Dec. 10
TEXAS:
Frullo challenger hopes to reform education, criminal justice----Ed Tishler
running on Democratic ticket for Texas House District 84.
Ed Tishler wants to stop the death penalty and raise the minimum wage, but
first to be elected to the Texas Legislature from Lubbock County.
The political newcomer is running on the Democratic ticket for a seat in Texas
House District 84, currently held by Republican John Frullo.
He admits his party-affiliation places him as an underdog, but says he's ready
for a challenge.
"This is a heavily Republican district, and I'm running as a Democrat, so it
will be difficult - but not impossible," he said.
Tishler is a retired teacher, a father of 4 and a 32-year resident of Lubbock.
He criticized the support his upcoming opponent gave for a state budget that
contained spending cuts to education. Instead, he suggested reforming the state
school system both financially and academically. He proposes smaller class
sizes, more vocational education and lower-cost higher education.
"Education is a big concern," he said. "I would like to see it adequately
funded, and I would like to see programs instituted that ensure the success of
students."
Tishler also wants to reform the criminal justice system, from decriminalizing
drug use to replacing the death penalty with life in prison. He pointed out
statistics that indicate homicide rates are lower in states without capital
punishment, suggesting Texas' high execution rate does not effectively deter
crime.
"Texas has one of the highest populations of people on death row, and still the
homicide rate hasn't changed," he said.
He also feels too high a number of prison and jail inmates are mentally ill,
and mental health care could serve as a better alternative to incarceration in
many cases.
"It's a drain on the criminal justice system, and it's not helping people with
mental problems," he said.
Tishler also proposes raising Texas' minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to
$10.10.
"Certainly the head of household deserves a decent wage to keep him or her and
the family out of poverty," he said.
The candidate is opposed to voter-identification laws and supports establishing
a state health insurance exchange. Among his other platforms is gender equality
in salaries.
"I would like to see women get equal pay for equal work, and make voting an
easier right, rather than roadblocks be put in the way," he said.
(source: Lubbockonline)
GEORGIA:
Some Georgia Inmates Under Life Sentence With Parole To Be Re-sentenced
Some Georgia prisoners serving life sentences without parole will be
resentenced after a recent state Supreme Court ruling invalidated the terms
under which those inmates were punished.
Those who qualify for resentencing would have been sentenced before they turned
18 and faced the death penalty. Stephen Reba, an attorney with Emory
University's Barton Child Law and Policy Center, says the majority of those who
will see new sentences would be about 30 years old today.
"[The court decision] means they can't be resentenced to an illegal sentence,
and the court has said life without parole is an illegal sentence," said Reba,
who represents several men up for resentencing.
Reba is referring to is a recent state Supreme Court decision in the case of
Marcus Moore, in which the court unanimously ruled Moore was too young to
receive a life sentence without parole under a 2005 U.S Supreme Court decision.
In 2001, then-17-year-old Moore was found guilty of murdering Neiteka Wesbey
and Corey McMillan, among other crimes committed in the commission of felony
murder. Before the sentencing hearing, Moore entered a plea deal to avoid the
death penalty. Under the terms, he agreed waive his rights to appeal in
exchange for a life sentence without parole.
"In order to receive a life without parole sentence on that charge at the time
- the defendant had to be death penalty eligible - had to be noticed with the
death penalty first - in order to receive a life without parole sentence," Reba
said.
But in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court said in Roper v. Simmons it's
unconstitutional to use the death penalty against offenders who were under the
age of 18 at the time of their crime. That led the Georgia Supreme Court in
October to unanimously rule Moore's sentence void.
"Since they could not have been subjected to the death penalty at the time Mr.
Moore's sentence was imposed, he could not have been subject to the possibility
of life without parole," said WABE legal analyst Page Pate.
Reba estimates about 10 men - all convicted of murder - would qualify for
resentencing.
Pate says while those men can't be resentenced to life without parole, the
state Supreme Court decision doesn't prevent future juveniles from receiving
that sentence, as Georgia sentencing law no longer ties life without parole to
the death penalty.
"Going forward, it's still an open question whether juveniles can be sentenced
to life without parole and whether that???s constitutional," Pate said.
As for Marcus Moore and the others who are eligible for resentencing, Reba said
most will likely receive life sentences with the option for parole. He says
when each inmate qualifies for parole will depend on when they were sentenced.
A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens says the office would not
arrange new trials.
(source: WABE news)
FLORIDA:
Public Defender: Lake Worth killer had abusive childhood ---- Prosecutors urge
jury to recommend capital punishment for Bruce Strachan, 30
Bruce Strachan's path from the crib to a triple-murder rap began 30 years ago
in a household rocked by crack cocaine, violence and poverty.
After prosecutors Monday asked a Palm Beach County jury to recommend the death
penalty for Strachan's crimes, Public Defender Carey Haughwout said her
client's troubled upbringing was at the root of the evil. She urged life
sentences as just punishment for "the tragedy and devastation left behind."
"Bruce," his attorney said in a low voice that at times barely rose about a
whisper, "is worthy of redemption."
After a 2 week trial, the 12-member jury last month convicted Strachan of
1st-degree murder with a firearm in the Aug. 29, 2009 deaths of Strachan's
estranged wife, Yamika Murphy, 29, Debbie Johnson, 24, and Ronald Wright, 25.
Strachan followed through on repeated threats to kill Murphy and anyone around
her - a "blackout" as he called it, Assistant State Attorney Aleathea McRoberts
said.
Toting an AK-47, Strachan snuck behind bushes outside Murphy's home in the 1400
block of South D Street in Lake Worth. After first striking Johnson and Wright,
he chased down Murphy, who begged for her life.
"She knew it was coming," McRoberts said. By carrying out the slayings in a
"cold, calculated, and premeditated manner," Strachan deserves a death
sentence, the prosecutor said. To build her case, she noted Strachan's previous
violent crime, a robbery with a firearm conviction.
The jurors are expected to begin deliberations Thursday after considering
evidence and testimony from about 30 witnesses. 2 alternate jurors rejoined the
panel in case someone is unable to participate in the final vote.
The tally doesn't have to be unanimous; at least 7 votes are needed for a death
recommendation. Circuit Judge Karen Miller has the final say.
Ruby Pertee, Murphy's mother, was the 1st witness Monday. Through tears, she
spoke of her beloved "Yami's" dream to become a chef, and her later desire to
record rap music.
"Words cannot begin to express the hole in my heart," Pertee said.
Dishune Moore, Wright's mother, also choked up and said, "After 4 years, I
can't get over it. I feel bitter, hurt, mad at the world. I do not know how to
stop the pain."
The 3rd of 9 children, Wright was an electrician who loved music and "was the
kindest person," Moore said.
Jasmine McGraw, victim Johnson's younger sister, remembered a sweet, funny
person, and "the way she impacted all of our lives will never fade."
As for Strachan, Haughwout said his on-again, off-again union with Murphy
failed to measure up to his "idolized dreams" and their home life together was
"chaotic."
But it was the difficult childhood that "left its indelible mark on Bruce" and
helped turn a "sweet, quiet child" with a speech impediment into a murderer,
she said.
Strachan failed 1st grade and was shuffled around numerous schools and homes.
Sometimes there was no electricity or water.
"Money went to drugs instead of turning on the lights," Haughwout said.
(source: Sun-Sentinel)
ALABAMA:
Capital Murder Indictments in Bay County
The Bay County grand jury indicted 2 men Friday in separate incidents of 1st
degree murder.
The grand jury indicted Damon Manzell Washington on felony 1st degree murder
and robbery with a firearm charges in the death of Christopher Purswell on
March 1. Jurors found that Washington, 21, was a principal in the robbery and
shooting of Purswell, 19.
Jurors also indicted David Lee Clanton of premeditated 1st degree murder in the
death of Arthur Edward Moore on Sept. 8. According to the indictment, Clanton,
33, strangled Moore, 69, of Youngstown.
Both cases will be reviewed by a panel of senior prosecutors to determine
whether the death penalty should be pursued.
(source: WTVY News)
OHIO:
ACLU sues over Ohio denying journalists access to Lucasville riot
prisoners----Journalists and prisoners maintain the state is trying to censor
and quell "public discourse on critical issues"
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is suing the state for denying
interviews with 5 prisoners on death row for their parts in the Lucasville
prison riot 20 years ago.
The ACLU is suing on behalf of reporters and a college instructor, as well as
the 5 prisoners.
Prison officials have turned down interview requests because the prisoners are
under highest security. But the ACLU's legal director, James Hardiman, argues
that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections has allowed
journalists to interview other death row inmates, and that the state is trying
to stifle public debate.
"The people that I represent are not the same people today that they were in
1993. I was really impressed with what they had to tell me, their intelligence,
their ability to articulate and explain their position. These people are poster
children for why we should not have a death penalty."
But Hardiman notes this suit is over press access, not the death penalty
itself.
12 guards were taken hostage during the 11-day riot, and 1 - Robert
Vallandingham - was killed. 9 prisoners also were killed.
Sentenced to death for their parts in the riot were Carlos Sanders, now known
as Siddique Abdullah Hasan; Jason Robb; George Skatzes; James Were, now known
as Namir Abdul Mateen and Keith LaMar.
(source: WKSU news)
TENNESSEE:
OUR VIEW
The state of Tennessee is infusing its commitment to the death penalty with a
new level of zeal that should worry anyone who understands that our system of
justice is carried out by humans and thus is fallible.
The Correction Department and the state attorney general have suddenly pushed
for the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for 10 people on death row,
four more than Tennessee has put to death in the past 53 years. When such a
complex and deliberative process undergoes this kind of dramatic change, we
have to ask what is really driving it.
Some say that the recent death by natural causes of the most notorious killer
on the row, Paul Dennis Reid, is the reason. By this argument, the state does
not want to "disappoint" anyone else who wants to see killers meet the same end
as their victims.
Is this the best that we can do? Even if you discount the wish by some
murderers on death row that they be executed rather than spend the rest of
their lives in prison, the state is setting itself up for mistakes of multiple
kinds.
The state getting its hands on a new lethal drug seems to have some
correctional officials very eager, whether out of curiosity or because they
fear someone will mount a legal challenge to the drug because they have the
chance to use it. After all, it's only been used a handful of times in other
states. Will state officials treat the 10 condemned as guinea pigs?
This is not a chemistry experiment. It is supposed to be a component of a
society that strives for justice and carries certain legal rights for everyone.
The other way that the state could stumble is worse: If there are more people
on the row like Gaile Owens, whose actual crime did not match the punishment -
or worse, who committed no crime. While the likelihood of this among
Tennessee's 78 capital inmates is small, there is no remedy for being wrong
once the lethal drug is administered.
Yes, quite a few inmates on death row have been there for decades. Is that
worse than the cost and the consequences of botching an execution or executing
the wrong person?
Tennessee officials need to stop and think this through.
(source: Opinion, The Tennessean)
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