March 3 USA: International Law And the Death Penalty In regard to your Feb. 25 editorial "Rule of (International) Law": The U.S. Constitution makes treaties -- like the Vienna Convention, which guarantees foreign nationals access to consular assistance -- part of the "supreme law of the land." Since the Supreme Court has stated repeatedly that "international law is part of our law," respecting international law in no way infringes our national sovereignty. In ratifying the Vienna Convention, the U.S. affirmed that (i) consular assistance was necessary to protect U.S. nationals abroad, and (ii) the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had the right to resolve any disputes concerning the convention. Indeed, the U.S. has looked to those protections for U.S. citizens abroad on countless occasions, including the Iranian Hostage crisis (in which the ICJ agreed with the U.S. that Iran violated international law). If the principles of the treaty and the rulings of the ICJ were valid in the Iranian hostage crisis, why aren't they valid today? Wouldn't we want Americans to be able to consult with their embassy officials before being executed? Such reciprocity is at the heart of international law. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, everywhere. But the death penalty is not on review in this case. It is simply fatuous to claim that respecting these international legal rights would result in the ICJ overturning the death penalty in the U.S. With current U.S. administration policies responsible for an unparalleled retrenchment in international law and human rights, it is more important than ever for the Supreme Court to uphold the rule of law in this case. Isn't that a quintessential American value? Chip Pitts, Board Chair Amnesty International USA Washington (source: Letter, Wall Street Journal) ************************ Death penalty talk gets personal----Exonerated inmate, others discuss firsthand experiences in panel While the issue of capital punishment typically generates debate, few discussions involve individuals from as many perspectives as did Wednesday night's panel entitled "National Debate on the Death Penalty." A pardoned death row inmate and the grandson of a brutally murdered woman were among those who offered their opinions on the issue. The discussion was one of the culminating events in a weeklong series of events called "Life in the Balance: Death Penalty Perspectives," and was moderated by law student Kate Leahy, chair of the Notre Dame Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and senior Michael Poffenberger, a anthropology and peace studies major. "It is up to us as concerned speakers to determine how to act most responsibly within society," Poffenberger said. The 1st panel member to speak was Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. Dieter stressed the presence of the death penalty in American history while referring to Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution bars capital punishment for juveniles. "What happened yesterday was an amazing turnaround for the Court. The Supreme Court took on this issue 15 years ago, but in 1989 there was a sense that the death penalty was permissible under our constitution," Dieter said. "Even when the death penalty was originally banned in 1972, it was not because executing humans was deemed cruel or unusual, but because [capital punishment] laws at that time were very arbitrary." Dieter described the subsequent shift in public opinion away from the death penalty, attributing this move to the establishment of DNA technology as an accepted means of evidence in American courts. "The numbers [of convicts] on death row are dropping," he said. "We're not sure who is innocent and who is guilty anymore." Bill Pelke, whose grandmother was murdered, then spoke on his personal experiences with the issue. In 1985, Pelke's grandmother was stabbed 33 times when a group of high school girls entered her home under the pretense of seeking Bible lessons, Leahy explained. One of the girls, Paula Cooper, was 15 years old at the time of the murder. At 16, she became the youngest death row inmate in the United States. "About 3 1/2 months after she was sentenced, I began to reflect on my grandmother's life and death. My mind went back to the courtroom on the day that Paula Cooper had been sentenced to death," Pelke said. "As the judge sentenced her, he said that he hoped that someday soon the American public would have its fill of the death penalty." Pelke described his reflections about his grandmother and her killer. "I thought about my grandmother's Christian faith. I thought of my grandmother and tried to pray for God to give me compassion for Paula Cooper," he said. "I no longer wanted her to die. I learned the most important lesson in life that night: the lesson of the healing power of forgiveness." Pelke went on to found Journey of Hope, an organization of murder victims' family members committed to promoting forgiveness and abolishing the death penalty. He is also the president of the board of directors of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and sits on the board of directors of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. The 3rd speaker, Madison Hobley, said he survived a fire that killed his wife, son and 5 others - only to be arrested and tortured by four Chicago police officers. The policemen went on to provide the testimony that led to Hobley's conviction for the fire and his subsequent death sentence. Hobley spent 3 years in prison and 14 years on death row until Illinois Governor George Ryan pardoned him in 2003. "It is sad that we put our trust in police who would sacrifice a person like me for the color of my skin and execute me for a crime I did not commit," Hobley said. Hobley de-scribed the subhuman conditions of death row, in which inmates reside in tiny cells, are chained at all times and are forbidden communication with anyone. "If you had experienced what I did, I don't think you would be pro-death penalty. There is no doubt that we need prison, because many inmates were guilty of crimes, but I also learned that they are human beings," he said. Charles Rice, Notre Dame professor emeritus of law, was the evening's final speaker and spoke about law and Catholic teaching. He has published extensively in the areas of natural law, abortion jurisprudence and Catholic morality and the law. "I formerly supported the death penalty for pro-life reasons because I regarded the infliction of the death penalty for murder as the proper stigmatization of murder, so as to create a climate in which murder would be reduced," he said. "My opinion has since changed." Rice described Catholic teaching on the death penalty. He explained that the state does have the authority to impose the death penalty, but that Pope John Paul II has sharply restricted the moral power of the state to use such a punishment. "The main focus is the conversion of the sinner. The state has the moral authority to use the death penalty only when it is absolutely necessary to protect other lives from this guy," Rice said. He noted that it is difficult to imagine a situation in contemporary America that would necessitate infliction of the death penalty. "Support for the death penalty is a symptom of a broader cultural problem in which the infliction of death is looked at as a problem-solving approach," Rice said. (source: The Observer) INDIANA----impending execution Amnesty International Rallies Against Death Penalty Cases With Indiana's 2st lethal injection of the year next week, a group wants Governor Mitch Daniels to halt executions. Amnesty International rallied at the statehouse Wednesday night, calling the death penalty cruel and inhumane. They are working to put a stop to it. Amnesty International applauded the US Supreme Courts ruling this week to outlaw the execution of juveniles. A former juror in a murder trial says the justice system needs an overhaul. "There's a lack of complete information and this wasn't just in our case. It happens all the time and I've since contacted other jurors that have had the same problems," said John Gnaiek. The group is sending off two letters Thursday, one to Governor Daniels, asking that he look at the problems with the death penalty and another to the next prisoner scheduled for execution encouraging him to ask for clemency and even wishing him well. "Supporters would say, These are people who've killed people.' Well, they have. But it doesn't make it - if we say it's wrong to kill people then it doesn't make sense to kill people. Don't victims deserve justice?' Well, they still can get justice," said Karen Burkhart, Amnesty International. They say justice comes in the form of long-term sentences. Donald Wallace, 47, is the next Indiana prisoner scheduled for lethal injection. He admitted to killing an Evansville couple and their 2 children, ages 4 and 5, during a burglary. Amnesty International plans to protest his execution outside the Indiana state prison in Michigan City. Wallace is scheduled to die next week. (source: WISH TV News) FLORIDA: Prisoner says he wants to die----The killer on death row faces a fight from his own attorney. Sonny Ray Jeffries wants to die. Now. In the dozen years since he stomped his brother's landlady to death while stealing her jewelry, Jeffries fought hard to avoid his arrest, conviction and execution for the murder. But after 6 miserable years on death row, Jeffries, 41, now says he's tired of fighting and wants to drop all his appeals. He wants to end it all with a lethal injection. All that stands in his way is his defense attorney, who is trying to convince Orange County Circuit Judge Bob Wattles that Jeffries is mentally ill -- incapable of making his own decisions. During a 3-hour hearing Wednesday in Orlando, Jeffries repeatedly objected to attorney Daphney Gaylord's attempts to keep him out of the death chamber. "This is not a hearing. This is ludicrous, the questions she is asking," said Jeffries, interrupting Gaylord's cross-examination of a state doctor who says Jeffries is competent to make his own decisions. The odd case of a man condemned to die, but powerless to get to the death chamber fast enough, played out before Wattles, the same judge who sentenced Jeffries to death for the 1993 slaying of Wilma Martin. The state Supreme Court has already rejected one of Jeffries' appeals and, almost 2 years ago, Jeffries told Wattles he wanted to stop his attorneys from filing any more appeals. That kicked off a series of court hearings and mental evaluations that all led up to Wednesday's hearing. Now it is up to Wattles to decide whether Jeffries -- who once claimed untreated gonorrhea drove him mad before he killed Martin -- is mentally sound enough to waive his future appeals. Dr. Joe Thornton, a psychiatrist with the state Department of Children & Families, testified that he evaluated Jeffries in January and determined that he was competent and could make decisions about his capital case. Another state doctor is set to testify that he has come to the same conclusion. When the hearing resumes in late March, Gaylord is set to present her own witnesses who are expected to testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent. Whether or not Jeffries is mentally ill has been the cornerstone of the case since he and Harry Thomas robbed and killed Martin, 68, in her Orlando home in August 1993. Thomas pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It took almost five years for Jeffries to go to trial in the case because he was sent to a state mental hospital twice. Finally, in 1998, a jury found Jeffries guilty of killing Martin, who rented a house to his brother. Jeffries represented himself during the trial. After his conviction, he admitted killing Martin but said the sexually transmitted disease drove him mad. "County jail administrations, prison administrations and hospital administrations are all responsible because they should have helped and treated me years ago," Jeffries told Wattles at the time. Mental-health experts who questioned Jeffries in 1998 said he was schizophrenic. But they didn't connect his mental illness with gonorrhea. On Wednesday, Thornton said Jeffries exhibited an "anti-social personality" and noted that he could be at odds with his attorney but was mentally competent to assist in his own defense. "I felt he was competent," Thornton said. While cross-examining Thornton, Gaylord reminded him of Jeffries' mental-health history. That line of questioning clearly infuriated Jeffries. He repeatedly interrupted his attorney with emotional outbursts. He called Gaylord's questioning of Thornton "repetitive" and "an insult to my character." At one point, Jeffries asked to cross-examine Gaylord, but Wattles denied the request. At another point, Jeffries, who is white, argued that Gaylord, who is black, "is racist toward me." "I want a lawyer change," Jeffries said. Wattles listened to Jeffries' objections but didn't rule on them. He told Jeffries he would get a chance to talk later in the hearing. Jeffries will have to wait a little longer. The hearing ended abruptly Wednesday when Gaylord became ill and could not continue. The hearing will continue later this month. Until then, Jeffries will have to wait it out -- in his death-row cell. (source: Orlando Sentinel) NORTH CAROLINA----impending execution Lawyers make appeal for Cleveland County man scheduled for execution Saying the murder William Dillard Powell Jr. committed doesnt deserve the death penalty, lawyers for and supporters of the condemned killer asked Gov. Mike Easley on Wednesday to grant their client clemency. Calling the case "aberrant," Columbia University sociologist Peter Bearman said that other people committing crimes similar to what Powell committed didnt get the death penalty. "It's chillingly clear," Bearman said. "The cases most similar to it are cases that juries returned a sentence of life." Bearman made the statements at a press conference Wednesday afternoon following the clemency hearings at the state Capitol earlier in the day. "The death penalty in this rare and unique case does not represent equal justice under the law," said Shelby lawyer David Teddy, helping the defense team. Powell is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 2 a.m. March 11 in the states death chamber at Central Prison for the Oct. 31, 1991, beating death of convenience store clerk Mary Gladden. Defense attorney Bill Massengale said Powell was tried for 1st-degree murder under the felony murder law. That law allows a defendant to be tried for first-degree murder even if there is no premeditation if the murder occurred during the commission of a felony. In the Powell case, the felony involved was the robbery at the Pantry at Charles and Dellinger roads in Shelby. The sole aggravating factor was pecuniary gain - or money, he said. Cleveland County District Attorney Bill Young attended the clemency hearing but refused to comment afterward. 2 retired Shelby police detectives - Dale Ledbetter and Preston Cherka - also attended the hearing. "In my 27 years with the city of Shelby, it's the most heinous crime Ive investigated," Ledbetter said. Cherka said that Powell killed Ms. Gladden with a tire tool. "He went in to rob to get money for a girl he was seeing to get drugs," Cherka said. Some members of Ms. Gladdens family were also at the Capitol Wednesday. However, they did not meet with Easley. They also declined comment. Supporters of Powell painted a picture of a good person before he encountered substance abuse problems. They said Powell enlisted in the Army at 17 and had also worked as an emergency medical technician and a firefighter. "Before he got touched with cocaine, he was really a fine person," Massengale said. Sharon Gensch, who taught Powells autistic son Bobby, said Powell did a lot to help his son. "I knew Mr. Powell to be a very loving and very devoted father to Bobby," she said. "He helped us with the Special Olympics." She said she feared that if Powell is executed, the news of the execution could cause Bobby, now 21, to regress. Defense lawyers also cast doubt over a recording of a phone call between Powell and the woman he was seeing at the time of the murder, Lori Yelton. Teddy said that Ms. Yeltons credibility could have been challenged if attorneys had known that she was in line to receive help for her role in taping the call. He said that a firearm larceny charge was dismissed within a few months of Powells murder trial. Teddy said he was impressed with the exchange defense attorneys had with Easley during the clemency procedure. "He was very engaged with us," he said. Easley has made no ruling on whether he will grant clemency to Powell. Typically, Easley rules on such requests on the day before an execution is scheduled to take place. (source: Shelby Star) PENNSYLVANIA: Judge stays execution of Pittsburgh killer A federal judge has stayed the execution of a Homewood man for the 1994 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and two children. Gerald Watkins, 35, an inmate at State Correctional Institution Greene, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on March 29 under a death warrant signed last month by Gov. Ed Rendell. Watkins faces 3 death sentences for the July 20, 1994, shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Beth Ann Anderson, their baby, Melanie, and Anderson's 9-year-old son, Charles Kevin Kelly Jr. at their home in Homewood. After the slayings, Watkins fled to New York City, where he was arrested on Aug. 3, 1995. During his extradition to Pittsburgh, Watkins confessed to the shootings to Pittsburgh police Detective Dennis Logan. The stay was issued Monday by U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone. (source: Associated Press)
