March 21
OHIO:
Vigil at St. Gerard calls on ending death penalty
The Catholic Church has long been known for its stance in defending the rights
of unborn children.
However, a prayer vigil held Monday took a more controversial approach to the
life/death issue.
The St. Gerard Catholic Church held a prayer service to end the death penalty.
The Rev. Michael S. Sergi said the problem lies within everyone's definition of
judgment.
"All life is sacred and precious to God, no matter who they are," Sergi said.
"Justice is needed. However, death isn't justice, it is revenge."
Sergi said he wished that the church would have been filled to hear the
message. With about 40 people in attendance, he said it still did not negate
the impact that could be made.
"Jesus started with 12," Sergi said, "and look what he did."
Sergi recalled a time dealing with the death penalty himself when at a church
in another state several years ago. A police officer at his parish was killed
in the line of duty, and Sergi was called to help with the family during the
grieving process. The killer was later captured and put on death row. Some of
the family reveled in the capture and were eager to see "justice done." Sergi
was called by the wife several years later after the killer was put on death
row.
"She was in the hospital, but she was doing fine," Sergi said. "She had called
me to say the date of execution had been finally set."
The wife was receiving hate mail calling on her to do the right thing and try
and have the execution stopped. She asked Sergi what she should do.
"I told her I understood the hurt and the anger," Sergi said, "but that the
state doesn't have the right to take a life. It is against the law of God."
Sergi said the woman knew he would answer that way, but that she had to hear
it. Together, they prayed for her dead husband. She had since remarried. They
then also prayed for the man on death row. He said that was the type of prayer
needed to combat the issue.
"Tonight, we come with the powerful weapon of prayer," Sergi said. "We have to
call upon the government, upon all of the governors, and change their hearts
from revenge. We need to love our enemies. We need to stop the killing."
(source: limaohio.com)
ARKANSAS:
Arkansas's Reckless Plan to Execute 8 Men in 10 Days Could End in
State-Sanctioned Torture Before Death
Between April 17 and 27, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson plans on doing what
should be inconceivable: executing 8 prisoners in 10 days.
After killing no prisoners in the last 12 years, the state is rushing to
execute these 8 men before the controversial execution drug it needs to carry
them out expires on April 30. The drug, Midazolam, has been directly linked to
past botched executions, but that hasn't stopped Hutchinson from planning a
killing spree in a few weeks. By racing to use a drug known to play a part in
botched executions, the governor risks debasing the state of Arkansas, its
citizens, and the very American traditions of justice by torturing prisoners to
death.
In a hospital setting, Midazolam is prescribed by doctors to calm patients'
nerves or act as a sedative for minor procedures. It is not used to put
patients under for surgery, let alone anesthetize prisoners before killing
them. And when Midazolam is combined with the 2 other drugs used during the
execution - vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride - it produces unspeakable
pain before death.
We know this because it's happened before.
The most recent Midazolam botch occurred during Alabama's December execution of
Ronald Bert Smith. His execution took 34 minutes, during which time Smith
heaved and coughed for 13 minutes. His attorneys reported that he remained
conscious, responding to corrections officials, well into the execution.
In 2014, the state of Ohio relied on Midazolam with the same horrific results.
That same year, a similar nightmare transpired over the course of 2 long hours
after Arizona used 15 repeated doses to execute Joseph Wood before he finally
stopped coughing and, gulping once, died. These botches together have led an
Ohio judge to halt future executions using Midazolam, while Florida and Arizona
have also abandoned it.
Beyond the cruelty of using a defective drug to kill someone, Arkansas is
upping the probability of something going terribly wrong by ratcheting up the
pace of its executions. Double and triple executions are rare in the history of
the U.S. death penalty and haven't occurred in close to 20 years. When they did
happen, it was in a bygone era when states were annually executing 3 and 4
times as many people as they do today. Even then, no state attempted, as
Arkansas plans for this April, 4 double executions in 10 days.
The last state to attempt a double execution was Oklahoma, when, also using
Midazolam, it botched the execution of Clayton Lockett. The prison warden
himself called it a "bloody mess." The scene in Lockett's execution chamber was
chaos. A doctor was squirted with Lockett's blood as it spurted from a vein.
The personnel were confused and distressed. Lockett did not die until 43
minutes later, after the execution had been halted and the shades drawn on the
adjacent viewing room. Meanwhile, Charles Warner waited to die in the state's
2nd planned execution of the night. After the botch of Lockett's execution,
Warner's was cancelled, and the state announced that it would no longer
schedule more than 1 execution in a 7-day period.
Multiple dates, set so closely together, increase the risk of human error and
resulting torture and injustice. Arkansas's previous botched executions - of
Ricky Ray Rector in 1992 and Christina Marie Riggs in 2000, like Lockett's
botch - each involved failure to place execution lines properly in the veins.
This history highlights the role in executions of fallible human beings, who
can't help but be affected by the pace and horror of multiple executions. As
Sen. John McCain said of Joseph Wood's botched Midazolam execution, "The lethal
injection needs to be an indeed lethal injection and not the bollocks-upped
situation that just prevailed. That's torture."
History risks repeating itself when we don't heed its lessons. We don't need
another state-sanctioned killing to be botched by the use of Midazolam or by
the reckless clip of Gov. Hutchinson's scheduled killings. Assembly line
justice - artificially paced to an expiring controversial drug choice - can
only end in easily avoidable disaster.
(source: Brian Stull, ACLU Capital Punishment Project, aclu.org)
CALIFORNIA:
Man accused in homeless attacks ruled mentally competent, arraignment set
A man accused of attacking 5 homeless men in various San Diego neighborhoods,
killing 3 of them, is mentally competent to stand trial, a judge ruled Monday.
After reviewing reports from Patton State Hospital and a court-appointed doctor
in San Diego, Judge David Danielsen ruled that Jon David Guerrero understands
the charges against him and can assist his attorney at trial.
The judge reinstated criminal proceedings and set an arraignment for April 4.
Guerrero, 40, was arrested last summer in connection with the crime spree. In
October, he was found to be incompetent to stand trial and was sent to Patton
State Hospital for up to 3 years or until his competency could be restored.
Guerrero was sent back to San Diego in January after doctors at Patton found
him to be mentally competent.
Guerrero is charged with 3 counts of murder and 2 counts of premeditated
attempted murder, along with a special circumstance allegation of multiple
murders. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey said more charges could be added at
the arraignment next month.
San Diego police said the victims were brutalized - 2 of them set on fire - as
they slept on roadsides, in open areas and under freeway bridges.
The 1st attack in the series occurred last July 3. About 8 a.m. that day, the
burning body of Angelo De Nardo, 53, was found underneath an Interstate 5
offramp near the 2700 block of Morena Boulevard in Bay Park.
Witnesses described seeing a man running across the freeway near Claremont
Drive, carrying a gas can.
The following day, Shawn Mitchell Longley, 41, was found dead at a park on
Bacon Street in Ocean Beach, and 61-year-old transient Manuel Mason was
severely injured near Valley View Casino Center in the Midway district,
according to police.
On the morning of July 6, Dionicio Derek Vahidy, 23, was gravely injured in
downtown San Diego by an assailant who fled after leaving a towel burning on
top of him. Vahidy died in a hospital four days later.
There are no indications that the suspect knew the victims, according to
police.
Another attack happened shortly after 4:30 a.m. July 15, when two San Diego
Harbor Police officers in a squad car in the 1800 block of C Street heard
someone underneath Interstate 5 in the East Village yelling for help, police
said.
The officers pulled over and found a 55-year-old homeless man suffering from
"significant trauma" to his upper body.
(source: CBS news)
USA:
States debate death penalty issues
Despite a 90 % decline of executions since the height of the death penalty in
the 1990s, the death penalty is still a hot topic that is widely debated
throughout the U.S. Here are a few of the top death penalty headlines that are
currently capturing the nation.
Arkansas
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the execution dates for 8 inmates in the
state, all occurring within an unprecedented 10-day span in April. Starting
April 17, the state plans to execute its 1st death row inmate since 2005. The
death penalty has been suspended since 2005 due to litigations and difficulties
obtaining the drugs necessary for lethal injection, according to The New York
Times.
During a press conference Feb. 28, Hutchinson said that the close scheduling of
the executions was "not my choice."
"If we do not set the execution dates, that will not trigger a review and we'll
never bring finality to this long and arduous process that really is so
difficult on the victims and their families," he said.
It is believed that the urgency of executions is due to the state's dwindling
supply of viable execution drugs. The New York Times reports that the state's
supply of midazolam expires at the end of April.
Furonda Brasfield, a lawyer and executive director of the Arkansas Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty, agrees with the assessment.
"Why else would you take something that was going to take place over the course
of 4 months and move it into the state of 10 days? The only logical conclusion
is that they know the midazolam is going to expire at the end of April and they
want to get as many executions done as they can before then," Brasfield told
NCR.
Midazolam
Oral arguments began March 7 in Ohio to discuss the constitutionality of
midazolam in the state's lethal injection protocol. The U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati heard arguments from attorneys representing
three inmates who are currently on Ohio's death row.
On Jan. 26, Magistrate Michael Merz from the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of Ohio issued a stay of execution for the state's 3 upcoming
executions based on an evidentiary hearing against the use of midazolam.
Attorneys argued on behalf of the inmates that the drug violates their Eighth
Amendment right against "cruel and unusual punishment."
The ruling comes 3 years after the execution of Dennis McGuire Jan. 16, 2014,
which utilized midazolam. During the Jan. 26 evidentiary hearing, Alan Johnson,
a reporter for The Columbus Dispatch, testified about McGuire's execution,
saying that McGuire "began coughing, gasping, choking in a way that I had not
seen before at any execution. And I remember it because I relived it several
times. Frankly, that went on for 12 to 13 minutes."
Midazolam was central to another court case that reached the U.S. Supreme
Court. In June 2015, the court ruled 5-4 against inmate Richard Glossip's
assertion that use of the drug was unconstitutional. Glossip is still sitting
on Oklahoma's death row.
Supreme Court
Although the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in 2015 that midazolam did not
violate inmates' Eighth Amendment right against "cruel and unusual punishment,"
the drug keeps popping up in the nation???s highest court.
The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case pertaining to the stay of
execution of Thomas Arthur in Alabama. In the case, Arthur argued that a firing
squad would be more constitutional than Alabama's lethal injection protocol,
which includes midazolam.
In an 18-page dissent issued on Feb. 21, Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor
wrote that midazolam as a method of execution "may turn out to be our most
cruel experiment yet."
"Like a hangman's poorly tied noose or a malfunctioning electric chair,
midazolam might render our latest method of execution too much for our
conscience - and the Constitution - to bear," she wrote.
Justice Stephen Breyer joined Sotomayor in her dissent. 2 weeks later, Breyer
wrote his own dissent in the case of Rolando Ruiz v. Texas. The Supreme Court
refused to grant Ruiz an 11th hour stay of execution and he was subsequently
executed March 7. Ruiz's appeal to the courts was also based on his Eighth
Amendment right but on the premise that he has spent 22 years on death row,
predominantly in solitary confinement.
"If extended solitary confinement alone raises serious constitutional
questions, then 20 years of solitary confinement, all the while under threat of
execution, must raise similar questions, and to a rare degree, and with
particular intensity," Breyer wrote in his dissent.
The U.S. Supreme Court also refused to review and intervene in another case out
of Texas. Christopher Young argued that he deserved a new trial after a
potential jury member was removed from his capital punishment case based on
their religious affiliation and involvement in a faith ministry. Over 500 faith
leaders representing 44 states and 20 different faith traditions signed a
letter stating their opposition to the removal of the potential juror.
However, in a glimmer of hope for advocates against the death penalty, the
Supreme Court ruled 6-2 in favor of Duane Buck, sending his case back to the
Texas courts to reconsider his death sentence. Buck argued that he was given
the death sentence in part because of a testimony that said blacks are more
likely than whites to commit crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Chief Justice John Roberts told the courtroom that "our laws punish people for
what they do, not for who they are."
Montana
Every year since 1999, Montana legislators have considered bills to ban the
death penalty.
This year's hopes ended March 1 after the bill was unable to make it out of the
state's House.
"We probably had the votes to pass HB 366 out of the House but just didn't have
a workable path to successfully get it out of the House Judiciary Committee
after they tabled the bill" on a 9-10 vote Feb. 10, wrote Matthew Brower,
executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference, in an email to NCR.
"The ball is moving in the right direction and we and the Montana Abolition
Coalition are going to keep working this issue to make sure death penalty
abolition becomes a reality in Montana," Brower wrote. "So we look forward to
2019 and begin laying the groundwork for those efforts beginning now."
Slain Florida priest
Catholic bishops from Georgia and Florida are speaking out on behalf of slain
priest Fr. Rene Robert of the diocese of St. Augustine, Fla. In a Jan. 31 press
conference outside a Georgia courthouse, Bishop Felipe Estevez of St.
Augustine, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta and Bishop Gregory Hartmayer of
Savannah, Ga., called for the state of Georgia to drop the death penalty, per
Robert's request, in the case against Robert's murderer.
In 1995, Robert signed and had notarized a "Declaration of Life" where he
stated that "should he die as a result of a violent crime, he did not want the
individual or individuals found guilty of homicide for his killing to be
subject to, or put in jeopardy of, the death penalty under any circumstances,
no matter how heinous their crime or how much he may have suffered," according
to Catholic News Service.
On April 18, 2016, Robert was found murdered in Georgia. Later, Steven J.
Murray admitted in interviews that he was responsible for the death. Murray
knew Robert - Robert had befriended Murray as part of his prison ministry.
"We have great respect for the legal system and we believe Murray deserves
punishment for the brutal murder, but the sentence of death only perpetuates
the cycle of violence," Estevez said at a news conference. "It is unnecessary
and denies the dignity of all persons."
Ashley Wright, who at the time was the Augusta-Richmond County district
attorney, said she would seek the death penalty against Murray. Wright has
recently been named a Superior Court judge.
After the news conference, the bishops talked privately to Hank Syms, acting
district attorney, and Estevez gave him petitions with 7,400 signatures.
Neither Syms nor Wright would comment on the specifics of the case but
according to NBC News, Wright said the district attorney "is supposed to be
impervious to public opinion or public outcry about how a case should be
handled."
(source: ncronline.org)
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