In brief: March 2019
March 8, 2019
In New Hampshire on Thursday, by a veto-proof vote of 279-88, the House repealed the state’s death penalty and replaced it with a sentence of
In New Hampshire on Thursday, by a veto-proof vote of 279-88, the House repealed the state’s death penalty and replaced it with a sentence of
In their paper, ” ‘A World of Steel-Eyed Death’: An Empirical Evaluation of the Failure of the Strickland Standard to Ensure Adequate Counsel to Defendants
“Everyone has a breaking point. Anyone can be convinced to confess, to lie. And it’s not only that they can but they do it at
California Gov. Gavin Newsom today ordered additional DNA testing on evidence in the case of Kevin Cooper, who was sent to death row almost 34
The Toledo Blade reports that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is putting executions on hold because, he said today, “Ohio is not going to execute someone
Proposition 66 was passed by popular vote in 2016. Proponents insisted the proposition would speed up the process of capital trials and executions. It was big
Republican Governor Mike DeWine postponed the execution of Warren Keith Henness late last month and ordered the state Department of Rehabilitation & Correction to “to
“Kevin Cooper Case: Was the Wrong Man Convicted in the 1983 Chino Hills Massacre?” was the title of a two-hour episode on a “48 Hours”
In California, the state Supreme Court unanimously overturned the death sentence of Jamelle Edward Armstrong, convicted of killing a Southern California woman in 1998. The
There are six major-party candidates running for governor of California, and according to a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle, all but one is opposed to the death penalty. “As the death penalty has gradually lost its once-overwhelming public support, it may also have lost its effectiveness as a wedge issue among office-seekers,” says reporter Bob Egelko. The four Democrats who are running include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former
In what one local television station called “one of the most shocking and drastic shakeups of the district attorney’s office that anyone can recall,” newly-elected Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner fired 33 staff members, including division chiefs, long-time prosecutors, and high-ranking deputies, on Monday. And the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “as many as a third of the office’s homicide prosecutors were asked to leave.” Krasner, a former public defender, campaigned
In California, the Los Angeles Times reports that Los Angeles County officials “mistakenly destroyed the evidence” that Scott Pinholster says would prove him innocent of the double murder that sent him to death row in 1984. The Times says Pinholster’s attorney has requested a hearing on how this happened, and will also ask for a new trial. According to state law, evidence in a death penalty case cannot be destroyed
In its editorial, “Capital Punishment Deserves a Quick Death,” the New York Times refers to the recent attempted execution of Alva Campbell by the State of Ohio that had to be called off when executioners were unable to find a viable vein to inject the lethal injection cocktail into 69-year-old Campbell. “The pathetic scene was a fitting symbol of the state of capital punishment in America in 2017, a vile
“I have hope. And because I have hope I have life.” For Kevin Cooper, who has been on San Quentin’s death row since 1985, it is a hope that survives because of “the number of people I have helping me, who believe in my case, my innocence, and in me.” Those people include Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William A. Fletcher, who wrote in the New York University Law
“Unchained Artists,” an exhibition featuring some 50 pieces of artwork, poetry, and handcrafted art objects made by men and women incarcerated in the United States, including prisoners on San Quentin’s death row, will open this Monday, January 15, in Marin County, California. The exhibit is a first-time collaboration between ArtReach, which was founded by UK artist Nicola White to provide a platform for prisoners on San Quentin’s death row to
On Monday, January 15, an art exhibit featuring the work of prisoners around the country, including those on San Quentin’s death row, will open in the Bank of Marin lobby in Mill Valley, California. “Unchained Artists” features some 50 pieces of artwork, poetry, and handcrafted art objects. Many of the pieces will be available for purchase. The exhibit is a first-time collaboration between ArtReach, which was founded by UK artist
Public support for the death penalty dropped to its lowest level in 45 years in 2017, and the number of death sentences and executions is the second-lowest in a generation, succeeded only by last year’s record lows. That’s according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which released its annual report this week, highlighting the continuation of the long-term decline of the death penalty in the United States. Eight states carried
Twenty years ago, Lucy Wilke was the prosecutor who sent Jeff Wood to Texas’ death row, even though he never killed anyone. Now, according to the Texas Tribune, Wilke, along with several other state officials, is asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that Wood’s death sentence be reduced to life in prison. “The penalty now appears to be excessive,” the Tribune says Wilke wrote in a