March 24
MARCH 24, 2018:
TEXAS:
Lubbock DA seeks death penalty in Holli Jeffcoat murder case
Lubbock County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a 41-year-old
Idalou man accused of killing his pregnant step daughter 2 years ago.
Sunshine Stanek, the Lubbock County First Assistant District Attorney, advised
the court during a Friday morning pretrial hearing that the state will be
seeking the death penalty in James Holland's capital murder trial.
Holland was present during the proceeding before Judge John McClendon in the
137th District Court. McClendon issued a news media gag order on the case soon
after Holland was indicted in July 2016.
Holland has been held at the Lubbock County since his March 10, 2016, arrest in
connection with a Lubbock County Sheriff's Office investigation into the Feb.
10, 2016, killing of 18-year-old Holli Jeffcoat, a special needs student in
Idalou. She was found with a slashed throat and burned at her home in Idalou.
Her uterus was also removed. Investigators believe Jeffcoat's killer burned her
to hide the evidence.
Prosecutors believe Holland killed Jeffcoat, who was pregnant with his child
conceived through sexual abuse, according to their Lubbock County arrest
warrants.
A week before her slaying, Jeffcoat made an outcry to school and police
officials that her step father had been sexually abusing her for years and that
her mother, Debbie Holland, allowed it to happen, court documents state.
Holland is also charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child. Jeffcoat's
mother, Debi Holland is also facing similar charges.
Attorneys are awaiting reports and other information on the case. An official
trial date has not been set but attorneys discussed a potential date in the
judge's chambers at the end of the hearing.
(source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Keep the death penalty
To the Editor: I find it unconscionable that the New Hampshire Senate has voted
to eliminate the death penalty for capital murder in our state. How
disconcerting that this could happen while we have Michael Addison, a convicted
cop killer, sitting on death row for the past 7 years, working through appeal
after appeal after appeal, even though there is absolutely no doubt of his
guilt.
If this becomes law, this monster will most likely end up being paroled some
time during his life, even though the people who voted for this are somehow
guaranteeing that he will, at the least, be sentenced to life without parole.
Think it can't happen?
Recently, it was announced that terrorist Herman Bell, convicted of killing two
New York City police officers in 1971, and sentenced to life, has been paroled.
He and two of his thug friends called in a fake 911 call, and when the
responding officers arrived, they were killed in a planned ambush. Just months
later Bell struck again, killing a San Francisco police sergeant in a Black
Liberation Army assault on a city police station. New York did not, and does
not now, have the death penalty, and neither does California, so Bell was
sentenced to life without parole. And by the end of this week he will be a free
man.
The majority of New Hampshire state senators just turned their backs on the men
and women who risk their lives every day to protect you and those whom you
love.
RICHARD DARLING
Milford
(source: Letter to the Editor, Union Leader)
PENNSYLVANIA:
How the solicitor will decide whether to seek death in fatal York Co. cop
shooting
Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett said this week his office is "not
anywhere near" deciding whether to seek the death penalty against Christian
McCall, charged in the January shooting of 4 York County law enforcement
officers. Brackett said his investigation is not complete.
McCall's charges include the fatal shooting of York County deputy Mike Doty.
Legal experts, police and lawyers for McCall agree prosecutors have the
authority to seek capital punishment because the victim was a law enforcement
officer.
"South Carolina law has several aggravating factors that can justify a death
penalty prosecution, and a murder charge where the victim is a law enforcement
official is one of them," Brackett said.
State law enforcement agents are handling the investigation because the victim
is a police officer.
Forensic testing and other evidence collection are ongoing, Brackett said.
"We have to review all the materials, all the evidence," Brackett said. "Not
just some of it. All of it."
Brackett declined to discuss details of the case.
However, he said his office has a process in deciding whether the death penalty
will be sought.
Once the decision is made, only a jury can sentence a person to death. The jury
must find the defendant guilty. After that, the same jury must decide whether a
defendant will spend his life in prison or be sentenced to death.
Brackett said a decision to seek death, for his office, means there must be no
question the defendant is guilty. Any death penalty case must satisfy for
Brackett that the defendant's guilt is "for all practical purposes a foregone
conclusion."
When the SLED investigation is complete, Brackett said McCall and his defense
lawyers will be given all the investigative materials. That is called
"discovery" in the legal system and all defendants, including McCall, are
entitled to it.
"The accused has every right to all the material and will get it," Brackett
said.
McCall's lawyer is Harry Dest, 16th circuit chief public defender. He said his
office will conduct its own investigation. He declined to comment on the
potential death penalty prosecution.
McCall, 47, a former Wells Fargo employee with no other criminal record except
for a 1994 arrest in Florence, was appointed a public defender on March 16 when
he was formally charged with murder, 3 counts of attempted murder, four weapons
charges and domestic violence. Three York County deputies and 1 York city
officer were shot.
Police were called to McCall's home on Jan. 15. Legal documents say he beat up
his wife by smashing her head against a brick.
Warrants say McCall then took 2 guns, including a high-powered rifle, and fled
his home. Early on Jan. 16, warrants say, McCall "did lie in wait" when he
first shot Sgt. Randy Clinton. Then McCall shot 3 SWAT members, including Doty,
who died the next day.
When the SLED investigation is complete, Brackett said, he will speak to the
victims, which include Doty's family and the sheriff's office.
Prosecutors will explain how a a death penalty prosecution could be a
years-long process, Brackett said.
There have been 2 people sentenced to death in York County in the 1990s. One,
Mar-Reece Hughes, was sentenced to death in 1995 for the 1992 killing of York
County deputy Brent McCants.
"The family, the victims, have to understand all of the process," Brackett
said.
Myra McCants, the deputies mother, said she is frustrated her son's convicted
killer has not yet been executed but still fully supports the decision by
prosecutors in 1995 to seek the death penalty.
"My son got the death penalty when he was killed," she said. "The killer should
get it, too."
Doty's family has declined to comment.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson and York Police Department Chief Andy Robinson
each said they support prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
"This was obviously a horrific act on people who are sworn to protect the
safety and well-being of the public," Tolson said. "This is an attack not only
on the officers, but on the rule of law."
Robinson said: "In my opinion there is nothing that can be done to this person
to equal the devastation that he has caused to so many, but I find comfort in
the fact that one day God will make him pay for his actions."
Brackett said there is no timeline on when a decision will be made. Brackett
alone, as the elected solicitor, will make the decision.
If his office decides to seek the death penalty, prosecutors will notify McCall
and his lawyers in writing that the death penalty will be sought. A court
hearing will be held to read the notice to McCall.
Brackett said he understands the public wants answers about what happened, but
that time is not here yet because of the ongoing investigation.
/ "I know people, the public, want to know what happened," Brackett said.
"Everybody wants to know what happened. But this is a big investigation."
(source: heraldonline.com)
FLORIDA:
Aileen Wuornos' attorney talks about serial killer's last days in new
documentary
Infamously known as America's 1st female serial killer Aileen Wuornos
captivated the nation when she confessed to murdering several men in central
Florida between 1989 and 1990. While the circumstances of the crimes that led
to her arrest are well-tread territory, a new documentary seeks to shine a
light on the subsequent trial in an effort to determine whether the notorious
killer got a fair shot within the justice system.
Wuornos, a self-described "highway prostitute" rose to infamy when she was
arrested for killing 7 of her clients. She confessed to her crimes, arguing
that they were in self-defense. This prompted the public to see her as a
controversial folk figure. Wuornos was even the subject of the movie "Monster,"
for which actress Charlize Theron won an academy award for best actress.
"Snapped: Notorious - Aileen Wuornos" debuts on Oxygen on Sunday.
In it, a myriad of experts on the case say the media attention surrounding her
crimes made it difficult for the trial to play out in a fair manner. The
documentary also explores the controversial time in 2002 when Wuornos waived
her appeals rights and requested to speed up her own execution, calling her
mental competency into question.
Perhaps none of the experts had more first-hand experience with Wuornos than
Raag Singhal, who was her final appeals attorney.
Singhal said in the documentary that Wuornos' final moments on October 9, 2002
impacted him.
"It was a difficult day because, no matter what, she wanted to die."
Singhal was brought onto the case earlier in 2002, after Wuornos had already
been sentenced to death. In a recent interview, Singhal told us how he entered
the scene to determine if some complaints Wuornos was making about the prison
she was in were true.
Before her eventual execution, Wuornos claimed that the guards were mistreating
her, going as far as to accuse them of tampering with her food. Singhal, a
seasoned criminal defense lawyer, has seen this kind of behavior before, but
usually those who want a prison transfer or to delay an execution. Wuornos,
however, was unique in that she wanted to die.
"If her complaints were valid, if something could be proven, then there's a
real issue with the prison system," Singhal, now a circuit court judge in
Broward County, Fla., told Fox News. "If the complaints weren't valid, then
there's a real issue with her mental state. Either way, something must be
done."
Ultimately, Singhal was unable to substantiate Wuornos' claims about her stay
in prison. As a result, he had to seriously entertain the notion that she was
not mentally fit to call for her own execution or waive her appellate rights.
"I think she had a whole host of mental issues," Singhal said. "If you were to
kind of look at the totality of the circumstances, her complaints, her
behavior, some of the things that she would do ... She was someone who, in my
view, was going in and out of competency, which is somewhat of a normal thing.
When we talk about competency in the criminal context, we say it's something
that waxes and wanes. You can have someone who is confident on one day, then
you meet them 3 days later and they're not. I have no doubt that she had entire
periods where she was lucid and could converse. There were times I met with her
when I had no issues with her, then there were times I met with her and she
clearly had mental issues."
As an example, Singhal recalls Wuornos would occasionally laugh uncontrollably
for no real reason in meetings with him. But she was the same woman who, in her
letters to the Florida Supreme Court, was capable of a level of advanced
penmanship.
Singhal asked former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for a stay of execution noting
that society has a duty to answer all questions of mental competency prior to
the carrying out of the death penalty. Bush agreed and granted the stay, but it
did not last very long after the then-governor asked 3 different doctors to
check Wuornos for mental competency. All 3 found her mentally fit to make the
choice she was making. To Singhal, this was a clear example of her waxing and
waning periods of competence.
"She was definitely someone who had good days and bad days, and rarely were the
2 consecutive."
The new documentary asks the viewer to question whether or not Wuornos received
a fair trial. By the time Singhal joined the case, she had already been
sentenced to execution. However, to this day he wonders if Wuornos' case was
handled the way another of its kind would be. Specifically, he compares her
sentence to a fellow infamous Florida-based serial killer Ted Bundy.
"What's interesting in the Wuornos case, and it's a highly unusual case, is if
you were to talk to the public and say 'This is a serial killer who was
executed,' I don't think anyone would lose sleep over it. The things the public
typically looks at are whether they have confidence in the defendant's guilt
and whether they got due process. The 3rd thing is whether the defendant was
treated consistently with those who acted similarly," he said. "It's a strange
concept when you're talking about those who acted similarly and you're talking
about a serial killer.
"But, when you think about the fact that someone like Ted Bundy was offered
life in prison while Aileen Wuornos was someone where death seemed to be really
all that was ever on the table, I think there's a lot of things that come into
play that make it seem like the level of fairness was a little bit different
for her."
(source: Fox News)
ALABAMA----impending execution
Convicted Bomber set to die by lethal injection, friends of Savannah alderman
react
It was one of the most horrific crimes in Savannah's history. A pipe bomb
exploded inside a building killing civil rights attorney and city alderman
Robert Robinson.
Now, 30 years later, the man convicted of the crime is scheduled to be put to
death.
Walter Leroy Moody was sentenced to 7 life terms, plus 400 years in 1991 after
he was convicted of the crime and another bombing in Alabama. A federal judge
was killed.
Moody, whose from Rex, Georgia, has been on death row in Alabama since 1997. It
was December of 1989 when Robinson was working inside his law office. He opened
a package that exploded. He died hours later.
Robinson, along with former Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson and Floyd Adams, were
all good friends back in the early 1980's and all served on the city council.
Robinson was also a champion of civil rights. He was an attorney for the
Savannah NAACP.
His friends believe that's why he was targeted.
"Moody was just what I would call an insane racist. Although I have very mixed
feelings about the death penalty, I won't be sad when he's executed," says Otis
Johnson, former Savannah Mayor.
Authorities believe Moody also sent 2 other mail bombs - one to a federal
courthouse in Atlanta, and also to an NAACP office in Jacksonville, FL.
They were intercepted and defused.
Moody is scheduled to be executed April 21.
Savannah named a park and a parking garage to honor Robinson.
His sister also started a scholarship fund in his memory.
(source: WSAV news)
*******************
Prattville men accused in barbershop massacre now face capital murder charges
2 Prattville men have been indicted on capital murder charges in connection
with a triple homicide at a city barber shop this past summer.
Marty Morgan, 35 and Keon Dashon Cain, 19, each face 2 counts of capital murder
charges for murder in the commission of a robbery and murder resulting in 2 or
more victims, courthouse records show. Each man also faces 1 count of burglary
and 7 counts of armed robbery, the indictments read.Morgan and Cain have
remained in the Autauga Metro Jail under no bonds since their arrests shortly
after the July 3 incident.
The Autauga County Grand Jury wrapped up deliberations last week. Courthouse
records show they don't have attorneys on the upgraded charge of capital
murder.
At the time, Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson labeled the incident an
armed robbery gone wrong at the Hook-Up Barber and Style Shop. The business is
near the intersection of U.S. Highway 82 and Highway 14.
The death penalty is on the table, said District Attorney Randall Houston.
"All murders are brutal, don't get me wrong, but these were especially brutal
murders," Houston said. "These men were doing nothing wrong, and their murders
were completely senseless. We feel we have ample evidence to prove that to a
jury at trial.
"If there ever was a death penalty case, this is the one."
2 of the victims were shot in the head, and the third was shot in the legs,
Jeremy Thompson, an investigator with the Prattville Police Department told
Autauga County District Judge Joy Booth, during a preliminary hearing on July
31.
Morgan allegedly knocked on the door of the shop about 10:40 p.m. He was
allegedly armed with a small caliber handgun, Thompson said. Cain was allegedly
right behind him, armed with a pump shotgun and wearing a mask, Thompson said.
Anthony Smith, owner of the business, wouldn't let anyone inside at that time
of night, unless he knew them, witnesses told police. Smith knew Morgan,
Thompson said.
"Witnesses said Morgan came in and said 'You know what time it is,' and 'Give
it up." Thompson testified. "So the witnesses thought it was a robbery."
(source: Montgomery Advertiser)
OHIO:
Ohio man faces death sentence in killing of 2 officers
A man accused of fatally shooting 2 Ohio police officers responding to a 911
hang-up call has been indicted on charges that carry the possibility of a death
sentence.
Authorities say 31year-old Quentin Smith fired on the officers from
Westerville, in suburban Columbus, on Feb. 10. Smith was shot and wounded and
hospitalized for several days.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien announced the indictment Friday on
aggravated murder charges.
The case is eligible for the death penalty because police officers were killed
in the line of duty.
39-year-old officer Eric Joering died at the scene, while 54-year-old officer
Anthony Morelli died at a hospital.
A message was left with Smith's attorney.
(source: Associated Press)
ARKANSAS:
Ark. wants court to dissolve stay for death row inmate----The arguments came in
the case of Jack Greene, whose November execution was halted by the Arkansas
Supreme Court
Lawyers for the state of Arkansas argued Friday that the state prison director
has long had the power to determine a death row inmate's sanity and that now
isn't the time to change the way it moves the prisoners closer to their
executions.
The arguments came in the case of Jack Greene, whose November execution was
halted by the Arkansas Supreme Court so it could review his attorneys'
arguments that the state correction director, Wendy Kelley, should not be
deciding whether he is competent enough to be executed.
Greene's lawyers say doctors have found Greene delusional but Kelley has chosen
to rely on outdated assessments of Greene's mental health in determining
whether he's eligible to be executed. Greene's lawyers also have argued that
Kelley shouldn't be making the determination because her boss, Gov. Asa
Hutchinson, sets execution dates.
In papers filed at the state Supreme Court on Friday, assistant attorney
general Kathryn Henry wrote that states are entitled to set the guidelines for
review, as long as there is a "basic fairness." She also claims that, under the
Arkansas Constitution, Greene cannot sue Kelley.
While previous court decisions didn't define "basic fairness," the presumption
is that an inmate who is sane at his trial is sane until his execution, Henry
wrote. "Only after 'a substantial threshold showing of insanity'" can an inmate
win a review - and that review can be "far less formal than a trial," she
wrote.
Against his lawyers' advice, Greene has insisted in a number of venues that he
is not insane. State lawyers say that is reason enough for justices to dissolve
the stay that was issued shortly before Greene's scheduled execution last Nov.
9.
A week before the execution date, a circuit judge said she couldn't hold a
hearing on Greene's competence because, under state law, Kelley had the
"exclusive authority" to determine whether the inmate was sane enough to be
executed. The Arkansas Supreme Court later voted 5-2 to issue a stay and take
Greene's case for review, rejecting state arguments.
Greene was convicted of killing Sidney Burnett in an attack that the Supreme
Court previously described as "butchery and torture." He bound Burnett, beat
him with a can of hominy, stomped on him and cut him from his mouth to an ear
before shooting him in the chest and head.
"I knew what I was doing to him. I couldn't stand what I was doing to him. And
I put the gun to his head and killed him," Greene told the state Parole Board
last year. He also said his lawyers were making up stories about his having
delusions.
Arkansas currently does not have a full supply of execution drugs, as 75 vials
of vecuronium bromide have expired. The drug is used to stop the inmates'
breathing while 2 other drugs sedate them and stop their hearts.
(source: Associated Press)
OKLAHOMA:
Remember the victims in the execution debate
Lost in much of the debate around capital punishment are the victims and their
surviving loved ones. These are people who, in many circumstances, have endured
public trials and a lengthy appeals process, waiting decades for justice after
losing a family member or friend.
Their victimization is continuing, haunted by the daily knowledge that they
will never see their loved ones again, while the individuals responsible for
taking someone's life go on living, eating, sleeping, watching TV and enjoying
visits from their families and friends, all at state expense.
On the day we announced the state's plan to move forward with capital
punishment in Oklahoma through inert gas inhalation (IGI), I scheduled a
morning conference call with the families and friends of the murder victims of
the 16 death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals. That
emotionally-charged phone call was perhaps the most difficult and heartrending
conversation I have had in all my years of public service.
The participants on the call shared the pain, despair and anguish of not
knowing if they will ever receive justice for loved ones they lost to the
consummate act of evil: 1st-degree murder. Rightfully, they were frustrated
that it has taken so long for the state to advance a plan, but by the end of
the call, they were supportive and appreciative of our decision.
Opponents of the death penalty have launched an effective campaign against
capital punishment. Because of their efforts to intimidate and boycott drug
suppliers, states are struggling to find proper drugs to perform executions by
lethal injection. This once reliable, effective process has been sabotaged and
the search for medical professionals who want to carry out executions has
become increasingly problematic.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito summed it up best in 2015 during arguments
in Glossip v. Gross, when he said opponents of capital punishment are waging "a
guerrilla war against the death penalty," the goal of which is to make it
impossible for states to obtain execution drugs.
Although I respect the opinions of death penalty opponents, I categorically
disagree with their position as well as their tactics and believe firmly that
capital punishment is proportional as a criminal sanction, effective as a
deterrent and absolutely necessary to achieve justice.
Oklahomans, in particular, overwhelmingly favor capital punishment. In 2016,
nearly 2/3 of the electorate voted to amend the state constitution to guarantee
the state's power to impose capital punishment.
At our press conference on March 14, Department of Corrections Director Joe M.
Allbaugh said that since he arrived at the department he has searched
tirelessly for execution drugs, calling around the world in an attempt to
secure them - without success. Accordingly, he advised it was time to move to
our next option, IGI. This is in accordance with the 2015 state law that makes
nitrogen hypoxia, i.e. IGI, the primary method of execution if lethal injection
is ruled unconstitutional or the execution drugs necessary are not available.
Through our research, we have found substantial and persuasive authority to
support the use of IGI as a safe and effective method of execution. It is
simple to perform and the nitrogen gas necessary for the procedure is
inexpensive and commonly available.
The Department of Corrections is identifying and engaging experts in the
handling and usage of nitrogen. Director Allbaugh is committed to developing
the expertise, equipment and safeguards necessary to utilize IGI as an
execution protocol. The experience and use of IGI in states and countries in
which assisted suicide is legal will provide a significant and well-documented
set of case studies upon which we can rely to perfect it as a method of
execution.
Executions are the most profound application of state power. As officials in a
state allowing capital punishment, it is our obligation to discharge that
responsibility in an effective, humane manner that adheres to the Eighth
Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The suffering that victims and survivors must endure is something most of us
cannot or will not ever understand. Last week, as we wrapped up our conference
call, a mother spoke up, saying she has been waiting more than 25 years for
closure, after the murder of her daughter. She asked me how much longer she
would have to wait for justice. I gave her the best answer I could, though it
was wholly insufficient: "Hopefully, very soon."
As we begin to carefully work to finalize the IGI protocol and seek approval by
the courts, my promise to that mother will be a daily reminder to me of the
urgency to see this process through to a successful conclusion. Because I truly
believe that justice delayed is justice denied.
(source: Mike Hunter is the Oklahoma attorney general. He is a former secretary
of state and special legal counsel to the governor; former member of the
Oklahoma House of Representatives for 6 years----thehill.com)
NEVADA:
Ex-Las Vegas police officer could face death penalty in 1997 case
Prosecutors are deciding whether to seek capital punishment for a former Las
Vegas police officer charged in a woman's 1997 shooting death.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci said the decision could be made
by the end of the month, after the death penalty review committee at the Clark
County district attorney's office analyzes the allegations against 51-year-old
Arthur Sewall Jr.
Sewall, who is being held without bail, has admitted involvement in a May 1997
sexual encounter and shooting that left a woman dead, according to court
documents.
Earlier this year, authorities brought Sewall to Las Vegas from Reno, where he
was arrested after investigators said they discovered DNA evidence that linked
him to the slaying of 20-year-old Nadia Iverson.
Sewall faces 1 count of murder with a deadly weapon. In January, Sewall told
police that he paid Iverson money for sex and that she was shot during their
sexual encounter, according to an arrest warrant.
Iverson's body was found at a construction site near Washington Avenue and
Martin Luther King Boulevard with a gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas police
said.
Her rape kit was not sent for testing until March 2016. Hers was among the
nearly 6,500 untested kits that had accumulated in Southern Nevada from 1985
through 2014.
In a February 1997 video surveillance sting operation at the now-closed Del Mar
Motel, 1411 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Sewall was seen forcing a woman to perform
sex acts on him while he was on duty, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal
reports at the time.
Sewall resigned from the force and was sentenced in 1999 to 5 years of
probation after pleading guilty to 2 counts of oppression under color of law.
After probation violations, Sewall served more than a year in prison, according
to the Nevada Department of Corrections.
(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)
USA:
Applying the death penalty for drug offenses degrades the U.S. justice system
President Trump spoke about his plan to address the nation's opioid crisis on
March 19. Included in his proposed strategy were stronger penalties for drug
dealers, among which he specifically mentioned the use of the death penalty.
Mr. Trump's suggestion is not necessarily new. Existing federal laws do permit
the death penalty for certain drug cases, and the Department of Justice has
procedures for determining whether to seek the death penalty in a particular
case, which must follow the existing law and the Constitution. These federal
laws have been in place since 1994 but have not been applied by any previous
administrations.
Yet to suggest the use of the death penalty as a way to address the opioid
epidemic ignores what we know already to be true: The death penalty is a flawed
and broken tool in the practical pursuit of justice. And raising the death
penalty as a possible response to the opioid epidemic is simply a distraction
from what we are being called to do as a society to address this tragic
problem.
Applying the death penalty to specific criminal acts will not help end the
opioid crisis. We know that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to
crime. Thanks to a newly released study from the Pew Public Safety Performance
Project, we also know that state drug imprisonment rates have no impact on
three key indicators of state drug problems: self-reported drug use, drug
overdose deaths and drug arrests.
The death penalty is a flawed and broken tool in the practical pursuit of
justice.
Our past experiment in hard responses to the nation's drug problem, the "War on
Drugs," was a failure by many measures. The war did little to reduce drug
addiction, but it did initiate an era of mass incarceration that has done
immeasurable damage to U.S. communities. Removing a drug dealer from the
streets does not address the issues of poverty and addiction. It just creates a
job opening that will easily be filled.
The United States remains the only Western country to continue to use the death
penalty as a way to address acts of grave harm despite its disregard for the
inherent dignity of the human person. Our modern system of capital punishment
has proven itself to be an arbitrary and discriminatory system that puts
innocent lives at risk. In 90 % of the 23 executions in 2017 there were serious
doubts about the condemned individuals' guilt or those individuals showed
significant evidence of mental illness, intellectual disability, brain damage
or severe trauma.
The death penalty is an ill-considered public policy. Rather than keeping
society safe, it targets some of society's most marginalized people. The fact
that 161 former death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973 demonstrates
the brokenness of our capital punishment system. The U.S. error rate in
applying the death penalty is significant; this is an uncorrectable error.
Responses to social and personal harm should be restorative and allow for the
flourishing of all people. Our energies and resources should be directed toward
prevention, rehabilitation and treatment - not retribution and vengeance.
The financial impact of the death penalty is another reason the president's
proposal should give us pause. More than a dozen states have found that death
penalty cases are up to 10 times more expensive than comparable
non-death-penalty cases. Use of the federal death penalty could cost upward of
a million dollars more per case tried in court.
The funds that would be used to pursue the death penalty in drug-related cases
should instead be directed toward treatment and care for those caught up in the
opioid crisis. Those suffering from addiction, their families and their
communities need healing and restoration. The death penalty does not provide
either.
Responses to social and personal harm should be restorative and allow for the
flourishing of all people. Our energies and resources should be directed toward
prevention, rehabilitation and treatment - not retribution and vengeance.
As a handful of states use every effort possible to continue the inhumane and
unjust practice of state-sanctioned execution, public support for the death
penalty has fallen to its lowest level in 45 years. Death sentences and
executions have similarly fallen to record lows nationally. A majority of the
American public has come to understand what Pope Francis has consistently
maintained: The death penalty "heavily wounds human dignity."
Capital punishment is coming to an end. State legislatures in New Hampshire,
Louisiana, Utah, and Washington have all seriously proposed abolishing the
death penalty in 2018, and several more states are considering legislation to
limit their use of the death penalty.
As we near the end of this Lenten season and prepare to observe Good Friday and
our Lord's state-sanctioned execution, we are encouraged to remember the
God-given dignity of each human person, a dignity that we are called never to
diminish.
"A just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and
the goal of rehabilitation," Pope Francis said in his address to the U.S.
Congress in 2015. The solution to the opioid crisis is to choose life, not
death.
(source: Karen Clifton is the executive director of Catholic Mobilizing
Network, the national Catholic organization working to end the death penalty
and promote restorative justice----America Magazine)
_______________________________________________
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
