In brief: September 2021
September 7, 2021
In California, the Los Angeles Daily News reports that Stanley Bernard Davis, sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of Los Angeles college students Michelle Ann Boyd
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Ed Asner
September 7, 2021
Death Penalty Focus lost a dear friend and one of its most loyal supporters last week. Actor, activist, and all-around good guy, Ed Asner, died late last month at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91.
Oklahoma seeks execution dates for seven men
September 7, 2021
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor has tentatively scheduled executions for seven men in five months, starting in October and continuing into February. If carried out, they will be the first executions in the state since 2015.
Two criminal Justice Reform Bills on Hold in CA Legislature
September 7, 2021
Two bills that would go a long way toward reforming California’s seriously flawed criminal justice systems are on hold until January.
CA Supreme Court upholds flawed death penalty system
September 7, 2021
When the California Supreme Court, late last month, upheld a state law that does not require a unanimous jury vote when sentencing a defendant to death, it not only disappointed many criminal justice advocates it surprised them as well.
California Supreme Court Upholds Flawed Death Sentencing System
August 27, 2021
“We are disappointed the Court didn’t take this step to address one of the many serious flaws in California’s capital punishment system,” Death Penalty Focus Board Chair Sarah Sanger stated. “The Court could have taken a big step toward confronting a deeply biased death penalty system.”
Read DPF’s statement here regarding the disappointing decision announced by the CA Supreme Court today.
DPF welcomes an Interim Executive Director
August 11, 2021
“After the execution of 13 federal prisoners by the Trump administration last year, we knew we had to redouble our efforts to abolish the death
While we’re on the subject . . .
August 9, 2021
In “The Trump Executions,” in a University of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper, Lee Kovarsky analyzes the Trump Administration’s killing spree from July 2020 to January
In Brief: August 2021
August 9, 2021
In California, a 22-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a fatal shooting at a San Diego synagogue in April 2019 will be sentenced to life
Pew Poll shows decline in support for the death penalty
August 9, 2021
Support for the death penalty declined to 60% from 2020 when 65% were in favor, although a majority of Americans still support capital punishment “despite
A call for international guidelines in interrogations and investigations
August 9, 2021
“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’s judicial “Golden Rule”
August 9, 2021
It’s called the Golden Rule argument because it’s used by prosecutors to put jurors in the shoes of the victim. And according to Pepperdine Caruso
While we’re on the subject . . .
October 11, 2021
In his op-ed, “Oklahoma’s rush to execute harms culture of life,” in the Oklahoman, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley writes that a court case pending in
In brief: October 2021
October 11, 2021
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last week a bill that expands another criminal justice reform bill that became law two years ago.
Oklahoma Executions Loom
October 11, 2021
When the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against clemency for John Grant last week, it cleared the way for the state to resume
Oregon Supreme Court ruling likely to clear death row
October 11, 2021
The Oregon Supreme Court issued a ruling last week which will likely overturn the death sentences of all 23 prisoners on death row. In State v.
“In the extreme: Women serving life without parole and death sentences in the United States”
October 11, 2021
“The circumstances that lead women to commit violent crimes are often complicated by a history of sexual and/or physical trauma….We know, for instance, that almost
While we’re on the subject…
September 7, 2021
In her Nevada Independent op-ed, “Nevada is preparing to execute a man with significant organic brain damage,” Dr. Natalie Novick Brown, a licensed clinical psychologist who evaluated
In brief: September 2021
September 7, 2021
In California, the Los Angeles Daily News reports that Stanley Bernard Davis, sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of Los Angeles college students Michelle Ann Boyd
Ed Asner
September 7, 2021
Death Penalty Focus lost a dear friend and one of its most loyal supporters last week. Actor, activist, and all-around good guy, Ed Asner, died late last month at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91.
Oklahoma seeks execution dates for seven men
September 7, 2021
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor has tentatively scheduled executions for seven men in five months, starting in October and continuing into February. If carried out, they will be the first executions in the state since 2015.
