Oct. 1
USA:
Why The Death Penalty Is Not An Issue In This Campaign
The death penalty used to be an important issue in presidential politics. In
1988, Vice President George Bush used his Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis's
opposition to the death penalty to portray him as soft on crime. Massachusetts
had abolished the death penalty in 1984, during Dukakis's 2nd term as governor.
Bush ran around the country, promising to execute drug dealers, a popular stand
in the late 1980s, when the Crack Wars were turning the streets of American
cities red with blood.
In the 2nd presidential debate, CNN anchor Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis the most
outrageously impertinent question in the history of those events: "Governor, if
Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death
penalty for the killer?"
"No, I don't, Bernard," Dukakis replied. "And I think you know that I've
opposed the death penalty during all of my life. I don't see any evidence that
it's a deterrent. I think that there are better and more effective ways to deal
with violent crime. We've done so in my home state, and it's one of the reasons
why we have had the biggest drop in crime of any industrial state in America,
why we have the lowest murder rate of any industrial state in America."
It wasn't just Dukakis's opposition to the death penalty that hurt him in that
debate. It was the unemotional, wonkish answer he gave to a question about his
wife being raped and murdered. It reinforced his image as a passionless
technocrat.
Running against Bush four years later, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton didn't make
the same mistake. He flew back to Little Rock to ensure the execution of Ricky
Ray Rector, who had killed a police officer and then shot himself in the head.
Rector was so brain damaged that he didn't finish his last meal, saving his
pecan pie "for later" before he was led to the execution chamber.
The death penalty also became an issue for Bush's son, George W. Trying to
establish that he was a friend to black voters, Bush boasted that the killers
of James Byrd, a Texas man who had been dragged behind a truck by white
supremacists, were "going to be put to death." At a later town hall debate, a
questioner accused Bush of "smirking" as he talked about the sentence. Bush,
who approved 152 death warrants as governor of Texas, also mocked murderess
Karla Faye Tucker's plea for clemency in a print interview.
Capital punishment will not be an issue in this year's campaign. For the 1st
time, both candidates are from states that have abolished the death penalty.
Which means that, also for the 1st time, we're going to elect a candidate from
a state that does not execute prisoners. (Illinois did not abolish capital
punishment until 2011, 3 years after President Obama was elected. As governor
of Massachusetts, Romney proposed a bill to restore the death penalty, but his
legislature rejected it, denying him an achievement he could tout to
conservatives.) Below is a list of such presidential candidates throughout
American history. It's hard to argue that any of them have lost specifically
because they opposed the death penalty, but they generally came from states
more liberal than the nation as a whole, so their stances were part of a
political philosophy that voters did not accept.
Lewis Cass, Michigan, 1848
Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin, 1924
Hubert Humphrey, Minnesota, 1968
Gerald Ford, Michigan, 1976
Walter Mondale, Minnesota, 1984
Michael Dukakis, Massachusetts, 1988
John Kerry, Massachusetts, 2004
Barack Obama, Illinois, 2012
Mitt Romney, Massachusetts, 2012
(source: NBC Chicago)
KENTUCKY:
Meece gets death penalty; murderer says he is being railroaded
A former Lexington taxi driver and lawn-care worker should be put to death for
murdering three Adair County family members, a judge said yesterday. Circuit
Judge James G. Weddle imposed 3 death sentences on William Harry Meece, 33, as
well as a total of 40 years on burglary and robbery convictions. Weddle said
Meece deserved the ultimate penalty for the murders of veterinarian Joseph
Wellnitz, 50; his wife, Beth, 40; and son Dennis, 20.
Meece invaded their farmhouse outside Columbia early one cold morning in
February 1993 and shot each of them more than once, reloading in order to
finish off Dennis Wellnitz. Meece has been unusual and contentious throughout
the process leading up to his trial, filing dozens of motions on his own, and
his sentencing was no exception. He read a 5-page statement that said he did
not kill the Wellnitzes but had been railroaded by lies -- including those of
his ex-wife, who testified against him. He condemned the court system, likening
it to "Nazi Germany, Communist China and Soviet Russia."
"I bemoan the loss of the American ideal of a fair trial," he said. He finished
with a prayer in Hebrew and English and asked God to have mercy on the police,
the prosecutor, the court and the witnesses against him. Weddle, however, said
he had absolutely no doubt Meece committed the murders.
Weddle rejected requests for a new trial for Meece or a sentence of life in
prison without parole. The prosecutor, Commonwealth's Attorney Brian Wright,
called Meece's statement disgusting and said he was pleased the judge imposed
the death sentence Wright had sought for Meece.
The death sentence had been a long time coming for friends and family of the
Wellnitzes and for police who pursued the case for years. Meece and the
daughter of the slain couple, Margaret "Meg" Wellnitz Appleton, became suspects
early in the case, but it took nearly 10 years for state police to get the
evidence they thought was needed for an an arrest. That development came by way
of Regina Meade, Meece's wife at the time of the murders.
The 2 later divorced. When state police contacted Meade as part of a follow-up
in late 2002, she told them Meece and Appleton had told her years earlier about
killing the Wellnitz family and disposing of the gun and Meece's bloody clothes
in a restaurant dumpster. She also gave state police a piece of physical
evidence -- a small safe Meece stole from the Wellnitz home, Wright said. 10
years after the murders, state police arrested Meece and Appleton, who had met
as students at Lexington Community College.
Meece was already in jail by then on a charge that he offered to kill a man for
$2,000 in Lexington in 2002. He is serving 12 years in that case.
Wright said money motivated the Adair County slayings. Appleton got $300,000 in
insurance money after her parents' deaths, and Meece was to get a share, the
prosecutor said. The case took a strange turn in late 2004. Meece pleaded
guilty and gave authorities 2 chilling, detailed videotaped statements about
how he killed the Wellnitzes. Appleton also pleaded guilty in return for a
sentence of life in prison without parole for at least 25 years, which she is
serving.
But Meece quickly recanted. He said he'd had a conflict with one of his
court-appointed attorneys and thought pleading guilty and then taking back the
plea was the only way to get new lawyers and a fair trial. He got new lawyers
and a trial, but the confessions came back to haunt him. Wright played them for
the jury, over Meece's objection. Meece told jurors the confessions were a lie
and he was now telling the truth about being innocent. Jurors believed the
confessions and other evidence more, however, convicting Meece in less than 2
hours.
Under Kentucky law there will be an automatic appeal of Meece's conviction to
the state Supreme Court. One issue is likely to be whether it was proper for
jurors to hear Meece's 2004 confessions.
(source: Kentucky.com)
FLORIDA:
Restore Justice Releases Ad Highlighting Death Penalty Ruling
Entering the final month of a 2-year voter education campaign, Restore Justice
2012 released a video Monday highlighting the decision by the Florida Supreme
Court to give a confessed murderer a new trial. The justices' campaigns
recently defended the decision, claiming in a statement that they were
protecting the killer's constitutional rights.
"Despite his difficult behavior, Nixon was still entitled to his constitutional
rights," the campaigns said last week in a statement to reporters.
Jesse Phillips, president of Restore Justice, sees it differently. "The court
invented a way to give a confessed murderer the second chance at life this
brutalized woman never had," said Phillips. "Pariente, Quince and Lewis should
not defend this decision. They should apologize for it."
The decision, which was unanimously overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, has
resulted in various groups calling into question the competence of Justices
Pariente, Quince and Lewis, who are merit retention candidates this year. They
are being criticized for granting Joe Elton Nixon a new trial after he
confessed to burning a woman alive and was sentenced to the death penalty.
Restore Justice plans on airing a version of the video in major media markets
statewide.
For his part, Justice Lewis has recently contradicted the campaign statement
and tried to distance himself from his decision. Court records show that while
he wrote his own opinion and expressed some reservations, he ultimately joined
the majority and concurred with the result.
(source: Sunshine State News)
MISSOURI:
Drugs used in Mo. executions bump into European Union law
Missouri's plans to use the anesthetic propofol in executions may face new
delays.
In May, Missouri announced it was switching to propofol after sodium
thiopental, another drug commonly used in executions, became harder to acquire.
But, Fresenius Kabi USA, one of propofol's 2 domestic suppliers, announced last
week it was instructing its distributors not to fill orders from departments of
corrections in the United States.
The company says it objects to the use of the drug for reasons outside of its
intended use. Kathleen Holmes is the state coordinator for Missourians for
Alternatives to the Death Penalty, an anti-death penalty group. She applauds
the drug company???s decision.
"The drug companies have repeatedly stood up and said, 'No, you're not using
our drugs to kill somebody,' - that's not why they make the drugs in the first
place," Holmes says. "So, I am thrilled."
Fresenius Kabi is a subsidiary of a Swiss/German company, and under European
Union law, it is illegal for companies to export drugs that may be used in
executions. Neither the Missouri Attorney General's office nor the Missouri
Department of Corrections could be reached for comment regarding the company's
decision.
(source: Associated Press)
OKLAHOMA:
Supreme Court won't stop execution in Oklahoma in deaths of woman and child
The Supreme Court won't overturn a death sentence for a man convicted of
killing his ex-girlfriend and her infant daughter in Oklahoma.
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Raymond Eugene Johnson.
Johnson was convicted of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder by a Tulsa County jury
in 2009 in the June 2007 deaths of Brooke Whitaker, 24, and her 7-month-old
daughter, Kya Whitaker. Prosecutors said Johnson beat Brooke Whitaker in the
head with a hammer, set her on fire and left her and the baby to burn in their
gasoline-doused home.
Oklahoma courts have refused to stop his execution, and the high court now also
has refused to intervene.
(source: Associated Press)
ARIZONA:
Court rejects request to remove judge in Tucson death-penalty caseMiles
convicted in 1992 Baeuerlen murder in Tucson
A federal appeals court Friday rejected an Arizona death row inmate's request
that a judge recuse herself from his carjacking-murder case because her own
father was murdered in a carjacking close to 40 years ago.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Kevin Miles' request that
Judge Susan Graber recuse herself was inappropriate and "especially flimsy."
Graber wrote the opinion last month upholding Miles' death sentence for the
1992 carjacking and murder of Patricia Baeuerlen in Tucson.
Graber's father, Julius, was carjacked in 1974 by 2 teens wielding a sawed-off
shotgun, then driven to a Cincinnati cemetery where he was shot in the back of
the head.
Miles' motion said federal court procedure and U.S. law require that federal
judges disqualify themselves "in any proceeding in which his impartiality might
reasonably be questioned."
But Judges Marsha Berzon and Richard Tallman wrote that it is up to Graber to
decide whether or not to step down, and they went on to defend her impartiality
at some length in their published 5-page order.
"Life experiences do not disqualify us from serving as judges on cases in which
the issues or the facts are in some indirect way related to our personal
experiences," they wrote.
Miles' public defender, Timothy Gabrielsen, had no comment on the order Friday
except to say, "I stand by the motion. I think it is appropriate."
Assistant Arizona Attorney General Jonathan Bass called the timing of the
motion peculiar, since it came after the court had already ruled on Miles'
appeal. If there's any doubt, "you don't want the judge to rule at all," he
said.
Bass agreed with the order, saying he "had no reason to think they (the circuit
judges) are not impartial."
Miles, then 24, and 2 underage friends were standing on a street corner in
Tucson in December 1992 when Baeuerlen pulled up. Levi Jackson, 16, pointed a
gun at her and the trio got into her car.
They drove to the desert, where they took her out of the car, taunted and
harassed her before Jackson shot her in the chest and they drove off, leaving
Baeuerlen where she had been shot.
Miles later used Baeuerlen's ATM card to take money out of her account. He
drove her car to Phoenix where he went shopping at a mall, exchanged her
children's Christmas gifts for other items and met with friends.
Police arrested Miles 2 days after Baeuerlen's slaying, and he confessed after
several hours of questioning. He was later convicted and sentenced to death.
Jackson, who was initially sentenced to death, had the sentence reversed on
appeal and is now serving a life sentence.
The recusal motion noted similarities to Julius Graber's murder and to the
post-conviction proceedings for Willie Lee Bell, an accomplice in Graber's
killing.
Bell, who was 16 at the time of that crime, was sentenced to death, but his
sentence was overturned in 1978. He is now serving a life sentence in Ohio.
A motion for a rehearing before the full 9th Circuit of the latest decision in
Miles' case is pending. If that motion is denied, Miles could then petition the
U.S. Supreme Court for a hearing.
(source: Tucson Sentinel)
CALIFORNIA:
Initiative seeks to end death penalty in Calif.
More death row inmates have died of natural causes, suicide and murder than
have been executed since California re-instated capital punishment 35 years
ago.
Supporters of Proposition 34, which seeks to abolish the state's death penalty,
cite the $4 billion spent since 1978 in support of capital punishment. They say
the money spent each year on housing condemned inmates and on the lengthy
appeals process can be used instead to investigate unsolved murder and rape
cases.
Opponents of the Nov. 6 ballot initiative counter that a death penalty system
once labeled dysfunctional by California's chief justice should instead be
fixed to quicken the pace of executions. Capital punishment supporters say it
benefits public safety and gives solace to victims of violent crime.
If voters approve Proposition 34, inmates awaiting execution would have their
sentences converted to life in prison without the chance of parole, which would
also serve as the harshest sentence available in the state. In addition, $100
million in grants would be doled out to law enforcement agencies over the next
four years to investigate cold cases.
While backers have a significant fundraising advantage, amassing $5.4 million
compared to nearly $230,000 for opponents, they still face an uphill fight with
voters.
The last time voters weighed in on the question was 1978, when 71 % approved
expanding the death penalty law passed the previous year by the Legislature.
Since then, polls throughout the years have shown that California voters
support executions.
A Field Poll released Sept. 24 found that support eroding somewhat, with 45 %
of respondents opposing Proposition 34 and 42 % saying they intend to vote for
it.
"It's broken and can't be fixed," said Jeanne Woodford, a Proposition 34
campaign leader who presided over four executions while serving as warden at
San Quentin State Prison.
She is now head of Death Penalty Focus, a nonprofit organization seeking the
repeal of the death penalty nationwide.
Major financial supporters include Nicholas Pritzker, chief executive of the
Hyatt hotels chain, and billionaire Charles Feeney's Atlantic Advocacy Funds,
both of whom kicked in $1 million each. The American Civil Liberties Union also
is an active financial backer. One of its lawyers, Natasha Minsker, is serving
as Proposition 34's campaign manager.
Thanks to lengthy appeals and direct legal attacks on the state's death penalty
itself, California's death row at San Quentin has ballooned to nearly 730
inmates. Just 13 executions have been carried out since the death penalty was
reinstated, none since 2006. During that same period, 89 death row inmates have
died of something other than an execution.
Opponents are led by 2 former Republican governors - Pete Wilson and George
Deukmejian - and include a coalition of prosecutors and law enforcement
officials.
They concede the system is deeply flawed, but their campaign slogan is "mend
it, don't end it." The opposition argues that a streamlined process, including
using a single execution drug rather than the current 3-drug mixture, will
speed up the process and limit expenses. Abolishing the death penalty,
opponents say, will raise prison health care costs.
"Proposition 34 Takes $100 million from California's general fund," said former
California Department of Finance Director Mike Genest, an official opponent.
"Prop. 34 will cost taxpayers millions more annually by guaranteeing murderers
lifetime housing and health care benefits."
Former Attorney General John Van De Kamp and several other criminal justice
experts published a report in 2008 that concluded it would cost the state an
additional $79 million a year in attorney fees to reduce the time it takes to
resolve death penalty cases in California from an average of 25 years to the
national average of 12.5 years.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office says California would save $130
million a year by abolishing the death penalty and the added security, legal
costs and housing costs associated with death row and executions.
A federal judge in 2006 halted executions in California and ordered prison
officials to overhaul the state's executions procedures, which included
carrying out lethal injections in San Quentin's former gas chamber.
Since then, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has
built a new death chamber that resembles a bright and antiseptic hospital room
and adopted new written protocols. Those protocols, though, are the subject of
a state judge's order barring executions until they are properly adopted
according to California's administrative code.
(source: Associated Press)
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