[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARKANSAS
Urgent Action: Clemency Board To Hear What Jury Never Did (USA: UA 60/17) Urgent Action CLEMENCY BOARD TO HEAR WHAT JURY NEVER DID Marcel Williams, aged 46, is due to be executed in Arkansas on 24 April. The jury never heard any mitigating evidence about his childhood of severe abuse and trauma. That evidence is now before the clemency board which will consider his petition on 27 March. Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet: * Calling for clemency for Marcel Williams and for his death sentence to be commuted; * Expressing concern that the jury heard no evidence about his background of poverty, deprivation and abuse and its effects, noting that the only judge to hear this evidence said that the death sentence should not stand; * Explaining that you are not seeking to condone violent crime or to downplay its consequences. Contact these two officials by 24 April, 2017: Important note: Please do not forward this Urgent Action email directly to these officials. Instead of forwarding this email that you have received, please open up a new email message in which to write your appeals to each official. This will help ensure that your emails are not rejected. Thank you for your deeply valued activism! Arkansas Parole Board Two Union National Plaza 105 W Capitol Avenue #500 Little Rock, AR 72201-5730, USA Fax: +1 501 683-5381 Salutation: Dear Board Members The Honorable Asa Hutchinson Governor of the State of Arkansas State Capitol, Suite 250 500 Woodlane St, Little Rock, AR 72201, USA Fax: +1 501 682 3597 Email: http://governor.arkansas.gov/contact-info/ (use US detail) Salutation: Dear Governor ___ 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
March 20 TURKEY: Erdogan vows to reinstate death penalty as referendum opponents face 'attacks and imprisonmentIn the build up to the referendum, the Turkish President promised he will introduce the death penalty in a campaign that has caused a diplomatic furore Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Saturday that he will reinstate capital punishment "without hesitation", ahead of the referendum on 16 April that could lead to a radical extension of his powers. Speaking at a televised rally in Canakkale, the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) promised that he would sign a bill on the death penalty, stating: "I believe, God willing, that after the 16 April vote, parliament will do the necessary concerning your demands for capital punishment". His controversial comments come over a decade after Turkey completely abolished the death penalty in its efforts to join the European Union. This isn't the first time the premier has introduced talks about reinstating capital punishment. He raised the idea after last year's failed coup of 15 July, suggesting it would bring justice to the families of the victims. As the referendum approaches, Erdogan has been leading an inflammatory, anti-western campaign that saw him pushing a political narrative that depicts Turkey as a great nation that is being undermined by an imperialist Europe. He attacked German chancellor Angela Merkel again on Sunday, accusing her of using "Nazi measures", according to Agence France-Presse. In a televised speech, he said: "You are right now employing Nazi measures," using the informal 'you' in Turkish in what has become an intense diplomatic dispute. He previously launched a scathing attack on Germany for stopping rallies in advance of the constitutional referendum, in which he repeatedly referred to Germans as 'Nazis'. He erroneously labelled the Dutch as "Nazi remnants" in a desperate bid to appeal to voters in the Turkish diaspora. The Netherlands is home to approximately 397,471 people of Turkish origin, who make up 2.4 % of the total population. Most of them hold dual nationality and are therefore eligible to vote in the Turkish referendum. A 'yes' in the referendum would rewrite the constitution and transform Turkey from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency, giving Erdogan unprecedented control to appoint ministers, pick senior judges, and dismiss parliament. Erdogan's campaign has understandably been met with criticism, with Turkey's main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, urging Turks to vote no in the referendum, saying its approval would undermine democracy. European institutions have also expressed concerns over the campaign. A Council of Europe inquiry noted there is an "excessive concentration of powers in one office." According to the Associated Press, figures opposing the referendum in Turkey have faced threats, violence, arbitrary detentions, a lack of TV airtime and even sabotage in the campaign. The AKP leader's shift towards an autocratic government has led to accusations of being 'dictatorial' by critics. Erdogan came under fire in January after using Hitler's government as an example of an effective presidential system. He defended his argument that putting all political power in the hands of the presidency would be a success, by saying "there are already examples in the world [...] you can see it when you look at Hitler's Germany. There are later examples in various other countries." The rocky campaign and talks of introducing a death penalty will undoubtedly cause long-term damage for ties between Turkey and European countries, and could end Ankara's efforts to join the EU. (source: independent.co.uk) Juncker warns Turkey death penalty is 'red line' issue European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has warned Turkey that any return of the death penalty would be a "red line" in the country's stalled EU membership bid. "If the death penalty is reintroduced in Turkey, that would lead to the end of negotiations," he told Sunday's edition of Germany's Bild newspaper, calling it a "red line". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday he expected parliament to approve the restoration of capital punishment after next month's referendum on controversial consitutional changes to expand his powers. Mr Juncker nevertheless said he was opposed to a complete halt to all membership negotiations with Turkey. "It makes no sense to try to calm (Erdogan's) nerves by stopping negotiations that are not even taking place." German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel went even further, saying in an interview with Der Spiegel: "We are farther away than ever from Turkey's accession to the EU." Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 and the European Union has repeatedly made clear that any move to restore it would scupper its membership bid. However Turkish ministers
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., ARK., USA
March 20 TEXAS: Severe mental illness and the death penalty Over the course of our state's history, people with severe mental illnesses have faced serious consequences in the criminal justice system. All too often, these individuals faced capital punishment, a sentence that frequently extends an already emotionally difficult ordeal for family members, involves years of litigation and occurs at high financial cost to taxpayers. The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for persons with intellectual disabilities and for juveniles - because medical research shows those individuals do not have the same mental capacity as fully-functioning adults. People experiencing symptoms of severe mental illnesses are clearly in the same category and should be treated the same way. Assessing capital punishment in these unique and infrequent cases disregards the growing scientific consensus that severe mental illness can significantly impair one's ability to make rational decisions, understand the consequences of one's actions and control one's impulses. The diagnosis process is lengthy, detailed and accurate. The capital punishment approach sweeps aside our collective responsibility to provide adequate care options for persons with mental health disabilities. In January, the Texas House Select Committee on Mental Health released its interim report and recommendations. The report acknowledged "an estimated 30 percent of inmates have one or more serious mental illnesses." To address the issue of individuals with serious mental illness, one must broach the complex relationships between the mental health community and the criminal justice system. It is clear that a lack of access to treatment can directly result in costly, non-therapeutic criminal justice system involvement. Individuals who are guilty should be held accountable for their actions, but we propose that individuals who qualify for the severe mental illness exemption from the death penalty should be subject to criminal prosecution, and if convicted, should serve terms of life without parole. Our proposed exemption would not apply to a broad range of individuals. Only those with medical diagnoses such as schizophrenia, schizo-effective disorder, paranoia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or depression should be considered. It would apply on a case-by-case basis; a judge or jury would consider all of the evidence to determine whether a person had a severe mental illness with active symptoms at the time of the crime. When individuals with severe mental illnesses enter the criminal justice system and are not appropriately diverted to treatment, the state runs the risk of executing innocent people. Individuals with severe mental illnesses run a higher risk of being executed, typically after bending to police pressure, firing their counsel and representing themselves or refusing to help with their own defense. A 2012 study found that approximately 70 % of wrongfully convicted defendants with mental illness confessed to crimes they didn't commit. This compares to only 10 % of defendants without a mental illness. Mental illness is not a choice. We as a society have already answered the question of how to address persons with severe mental disabilities as it relates to the criminal justice system. Our challenge nationally, and as a state, is to ensure this approach is now reflected in all aspects of the law. Toni Rose, State representative, District 110 (source: Texas Tribune) ALABAMA: Lawmakers to vote on death penalty bill Alabama lawmakers will vote next month on whether to prohibit a judge from imposing a death sentence when a jury has recommended life imprisonment. Alabama is the only state that allows a judge to override a jury's sentence recommendation in capital murder cases. The Alabama House of Representatives is scheduled to debate the bill on April 4 when lawmakers return from a 2-week spring break. The Senate has already approved the measure. The bill is 3rd on the proposed debate agenda for the day. According to the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, since 1976 Alabama judges have overridden jury recommendations 112 times. In 101 of those cases, the judges gave a death sentence. The legislation would only affect future capital cases, not inmates currently on Alabama's death row. (source: Tuscaloosa News) ARKANSAS: Arkansas's Cruel and Unusual Killing Spree Arkansas's plan to execute 8 men in 11 days next month is a recipe for disaster, one entirely of the state's making. Although the state has not put anyone to death since November 2005, it now says that it must execute 2 people per day on April 17, 20, 24 and 27 because its current supply of midazolam, 1 of its 3 execution drugs, will expire at the end of the month. This will be the fastest spate of executions in any state in more than 40
