Death Penalty

Panel Seeks End to Death Penalty for New Jersey

By LAURA MANSNERUS
Published: January 3, 2007
TRENTON, Jan. 2 � A legislative commission recommended on Tuesday that New Jersey become the first state to abolish the death penalty since states began reinstating their capital punishment laws 35 years ago. Its report found �no compelling evidence� that capital punishment serves a legitimate purpose, and increasing evidence that it �is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency.�

The report, whose lone dissenter was the original author of the state�s modern death penalty statute, came a year after New Jersey joined Illinois and Maryland in imposing moratoriums on executions, and amid growing unease among politicians and the public about capital punishment.

Eight other states, including New York, have also suspended executions in recent years, most because of court decisions. Maryland had lifted its moratorium in 2003, after a year, but a court essentially reinstated it last month.

Death penalty experts said that New Jersey was the first state to receive an official recommendation that capital punishment be abandoned, and it lands in a state where legislators have a Democratic majority along with a Democratic governor who supports repeal of the statute.

The governor, Jon S. Corzine, embraced the report on Tuesday. �As someone who has long opposed the death penalty,� he said in a statement, �I look forward to working with the Legislature� to carry out the recommendations.

Posted on Campaign to End the Death Penalty

By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 28 December 2006

The Bush administration welcomed the confirmation of the death penalty against Saddam Hussein, reopening the divide with the European Union and the United Nations, which are opposed to execution.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said Saddam should not be hanged for crimes against humanity because his trial had been flawed and was marred by political interference by the Iraqi government.

A spokeswoman for Amnesty said: "We are against the death penalty as a matter of principle but particularly in this case because it comes after a flawed trial."

Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, said: "Imposing the death penalty, indefensible in any case, is especially wrong after such unfair proceedings. That a judicial decision was first announced by Iraq's National Security Adviser underlines the political interference that marred Saddam Hussein's trial."

Iraq's US-appointed interim government reinstated the death penalty in August 2004, causing friction with its coalition partner, Britain. The former top British representative in Iraq, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said the UK would not participate in a tribunal or legal process that could lead to execution.

A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday that while the execution of Saddam was "a matter for the Iraqis", Britain remained opposed to the death penalty, and had made representations to the government on that score.

Riverbend is a woman I don't read as much as I should because she makes me cry every single time I take a glance at her blog. She is the most powerful voice coming out of Iraq and the one that seems to be holding on to the little sanity that is left in that country.

End of Another Year... | Baghdad Burning:

What has me most puzzled right now is: why add fuel to the fire? Sunnis and moderate Shia are being chased out of the larger cities in the south and the capital. Baghdad is being torn apart with Shia leaving Sunni areas and Sunnis leaving Shia areas- some under threat and some in fear of attacks. People are being openly shot at check points or in drive by killings… Many colleges have stopped classes. Thousands of Iraqis no longer send their children to school- it's just not safe.

Why make things worse by insisting on Saddam's execution now? Who gains if they hang Saddam? Iran, naturally, but who else? There is a real fear that this execution will be the final blow that will shatter Iraq. Some Sunni and Shia tribes have threatened to arm their members against the Americans if Saddam is executed. Iraqis in general are watching closely to see what happens next, and quietly preparing for the worst.

This is because now, Saddam no longer represents himself or his regime. Through the constant insistence of American war propaganda, Saddam is now representative of all Sunni Arabs (never mind most of his government were Shia). The Americans, through their speeches and news articles and Iraqi Puppets, have made it very clear that they consider him to personify Sunni Arab resistance to the occupation. Basically, with this execution, what the Americans are saying is "Look- Sunni Arabs- this is your man, we all know this. We're hanging him- he symbolizes you." And make no mistake about it, this trial and verdict and execution are 100% American. Some of the actors were Iraqi enough, but the production, direction and montage was pure Hollywood (though low-budget, if you ask me).

Questioning Capital Punishment
the Nation by BRUCE SHAPIRO
[posted online on December 24, 2006]

In the long, contentious history of capital punishment in America, there has never been a moment like this: Over just a few days in mid-December, judges in California and Maryland and the governor of Florida shut down any pending
executions in those states--all because of rapidly growing doubts about the humanity and constitutionality of lethal injection. In less than a week, 1,052 death-row inmates were thrust at least temporarily beyond reach of the
needle.

At first glance, the impact of each of these death penalty moratoria might seem limited. In Florida on December 16, Governor Jeb Bush suspended executions and set up a commission to study lethal-injection procedures, after the grotesque death of Angel Nieves three days earlier: The three-drug cocktail supposed to sedate Nieves and kill him painlessly and quickly instead left the inmate conscious, grimacing in pain and struggling for breath. It took half an hour and a second round of injections before the
spectacle ended.

In California, US District Judge Jeremy Fogel declared that state's execution protocols rife with irregularities In particular, Fogel raised serious questions about whether "certain inmates
have been conscious" when injected with heart-stopping drugs, suffering "unconscionable" pain and anguish.

This just in from Campaign to End the Death Penalty:

Groups Opposed to Executions Applaud Ruling on Lethal Injection

Activists agree that the procedure is broken but disagree that the
execution process can be fixed.

Oakland, CA, December 15, 2006:

Anti-death penalty activists spoke out Friday in response to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel stating that the State of
California's lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.

The lethal injection process amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, according to Crystal Bybee, the California Coordinator of the Campaign
to End the Death Penalty. "We have been saying that lethal injection is cruel and unusual," said Bybee. "The hearings that Judge Fogel conducted showed the serious issues involved and the possibility of prisoners being conscious during the painful procedure. But the bigger picture is that no matter what the mix of chemicals, all executions are cruel and unusual. Judge Fogel is right that the lethal injection process is broken, but is wrong in thinking that it can be fixed."

Individuals who have witnessed executions attest to the fact that these executions are not simple, painless procedures. Barbara Becnel, advocate for Stanley Tookie Williams, witnessed Williams' execution on December 13, 2005. The execution, which Becnel calls "torture-murder," took 35 minutes. The State has admitted that it was botched. "I know the truth, I know what I saw," said Becnel after hearing Judge Fogel's decision. "I saw Stanley Tookie Williams tortured to death. The anniversary of the execution was marked by a reenactment in Berkeley, CA just this week. Becnel added, "What they did to Stanley Tookie

When are we going to abolish the death penalty already?

Death Sentences Decline, and Experts Offer Reasons

By NEIL A. LEWIS, NYT

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 — The number of death sentences in the United States has dropped to its lowest level in decades, according to recent studies, including one released Thursday that predicts the trend will continue because of publicity about cases in which people are wrongly accused of crimes.

The Death Penalty Information Center, a group based in Washington, reported that the number of death sentences, which had remained at about 300 a year in the 1990s, began to drop steadily in 1999 and has declined almost 60 percent since then.

At the Justice Department, the Bureau of Statistics reported last week that there were 128 death sentences in 2005, down from 138 the year before. While the department study does not include an estimate for 2006, the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty and tracks cases closely, says the number for this year will be about 114.

Defense lawyers, prosecutors, and groups that study the application of the death penalty all say there are several reasons for the trend. Among them are increased publicity about cases other than murder in which DNA testing resulted in freeing people who had wrongly been convicted of crimes, producing skepticism about the reliability of verdicts; recent Supreme Court decisions requiring that juries be told when life in prison without possibility of parole is an option, and improved legal representation for capital defendants, including a sharp increase in using specialists to develop arguments for mitigation.

Another good reason to end capital punishment. . . I got this report from the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

Report: Death Penalty Creates More Victims
Tuesday, December 05 2006 @ 10:01 PM EST

Family members, especially children, suffer in the aftermath of an execution PFADP via BBSNews 2006-12-05 -- Cambridge, Mass. � Families of the executed are victims too, according to a new report that Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights will release on December 10. "Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind" draws upon the stories of three dozen family members of people executed in the United States and demonstrates that their experiences and traumatic symptoms resemble those of others who have suffered a violent loss. "It's something you don't ever get over," said Pam Crawford, one of the family members featured in the report. Crawford, a Charlotte native, is the sister of a man who was executed in Alabama in 1996. She described the nightmares and other difficulties that her teenaged granddaughter still experiences in the aftermath of the execution. Other family members agreed that children, in particular, suffer as they struggle to understand a relative's death at the hands of the state. "What impact does this event have on children's impressionable lives, and what cost does society pay for that impact?" asks Robert Meeropol, another survivor featured in the report.