In brief: December 2017
December 15, 2017
In California, Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye told a group of reporters that she expects Proposition 66, which passed in November 2016 on the
In California, Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye told a group of reporters that she expects Proposition 66, which passed in November 2016 on the
In “Two Murder Convictions for One Fatal Shot,” in the November 13 issue of the New Yorker, Ken Armstrong examines a disturbingly frequent practice by
“In the Executioner’s Shadow” is a documentary that examines the death penalty from the per-spective of three very different people, and their very different experiences:
Application Deadline: January 22, 2018 Death Penalty Focus (DPF), a national nonprofit organization founded in 1988 to abolish the death penalty, is seeking an Executive
It’s not just amazing art that’s being produced on San Quentin’s death row, there is also some insightful, thought-provoking literature and poetry being written as
It’s not often we can share inspiring or uplifting information these days, but Nicola White, a London-based artist, has been working with prisoners at San
Death Penalty Focus is partnering with CharityBuzz to bring you FOUR new charity auctions–your chance to meet Patty Jenkins, Jeff Goldblum, Ben and Jerry, and
When Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last week to resentence Bobby Moore to life in prison, she
Carlos Ayestas was sentenced to death in Texas in 1997 for the murder of 67-year-old Santiaga Paneque two years earlier. But because a judge did
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
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide soon whether to accept Hidalgo v. Arizona, which not only challenges Arizona’s death penalty statute, but the death penalty nationwide. Lawyers for Abel Hidalgo argue that there are so many aggravating circumstances for which a defendant can be sentenced to death in Arizona, the sentence is unconstitutional based on the conditions the high court laid out in Gregg v. Georgia. There are 14 factors,