[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
August 8 KENYA: Addicts are patients, it's drug peddlers who are criminals Branding them criminals makes rehabilitation efforts difficult, if not impossible The society has a habit of treating drug addicts more like criminals than the patients they really are. But leaders are now pushing for reforms that could change perceptions. Pastor Jacob Muroki of the Jesus the Exalted Centre Church says the fact that the society has branded addicts criminals makes any efforts to rehabilitate them difficult, if not impossible. At the coastal region, addicts have a nickname, a famous one. They are called ‘Mateja’, a street name meaning a thief who uses hard drugs. "We live in a society that doesn’t see the silent plight of such individuals," Muroki says. "Many are stigmatised while they can actually be helped to turn their lives around. You mention the word Teja and people begin looking over their shoulders because they expect to see a thief or a con. That mindset needs to change." Speaking when he officially launched the Lamu rehab facility earlier this year, Chief Justice David Maraga said the real criminals in the war on drugs are the smugglers and peddlers, whom he said are frustrating the reform process. "I want to let magistrates and judges know that those drug users brought to your courts daily aren’t actually criminals but patients. They need help and condemning them to prison isn’t that helpful," he said. "Let’s send them to rehab facilities like this one so they get to recover and live better lives and, as the judiciary, we support that approach. Those peddling drugs are the real criminals." PARADIGM SHIFT Speaking in Lamu during the Lamu Justice Week, DPP Noordin Hajji said he is consulting the DCI and the IG to have petty criminals sent to rehab instead of prison. He said many of the petty crimes are committed by addicts who want to buy drugs. "We are talking of those stealing goats, chicken and so on. We want to give rehab a chance, rather than putting them on trial directly. That will, however, heavily depend on the level and nature of crimes committed. Our objective is to get the big fish in all this," Hajji said. During the same week, High Court judge Roselyn Korir, who is based in Garsen, proposed alternative strategies of dealing with the drug menace. These include offering addicts training and skills that will enable them to turn away from the vice. Korir said in as much as criminal litigations are necessary, the community should embrace addicts and all those affected to enable them to see and pursue a positive and more productive life away from drugs. She said prison officers should be specially trained in rehab skills so they can help rehabilitate some of the addicts arriving at their various prison stations. Korir said the country has very few drug rehabilitation centres compared to the demand of addicts. The facilities are also out of reach for many due to their high cost. "All in all, it’s high time we changed the approach used to fight drugs, from arresting and prosecuting to actually issuing alternative skills and training to drug convicts so they can better their lives once out there," Korir said. "The coastal region is still marred with increased drug-related cases, and we need to think about how best to bring the figures down. That's why we are pushing to have prison officers trained on matters rehab so they can instil the same in the addicts before they are finally released back into society." Lamu woman representative Ruweida Obbo proposed the death penalty for those found guilty of drug peddling. "We want drug peddlers given the same treatment as criminal gangs in Mombasa like Wakali Kwanza. That toughness is what we need. Let such people be shot dead. The society will be better without them," she said. According to a 2017 national survey by Nacada, 18.2 % of Kenyans have used 1 form of drugs or the other, a figure that translates to 3.2 million people, with the most abused substance being alcohol. (source: thestar.co.ke) IRANexecutions At Least 38 People Executed in July At least 38 prisoners have been executed in Iran in July 2019. This is the highest number of executions in a month in the country during the past 20 months. According to the IHR statistic department, at least 37 prisoners have been executed in different Iranian prisons and one hanged in public. Most of the executions are recorded at Urmia prison (also called Darya prison) with 8 prisoners who have been hanged in the Iranian northwestern city’s prison. 2nd in a row was the Karaj city’s Rajai-Shahr prison near Tehran with 6 executions. Officials in Iran have announced only 14 of the 38 executions. The rest was recorded and confirmed by IHR. 34 of the executed people were charged with murder, 3 with drug-related charges and one was charged with rape. 4 of the executed people were women. Since
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., LA., OHIO, KY., CALIF., USA
August 8 TEXAS: 2-year moratorium on death penalty proposedKoch suggests plant ot study financial, social moral costs of sentence A Dallas County commissioner raised the idea of putting a 2-year local moratorium on the use of the death penalty to give the county time to study the financial, social and moral costs of the punishment. Commissioner J.J. Koch proposed at Tuesday's meeting that Dallas County could save money by avoiding expensive death penalty trials, suggesting those funds be directed toward prosecuting human trafficking crimes. The issue could be revisited after 2 years, he said. But such a decision would ultimately be up to the district attorney in Dallas County, John Creuzot, who said he supports the discussion but stopped short of saying he was on board with the commissioner's plan. "I'm in support of discussing the issue, and I commend [Koch] for having the courage to bring it up and start the discussion," Creuzot said. "I can't commit myslef to that because I don't know what's around the corner." Koch's proposal comes on the heels of Dallas County prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty against serial murder suspect Billy Chemirmir, who is accused of smothering more than a dozen elderly women at senior living complexes around North Texas. In Texas, capital murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors can also seek the death penalty for crimes they determine are especially heinous. Koch said he understands why prosecutors would seek the death penalty in a case like Chemirmir's, but if a death penalty moratorium were imposed, he would want to see a "hard moratorium." "So that way, if Chemirmir were to pop up a year from now, and we'd made this decision, we wouldn't be seeking the death penalty," he said. Creuzot said he supports the death penalty in cases where evidence shows a person would be a "continuing threat in the penal society," he said. Death penalty cases are expensive - even long after a trial and conviction. Creuzot said his office is still involved in a 32-year-old case: the killing of Fred Finch and his wife, Mildred, by Kenneth Thomas. Thomas has bee sentenced to death twice - in 1987 and 2014 - and Texas' highest criminal court has ordered another sentencing hearing for Thomas so a jury can decide whether he is intellectually disabled. A date for that hearing has not been set, according to Dallas County court records. If the goal of a death sentence is to create public safety, Creuzot said, a sentence of life in prison without parole can do the same with a much lower cost. "It's becoming more and more difficult to sustain a death penalty conviction in the United States," Creuzot said. Shannon Edmonds, staff attorney with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said he hadn't heard of a county government proposing a local moratorium. "The answer is not unique to the death penalty," he said. "A Commissioners court does not have an ability to issue a moratorium on sexual assault prosecutions of life sentences - that's just not their job." In Texas, the governor can't impose a statewide moratorium on the death penalty, Edmonds said. That's not the case in other states, such as California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on the death penalty in March. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said it if were possible, he's support a statewide moratorium on the death penalty to study the moral and financial questions of whether the punishment shoud be used. Jenkins said he would support the district attorney putting a stop to the county's use of the death penalty, but the decision would need to be left up to the DA. Commissioners John Wiley Price and Elba Garcia voiced support for Koch's idea. Commissioner Theresa Daniel said she was looking forward to discussions about the topic and said it was important to include the DA's office and judges in those conversations. Koch said the county wouldn't try to force Creuzot's hand on the issue. He said the county commissioners coud pass a resolution supporting a moratorium, and they have final say over the budget for the DA's office. "We can't do anything unilaterally," he said. "It's his department." He suggested that the county use money saved from pursuing death penalty cases to prosecute human trafficking cases. Creuzot said there are other areas of need in the DA's office, pointing to grant for lawyers who handle child abuse cases that's about to run out. He said his budget requests to fund their positions after the grant have been denied. (source: Dallas Morning News) * Lawyer says will try to prevent death penalty A court-appointed lawyer for the man accused of shooting dozens of people in El Paso says he will do everything he can to ensure his client is not executed. 21-year-old Patrick Crusius has been charged with capital murder
