June 1
TEXAS----inmate removed from death row
Former death row killer who targeted gay men in 1980s gets life sentences
A former Charles Manson follower linked to a string of gay hate crimes in the
1980s won an appeal and has been let off death row, but under a new plea deal
will still spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Marlin Enos Nelson, a 50-year-old Harris County man who once professed a hatred
of gay people, was originally sentenced to die for the 1987 murder of a
telephone switchman who picked him up for sex, according to court records.
But in 2013, an appeals court decided that flawed jury instructions at his 1988
trial could have unfairly netted him a death sentence, so the judges overturned
his punishment while leaving in place the guilty verdict.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Ayotte, Prosecutor in Capital Murder Case, Angered by Death Penalty Repeal
Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she is disappointed and angry that New
Hampshire has abolished its death penalty.
As the state's attorney general, Ayotte was the lead prosecutor in the case of
Michael Addison, who killed Manchester Officer Michael Briggs in 2006 and is
the state's only inmate on death row.
While the bill ending capital punishment is not retroactive, its opponents
argue Addison eventually will see his sentence converted to life on prison.
The state Senate voted to overturn Gov. Chris Sununu's veto of the bill on
Thursday, a week after the House did the same. In a series of tweets, Ayotte
says law enforcement officers and their families deserve better than what they
got from lawmakers, and that Addison was the happiest about the vote.
(source: Associated Press)
**********************
Ignore the pope on death penalty
Can a murderer or kidnapper, that kills his victim, or a traitor, be put to
death by the state?
Yes.
The state has an obligation to protect the commonweal of society, even to the
point of imposing the death penalty and deprive the killer of his/her own life.
Contrary to what the current pope of the Catholic Church has said, and his
attempt to change church teaching on the subject of the death penalty, the
church has always taught that the death penalty can be used as a last resort —
after due process — in order for the killer to pay with his own life for his
crimes against society.
There are far too many Catholics that do not know their faith, and think that
whatever the pope says or writes is binding on the conscience of the faithful.
This is not so! There are strict requirements that have to be met in order for
a teaching to be binding. Suffice to say, that the pope is human, and like you
and I, is entitled to his opinion. If he says that the death penalty is null
and void from this point on, he is not to be obeyed! Remember, he cannot change
any teachings on faith and morals, period!
When Christ was standing before Pilate, He told Pilate that if His kingdom was
of this world, His legions would come and protect and save Him. In addition, He
said that he (Pilate) would have no authority over Him if it were not given him
by His Father, and consequently, through the state, to him!
Today, we have “legal” murder in the form of abortion, and now infanticide in
the form of letting a poor baby girl that survived an attempt to kill her
through the “procedure” of abortion, left to die a cold and lonely death or
thrown into the trash can!
Murder is still murder, and these killers should also be subject to the death
penalty, period!
Pray for the restoration of the death penalty in all 50 states, and pray for an
end to the “legal” murder of the pre-born. And while you’re at it, pray for our
country!!
EUGENE R. DeLALLA
P.O. Box 653
(source: Keene Sentinel)
VERMONT:
‘Ladies in Waiting’: A window into the souls of death row
If the eyes are the window into the soul, what might you see in a photo of a
woman on death row?
Artist Rita Fuchsberg saw her next project.
After reading a 1998 article in The New York Times that printed the photos of
women on death row, Fuchsberg was inspired to create a series of portraits of
them. “Ladies in Waiting” is the installation exhibit that resulted, and it
will open in tandem with the member show at the Carving Studio and Sculpture
Center in West Rutland Saturday, June 8, with a 5 to 7 p.m. reception.
Insanity shines through in one face, fear in another. Next, rage.
“I felt I had caught the spirit of the person, what I thought I saw in the
photograph,” Fuchsberg said by phone recently. “It’s not something I can really
describe: Was it something in the mood? The eyes? That indescribable either
sadness, anger, (or) complete lack of interest; (some) are absolutely crazy.
“20 years ago I painted it,” Fuchsberg explained, and submitted it as one of
1,500 artists who applied to an international exhibit with the Texas
Moratorium. She was one of 50 accepted.
There are 40 portraits total. Fuchsberg never met the subjects in person, she
painted strictly from photos and her own research on what they were accused of,
and what the circumstances were.
“I used acrylic paints,” she said. “I only worked with red, grey, green, black
and white, I kept the color scheme very controlled. I cut all the photographs
out and drew them first with chalk and then I did my regular process of drawing
it and darkening the canvas and bringing out the lights and the darks.”
Back then she was interested in the crimes committed, but later the exhibit
revealed additional meaning: how the system works.
“How inconsistent it is and how unfairly the death penalty is carried out,”
Fuchsberg said. “I don’t love (these women, but) across the board these are
poor people who couldn’t afford a good lawyer. It’s an unfair system and that’s
one of the points of the show.
“One of them supposedly killed her children, but her throat was slit,”
Fuchsberg explained. “She claims she’s innocent and a jury member (said) if
they had a picture of her slashed throat (they) never would have voted for the
death penalty. That is a typical appeals situation. She’s been on death row
since the painting.”
At least 10 of the women killed their husbands or boyfriends, many of whom were
battering them. 10 killed children. 6 have been executed since the painting was
done. The rest are still waiting.
(source: Rutland Herald)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Death penalty repeal movement surfaces in PA Legislature
The death penalty has been abolished or overturned in 20 states, and there are
growing conversations to do the same in other places across the nation.
Republican lawmakers this year have signed on to repeal efforts in Colorado,
Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Montana as well as in New Hampshire,
Pennsylvania, Washington and Wyoming as part of a growing conservative movement
questioning the efficacy of the death penalty.
New Hampshire lawmakers passed death penalty repeals in 2018 and 2019, only to
see the governor veto the bills.
Governors in California, Colorado, Oregon and Pennsylvania — states with
capital punishment statutes — have declared moratoria on executions.
----
In a turnabout that few could have predicted, Pennsylvania appears poised to
join at least a half dozen other states where Republicans and Democrats
together are pushing to repeal capital punishment.
4 Keystone State lawmakers — 3 Democrats and a Republican — have launched a
drive seeking support to repeal the moribund death penalty in Pennsylvania, 1
of 29 states that allows capital punishment. The U.S. government and military
also sanction death sentences.
5 of the 6 states that border Pennsylvania — Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey,
New York and West Virginia — prohibit the death penalty.
State Rep. Frank Ryan, a second-term Republican from Lebanon County, is among a
growing cadre of conservatives across the country — many affiliated with a
group called Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty — looking to
strike a law that once was a given for many state Republicans.
In Pennsylvania, 408 men and women have been sentenced to death since 1978,
when capital punishment was reinstated here. Only 3 people have been executed
over those 41 years.
More than 1/2 of those sentenced to death — 230 to date — have had their
sentences vacated or overturned. Most were re-sentenced to life in prison. 6
were exonerated.
Another 33 inmates died of natural causes while on death row, and 3 committed
suicide.
The 139 inmates currently serving death sentences have a friend in Gov. Tom
Wolf, who declared a moratorium on executions a month after taking office in
2015.
Ryan’s measure is sponsored along with state Rep. Chriss Rabb, D- Philadelphia,
and Democrat state senators Sharif Street, of Philadelphia, and Katie Muth,
Montgomery County. The lawmakers said they plan to bring bills to the floor
this year.
Ryan, a certified public accountant, said his firm pro-life beliefs led him to
question capital punishment. The answers he found led him to conclude the death
penalty is bad public policy.
“I empathize with victims. But from a public policy standpoint, it’s better to
do life in prison without parole than for the state to start picking who is
going to die. And from a public policy perspective, I’ve found that the justice
system is not as responsive to those with less economic clout,” Ryan said.
Hanna Cox, national manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty,
said her group considers the death penalty an ineffective “big government”
program that wastes public resources and does little to deter crime. She
credits much of the growing interest in repeal efforts to revelations about the
criminal justice system.
“As we continue to move forward in the age of information, a lot of people are
starting to look behind the scenes in the justice system,” she said.
They are finding a lot of problems, she said.
“The overwhelming cost, disparate application of the death penalty compounded
by human error and its historically arbitrary and racist implementation in our
country make it unfit for any use in an efficient and truly just system,” said
Street, a first-term Philadelphia Democrat.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 abolished capital punishment before reinstating
it 4 years later.
Since that time, there have been 1,483 executions nationwide, according to the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Of those deaths, 34% of defendants
were black — while African Americans make about 13% of the U.S. population.
Of the more than 2,700 people on death row in the United States, 41% are black,
according to the LDF’s most recent “Death Row U.S.A.” report. In Pennsylvania,
African Americans make up 54% of death row inmates.
Robert Dunham monitors death penalty cases across the country. He serves as
director of the Death Penalty Information Center and is a former federal
defender who handled death penalty appeals in Pennsylvania. Studies show
capital cases cost around $1 million more than prosecutions which seek life
sentences, he said.
Death penalty cases take longer to get to trial and require more resources when
they do, Dunham said. Capital cases also have a “disruptive and damaging
effect” on the criminal justice system by delaying other cases from getting to
court, he said.
”There are opportunity costs as well as financial costs, and then there are the
emotional costs,” Dunham said. “All those things go into conservatives moving
away from the death penalty.”
While more than half of defendants sentenced to death in Pennsylvania have had
their sentences overturned, many have remained on death row for decades at a
cost of more than $50,000 a year.
Court costs also add up as inmates press appeals through the state and federal
courts.
John Lesko was sentenced to death in 1981 in Westmoreland County for the murder
of Apollo police officer Leonard Miller, 1 of 4 victims in the 8-day “Kill for
Thrill” murder spree Lesko and Michael Travaglia committed between Dec. 27,
1979, and Jan. 3, 1980.
Lesko was re-sentenced to death after a 2nd trial in 1995. 3 years ago, he was
back in Westmoreland County court for another appeal.
A 280-page report on capital punishment in Pennsylvania, issued last summer,
raised questions about the implementation of the death penalty but stopped
short of calling for its repeal.
Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala sat on the commission that
issued the report. He declined to comment on the issue.
The Pennsylvania District Attorneys’ Association, however, blasted the report,
saying it was biased in favor of repeal.
Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck has overseen 8 capital cases in
more than 3 decades as a prosecutor.
“In certain cases, and it’s rare, I think the death penalty is appropriate,”
Peck said. “When you see the horrific nature of certain crimes, it appears that
those crimes call out for the death penalty.”
Some local lawmakers still firmly support capital punishment, including state
Reps. George Dunbar, R-Penn Township, Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, and Mike Reese,
R-Mt. Pleasant.
State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, did not respond to a request for comment.
Pat Stefano, a Republican state senator from Fayette County, is among those
questioning the death penalty.
“I’d prefer that we keep it on the books so prosecutors can use it as a
bargaining tool, but I am not much in favor of it because it does not deter any
criminals,” said Stefano, who makes a point of determining if spending public
money has a positive effect. “We have to analyze every dollar we spend, and
here we’re spending millions and millions of dollars with no effect.”
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, opposes the death penalty and
also questions the cost of capital punishment.
“The death penalty is not only immoral but is not effective as a deterrent for
violent crime,” Costa said. “It’s astronomically expensive in comparison to a
life sentence, and it’s not equitably applied across demographic groups.”
Alexis Hoag, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,
said such attitudes are showing up at the polls and in the courts, where fewer
prosecutors are pursuing death penalties.
“We now see prosecutors running on the platform of being progressive,” Hoag
said.
Case in point, Philadelphia — once the epicenter of death penalty prosecutions
in Pennsylvania — elected Larry Krasner as district attorney in 2017. He ran on
a pledge not to seek the death penalty.
“Across the country, fewer people are being sentenced to death and more states
are stepping up to end the use of capital punishment,” Hoag said, noting 24
states and Washington, D.C., have abolished, overturned or indefinitely banned
the death penalty. “The truth about capital punishment in this country is
clear: it is tainted by racial bias and it lacks the deterrent effects its
proponents claim.”
(source: Tribune-Review)
****************************
DA permitted to pursue death penalty for Keith Jordan Lambing
The District Attorney's office is permitted to continue to pursue the death
penalty for 22-year-old Keith Jordan Lambing.
The District Attorney's office will be permitted to continue to pursue the
death penalty in the case of a 22-year-old Butler man accused of raping a
4-year-old, who later died.
County Judge Timothy McCune responded to several requests earlier this month
made by Keith Jordan Lambing's defense team.
In preparation for a criminal trial, public defender Charles Nedz asked McCune
for several actions, including the removal of Lambing's most serious charge of
criminal homicide along with the state's desire seek to execute Lambing.
Lambing maintains his innocence.
If a jury finds Lambing guilty, a separate sentencing phase will begin for the
death penalty.
Gov. Tom Wolf put a halt to the state's execution of all death row inmates in
2015. Lambing is facing multiple charges, including 1st-degree homicide,
involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with serious bodily injury, and rape of
a child.
The judge's order also denies Nedz's motion to remove an interview police
conducted with Lambing after Bentley Thomas Miller died from internal injuries
in March 2017.
(sourcce: Butler Eagle)
*************************
Pa. Supreme Court upholds Philly man’s death sentences in 2014 Schuylkill
murders
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday upheld the December 2016 convictions
and death sentences imposed on a former Southwest Philadelphia man for the
beating, stabbing, and torturing of two brothers who were then dumped in the
Schuylkill.
In a majority opinion, the justices affirmed Tam Minh Le’s sentences in the
August 2014 deaths of Vu “Kevin” Huynh, 31, and his brother Viet Huynh, 28, who
were killed because they owed Le and his associates a $100,000 drug debt.
The Philadelphia District Attorney Office’s varying stances on Le’s death
sentences were a focus of an Inquirer article last week reporting that the
office under DA Larry Krasner has consistently agreed to or leaned toward a
possible life-in-prison sentence in appeals by Philadelphia’s current death-row
inmates.
The justices’ opinion did not weigh in on the DA’s changing position in Le’s
case.
Justice Debra Todd, who wrote the majority opinion, said in a footnote that
although prosecutors in August 2018 had filed a brief asking that Le’s death
sentences be affirmed, the DA’s Office stated during oral arguments Sept. 25
“it was not prepared to argue for the affirmance of [Le’s] death sentence.”
In a “clarifying position” letter the next day, Todd noted, the DA’s Office
“contends, contrary to its brief, that it does not now seek any specific
relief, but simply states … ‘it does not argue for affirmance of the capital
sentence in this case, at this time.’”
Paul George, assistant supervisor in the DA’s Law Division, had appeared before
the court for the oral argument and had written the clarifying letter. He and
Krasner, both former criminal defense attorneys, have expressed opposition to
the death penalty in other cases.
Cameron Kline, a spokesperson for the DA’s Office, said by email Friday that
the office had no comment on the court’s opinion.
In his clarifying letter, George wrote that he could not argue for Le, now 47,
to be executed until the state Supreme Court resolved the appeals of 2 other
Philadelphia death-row inmates, including Jermont Cox, whose appeal is pending.
(The high court in October denied the appeal of the other inmate, Lavar Brown.)
Cox’s petition asks the court to end capital punishment, citing last summer’s
Joint State Government Commission report, and argues that the death penalty
violates the state Constitution’s ban on cruel punishment. The DA’s Office has
until June 17 to reply.
Only Justice David Wecht did not agree to affirming Le’s death sentences.
Wecht, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that Le deserved a new penalty-phase
hearing based on the trial judge’s refusal to let him question prospective
jurors about his prior manslaughter conviction in the 1993 shooting death of a
man in Rochester, N.Y., contending the refusal impinged on Le’s right to an
impartial jury.
Le’s appellate attorney, James Berardinelli, said Friday that he respects the
court’s decision, but disagreed with it. “We agree with what Justice Wecht
mentioned in his dissent,” he said, adding that he expects Le will continue to
appeal.
Tram Huynh, 41, sister of the victims, said in a text message Friday: “I’m glad
[the] Supreme Court still continues with the death sentence.”
(source: philly.com)
FLORIDA:
Rep. Mike Hill laughed at suggestion that gay Floridians be executed
Pensacola Rep. Mike Hill is coming under fire from Democrats and Republicans
for his response to a suggestion that gay people should face the death penalty
made during his talk before a group at Pensacola City Hall last week.
During the remarks, Hill laughed off a suggestion from a member of the audience
that he sponsor a bill to allow gay people to be executed for their sexuality.
The suggestion came moments after Hill said he believed laws aimed at
protecting the rights of gay people were wrong.
Rep. Carlos Smith, D-Orlando, called on Hill to apologize for the comments or
resign.
"I’m shocked & disgusted to discover a colleague who I’ve worked closely with
would joke about punishing me by death for being gay," Smith wrote on Twitter.
"As a survivor of anti-gay hate violence, I know the consequences of homophobia
are real."
Hill and Smith campaigned together last year in support of the amendment to ban
greyhound racing in Florida, something Smith pointed out on Twitter.
"Was he thinking DOGS deserve more protection than LGBTQ people like me," Smith
said. "How can he espouse such bigoted views and work alongside me?"
House Speaker Jose Oliva and Rules Chairman Chris Sprowls, both Republicans,
put out a joint statement condemning Hill's actions.
"We unequivocally condemn both the question asked of Representative Hill and
Representative Hill's laughter and refusal to push back and remind his audience
that this is America and we don't stone people to death we disagree with,"
Oliva and Sprowl's statement said. "Such callous indifference to an outrageous
question is unacceptable, runs contrary to our founding principles, and in no
way reflects the beliefs of the Florida House."
"Representative Hill would do well to remember that the only story in the New
Testament involving stoning involved Jesus putting a stop to it and saying,
'let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' I believe he owes his
colleagues an apology and he owes the Republican caucus a better example of
political courage."
The exchanged happened during a meeting of the Women for Responsible
Legislation at Pensacola City Hall on May 23.
The group bills itself as a non-partisan group and has hosted several local
candidate forums featuring both Democrats and Republicans. Hill has spoken
frequently to the group and has served as a moderator at some of the candidate
forums the group has held.
During the meeting, Hill also said he was told by God to file a bill to ban
abortion with almost no exceptions, similar to the one that recently was passed
in Alabama. He also said an oath taken on anything but the Bible isn't valid,
and he questioned the legitimacy of the judicial branch to rule if laws are
unconstitutional.
Hill was asked a question about why Rep. Alex Andrade co-sponsored the proposed
Florida Competitive Workforce Act, which would bring Florida's discrimination
protection for LGBTQ people in line with federal rules. Although it didn't
pass, the proposal drew bipartisan support during the legislative session.
Hill responded he didn't know why Andrade or any Republican would co-sponsor
such a bill, but the legislation didn't represent the values of Northwest
Florida. He added that he thought being gay was a choice.
Someone's sexual orientation, their proclivity to want to do something, that is
your business," Hill said. "It's a behavior, and it's a choice. You can say I
was born that way. OK, well fine, but nobody is forcing you to engage in that
relationship even if you were born that way. It doesn't meet the qualifications
of being a protected status."
Moments later a member of the audience spoke up.
“In 1 Corinthians, it says that a man who has an affair with another man will
be put to death," a man in the audience says to Hill.
Hill responded by saying, “It says that in the Old Testament, too.” Another
person asked if he would introduce that legislation (to put gay people to
death). The suggestion drew laughter from the room and from Hill.
“I wonder how that would go over," Hill said.
After the News Journal released a recording of the exchange, Equality Florida,
an LGBTQ civil rights organization, and the Florida Democratic Party both
released statements condemning Hill's comments.
"Words matter," said Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse shooting in Orlando
and media relations manager for Equality Florida in a statement. "The comments
made by Rep. Mike Hill this week are both deeply disturbing and dangerous. Rep.
Hill should be embarrassed and ashamed for laughing along with the suggestion
that he file legislation requiring the execution of LGBTQ people."
Juan Peñalosa, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, called
Hill's comments hateful and divisive.
"As a gay man and a Christian, my stomach turns to hear elected leaders who
think it’s acceptable to make jokes about putting people like me to death in
the name of Jesus," Peñalosa said in the statement. "And as a Floridian, I’m
outraged that he has been elected to office. Representative Hill needs to
resign and the Governor and the leaders of the Florida GOP must reject his
remarks. I also hope Mr. Hill’s spiritual leader has a long conversation with
him to remind him the teachings of our Lord – and if he doesn’t have one, I’m
happy to introduce him to my Pastor.”
Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, who is also chairman of the Republican Party of
Florida, tweeted that Hill should immediately apologize.
"I am horrified by what I just heard, hate of any kind cannot be tolerated,"
Gruters said on Twitter. "Mike Hill should immediately apologize."
Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, also took to Twitter and called the exchange
"indefensible."
"Nothing about this “exchange of jokes” is conservative let alone Christian,"
Grant wrote. "As a Christian who unapologetically believes in religious
liberties, this exchange is nothing short of theocratically fascist,
unconscionable, and indefensible."
Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson, who said he had no idea the meeting was taking
place on city property when first asked about the meeting, issued a statement
Friday about the meeting.
"The recent comments made by Rep. Mike Hill are absolutely unacceptable and
inconsistent with the values of the City of Pensacola in every way," Robinson
said. "We are a diverse community that embraces everyone, including the LGBTQ
community, and to make comments even implying that any individuals in our
community should be killed is appalling. This does not reflect who we are in
Pensacola, and I’m embarrassed that this happened here. We welcome everyone in
Pensacola, and we want all members of our community to feel safe and
supported."
In an earlier statement, Robinson said the city will continue to allow any
non-profit organization to continue to use public facilities whenever feasible
and the views expressed by those groups "do not necessarily reflect those of
the city of Pensacola."
"However, free speech is a fundamental right as Americans that we value
greatly, and we do not discriminate against or prohibit anyone from using city
resources based on their views or opinions," Robinson said.
Andrade, Hill's fellow Pensacola representative, said Hill's comments last week
did not reflect his view of Christianity.
"I'm disappointed in Mike," Andrade said. "I hope after this he learns that
jokes about killing people that are different than him is not a Northwest
Florida value."
(source: Pensacola News Journal)
********************
Honor D’Alemberte by reviewing Florida’s death penalty process----The former
Florida State University president, who died recently, was opposed to capital
punishment and aghast at Florida’s uneven process and procedures.
This column isn’t a tribute to the late Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, although it
could be. The former Florida State University president, FSU College of Law
dean, American Bar Association president, Miami area state legislator and chair
of the 1977-1978 Florida Constitution Revision Commission continues to evoke
heartfelt reaction from so many whose lives he touched since he died nearly 2
weeks ago.
His sensibilities will continue to inspire people to envision a more just world
and take meaningful steps to achieve it. His resolve to confront vexing
challenges — regardless of whether they are unpopular, controversial or
characterized by vitriolic, rather than well-informed, rhetoric — is legend.
This essentially is a call to action involving one of D’Alemberte’s many
priorities to change the status quo.
Recently, Florida executed a Death Row inmate under authority of the first
warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. D’Alemberte was opposed to capital
punishment and aghast at Florida’s uneven process and procedures, and at those
around the country.
Years ago, he encouraged me to join an eight-member, Florida-based assessment
team assembled by the ABA. It included an elected state attorney, a former
public defender, a former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice, a circuit judge
who taught the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies capital case
sentencing course, an appellate lawyer in private practice who later served as
president of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society and was chaired by a
then-UF law professor with special expertise in mental illness.
The 2006 ABA report that resulted highlighted a range of findings and
recommendations regarding the fairness, accuracy and impartiality of Florida’s
death penalty process — the report did not take a position on capital
punishment.
Nor did it focus upon method of execution or the staggering fiscal implications
of capital punishment since such would require different kinds of
subject-matter expertise.
Significantly, all findings and recommendations were unanimous.
One recommendation called for unanimous penalty phase juries to advance a death
sentence instead of by simple majority (for example, 7-5) which was Florida’s
standard at the time. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a decade later that
Florida’s scheme violated the U.S. Constitution — the Legislature took 2
sessions afterward to get it right.
Another finding documented jurors’ widespread confusion in capital cases. The
Florida Supreme Court amended the corresponding jury instructions 3 years
afterward.
Other key findings and recommendations involving, but not limited to,
geographic, socioeconomic and racial disparities still apply but haven’t been
effectively addressed.
I met D’Alemberte during the early 1990s. He requested a meeting when I served
as assistant general counsel and clemency aide to Gov. Lawton Chiles. He was
representing a death row inmate pro bono. My responsibilities included
supporting the governor’s consideration of death penalty cases when they
reached a point in the appellate process that executive clemency review would
ensue. Chiles refrained from signing a death warrant in that instance.
The governor’s guidance simply was keep him apprised of significant issues that
might affect his decision. I sat next to the governor in his office during an
execution, with open phone lines to the courts, Florida’s attorney general and
the execution chamber.
5 years after the ABA released its Florida report, former Florida Supreme Court
Justice Raoul Cantero (appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush and now practicing law in
Miami) and I approached the Florida Bar’s Criminal Law Section — comprising
judges, prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers (public and private) and
academics — to propose a position supporting comprehensive review of Florida’s
entire death-penalty process by all three branches of government. It passed
23-3.
That was 2011. No such review has been conducted. Moreover, a commission
established in law to monitor Florida’s process and report back to all three
branches was eliminated by the Legislature that same year without debate in the
Senate purportedly as a cost-avoidance measure. For perspective, courts review
issues raised within the context of any given case — they’re not informed by a
broad assessment of the efficacy of Florida’s death-penalty process.
More recently, Roberto Martinez, a member of the 2017-2018 Florida Constitution
Revision Commission and former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of
Florida — now practicing law in Coral Gables — attempted to amend his
commission proposal to repeal capital punishment instead to require periodic
review of Florida’s entire death-penalty process consistent with the Criminal
Law Section position.
In a departure from traditional protocol the chairwoman of the respective
commission committee broke a tie by voting no, effectively ending his effort to
further, at a minimum, a constitutional framework.
In keeping with D’Alemberte’s sensibilities, death-penalty supporters and
opponents alike have reason to advocate for meaningful periodic review of
Florida’s entire death-penalty process by all 3 branches of government, so long
as capital punishment is the law in this state.
(source: Opinion; Mark R. Schlakman is the senior program director of the
Florida State University’s Center for the Advancement of Human Rights----Tampa
Bay Times)
ALABAMA:
Sanctity of life in Alabama is hogwash
I am a white man who lives in Birmingham. I have lived here for 36 years. But I
am profoundly ashamed of what has happened in my state in the past week.
The Alabama legislature, led by 25 white male Republicans, passed the most
restrictive anti-abortion law in history. In it, abortion is illegal even in
the case of rape or incest. And women and their doctors can be sent to prison
for life.
These anti-abortionists claim that they are motivated by a desire to protect
the sanctity of life. I say hogwash.
In my opinion, the Alabama law is not about the sanctity of life at all. It's a
ruse. Let's look at the facts. If the preciousness of life was at the core of
their belief system, the anti-abortionists would be clamoring at the top of
their lungs for sensible gun control laws. But they are not. And they would be
marching in the streets against capital punishment. But they are not. And they
would be unwilling to accept anything less than full access to health care for
all. But they are not.
40,000 people died from guns last year in the United States. Alabama has the
second highest gun death rate in the country. Now if the sanctity of life is so
important, then why aren’t reasonable gun control laws being advocated by the
same people who oppose abortion? No one is trying to take away the right to
bear arms as allowed in the Constitution. Just simple gun control laws that
would make a difference in saving lives. Where is the outcry for the sanctity
of life in the gun control debate? The preciousness of life seems to evaporate
into thin air when it comes to gun control.
25 death penalty executions were carried out in the United States in 2018.
Since 1976, there have been a total of 1,497 executions. by the states. In
Alabama, there have been 65 executions since 1983. It is estimated that 4% of
death row inmates are innocent.
Based on that figure, 60 innocent people have been executed in the country thus
far. And how many more innocent people are scheduled to die in the future?
There are 2,639 death row inmates as of January, 2019. There are 191 death row
inmates in Alabama right now, 4th highest in the nation.
Where is the concern for the sanctity of life in these death penalty cases? How
can you be so opposed to abortion yet be in favor of the death penalty, with
the full knowledge that innocent people will be put to death at the hands of
the state. I guess the sanctity of life is far less compelling than
retribution.
Why are people who are strongly opposed to abortion also against spending
federal and state funds on access to health care? If you are in favor of
protecting and extending life, then health care for all should be a top
priority. Quite the opposite, many anti-abortionists are in favor of slashing
funds
for health care. So we don't want a woman to have an abortion but it's
acceptable for her to have poor or no prenatal care. And after the child is
born, she won't have access to quality health care either. So much for the
sanctity of life.
So let’s not get hoodwinked into a discussion of the sanctity of life when it’s
not about being pro-life at all. Yes, pure hogwash.
So what were these white Republican men in Alabama trying to accomplish?
It seems clear that white men want to protect and perpetuate their patriarchy.
They don't want to give up their control and power. They feel threatened by
women and blacks and browns and gays and anything and everything that is not
white. As our country has become more diversified and heterogeneous, white men
have become more fearful and more reactionary. Their goal? To exert power by
trying to deny women the right to own and control their bodies. It's a power
play, pure and simple. It has nothing to do with being pro-life.
All white men in Alabama should be ashamed of themselves. Where is their
outrage at this new law? Where is their anguish? Their silence is deafening.
I am a man and I am ready to stand up for what is right, just, and equal. It
has always been women who are held responsible, blamed, and punished when it
comes to pregnancy. Men are rarely if ever held accountable. Their bodies are
never compromised. Never. Patriarchy means that men are let off the hook. We
can't even come up with widely-enforced laws for deadbeat fathers. But we can
now send women to prison for life for having control over their bodies.
So it’s not about the sanctity of life. It’s not about being pro-life. It is
about preserving power and control for men. In Alabama, it’s about enacting a
draconian anti-abortion law that can send a woman to prison. It’s about
punishing women for wanting to control their bodies.
Total hogwash.
(source: Opinion; Dr. Alan D. Blotcky is a clinical psychologist in private
practice in Birmingham----al.com)
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