Voices: Ashley Cook
November 8, 2021
A year ago, wrongful convictions and the death penalty were not something that crossed my mind very often. As a Japanese major, I generally stay
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A year ago, wrongful convictions and the death penalty were not something that crossed my mind very often. As a Japanese major, I generally stay
“I want to share with you my absolute conviction that the death penalty must disappear from the entire world as it is a shame for
In Japan, death row prisoners wake up every day wondering if it will be their last. Execution dates are not set in Japan so the prisoners don’t know when they will be executed until right before they are hanged (the only method Japan uses).
In its analysis of the President Biden-appointed US Supreme Court Reform Commission’s draft recommendations, Balls and Strikes says the “commission gave the death penalty a
You are going to want to meet Mamie Lang Kirkland.
The state of Alabama executed Willie B. Smith last month without bothering to dispute the fact that he was intellectually disabled.
Updates from Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, and Utah.
Why Victims’ Family Members Oppose the Death Penalty Watch the recap on-demand below Additional Resources Committee on Revision of the Penal Code – Death Penalty
How we Decrease Death Row & Abolish the Death Penalty: A Conversation with the California Committee on Revision of the Penal Code Watch the recap
Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a brief in support of the appeal of Don’te McDaniel, a man on death row convicted of murder. Newsom argued in the amicus brief that “racial discrimination infects the administration of California’s death penalty.” Six present and past California District Attorneys filed a separate brief arguing that the death penalty is “unfair and racially biased”. Newsom cited research that demonstrates significant statistical differences charging the death
2020 demonstrates the random callous nature of the death penalty. Until July 7,2020, for 17 years, the federal government did not execute a single federal prisoner. With the Trump administration’s “tough on crime” policies, the executions began. Three executions in a row, followed by two more executions, and then two more the next month. These men, most in their 50’s, have been on death row for decades. In a flash,
Former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, a progressive prosecutor, has officially beat incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. This is a significant victory in the largest District Attorney office in the nation. Mr. Gascón promises reduced incarceration, and increased scrutiny of police misconduct. As one of his first official acts, Mr. Gascón promises to end the death penalty in Los Angeles County. Read More Photo by Shawn
Source: The Atlantic “Strapped to a gurney, two body lengths from where I sat behind thick glass and a curtain, Ricky Ray Rector groaned each time his executioner jabbed a lethal needle into his beefy arm. Once. Twice. Again and again and again—for 20 minutes, the cop-killer whimpered before I watched him die. Earlier that day, January 24, 1992, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton had left the presidential campaign trail to be
Why I Support Death Penalty Focus . . . by Colleen Tracy It is hard to say what sparked my interest in supporting the work to abolish the death penalty. Perhaps it was growing up in a Catholic Christian home passionate about Social Justice or the pin my good friend wore to school one day asking the simple question “Why do we kill people who kill people to show people
