May 2 MISSOURI: Prisoners can get an education This letter is in response to "Cutting prison education is foolish," April 27 Our View. The Missouri Department of Corrections has always been, and will continue to be, committed to inmate education as a significant factor in an offender's capacity to live a law-abiding life upon release from prison. That is why 17 of our 20 correctional institutions will continue to provide GED and academic education services to the inmates housed at those facilities, which is significantly more than the 2 prisons that the editorial incorrectly stated would be the only facilities still providing such services. It is also important to note that of the 31,069 inmates housed in our correctional centers, approximately 97 % will eventually be released from prison. Every one of those 30,000 will continue to have complete access to GED and academic education before they are released, just as they always have. That includes inmates at the 3 institutions where we are closing the schools, who will be transferred to 1 of the 17 institutions that still have these programs well in advance of their release dates. In contrast, the three institutions that will be closing their schools (Crossroads, Potosi and Jefferson City Correctional Centers) are maximum security institutions that house inmates who will not be released for 30 years or more. Fully 497 inmates at those institutions who are serving life without parole or capital punishment sentences won't be getting out at all. Given the reality of tighter state budgets and diminished resources, it is simply a prudent and logical choice to ensure that inmates at the 17 other institutions who will be impacting the public safety of our communities much sooner than their maximum security counterparts continue to have the same full access to education. Gov. Blunt has made a responsible directive that state government must operate within the taxpayers' means. We fully support the governor in this commitment. Our plan to prioritize the department's academic resources will maintain our commitment to every one of the 30,000 inmates who will eventually be released while saving state taxpayers $1,440,556. (source: The Springfield News-Leader - Larry Crawford is director of the Missouri Department of Corrections) VIRGINIA: Court says inmate cannot be executed----Doctor: Killer 'does not comprehend' what is happening Death-row inmate Percy Walton cannot be executed for killing 3 neighbors in Danville until a lower court fully addresses claims he is mentally retarded and insane, a federal appeals court ruled. A 3-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday sent the case back to U.S. District Court in Roanoke. In the divided opinion, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz agreed with Walton's attorneys that the decision "demands inquiry into whether the defendant can prepare for his death," as required by the Supreme Court. The ruling noted that Dr. Ruben Gur, director of the brain behavior center at the University of Pennsylvania, testified that Walton once expressed a desire to "get a Burger King" after his execution. "He does not comprehend what is going on right now as we speak," Gur wrote. Motz also said the lower court failed to consider Walton's contention that a first IQ test was inadequate and the second had not been adjusted to account for margin of error or the Flynn effect, the phenomenon of rising IQ scores. Walton was convicted in 1997 of killing Jessie and Elizabeth Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, who were found shot inside their town house in Danville. Police later found 33-year-old Archie Moore dead inside a closet. Walton had poured cologne on the body and tried to hide it. Walton's mental state has been debated since his trial. A government evaluator described him as "floridly psychotic." He also was known to call himself Jesus and suggested that his execution would free him to be reincarnated and pursue a life outside of prison. 3 days before Walton was to be put to death in May 2003, defense lawyers won a temporary stay, pointing out that his IQ scores had dropped from 90 in 1996 to 77 the next year to 66 in May 2003. IQ scores below 70 are generally considered in the realm of mental retardation. Motz was joined in the majority opinion by Chief Judge William W. Wilkins. Judge Dennis W. Shedd dissented. Shedd said a close review of Walton's petition shows he failed to demonstrate he is mentally retarded under state law. (source: Associated Press) GEORGIA: Capital cases outpace defense funds The Office of the Georgia Capital Defender, now representing accused Fulton County Courthouse killer Brian Nichols, has been flooded with death penalty cases from across the state since January and may run out of money. The sharp increase in cases stems in part from a new law that allows counties to shift costs of defending capital cases to the state. Prosecutors held off filing notices that they would seek the death penalty in cases in their counties until this year, when the state would take over payment of lawyers for defendants who can't afford to hire their own. Now the capital defender office is on track to surpass by far the 47 cases it has budgeted for this year. "It's a very precarious situation for them," said Stephen Bright, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta and a death penalty expert. So far this year, the Atlanta-based capital defender office has taken on 21 death penalty cases and expects 2 more soon. Now Nichols, accused of killing a Fulton County judge and 3 other people in March, is set to become its most notorious client if prosecutors, as expected, seek the death penalty. Rick Malone, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, said he was not surprised to hear more death penalty cases have been filed this year. "It used to be the counties' responsibility to pay for these cases, now it's not," Malone said. "You continually hear the counties complain about their unfunded mandates. . . . In this case, some of the counties saw an opportunity to do it the other way." If the rate remains steady, the capital defender office would have more than 60 cases by the end of the year. It had only 27 death penalty cases in 2004. In the past decade, the office's busiest year was 1996, with 50 cases. The General Assembly created the capital defender office in 2003 as part of a new public defender system to provide legal defense for people who cannot afford it. Under Georgia law, a defendant facing the death penalty must have 2 attorneys who are court-certified for capital defense. Chris Adams, the agency's chief, said: "We were funded based on the number of cases in which the death penalty was sought in the past. Based on the way the DAs have held back on death notices, we could very well end up running out of money." The office received $7 million this year. That includes salaries for 5 attorneys, investigators and other staff. Officials don't know how much money is needed. Some cases are farmed out to private attorneys, who also are paid out of the capital defender's budget. Private attorneys are used in multi-defendant capital cases because ethics rules bar the capital defender office from representing more than one person in a single case. With the private lawyers getting up to $125 an hour, plus expenses, a case that goes to trial could cost $250,000 in attorneys' fees. (source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
