[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, ARIZ., CALIF., USA
June 13 TEXAS:new execution date William Rayford has received an execution date for January 30, 2018; it should be considered serious. Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present24 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-543 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 25-July 27-Taichin Preyor-544 26-Aug. 30-Steven Long545 27-Sept.7--Juan Castillo--546 28-Oct. 26-Clinton Young--547 29-Jan. 30-William Rayford548 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) ** Forced to Endure Extreme Heat, Prisoners Are Casualties of Texas' Climate Denial, Documents Show On a spring day in May, temperatures in Dallas, Texas, were already in the 90s. Sunlight glinted off the barbed wire perimeter outside the Hutchins State Jail, located just a mile down down the road from Hutchins High School. The 1st blooms of Castilleja, colloquially known here as "prairie fire," seemed to set a field across from the prison ablaze. It was hot outside, but it's nothing compared to the temperatures inside the Hutchins Unit, one of 79 state-run prison units still lacking air-conditioning in its cellblocks in 2017. Even those temperatures, though, still pale further in comparison with the extreme summer heat wave that broiled the jail on July 28, 2011, pushing the heat index up to about 150 degrees in the cellblocks, according to the state's own records, and transforming the jail into an oven that slowly baked Hutchins prisoner Larry McCollum alive. Truthout and Earth Island Journal Investigate America's Toxic PrisonsMcCollum, a 58-year-old cab driver from the Waco area, was found having convulsions in his top bunk. He was taken to Dallas' Parkland Hospital, where his body temperature was measured at 109.4 degrees. McCollum, who was incarcerated for writing a bad check, had recently begun serving his 11-month sentence, and was eager to get through his time and reunite with his wife and 2 children. "He was taken from us. He was supposed to go in for 11 months, and he wound up with a death sentence," McCollum's daughter, Stephanie Kingrey, said. "It was very heartbreaking that he had to sit there and suffer as long as he did before they got any help for him or got him to emergency room." Kingrey said that officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) even tried to deny her access to her father during the 7 days he spent on life support at Parkland Hospital, eventually relenting as Kingrey and other relatives were forced to make the devastating decision to take McCollum off of life support. "They had guards on him 24 hours, like he was just going to jump up and go somewhere, and he was handcuffed to the bed the whole time," Kingrey says. "He was literally brain dead, and there was nothing he could do. He didn't regain consciousness or anything. He wasn't there. He died back in the prison cell." McCollum is one of 22 heat-related deaths that TDCJ has been forced to acknowledge in its prison units after litigation -- 10 of those deaths occurring during that same 2011 summer heat wave. But these deaths are likely the first few indications of what may be a much larger heat problem. "[TDCJ] has acknowledged the deaths because we proved we knew about them," said Attorney Jeff Edwards, who is representing the McCollum family in an ongoing lawsuit against TDCJ, during an interview in his Austin office. "In fact, there are far more than [22] deaths because the only deaths that they count are confirmed autopsies with a diagnosis of hyperthermia. In order to get that diagnosis, you have to have a temperature north of 105 or 106 degrees. So unless you find the body and do an autopsy quickly, you're not going to have that diagnosis. [TDCJ] also doesn't count the probably 100 or more people who suffered heart attacks in the summertime where heat was a contributing factor, or people who suffered asthmatic deaths because heat contributed to that." The medical risk of heat stroke increases significantly when the temperature rises to more than 90 degrees, and can lead to other causes of death like heart attacks. This is especially true for people with medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues, as well as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The risk rises further still for people on medications that inhibit their ability to shed heat or sweat, or certain psychiatric medications. There aren't yet full statistics on how many prison deaths have involved heat as a significant contributing factor, but the number is likely to be much higher than deaths directly attributable to hyperthermia. "1 death is enough to cause concern -- 2, 3, you need to be reacting immediately," Edwards says.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 13 CZECH REPUBLIC: Poll: Opposition to death penalty rising among Czechs Some 38 % of Czechs are against the capital punishment, the biggest proportion over the past 25 years, according to a poll conducted by the CVVM polling institute in May and released on Monday. However, over 1/2 of Czechs are still for the death penalty. Capital punishment was cancelled after the ousting of the Communist regime in 1990. The CVVM has been finding out since 1992 what part of the population is for the reintroduction of the capital punishment or against it. The proportion of the former has been steadily bigger than the latter, but the difference has been diminishing. In 1992, capital punishment was favoured by 76 % of Czechs, while only 13 % were against it. This year, capital punishment was only approved of by 53 % of Czechs, while 38 % were against it. People with higher education and church-goers tend to be opposed to the death penalty, while it is mostly preferred by the elderly and the voters of extremist parties. The CVVM was also finding out what arguments are mostly used in the debate. Roughly 2/3 of the advocates of death penalty agreed with 3 arguments. First, it brings satisfaction to the victims and their families. Second, without the death penalty, the state uselessly provides livelihood to habitual criminals from the taxpayers' money. Third, the execution is an adequate punishment for the worst crimes. On the other hand, almost 3/4 agree with 2 arguments against the death penalty. These are the risk of a judiciary error and the idea that it can be abused. The poll was conducted on a sample of 1,019 Czechs over 15 between May 8 and 18. (source: Czech News Agency) KUWAIT: Death sentence in child murder overturnedKuwait court overturns death sentence for father and mother who tortured their child to death Kuwait's Court of Appeals has overturned the death sentence for father and a mother who tortured their 4-year-old daughter to death and kept her body in a freezer. The court in its new ruling sentenced the father to 10 years in jail and acquitted the mother. The reasons that made the appeals court abolish on Monday the verdicts pronounced by a lower court were not reported. According to the case documents, the 26-year-old father in May last year beat his daughter Isra with an electrical wire and poured hot water on her in front of her mother, 23, and 3 younger siblings. Security sources said that the investigation department received a tip about a suspicious murder in a flat in the Salmiya area in the capital Kuwait City. Investigators searched the flat and found a bag in the freezer in which they found the frozen body of a young girl, the sources said Forensic doctors reported that the body had burns on the shoulders and feet and traces of torture. During his questioning, the father, reportedly a drug addict, said that his daughter took 1 of his pills and died. However, he later admitted that he tortured her with hot water and beat her up with an electrical wire for her negligence in the flat. He added that when he saw her condition, he went down to a pharmacy and bought her medicines, but she passed away. The father then went to the market and bought a freezer and placed Isra's body inside it. His wife, a foreigner, refused to stay in the flat where the body was hidden, and he was forced to take her and their 3 children to another location. However, they complained that the place was unbearably hot and that they could not stay there. He took them to the flat of his mother and asked her to accommodate them for a few days, the sources added. The father told his mother that the eldest daughter had been hospitalized and that he would stay with her at the hospital. Upon hearing the details, investigators headed to the flat where they arrested Isra's mother for her complicity in the murder of her daughter. Further investigations revealed that the father and mother consumed drugs and that the father had been fired from work for showing up in an abnormal state. The parents were also found to be extremely negligent in the upbringing of their children and that their flat was disorganized and dirty. In its statement, the interior ministry said the parents were on drugs at the time of the murder. The investigations indicated that the father bought the freezer on the same day he killed his daughter and that he was the one to put her in a bag. The statement confirmed that the girl's body had traces of torture. (source: Gulf News) LEBANON: NGO condemns calls to reinstate death penalty Calls to reinstate the death penalty in Lebanon were condemned by Human Rights Watch Monday. The rebuttal came after Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk called Friday for the "reintroduction of the death penalty," in particular for "intentional crimes," following the murder of 24-year-old student Roy
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VIRGINIA
June 13 VIRGINIAimpending execution Urgent Action DELUSIONAL DISORDER DIAGNOSED, EXECUTION SET William Morva, a 35-year-old US-Hungarian national, is due to be executed in Virginia on 6 July. A psychiatrist has diagnosed him with delusional disorder, and concluded that this contributed to the crimes for which he was sentenced to death. The jury was not told that he had this serious mental disability. Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet: * Calling for commutation of William Morva’s death sentence and medical care for his mental disability; * Noting the diagnosis of delusional disorder, but that the jurors were told he had a less serious mental disability and did not experience delusions, denying them a full picture of who they were being asked to sentence; * Explaining that you are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of violent crime or its consequences. Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of forwarding this one! Contact below official by 6 July, 2017 (by 22 June if possible, in case of early decision): Governor Terry McAuliffe, Common Ground for Virginia P.O. Box 1475, Richmond, VA 23218, USA Phone: +1 804-786-2211 | Fax: +1 804-371-6531 Email (via website): https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/communicating-with-the-governors-office/ Twitter: @TerryMcAuliffe Salutation: Dear Governor Note: The Governor’s contact form requires a US-based address and telephone number in order to submit an appeal. We encourage you to use the comment form on their website, and if you are based outside of the US, to instead use AI USA’s New York contact details as your address/telephone number: Amnesty International USA New York Office 5 Penn Plaza, New York, NY, 10001, USA Phone: 212.633.4187 ___ 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
