactions.
Rackauckas and Hutchens are supporting a November ballot initiative,
Proposition 66, that would speed up executions in California and significantly
hamper the ability of defense attorneys to discover law enforcement corruption
in those capital cases. In opposition, Proposition 62 would end the death
penalty in the state if approved by voters.
(source: ocweekly.com)
*************
Support for death penalty wanes
A new poll suggests that the death penalty is falling out of favor with
California voters.
There are 2 initiatives on the November ballot that could determine the fate of
the death penalty. Proposition 62, the initiative to repeal the death penalty
in California and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of
parole, is narrowly supported by likely voters. The latest California Field
Poll finds 48% of likely voters saying they intend to vote Yes.
Californians will also be asked to vote on a competing death penalty
initiative, Proposition 66, which calls for changing procedures governing
challenges to the death penalty and is intended to speed its implementation. 35
% say they are inclined to vote Yes and 23% would vote No. 42 % are undecided.
Looking back to 2009, a plurality preferred the death penalty.
(source: Inland News Today)
****************
As California Executions Hang In The Balance, Man Convicted Of Oakland
Sleepover Murder Sentenced To Death
Even as the future of California's death penalty hangs on 2 November ballot
measures, a judge ruled Wednesday that the man convicted of a high-profile
double murder in the East Bay should be executed for his crimes.
As previously reported, 25-year-old Darnell Williams was convicted in Alameda
County Superior Court this past May for the deaths of 2 people: 8-year-old
Alaysha Carradine in Oakland on July 17, 2013 and 22-year-old Anthony Medearis
in Berkeley 2 months later.
According to prosecutors, Carradine was killed when Williams "fired at least 13
shots into an apartment in the 3400 block of Wilson Avenue in Oakland in
retaliation for the fatal shooting of his close friend, 26-year-old Jermaine
Davis, in Berkeley about 5 hours earlier," KRON 4 reports.
The gunfire "also injured and nearly killed a 7-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy
and their 63-year-old grandmother," all of whom were inside the home of the
girlfriend of Antiown York, the man Williams believed had killed Davis. (York
was eventually charged with that crime, but the case was dismissed due to the
unavailability of a key witness.)
Prosecutors say that 2 months later, Williams "fatally shot Medearis in the
back as Medearis was running away from him because he thought Medearis was a
snitch" as well as "because he wanted to rob him because he had run out of
money to buy guns, drugs and jewelry."
On May 6, a jury found Williams guilty of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, 3
counts of premeditated attempted murder and the special circumstance of lying
in wait for the Oakland shooting, the special circumstance of murdering
Medearis during the course of an attempted robbery and the special circumstance
of committing multiple murders. On June 2, a jury recommended the death penalty
for Williams over life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey Horner concurred with that jury's decision,
describing Williams' acts as "an orgy of revenge, slaughter and murder," ABC 7
reports.
"The overwhelming weight of the evidence and the credibility and believability
of the prosecution's witnesses supports the jury's verdict," Horner said,
citing "the evidence and the law."
Noting that Williams has previously been involved in a number of violent
confrontations while in prison, Horner says that death is the only way to
ensure that Williams could not kill again, sayng "When this defendant is
executed he will no longer be a threat to anyone in any community."
Reactions to the judge's decision from the victim's families were mixed.
Carridine's grandmother told KRON 4 that "My thoughts today is that it's not
over he's still alive and even though it won't bring My LadyBug back I'm ready
to see the day that he's no longer breathing...That way he'll never hurt anyone
again."
Speaking with ABC 7, however, the aunt of Anthony Medearis said she'd hoped
Williams would get life, instead, saying that "on death row you just sit, it's
like you're comfortable."
"With life you have to worry, you have to look behind your back, you have to
worry about everything."
And death row is likely where Williams will spend the foreseeable future, as
California's death penalty has been on hold since January of 2006, when
Clarence Ray Allen was executed in San Quentin for the murders of three people.
Shortly thereafter, a federal judge put a stop to executions in the state over
issues with the 3-drug lethal injection protocol, issues that have still yet to
be resolved.
Meanwhile, in November voters will decide on 2 propositions new relevant to
Williams' interests: Proposition 62 would repeal the state's death penalty and
make life without the possibility of parole the maximum punishment for murder.
Then there's Proposition 66, which supports changing the procedures governing
state court appeals and petitions that challenge death penalty convictions and
sentences, making it faster and easier for states to get to the execution phase
of the sentence.
According to a Field Poll released today, the repeal bill is "narrowly
supported by likely voters," with 48 % of likely voters saying they intend to
vote yes, 37 % saying no, and 15 % still undecided. Poll respondents appeared
less sure about the proposal to speed up the process, with 35 % saying they
will vote yes, 23 % saying they will vote no, and a whopping 42 % saying that
they are undecided.
(source: sfist.com)
USA:
'Very clear line' between lynching and death penalty: Alabama lawyer
As a co-founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson is a disruptor
of chronic injustices who fights for the lives of prisoners on Alabama's death
row.
"[In the U.S.], 156 people exonerated after being sentenced to death. That
means for every 10 people that have been executed in the U.S., we've identified
1 innocent person on the row, which is a really shameful rate of error,"
Stevenson tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
In his new book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Stevenson says
that when lynching stopped, the death penalty started.
"[There's a] very clear line between our history of lynching and the modern
death penalty."
He tells Tremonti when the southern states moved away from public lynchings,
"they essentially moved the lynchings indoors and that's when you see a great
increase in the number of death sentences being imposed."
When Stevenson looks at the injustices of the present, he sees acutely how the
wrongs of the past - the legacy of slavery and lynching continue to reverberate
today - in U.S. race relations, the justice system, and the frequent police
shootings of black men, as we've seen this week in Tulsa, Okla. and Charlotte,
N.C.
"Why do we want to kill all the broken people in this country? What is it about
us, that when we see brokenness, we want to crush it, we want to hurt it, we
want to kill it," says Stevenson.
But Stevenson sees "power in brokeness."
"It is really the broken who understand how compassion is supposed to work."
He tells Tremonti that he doesn't do his job because no one will. He does it
because he's broken too.
"It's the broken who have an insight into justice. It's the broken who have
some appreciation for what it means to be restored, redeemed, rehabilitated,
recovered."
"And in many ways it's our community and standing with the broken that will get
us closer to justice."
(source: The Current)
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