[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 21 SOMALIA: Somali Military Court Sentences Al-Shabaab Members to Death Somali court of appeal for the armed forces has upheld the death penalty handed to 2 al-Shabaab fighters in Mogadishu. The first degree of the army court had previously sentenced Anshur Osman Abukar and Mohamed Alio Borow to death. The convicts moved to the appeal court to decided their cases. In a statement, the appeal on Monday said it concluded the cases of the 2 convicts. Following the conclusion of testimonials and evidence brought during the hearing of 2 men's appeal, the Court of Appeal backed an earlier ruling which found two guilty of taking acts to destabilize the country. According to the statement, the court has upheld the initial ruling of the 1st-degree court ruling the 2 death sentence. The court said that Anshur Osman Abukar and Mohamed Alio Borrow confessed to taking part al-Shabaab attacks including one in Mogadishu. Human rights groups have accused Somali military court previously for executions of suspects with unclear investigations, claiming the convicts were denied a chance to defend themselves. Somali military court handles cases related to security, mainly terrorism. It has sentenced several al-Shabaab suspected to death before. (source: allafrica.com) KENYA: 4 death row convicts get lesser sentence after appeal 4 men sentenced to death for robbery with violence will now serve 18 years in jail. The convicts, who had appealed against the death sentence, escaped the hangman's noose after judge Jesse Njagi ruled that although the offence they had committed was serious, "it did not warrant a death sentence". Mario Mangweni, Zadock Were, Dickson Chirade and Geoffrey Machomi were convicted on December 9, 2011. They were found guilty of violently robbing a shopkeeper Sh12,000 and assorted airtime worth Sh26,000 while armed with a gun, machetes and a club with nails embedded on it. The court heard that the complainant was closing his shop when the gang of 4, his long time neighbours, accosted him and fired a bullet which grazed the right side of his head. The 2nd appellant, the court heard, cut him on the head while the fourth hit him hard on the head with a club. As this was happening, the 1st appellant rushed to the shop and stuffed the day’s sales and airtime in his pocket. The gunshot attracted police officers stationed at a police post some 400 meters away and some neighbours who went to the shopkeeper's rescue. The incident occurred in Butsotso Village, Kakamega South District. The 4 managed to escape in a waiting vehicle, but it later developed a mechanical problem near Sasala River. They decided to abandon the vehicle and went to hide in a nearby sugarcane plantation. A cap bearing Mangweni’s name and Were’s Identity (ID) Card were picked outside the complainant’s house. The 4 sought a review following the Supreme Court's declaration that the mandatory death penalty is inconsistent with the Constitution which guarantees the right to life. (source: standardmedia.co.ke) NIGERIA: Death penalty will curb corruption in Nigeria -Ojikutu Former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, has expressed concern over the worsening security situation in many parts of the country, noting that the calls for restructuring as a way out of the numerous problems presently facing the nation is a good one which should be accorded the attention it deserves. She also spoke on other national issues. The inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari for a 2nd term is days away, what are your expectations? I congratulate President Buhari on his re-election, and our prayers is that he will succeed in taking Nigeria to the next level as he promised during his campaign. We also hope that he will be able to fulfil his promise of making Nigeria clean, that’s talking about his anti-corruption campaign. I believe that once corruption is successfully tackled, the economy of Nigeria will pick up. I believe that it is not that our economy is that bad but too much corruption is stifling the economy on many fronts, and that is why there has been no industrial growth and commerce is not thriving the way it ought to. I’m praying that Buhari will set up committees made up of decent people, people of integrity to oversee and help him expose those things that pose as clog in the wheel of progress of Nigeria’s economy. Nigeria does not lack policies. We have so many policies, but the question is this, are these policies being implemented? Are they being implemented to give the desired impacts? These are some of the tasks the committee members will be saddled with. These committees can also help the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor policies that are being effected. Once you can curb corruption, there will be a boost in the economy and life will be more meaningful and abundant for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO, MO.
May 21 TEXAS: Texas House initially passes "Lauren's Law" "Lauren's Law" named in honor of the Lauren Landavazo who was killed 2 1/2 years ago in Wichita Falls is one step closer to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott. Monday evening the Texas House voted for the legislation that could change the age for capital punishment. The bill would raise the age of a victim where the suspect could be prosecuted for capital murder from under the age of 10 to under the age of 15. In Lauren Landavazo's case, she was 13-years-old when Kody Lott shot and killed her while she was walking home from school Lott was sentenced to life in prison, but by state law, he will be eligible for parole after he has served 30 calendar years. But if "Lauren's Law" gets signed into law, a person charged with capital murder of a someone under the age of 15 will no longer be eligible for parole. The Texas House will have to vote on the bill once more on Tuesday. After that, it will be sent back to the Senate where the author, Senator Pat Fallon, will decide if he wants to accept the amendment that was added by the house. If he accepts it, the bill will be sent to the governor's desk. (source: texomashomepage.com) SOUTH CAROLINA: Jerome Jenkins, other death row inmates may never be executed Jerome Jenkins, the Horry County man sentenced to death last week for the 2015 Sunhouse robberies and murders may never be executed due to the nation-wide shortage of the lethal injection, according to Horry County Solicitor, Jimmy Richardson. Out of the 30 people on death row in South Carolina, five are from Horry and Georgetown Counties, including Jenkins. However, since the company that manufactured the lethal injection stopped producing the drug, no one has been executed in South Carolina since 2011. "Lethal injection, for now, is a thing of the past," Horry County Solicitor, Jimmy Richardson said. South Carolina legislators have tried to solve the lethal injection issue with bills that would bring back the firing squad and make electrocution the default execution method, but so far, none have passed. Richardson says the death penalty was banned in the '70s after the Supreme Court ruled electrocution too gruesome, and as a result, the lethal injection was introduced. He says if they bring back some of the old execution methods, the Supreme Court could ban the death penalty again. "You're walking on this tight wire of the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which says this is a cruel and unusual punishment, and that's sort of what has the legislators stumped." Richardson says even though South Carolina doesn't currently have the means to execute someone, he won't stop pushing for the death penalty when it's warranted, like in Jerome Jenkins's case. "Here, we very judiciously use the death penalty, but we do use it on the worst of the worst, and then once they get up on death row, that's up to our elected legislators to figure out what to do with them at that point, realizing that the lethal injection may not be an option," Richardson said. "The only other solution for us is to give in and say we're just not going to seek it anymore, and I'm not willing to do that." Richardson says not pursuing the death penalty in certain cases where it's needed would cause a downward spiral for prosecutors. "Once you get down to the highest penalty (being) life (instead of the death penalty), there will be the same attacks on that sentence as there are presently on the death penalty. Then it will be life is too much, 30 years is too much, 20 years is too much, and I don't think we need to go down that slope," Richardson said. Richardson says even before the lethal injection shortage, it would take decades for someone on death row to be executed because of the appeals process. He adds that even if the inmate is not executed, being put on death row is still a worse punishment than life in prison, because death row inmates are only allowed out of their cell for 1 hour a day. (source: WBTW news) FLORIDAimpending execution Catholic bishops push for stay of execution for convicted serial killer Days before a convicted serial killer is executed, Florida's Catholic bishops are pushing the governor to change his mind. The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday afternoon, urging him to commute the death sentence of Bobby Joe Long to life without parole. Long is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 23 at 6:00 p.m. He pleaded guilty to 8 homicides and was sentenced to death in 1985. Last month, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Long's death warrant, the governor's 1st. The head of the bishops' conference said while the group doesn't condone Long's crimes, there is worth to his life. "Even those who have done great harm have inherent dignity and great worth. We hope that by staying this execution,
