[Deathpenalty] TX-CURE Fan Project
To a friendless Texas prisoner, receiving a $20 fan is like winning the lottery. TEXAS STATE PRISONS are not air-conditioned. Prisoners and guards suffer in cells and halls above 120 degrees. $20 buys a small fan that can save a life. TX-CURE provides free fans to poor and needy inmates who have no family or friends for financial support. Donate online at http://www.texascure.org http://www.gofundme.com/TEXAS-PRISONERS-NEED-FANS or mail to Tx-CURE Fans P. O. Box 38381 Dallas, TX 75238 Michael W. Jewell, President mikewaynejew...@hotmail.com Joan Covici, Secretary jccov...@earthlink.net Tx-CURE is a 501(c3) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 11 AFRICA: Numbers of Africans Sentenced to Die Soars More than 1,000 Nigerians languish on death row. Governments in sub-Saharan Africa sentenced at least 1 083 people to death in 2016 - more than double the 443 people condemned to die in 2015, according to a recent report by international human rights organisation Amnesty International. The research shows that rising numbers of people sentenced to die in the region are largely driven by an upswing of such judgments in Nigeria, which handed down death sentences to almost 500 people in 2016. Although the number of death sentences more than doubled, the region saw fewer actual executions - 22 people. The executions took place in 5 countries, the bulk of which were in Somalia. The other countries included Sudan and Botswana. "Countries in sub-Saharan Africa that continue to hold on to the death penalty are showing utter disregard to the right to life of people and are on the wrong side of history as the world is moving away from the punishment," says Amnesty International's death penalty adviser Oluwatosin Popoola. Amnesty's latest global survey on the use of the death penalty was released in April and shows that, globally, fewer countries are prescribing death sentences. It also argues that fewer people were executed in 2016 than in the previous year but cautions that reported rates of death sentences and executions are likely to be under-reported because many governments do not publish statistics on their use of the death penalty. In Southern Africa, Botswana was the only country to execute anyone in 2016. It was that country's 1st state-mandated killing since 2013. "Botswana's step backwards must not be replicated elsewhere in the region," Amnesty International's Southern Africa director Deprose Muchena warns in the report. About 300 people across the Southern African region were sentenced to death by the end of 2016, the overwhelming majority of whom were in Zambia - 157 - followed by Zimbabwe - 97. "African countries that still retain the death penalty can reduce this by abolishing mandatory death sentences, reducing the number of offences that provide for the death penalty and restricting the imposition of death sentences to the 'most serious crimes' as provided for by international human rights law," Popoola explains. The report does not investigate the effects of capital punishment on the families of death-row prisoners, but says it can prolong the suffering of the victims' families and those condemned to die, says Popoola. He says countries should ideally restrict the use of the death penalty with the aim of abolishing it in the future. Popoola argues: "The death penalty diverts resources and energy that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it. "It is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it." (source: allafrica.com) INDIA: India carried out no executions in 2016, Amnesty reveals in its annual death sentence report India did not execute a single person last year despite the country imposing a total of 136 death sentences, which was significantly higher than the previous years, according to a report released on Tuesday by Amnesty International. "India recorded a total of 136 death sentences imposed in 2016, significantly higher than the previous years, whereas a significant decrease in the implementation of death sentences was recorded in Pakistan, by 73 %," Amnesty said its annual report on 'Death Sentences and Executions'. India carried out no executions last year, but was among the few countries to hand out capital punishment for drug- related crimes and also amended its laws to introduce the death penalty for hijacking when it results into death, the Amnesty report said. "More than 400 people were believed to be under sentence of death at the end of the year. In May, the National Law University, Delhi, published an extensive study showing that most prisoners on death row were from economically vulnerable and socially disadvantaged groups," the report noted. The human rights group recorded 1,032 executions in 2016, a 37 % drop worldwide, with China believed to have executed more than all countries combined but the figures remain a classified state secret. Despite the significant decrease world-wide, the overall number of executions in 2016 remained higher than the average recorded for the previous decade, the Amnesty report said. Of the total 1,032 executions, 87 % took place in just 4 countries - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan. Pakistan's execution rate dropped from 326 recorded deaths in 2015 to at least 87 the following year. The high number reported in 2015 followed the lifting of a 7-year moratorium on executions in December 2014 in response to a deadly Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar. The country then created military courts to try civilians suspected of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., NEV., CALIF., USA
May 11 MISSOURI: Review of death penalty policy needed In his News-Leader opinion piece on May 2, "Hard to change many minds on the death penalty," Christopher Dixon states that the death penalty is a topic dominated by "emotions" and "personal feelings." It is one of those "debatable and highly personal topics" that it is "emotionally charged," as well as one of a list of "certain subjects that are off limits." Certainly, many emotions can be involved when the death penalty is discussed, but capital punishment is currently public policy in the state of Missouri. Reliable data, individual dignity and the common good are the appropriate foundations of good public policy. Public policies are NOT "off limits," rather, they need to be reviewed in the public forum for their effectiveness and contribution to the common good. Emotions are not the source of responsible lawmaking. Missouri taxpayers have every right to question whether the death penalty is the smartest way to deal with capital murder and its effects on all of us, especially when credible information demonstrates that the arbitrary manner of those receiving death sentences in Missouri is correlated with the following: the financial resources of the county in which the crime was committed the aggressiveness of the county prosecutor in seeking death rather than life without parole the race and gender of the perpetrator and the victim the economic status of the accused perpetrator the availability of quality (i.e. experienced in capital cases) public defense the variability of factors involved in jury selection the nature and content of the instructions provided to the jury in a capital case Mr. Dixon also wrote that many families received "closure" following the four closely spaced executions in Arkansas in April, a conclusion of questionable value because "closure" appears to be an elusive, subjectively defined word. The family of Ozark resident Michael Greenwood, one of the murder victims of Kenneth Williams (the 4th of the 4 Arkansas inmates executed), asked for clemency in Williams' case but the others did not. Greenwood's family even decided to fly Mr. Williams' daughter and granddaughter to Arkansas, picked them up at the airport and drove them to the prison to visit Williams prior to his execution. Williams had not seen his own daughter for 17 years, and this was the 1st and only time he saw his granddaughter. It seems that no public policy can legislate "closure" for victims' family members. We, as Missouri residents, have the opportunity to engage in serious civil discourse as we evaluate our public policies in the light of their effectiveness in bringing about the type of society we want to live in and raise our families. Serious, civil and respectful discourse on important societal issues must continue, especially when life or death is the result of our deliberations. (source: Opinion, Donna WalmsleySpringfield News-Leader) NEVADA: Las Vegas 25-year-old sentenced to die in schoolgirl killing A 25-year-old man who pleaded guilty and was found guilty by a jury in the 2011 rape, killing and mutilation of a 15-year-old Las Vegas schoolgirl has become youngest person sent to Nevada's death row. Javier Righetti was formally sentenced Monday for the killing of Alyssa Otremba. Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt also sentenced Righetti to more than 100 years on other charges including kidnapping, battery, robbery and sexual assault of a victim under 16 years old. Righetti was 19 at the time of the slaying. He pleaded guilty in February 2016, but the Nevada Supreme Court ordered a retrial on the death penalty count. A jury returned that verdict March 22. Righetti's death sentence will be automatically appealed. The last execution in Nevada was in 2006. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: DA May Offer Garcia Torres a Deal For Location of Sierra's BodyProsecutors could offer to take death penalty off the table The same jury that convicted Antolin Garcia Torres of murdering Sierra LaMar will decide whether he is sentenced to death or spends the rest of his life in prison without the benefit of parole. The penalty phase for Garcia Torres, 26, begins May 16 after he was found guilty of 1st-degree murder, with a kidnapping enhancement. Sierra, 15, disappeared in March 2012 on her way to a school bus stop in Morgan Hill. Her body has never been found. Dean Johnson, a defense attorney and former San Mateo County prosecutor, says the DA may offer the killer the following deal: "Show us you still have some decency left inside of you and give these parents closure and tell us where Sierra LaMar is, and we'll take the death penalty off the table," Johnson predicted the DA would say to Garcia Torres. Johnson said Garcia Torres will be told death row inmates have it very rough in prison, their movement and privileges
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO
May 11 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: The Capital of Capital PunishmentTilon Carter set for execution - again For the 2nd time this year, Tilon Carter faces execution - this time, he's set for Huntsville's gurney next Tuesday, May 16. Carter was convicted of capital murder in 2006 in Tarrant County, for the robbery and suffocation of 89-year-old James Eldon Tomlin. He received a stay in January based on a technicality involving the filing of his death warrant, so the Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the lower court to reset Carter's execution date. Carter has exhausted his appeals, but maintains that Tomlin's death was accidental. Robin Norris, his attorney, did not respond to requests for comment. The resetting of execution dates combined with last-minute stays is one of several injustices highlighted in "Designed to Break You: Human Rights Violations on Texas' Death Row," a recent report from the Human Rights Clinic at the UT School of Law. The yearlong study focused on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's repeated resetting of execution dates, inmates' limited access to religious services, and - most significantly - the Polunsky Unit's use of solitary confinement. Texas has been dubbed the Capital of Capital Punishment. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the state has executed 542 people. (Carter would bump that to 543.) Oklahoma and Virginia have the 2nd and 3rd most deadly death rows, each with 112 executions. Texas' death row inmates spend 22-24 hours a day in solitary. Though the TDCJ allows inmates up to 2 hours of "recreation" time daily, the report notes: "In practice, death row inmates often do not receive outdoor [time]." And even outside, the so-called "yard" is a slightly larger cell closed off by high concrete walls and caging over the top, which limits natural light. It's typical for death row inmates to spend more than a decade living in these conditions prior to their execution. Mandatory confinement has been required since the men's death row was transferred from Huntsville to the Polunsky Unit in nearby West Livingston in 1999. All human contact has been banned as well. The TDCJ's severe use of solitary and isolation has been called inhumane by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Organization of American States, and the European Convention on Human Rights. The UT report states the use of solitary, to such a degree, is incredibly detrimental to inmates' mental health - most noticeably those already suffering from mental illness. In what is dubbed "death row syndrome," prisoners report experiencing severe depression, memory loss, suicidal tendencies, and more. The study summarizes, they're "effectively subject to a severe form of psychological torture every day of their lives." Asked for a response to the study, Jason Clark, the TDCJ's director of public information, told us: "Offenders on death row are individuals who've been convicted of heinous crimes and given the harshest sentence possible under the law. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice will continue to ensure it fulfills its mission of public safety and house death row offenders appropriately." According to Ariel Dulitzky, a UT Law professor and the director of the Human Rights Clinic, TDCJ declined to meet with the clinic over the course of the study, and has yet to respond to a follow-up request made earlier this month. However, Dulitzky said the clinic hopes this report will secure a "complete ban" of mandatory solitary confinement. In the interim, the clinic is advocating for the prohibition of confinement for all inmates with mental health problems, for the implementation of "physical contact visits with families and attorneys, communal religious services," and for improvements to health care. (source: Austin Chronicle) ** Convicted rapist, murderer to get off death row A convicted rapist and murderer will be removed from death row due to new evidence and changes in the law, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Robert James Campbell, 44, was sentenced to death in the 1990's for the murder of Alexandra Rendon. Rendon, a Houston bank teller, was kidnapped from a gas station and driven to a remote location in south Houston in 1991. Campbell and an accomplice raped and robbed her. Campbell then fatally shot Rendon in the back as she tried to run away. Campbell was set to be executed in 2014, but the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals halted the punishment at the last minute. The court allowed defense attorneys to pursue an appeal, which claimed Campbell was mentally impaired due to his low IQ, and ineligible for the death penalty. A 70 IQ is the minimum threshold set by the court. The appeal has been pending ever since. Then Wednesday morning, prosecutors with the Texas Attorney General???s Office filed a request for the case
