[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 8 GLOBAL: All children are of worth On Thursday, the 17th World Day Against the Death Penalty will be dedicated to children whose parents have been sentenced to death or executed. The theme this year is: Children: unseen victims of the death penalty. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty states: “Today, 142 countries... are abolitionist in law or practice. While few studies have been done to quantify the number of children who have a parent who has been sentenced to death or executed, Amnesty International’s 2019 annual report stated that at least 19,336 people were known to be under sentence of death worldwide at the end of 2018 and at least 690 were believed to have been executed in that year... “Frequently forgotten, children of parents sentenced to death or executed carry a heavy emotional and psychological burden that can amount to the violation of their human rights. This trauma can occur at any and all stages of the capital punishment of a parent: arrest, trial, sentencing, death row stays, execution dates, execution itself, and its aftermath. The repeated cycles of hope and disappointment that can accompany all of these stages can have a long-term impact, occasionally well into adulthood. “Stigmatisation from the community in which they live and the loss of a parent at the hands of a state all reinforce deep instability in the child’s day-to-day life. In line with the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (November 20, 1989), the focus of this World Day is on children and their human rights. “The experience of having a parent sentenced to death affects each child differently, including children within the same family, depending on factors like their personality and circumstances, the reactions of those around them, and the wider public response to the situation, including the scrutiny of media coverage... “In international human rights law, it is a well-established principle that the best interest of the child should be a paramount consideration in any decision that impacts a child. It is therefore necessary to consider how a parent’s death sentence will impact the child and to take this into account when deciding on sentencing, commutation and pardon... “In 2013, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution 24/11, in which it ‘acknowledges the negative impact of a parent’s death sentence and his or her execution on his or her children’ and urges states ‘to provide these children with the protection and assistance they may require.’ And in 2018, the Human Rights Committee’s general comment No 36 made an explicit recommendation for states not to execute parents of young and dependent children: ‘States parties...should...refrain from executing parents to very young or dependent children.’” While we stand in solidarity with the victims of crime, including their children, let us not forget that all children are of worth and reach out in solidarity to the children of offenders. In observation of World Day, CCSJ, in collaboration with the Greater Caribbean for Life, RED Initiatives, and with the support of the EU Delegation ambassador, UWI Faculty of Law, St Augustine Campus, and Amnesty International, have organised a panel discussion on Thursday from 5 pm to 7 pm at the Church of the Assumption Parish Hall, Long Circular Road, Maraval. Admission is free. The moderator is Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, dean, Faculty of Law, UWI, St Augustine Campus. Panel speakers are Aad Biesebroek, EU Delegation ambassador, keynote speaker; Rhonda Gregoire-Roopchan, deputy director, care services, Children’s Authority; Gerard Wilson, Commissioner of Prisons; Alloy Youk See, PRO, Social Workers’ Association and former senior prison officer; Andrew Douglas, lifer, Maximum Security Prison, Arouca; and myself as chair of the CCSJ and member of Greater Caribbean for Life. (source: newsday.co.tt) IRAN: Iran charges famous Kurdish singer with being gay, faces execution "Well known Iranian Kurdish singer, Mohsen Lorestani was charged with ‘corruption on earth’ by a court in Tehran for posting ‘immoral’ content on social media." Iran has alleged that a prominent singer is gay and under the Islamic Republic’s anti-homosexual laws he could face the death penalty. BBC journalist Ali Hamedani tweeted on Sunday that “A famous Iranian singer from the Kurdish province of Kermanshah has been ‘accused’ of being a homosexual and could face execution. Iran executes gay men.” Volker Beck, a German Green Party politician and LGBTQ activist , told The Jerusalem Post that "It is a perversion of unjust states like Iran and Saudi Arabia that alleged or actual homosexuality is presented as an accusation that can cost you your life. It is time for the international community to outlaw states punishing homosexuals." The Kurdistan Human Rights Network tweeted that “Mohsen Lorestani, a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., ARK., KAN., OKLA., CALIF., WASH., USA
Oct. 8 INDIANA: Indiana bishops say death penalty does not help convicts or victims Ahead of a scheduled reinstatement of the death penalty for federal inmates, the bishops of Indiana are calling on U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration to reverse the decision. “The federal government’s decision in July to end a 16-year moratorium on executing federal inmates is regrettable, unnecessary and morally unjustified,” the bishops said in a joint statement Oct. 4, released through the Indiana Catholic Conference. In the Catholic Church in the United States, October is celebrated as Respect Life Month, with activities and prayers focused on respecting life from conception to natural death. “As we observe Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church, we, the Bishops of Indiana, in as much as federal executions are conducted in our State, ask President Trump to rescind the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to resume capital punishment later this year. We respectfully implore that the sentences of all federal death row inmates be commuted to life imprisonment.” On July 25, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was making plans to “resume capital punishment after a nearly two decade lapse, and bringing justice to victims of the most horrific crimes.” The statement added that the Attorney General would be directing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions of five federal death row inmates, all of whom have been convicted of murdering, and in some cases also raping or torturing, children and the elderly. “Each of these inmates has exhausted their appellate and post-conviction remedies, and currently no legal impediments prevent their executions, which will take place at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana,” the Department of Justice stated in July. The decision came despite several states placing moratoria on their state death penalties in recent years. It also came one year after Pope Francis modified the Catechism of the Catholic Church to state that capital punishment is “inadmissible.” Previously, the Catechism had stated that the death penalty was admissible for guilty parties “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.” Federal executions in the U.S. are rare, with only three occurring in the modern era and the last one being in 2003, the Death Penalty Information Center reports. The federal death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia, but revised federal death penalty statues were reinstated in 1988. The Indiana bishops are not alone in their opposition to the end of the moratorium on the federal death penalty. When the Trump administration announced that executions would resume in July, numerous U.S. bishops voiced their opposition to the change. In their statement, the Indiana bishops noted that “In seeking to end the use of the death penalty, we do not dismiss the evil and harm caused by people who commit horrible crimes, especially murder. We share in the sorrow and loss of families and victims of such crimes. And we call upon our faith community and all persons of good will to stand with the victims and to provide spiritual, pastoral and personal support.” However, they added, their support of a moratorium on the death penalty comes from a respect for all human life. “Capital punishment undermines the dignity of human life. Taking human life is justifiable only in self-defense, when there is no other way to protect oneself, another innocent person or society from extreme violence or death,” the bishops said. “In the case of incarcerated prisoners, the aggressor has been stopped and society is protected. Hence, it is no longer permissible to take the life.” Besides being morally problematic, the Indiana bishops said, the death penalty “neither helps the victims who survive, nor does it mitigate the loss of a loved one” and also takes away the guilty party’s chance for “reconciliation and rehabilitation.” The bishops added that the death penalty is unequally applied to minorities, the poor, and those with mental health problems, and that it always carries with it a risk that an innocent person is being put to death. They also expressed concern for the authorities that are tasked with carrying out the death penalty. “Moreover, its application also impacts those who are associated with it, particularly correctional officers and those who are obligated to participate in taking a human life. The psychological and spiritual harm that these persons experience is real,” they said. “We join our brother bishops of the United States in calling for an end to the death penalty. Twenty-five states no longer use it as a form of punishment. We ask the federal government to continue its moratorium until it can be rescinded formally as a matter of law.” (source: Catholic News Agency)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., N.C., FLA., ALA.
Oct. 8 TEXAS: Jury deliberates penalty for man convicted of killing 3 people at car wash in 2013 The crime On Sept. 29, 2013, 3 men were murdered at the Royal Wash Mobile Detailing and Car Wash Service at 393 Ave E in Stafford. The manager, Harvey Simmons, 34; his uncle, Johnny Simmons, 59; and another employee, Donntay Borom, 18 were all killed. LaMelvin Dewayne Johnson, 41, was charged with capital murder in the killings. Evidence at his trial showed that Harvey Simmons fired Johnson and that Johnson became angry, went to his car and came back with a pistol that he used to kill the 3 men. Witnesses said that, after shooting all 3, Johnson went back to where Harvey Simmons was lying on the ground, stood over him and fired several more shots into his body. The trial Johnson's trial began on Sept. 18, 2019. After about two weeks of testimony and two hours of deliberation, jurors found Johnson guilty of capital murder, and the trial moved into the punishment phase. Jurors had 2 choices: sentence Johnson to death by injection or life in prison with no possibility of parole. The punishment phase During the punishment phase of the trial, prosecutors argued that Johnson would continue to be a threat to society if allowed to live, even if he were confined in prison, and deserved the death penalty. They introduced his past criminal record, which included arrests for assault, evading arrest and illegal possession of a gun. They also presented Johnson's record during his detention awaiting trial. Johnson was written up for various violations, including fighting with other inmates seven times. The jury was shown a security video of Johnson knocking another inmate to the floor in one of those incidents. The defense argued that mitigating circumstances called for giving Johnson life without parole. Those circumstances, it said, included a childhood spent in poverty and chaos during which he often saw his father beat his mother and was beaten himself when he tried to protect his mother. Johnson also had a history of suffering from depression that went untreated until he was jailed awaiting trial, the defense said. The sentence After about a week of hearing testimony in the punishment phase, juror retired for about six hours and returned a sentence of life without parole. They found that Johnson would be a continuing threat to society but that the mitigating circumstances called for the more lenient sentence. (source: click2houston.com) ** Suspect in Trooper Sanchez’s shooting pleads not guilty Victor Alejandro Godinez pleaded not guilty to 3 charges during a formal arraignment hearing Monday. Before the hearing got underway Monday, 389th state District Court Judge Letty Lopez appointed Edinburg-based criminal defense attorney O. Rene Flores to represent Godinez. The appointment was made to avoid having to delay the hearing once again after Godinez appeared without an attorney for a 2nd straight week. During the Sept. 30 arraignment hearing, the court questioned Godinez’s ability to retain an attorney, after Godinez told the court he would speak with his mother about retaining one, and the case was reset for Monday morning. Godinez, after briefly conferring with Flores, pleaded not guilty to 1 count of capital murder and 2 counts of attempted capital murder. A Hidalgo County grand jury handed down a capital murder indictment last month shortly after Sanchez died Aug. 24 as a result of complications during surgery to treat injuries he suffered during the April shooting. As is common with capital murder cases, the death penalty remains on the table up to the time of the trial, at which time the state would have to announce to the court how they would proceed. Godinez is accused of shooting Sanchez, 48, on April 6 after the suspect fled a car crash the trooper responded to on North 10th Street and Freddy Gonzalez Drive in McAllen. The 24-year-old man is accused of running away after shooting Sanchez once in the head and once in the shoulder. Sanchez went through intense rehabilitation and multiple surgeries after the shooting. However, he succumbed to his injuries on Aug. 24, following a surgery in Houston. 2 Edinburg police officers caught up with Godinez in the 1500 block of South Maltese in Edinburg. He’s also accused of shooting at those officers, who eventually apprehended him east of Mon Mack Road and State Highway 107. The officers were not hit and police say they recovered a .357 revolver authorities say Godinez used in the shooting. Godinez was indicted earlier this year on separate attempted capital murder charges related to shooting at the officers, and was represented by Sergio Muñoz. However, after the hearing Monday, the state is expected to ask the court to consolidate those charges into the capital murder case. Godinez remains jailed on $3 million in bonds and is expected back
