[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARKANSAS
April 17 ARKANSASstay of 2 impending executions Split Arkansas court blocks 2 executions A divided Arkansas Supreme Court granted stays of executions for 2 Arkansas inmates while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a separate case next week concerning access to independent mental health experts by defendants. The Arkansas court ruled 4-3 Monday to block the executions for Bruce Ward and Don Davis, who were originally scheduled to be put to death Monday night, though stays had been issued in separate court cases challenging their executions and six others planned this month. Writing in a dissent, Associate Justice Shawn Womack lamented the court’s ruling. He wrote that Ward and Davis have had “decades of appeals” and that the victims’ families deserved closure. A spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge had no immediate comment on the court’s ruling. (source: Washington Post) ___ 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
April 17 IRANexecutions Execution of 2 Ill Prisoners in Tabriz and Intensified Deterioration of Prison Conditions The mullahs 'anti-human regime on April 12 hanged 27-year-old Rahman Hosseinpour while suffering from mental illness in Tabriz prison. He was taking daily 30 tranquilizer pills and was imprisoned in the psychotherapy ward. On April 4 another ill prisoner detained in Tabriz prison was executed after 4 years in prison. On April 11 in the same prison 2 ill brothers were attacked after going to the prison clinic and were later transferred to solitary confinement. Execution of sick prisoners or their mistreatment is in violation of several international treaties to which Iran is a signatory member. These crimes are a portion of the deteriorating situation of Tabriz prison and a growing pressure on prison inmates. 7,000 prisoners piled up in the prison, because of the lack of the most basic medical facilities, do not get medical visits even once a year. It has been more than 2 months that with the excuse of repairing the kitchen, prisoners get only rice and soup. Given that many prisoners ca not afford to buy food, they are suffering from malnutrition. There are not enough blankets or beds in terms of the number of prisoners there and half of the prisoners have to rest on bare ground without minimum facilities. Any objection by the prisoners is answered by repression and beating. Gohardasht prison inmates also suffer poor food quality, lack of medical facilities and lack of heating system. Prisoners have to pay for all the facilities, from the cost of treatment to the food and residency at their own expense. Inmates of Section 10 of this prison do not have access to hot water for more than a year due to the breakdown of the heating system. (source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran) PHILIPPINES: PH barred from reintroducing death penalty, UN reminds Senate The Philippines is prohibited from reimposing capital punishment because of international treaties signed by the government, a United Nations (UN) body reminded the Senate. In a letter dated March 27, UN Human Rights Committee chair Yuji Iwasawa expressed "grave concern" over the passage of the death penalty bill at the House of Representatives and urged the Senate to "refrain from taking retrogressive measures." Iwasawa reminded Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III that the Philippines is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the 2 Optional Protocols. Article 6 (2) of the ICCPR bars States from reintroducing death penalty once it is already abolished, whether through amending domestic law or acceding to the Second Optional Protocol. The same article provides that, "in those States which have not abolished the death penalty, the sentence of death can only be applied for the most serious crimes." "The Committee is currently in session in Geneva. It expresses its grave concern at information it has received about the passage of a bill through the Houses of Congress to reintroduce the death penalty, for drug related offenses, in the Philippines. It understands that the Senate will consider this bill soon," Iwasawa wrote. "The Committee reminds the State party about denunciations of the Second Optional Protocol, as set out in its General Comment No. 26 on Continuity of Obligations. The Second Optional Protocol excludes the possibility of denunciation by omitting a denunciation clause to guarantee the permanent non -reintroduction of the death penalty by States that have ratified it," he said. The UN official added: "On behalf of the Committee, I call on the State Party to take its obligations under the ICCPR and the Second Optional Protocol seriously and refrain from taking measures, which would only undermine human rights progress to date." In December last year, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein also wrote to Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, both allies of President Rodrigo Duterte. He warned that the Philippines would "violate its obligations under international human rights law if it reintroduced the death penalty." "International law does not permit a State that has ratified or acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to denounce it or withdraw from it," Hussein then said. Senators are divided on the fate of the death penalty bill in the upper chamber, where it is not a priority measure. (source: globalnation.inquirer.net) TURKEY: Claiming victory, Turkey's Erdogan says may take death penalty to referendum President Tayyip Erdogan told crowds of flag-waving supporters on Sunday that Turkey could hold another referendum on reinstating the death penalty, as he claimed victory in a vote that will hand him sweeping new powers. Addressing crowds in Istanbul, Erdogan said he would "immediately" discuss the issue of bringing back
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., ARK., USA
April 17 TEXAS: Texas death penalty practice deserves abolition Arkansas wants to execute 8 people over the next 10 days. The state's stock of Midazolam, a sedative used for lethal-injection, is due to expire at the end of the April. Not one to let taxpayer dollars go to waste, Gov. Asa Hutchinson opted to clear the state's death row as soon as possible. For now, a federal judge has put a pin in these plans, but Arkansas plans to appeal. Gruesome instances like these remind us of a grim reality - capital punishment is a fundamentally flawed institution that has no place in modern society. Texas is no stranger to death penalty complications. In March, the Supreme Court ruled that Texas used an antiquated standard to determine the necessary intellectual ability a death row defendant must demonstrate. Moreover, just last week Texas refused to conduct additional DNA testing for another defendant. This is especially concerning in a state that has the second highest rate of executions per capita. If a society is determined to provide the death penalty it must also be willing to pursue a gamut of opportunities to prove innocence. Anything less creates a legal system which stacks the deck against the accused. The laws of Texas seem predisposed for inmates to be put to death. Currently, a panel of jurors must unanimously agree upon the death sentence for the defendant to be put on death row. A single juror's dissent automatically renders life in prison. However, state law bans judges and attorneys from communicating this 2nd contingency. The impact is profound. In a 2008 trial juror Sven Berger didn't believe defendant Paul Storey qualified for the death penalty. Berger also knew he couldn't convince the other 10 jurors otherwise and so, unaware of the power of his dissent, Berger voted for the death sentence. Justice may be blind, but Texas laws are trying their hardest to keep jurors in the dark. Capital punishment is a difficult subject to mediate. Society has an inherent drive to achieve justice, and the families of victims must not feel as if the law has marginalized them. However, the law must not be vengeful and it must not discriminate. The disproportionate representation of minorities on death row is an outgrowth of the bitter legacy of lynching in the United States. The death penalty requires complex moral gymnastics to justify taking a life. It fails as a deterrent and at best has an imperceptible effect on the homicide rate. Victims deserve justice, but so do the defendants. The fight to repeal capital punishment in Texas will take years to come to fruition. However, attempts to iron out some of the most glaring flaws can be made. DNA testing in Texas is only conducted when the defendant can prove the tests would change the outcome of the case. This standard unduly limits potential evidence and is far more restrictive than necessary. Senate Bill 1616, if passed, would improve juror transparency by removing the gag order on capital punishment case sentencing instructions. Finally, the criminal justice system needs a dramatic overhaul. For far too long minorities have been disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. A study by the University of Maryland, using Houston's Harris County as a test case, found that black Americans were three times as likely to have their cases advanced to a death penalty trial than their white counterparts. Adopting a bottom-up approach to reform - amending drug possession and bail laws, for example - will mitigate the nefarious impacts of the modern day death penalty. Arkansas is creating an environment in which assembly line justice is the norm and the basis of the criminal justice is eroded. Texas must learn from the failure of Arkansas and let the death penalty take its last breath. (source: Opinion; Usmaan Hasan is a business freshman from PlanoThe (Univ. Texas) Daily Texan) DELAWARE: Delaware returns to death penalty debate after prison uprising Just after 10 a.m. EDT on Feb. 1, a group of inmates took four staff hostage as they seized control of Building C at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, Delaware, with 120 prisoners inside. By the end of the 18-hour standoff, Sgt. Steven Floyd Sr. was dead. The state has shared little information about the attack and now, "All 120 are considered suspects," said Jayme Gravell, a corrections spokeswoman. But lawmakers and human rights groups tell completely different stories about what led to the uprising and how to move forward. "We have been begging for help for years." - Correctional Officers Association of Delaware union president Geoff Klopp Republican Rep. Steve Smyk said corrections officers had recently been on the receiving end of a 1-2 punch. The 1st came in August, when the state Supreme Court ruled that Delaware's death penalty was unconstitutional because it allowed a judge's sentence
