Nov. 1 OHIO: Spirko's lawyers say DNA test could ID real killer Attorneys for John Spirko yesterday called on the state to conduct DNA tests they say could point to a man in a Louisiana prison as the person who killed a rural Van Wert County postmaster 23 years ago. Letters sent to the FBI, the Ohio Attorney General, and the Ohio Parole Board followed a lie-detector test conducted last week in Tennessee taken by John Edwin Willier, a former Findlay man now living in Tennessee. He told a Wyandot County investigator in 1997 that he believed his former boss, house-painter Dale Dingus, kidnapped and killed Mrs. Mottinger when an attempt to pick up a heroin-filled package went awry. Spirko, 59, faces execution two weeks from today for the brutal stabbing of Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, whose body was found 6 weeks later wrapped in a paint-splattered drop-cloth in a soybean field near Findlay. The polygraph was funded by Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions, whose legal director, Steven Drizen, was highly critical of the state's handling of the Mottinger case during 2 clemency hearings. Willier, who served time in Ohio for drug trafficking, reportedly passed the polygraph, conducted by a retired FBI veteran and former president of the Tennessee Polygraph Association. "Under the circumstances, it is inconceivable and unconscionable that the execution of John Spirko can be allowed to proceed without testing the tarp," wrote Spirko attorney Thomas Hill in the letters. "Mrs. Mottinger was likely murdered by the man who owned the tarp in which her body was wrapped," he wrote. "The tarp needs to be thoroughly evaluated using all modern scientific and forensic techniques, including DNA and paint analyses." Kim Norris, spokesman for Attorney General Jim Petro, said the office had received the request and was reviewing it. William Latham, an investigator for the Wyandot County prosecutor's office, testified at the clemency hearings that Willier volunteered the information during an investigation of an unrelated sexual assault case. Willier told the investigator Dingus threatened him with a rifle if he said anything. Dingus is now serving a 25-year rape sentence in Louisiana. Mr. Lathan expressed frustration at recent subsequent clemency hearings that state and Van Wert investigators did not follow up on the potential lead. In Willier's polygraph statement, he identified the tarp wrapped around Mrs Mottinger's body as appearing to be the drop-cloth used at the Findlay paint job. Spirko's lawyers urged the state to compare its DNA evidence with a sample from Dingus they believe should be in a federal DNA database. The latest move comes as Spirko has turned again to the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after U.S. District Court Judge James Carr last week refused to open a new path of appeals challenging the credibility of a U.S. postal service inspector whose testimony was crucial to convicting Spirko. Spirko is also awaiting word on his clemency petition from Gov. Bob Taft. The parole board has twice voted 6-3 to recommend no clemency. (source: Toledo Blade) ****************** Spirko execution delay urged----Man who claims he's not guilty passes lie test, defense says Death row inmate John Spirko's attorneys on Monday called for a halt to Spirko's scheduled Nov. 15 execution after a man who implicated a house painter in the 1982 stabbing death of postmaster Betty Jane Mottinger passed a lie detector test. "It's another significant and dramatic piece of evidence" which shows authorities "are heading down the path of executing the wrong man while the real party goes not only unprosecuted, but uninvestigated," defense attorney Thomas Hill said Monday. Gov. Bob Taft is considering whether to grant clemency for Spirko. Hill of Washington, D.C., asked the Ohio Parole Board to reverse its 2 previous 6-3 votes against a clemency recommendation in light of John Willier's polygraph test. And Hill asked prosecutors to perform DNA and other modern forensic tests on a paint-spattered theater curtain that was used to wrap Mottinger's body. Spokeswomen for Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and the parole board said the requests are being reviewed. In his polygraph exam, Willier identified the shroud as a painter's tarp used by his former boss, Dale Dingus of Findlay, who was painting a home nearby when the rural Van Wert County postmaster was abducted and killed. Dingus and Willier have no apparent connection with Spirko. In a letter to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Dingus, now serving prison time in Louisiana for rape, denied involvement in Mottinger's killing. Willier first implicated Dingus in a 1997 interview with Wyandot County prosecutor's investigator Bill Latham. Latham testified for Spirko at his 2 clemency hearings, saying U.S. postal inspectors and the FBI failed to investigate Willier's claims in 1997 after Latham brought them to their attention. Latham expressed concern that Spirko was wrongfully convicted. A federal judge, however, has refused to reopen Spirko's case based on the allegations about Dingus. After federal authorities declined to examine whether Willier was telling the truth, the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University law school in Chicago arranged to have him polygraphed in Tennessee last week by Robert P. Campbell, a retired FBI special agent. Willier showed no signs of deception, Campbell said, when questioned about his statement that he recognized the murder shroud as Dingus' drop cloth and that Dingus had threatened him in the 1980s, saying "you don't know anything about this case" while pointing a rifle at his head. Willier also said then-U.S. Postal Inspector Paul Hartman told him not to talk to Spirko's defense attorneys at the time of his trial. The Center on Wrongful Convictions is to present the developments at the Ohio State University law school at 1 p.m. Wednesday in a lecture, Is Ohio about to execute the wrong man? Steven Drizin, the center's legal director, said the tarp "would be the centerpiece of the investigation" if the murder happened today, and it must be tested for DNA before Spirko is put to death. If any DNA connected with Dingus or his crew is found on the tarp, Drizin said, "he (Dingus) becomes Suspect No. 1." (source: Dayton Daily News) *********************** Spirko team urges review, cites polygraph test With just 2 weeks remaining until John Spirko is scheduled to be executed for the 1982 slaying of a rural postmaster, the Center on Wrongful Convictions in Chicago says a key witness who implicated another man in the murder years ago has passed a polygraph exam. Based on the information that former house painter John Willier provided during the exam, Spirko's lawyers fired off several letters on Monday to press for DNA testing of the shroud that Betty Jane Mottinger's body was wrapped in, an FBI investigation, and clemency for their client. Last week, Willier gave a statement to a former FBI polygrapher saying he recognized the shroud as the tarp that his boss, Dale Dingus, used while painting a house in the summer of 1982, according to the report on the polygraph exam, which was paid for by the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University's School of Law. Willier said Dingus kept the key to the garage where the tarp was stored at night. And Willier said that at one point Dingus threatened him with a rifle, saying "you don't know anything about this case." A forensic chemist concluded 21 years ago that paint from the shroud was similar to paint that Dingus and his crew applied to a Findlay house the summer Mottinger disappeared. Her body was found in a bean field just outside Findlay, about 1/4 of a mile from a house and barn owned at the time by Dingus' mother. Dingus, now serving a 25-year sentence for rape in Louisiana, has denied any involvement. Willier first told authorities that Dingus was involved in the murder in 1997, but they never followed up. Because of their refusal, the center decided to check out Willier's story. Steven Drizin, the center's legal director, has testified before the Ohio Parole Board about weak and problematic evidence in Spirko's case and his concern that an innocent man might be executed Nov. 15. On Monday, Spirko's lawyers wrote to Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's office, saying that the tarp and other evidence must be tested and that Willier and Dingus must be interviewed. They offered to do their own testing if the state refused. A Petro spokeswoman said Monday that the request was being reviewed. Spirko's lawyers also renewed their request for an FBI investigation (the agency declined last month), and called on the state Parole Board to reconsider its 6-3 recommendation that Gov. Bob Taft deny their client clemency. (source: Cleveland Plain Dealer) ******************** Attorney for condemned man pushes for clemency The attorney for a condemned inmate who says he didn't kill a postal worker asked the Ohio Parole Board yesterday to reconsider its recommendation against clemency, based on a new lie-detector test from a house painter who implicated another man. John Spirko is scheduled to be executed by injection Nov. 15 for the 1982 killing of Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, the postmistress in Elgin in northwestern Ohio. She was abducted and repeatedly stabbed, then wrapped in a tarp and dumped in a field. Her body was found three weeks later. Also yesterday, Spirko's attorney, Thomas Hill, asked the 6 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to speed up his appeal of last week's rejection of a request to re-examine allegations of misconduct by the postal investigator who oversaw the Mottinger case. U.S. District Judge James Carr ruled on Friday that there was no basis behind defense arguments that postal inspector Paul Hartman lied while testifying in Spirko's trial in 1984. Hill also sent letters asking federal investigators to interview the house painter and the man he accused. The FBI referred the questions to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which investigated the killing. The house painter, John Willier, last week repeated his 1997 statement accusing his former boss on a painting crew as the real killer and passed a lie-detector test paid for by Northwestern University law professors who investigate claims of wrongful capital convictions, Hill said. The former boss is in a Louisiana prison. Hill said Willier told investigators in 1984 that the paint-splattered tarp that Mottinger's body was wrapped in was the one his crew was using. Chemical tests matched the paint to houses the crew worked on. But Willier didn't accuse his boss until he was questioned about an unrelated case in 1997. The parole board had granted an unprecedented second clemency hearing for Spirko, and on Oct. 19 voted 6-3 to recommend that Gov. Bob Taft allow the execution to proceed. The majority said the claims of new evidence aren't enough to merit clemency. Taft, who denied clemency after the 1st hearing, has not decided whether to accept the board's recommendation or change the sentence to life without parole. (source: Associated Press) ******************** Fresh hurdle in Death Row Scot decision The US Supreme court has delayed making a decision on the case of death row Scot Kenny Richey for the second time. Richey, who was brought up in Edinburgh, has been on death row since 1987 for murdering 2-year-old Cynthia Collins by setting fire to an apartment in Ohio. Earlier this year, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his murder conviction on the grounds that his trial was seriously flawed. But the prosecution lodged an appeal against that ruling with the Supreme Court, the highest legal authority in America. This is the 2nd time they have failed to make a decision on the case, and Richey's lawyer Ken Parsigian said it was impossible to say what that meant. He said: "We just don't know as this is a closed hearing. I would like to think it is because they want to throw out Ohio's appeal and the delay is down to people making argument against that, but it could be the complete opposite. We'll just have to wait and see." He added that the Supreme Court was expected to sit again in a week. (source: Edinburgh News) NORTH CAROLINA: Family Split Over Surry County Man's Scheduled Execution -- Steven Van McHone was convicted of killing his father and mother in 1990. Lawyers and family members on both sides visited Governor Easley Tuesday during clemency proceedings for condemned murderer Steven Van McHone. He was sentenced to death for the 1990 slayings of his father and mother in Surry County. The case has split McHone's family. Wesley Adams Junior says after visiting the governor that he was there the night that his parents were gunned down and he will not feel safe until McHone is executed. On the other side, a sister and brother told the governor they want McHone to live because they love him and have forgiven him. They say he is a vital link to their family history. McHone is scheduled for execution by injection on November 11 at Central Prison in Raleigh. (source: Associated Press) *************** Ex-DA asks that charge be dismissed----Bar has accused him of lying, hiding evidence in death-penalty case The 2nd former Union County prosecutor charged with lying and hiding evidence in a death-penalty murder trial has asked that the complaint be dismissed. The N.C. State Bar filed charges against former Union County-based District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and former assistant prosecutor Scott Brewer on Aug. 30. The bar alleges the attorneys failed to disclose deals to secure reward money and reduce prison time for a star witness in the 1996 case. Defendant Jonathan Hoffman spent 7 years on death row before winning a new trial last year. Honeycutt, a former president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys and creator of anti-domestic violence programs used statewide, filed his response to the charges Friday. He retired 1 year ago. Honeycutt's motion denies that he hid any deals and says a Superior Court judge has already found that he did nothing wrong in the case. In April 2004, Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour's order giving Hoffman a new trial repeatedly emphasized that Honeycutt did not know about the witness' immunity deals. Hoffman's defense attorneys had wanted to keep such statements out of the order, saying they thought it spared Honeycutt responsibility. The bar's complaint echoes the concerns of Hoffman's attorneys that Honeycutt hid evidence. Brewer, now a district judge in Rockingham, filed his response to the bar last week. He also denies any hidden deals. Honeycutt's motion also says the bar filed its complaints too late. The bar requires grievances be filed within 6 years of the alleged offense, or within one year of the "discovery" of the offense. Brewer's motion brought up the same issue. The bar State Bar rarely charges prosecutors. The complaint says Honeycutt and Brewer "engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, (and) deceit" to win a case the bar says they likely wouldn't have won otherwise. A 3-member panel of the bar's disciplinary hearing commission will hear the complaints. The hearings are set for Nov. 10 and 11 in Raleigh. If the panel decides the men lied, punishments could range from a reprimand to suspension or revocation of a law license. (source: Charlotte Observer) USA: Another Lost Opportunity The nomination of Samuel Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court raises a lot of questions about the judge's attitudes toward federalism, privacy and civil rights. But it has already answered one big question about President Bush. Anyone wondering whether the almost endless setbacks and embarrassments the White House has suffered over the last year would cause Mr. Bush to fix his style of governing should realize that the answer is: no. As a political candidate, Mr. Bush had an extremely useful ability to repeat the same few simple themes over and over. As president, he has been cramped by the same habit. The solution to almost every problem seems to be either to rely on a close personal associate or to pander to his right wing. When the first tactic failed to work with the Harriet Miers nomination, Mr. Bush resorted to the second. The Alito nomination has thrilled social conservatives, who regard the judge to be a surefire vote against abortion rights. Judge Alito is clearly a smart and experienced jurist, with 15 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The nominee should be given a serious hearing. The need for a close and careful review of Judge Alito's record is all the more crucial because he will be replacing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been the swing vote of moderation on so many issues. The concerns about this particular nominee go beyond his apparent hostility to abortion, which was most graphically demonstrated in 1992 when his court ruled on what became known in the Supreme Court as the Casey decision. Judge Alito was the sole judge on his court who took the extreme position that all of Pennsylvania's limitations on abortion were constitutional, including the outrageous requirement that a woman show that she had notified her spouse. Judge Alito has favored an inflated standard of evidence for racial- and sex-discrimination cases that would make it very hard even to bring them to court, much less win. In an employment case, he said that just for a plaintiff to have the right to a trial, she needed to prove that her employers did not really think they had chosen the best candidate for a job. When lawyers for a black death-row inmate sought to demonstrate bias in jury selection by using statistics, Judge Alito dismissed that as akin to arguing that Americans were biased toward left-handers because left-handed men had won 5 out of 6 of the preceding presidential elections. At least as worrisome are Judge Alito's frequent rulings to undermine the federal government's authority to address momentous national problems. Dissenting in a 1996 gun control case, he declared that Washington could not regulate the sale of fully automatic machine guns. In 2000, Judge Alito said Washington could not compel state governments to abide by the Family and Medical Leave Act, a position repudiated by the Supreme Court in a decision written by Justice William Rehnquist. When a judge is more radical on states' power than Justice Rehnquist, the spiritual leader of the modern states' rights movement, we should pay attention. There are more moderate rulings in Judge Alito's record as well, and it will be up to the Senate to sort this out. Does he show merely a conservative bent, or a zealotry outside the mainstream that poses a threat to basic rights and protections? Whatever the answer, this nomination is yet another occasion to bemoan lost opportunities. Mr. Bush could have signaled that he was prepared to move on to a more expansive presidency by nominating a qualified moderate who could have garnered a nearly unanimous Senate vote rather than another party-line standoff. He could have sent a signal about his commitment to inclusiveness by demonstrating that he understood his error with Harriet Miers had been in picking the wrong woman, and that the answer did not have to be the seventh white man on the court. But he didn't, any more than he saw Sept. 11 as an opportunity to build a new, inclusive world order of civilized nations aligned against terrorism. Anyone who imagines that the indictment of Lewis Libby and the legal troubles of Karl Rove will be a cue to bring fresh ideas to the White House should read the signs. With more than 3 years to go in this term, the bottom line is becoming inescapable. Mr. Bush does not want to change, and perhaps is not capable of changing. The final word on the Supreme Court is yet to come, but the message about the presidency could not be more disheartening. (source: The New York Times) ******************* Death to the new Patriot Act The death penalty is one of the most controversial institutions of the U.S. justice system. 38 states allow it -- a large majority, no question -- but public opposition is certainly not confined to the 12 dissenting states. Rather, opposition is distributed across the nation (except maybe the Texas part of the nation), orchestrated in part by national or even international organizations like Human Rights Watch. There seems to be a strong feeling in such organizations and throughout the broader intellectual community that killing criminals does not solve the ultimate problem. Generally speaking, I agree. But not where terrorists are concerned. Many Americans, myself included, view "terrorism" and domestic "crime" as two separate entities. Crime is often forgivable, while terrorism is unconditionally unforgivable. To be sure, images of Sept. 11, 2001 contrasted with images of jubilant jihadists make it easy to disassociate terrorists and humanity. If you're not convinced, realize that thousands of U.S. and British troops are deployed across the world with an objective to locate and kill terrorists anyway. This is good. Terrorists threaten to destroy the world, it's better that they die than us, and the death penalty is just another tool to ensure that it happens. But what about the death penalty for those who are suspected of harboring or otherwise supporting terrorists? Enter the Bush Administration. More specifically, enter the House of Representatives under the Bush Administration and its endorsement of a "bigger and better" (and Big Brotherer) Patriot Act. It turns out that the time for reauthorization of the anti-terrorist law enacted four years ago has come, and, evidently delusional in their foggy Capitol Hill reality, members of the House have agreed that it would be a good idea to tack on a few provisions that would essentially remove the safeguards currently in place to prevent wrongful corporal punishment of suspected terrorist supporters. The provisions would also triple the number of terrorism-support crimes punishable by death, but, hey, let's not get sidetracked. The issue is quite convoluted. In convicting a suspected terrorist supporter, a jury must consider the degree of support, the intent of support, the degree of willingness to cooperate with anti-terrorist forces and so on. International courts of law are designed to analyze these complexities and sentence with appropriate severity. The death penalty is fair game, and I suppose I can't question a careful determination that support was substantial enough to more or less constitute terrorism itself and warrant corporal punishment. But we clearly don't want the death penalty for those who unwittingly support terrorists. The global terrorist network is exceptionally intricate, and monetary donations to covertly connected organizations from well-meaning individuals can and do end up in terrorist hands. That's not terrorism. It's not even crime. It's misfortunate misallocation, and any responsible nation would have measures in place to ensure that such individuals would not be wrongfully punished. Don't we? Well, kind of, but probably not for long! Approval of the House bill would be wildly irresponsible legislation, subjecting accused supporters to juries with fewer than 12 members if the prosecution feels so compelled -- notwithstanding appeals from the defense. Additionally, hung juries would be replaced with new juries, a practice never before implemented in death penalty cases. What kind of logic is this? "Try them with as biased a jury as possible until they seem guilty enough to kill"? The new provisions attach a haphazard death-sentencing addendum to an already somewhat ineffective and quixotic law, and unless the Senate can muster sufficient opposition, the changes will indeed take place. How many innocent people will be mistakenly sentenced to death before the Capitol Hill fog clears enough to notice the blunder? Well, probably no more than have died in Iraq. So that's good. Right? (source: The UV Daily (University of Washington-Seattle) ************************* The Unpatriotic Act----House bill proposes un-American restrictions of liberties The most recent incarnation of the USA Patriot Act, put forth by the House of Representatives, is more threatening to the American judicial system and way of life than its original version. According to The New York Times, if the new provisions added by Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, are authorized, the right to a fair trial in death penalty cases becomes a noble idea of the past. If only one juror in 12 agrees to the death penalty for a defendant, prosecutors can retry the case over and over again until a unanimous decision is reached; possibly meaning the desired sentence is extracted. In addition to overloading an already over-extended federal court, this provision enables prosecutors to keep defendants stuck in a "legal limbo," imprisoned for years awaiting redundant, yet frightening, trials over their lives. If this House bill is authorized, even more lives will be at stake. Representatives voted to open up 41 new crimes to the death penalty, including the donation of money, by unwitting participants, to terrorist organizations. The provisions also state that judges, with good reason, will have the right to limit the number of jurors for a trial as they please. This bizarre idea completely strips the civil rights of defendants and drastically increases their chances of being put to death. The USA Patriot Act, un-American and seemingly unconstitutional from its inception, has become more deadly in the hands of the House of Representatives. Its lack of regard for defendants' lives and intrinsic rights creates sharp and disturbing contrasts to the Senate's version, which carries no new provisions on the death penalty. Given the European Union's ban on the death penalty, which represents a progressive move toward nonviolence, the House of Representatives still has plenty to learn. (source: The Daily Targum) ****************** The Patriot Act Reauthorization----America doesnt need more death-penalty cases Since 1973, 121 persons have been taken off death row due to evidence of their innocence. The possibility that so many people have been wrongly convicted is thankfully causing people to rethink the death penalty. Threat of execution would not deter a suicide bomber. Death is part of their plan. Fly a plane into a building, die as you kill others. Strap explosives to your belly, die as you kill others. Its the crazed mind of a terrorist. So why would a member of the U.S. House propose fighting terrorism by increasing instances where federal death penalties can be applied? Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican, slipped his proposal into an amendment of the Patriot Acts reauthorization. Carters illogical proposal would alter federal use of the death penalty, tripling the types of cases where it could be used, even in cases without the intent to kill. This could include a death sentence for someone who donated money to a terrorist organization. The amendment could change how easily the death penalty is applied in many cases, not simply those that are tied to terrorism. One example: If a jury couldnt reach a unanimous verdict for the death penalty, prosecutors could just retry the case until everyone agreed the defendant should die. Or, under another portion of Carters proposal, a judge could make the jury smaller, eliminating the possibility of a holdout juror. Hardly justice as most U.S. citizens understand it. Carters rationale is counter to the direction that the nation is heading. The United States is moving away from killing people for the crimes they commit. Since 1973, 121 persons have been taken off death row due to evidence of their innocence. The possibility that so many people have been wrongly convicted is thankfully causing people to rethink the death penalty. Public support of the death penalty has been falling. The number of people receiving death sentences has dropped 50 % since 2000. Executions are down about 40 % in the same time period. Missouri, one of 38 states with a death penalty, executed Marlin Gray by lethal injection last week. Kansas is 1 of 2 states (New York is the other) where state death-penalty provisions have been ruled unconstitutional. New York has been unable to find a solution through its legislature. And Kansas will have its law debated in court beginning in December. The current debate about the death penalty is another reason Carters amendment is so disturbing. Carter originally tried his legislation as a separate bill, called the Terrorist Death Penalty Enhancement Act. When it failed to get support, he tucked it into the Patriot Reauthorization Act as an amendment. Carters legislation has passed the House. The Senate version of the Reauthorization Act does not contain Carters ideas. Senators, including Pat Roberts of Kansas, are to begin hashing out compromises this week. A majority of U.S. citizens favors having a death penalty - 67 % to 70 % of people according to polls. But that is down from about 80 % support in the 1990s. Life sentences without parole are often being handed out instead. About 300 new sentences of death were made by juries each year during the 1990s. The annual number is down to around 150 new death sentences in more recent years. Experts say the shift is due to both prosecutors not going for the penalty and the increasing hesitancy of juries. Terrorists arent going to be deterred by harsher standards for federal death sentences. The Sept. 11 hijackers welcomed death. They wanted to be martyrs. Carters amendment is an example of how a legitimate fear of terrorism can scare people into supporting measures they would otherwise find unpalatable. (source: Opinion, Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star) ********************* At times, a death sentence is only reasonable Capital punishment has become an important issue in this year's race for governor in Virginia. Opponents and proponents alike readily argue their side of the issue. The two leading candidates for governor are no exception. Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate, supports capital punishment. Tim Kaine, the candidate for the Democratic Party, according to The Roanoke Times, (Oct. 16 "Death penalty debate makes religion an issue"), is personally opposed to the death penalty, but would carry out executions unless an inmate can demonstrate his innocence. However, whether for or against justice being served in such finality, few will rejoice in seeing fellow humans come to this end. Thinking about this method of punishment made me realize how life can be like a stroll along a country road. Like life, country roads are sometimes narrow and winding. They can also contain many drawbacks. One drawback, aside from finding a side wide enough to step onto whenever a vehicle approaches, is the discomfort of having those pesky winged creatures land on you, intent on making that part of your anatomy the main course for their next meal. This particular sunny morn found me walking along, minding my own business, when a ravenous horsefly landed on my face. Now, believing all God's creatures (except maybe snakes) must have a valid place in the life chain, I was content at not seeking revenge for this unwarranted attack on my person. I waved him begone! Did he listen? You got it. Back he came for more sweet nectar from my arm. As you may already know, those little biters sting. Well, with a wave of my hand, I gave this fellow a 2nd reprieve. Now, you would think he would get on down the road. Not so. A 3rd time he lowers his landing gear, and this time he gets downright seriously into his nibbling. Enough is enough. That creature is now mounting steps into horsefly heaven, or wherever his genus may spend their afterlife. Isn't that pretty much the way with human affairs? Capital punishment may not be the desired recourse for most people. However, like that old fly, if nothing else works, it may be necessary. Capital punishment may be the one step needed to protect those individuals who are intent on just going through life inflicting harm on no man. (source: Commentary, Ileada Ribble, Roanoke Times) INDIANA: Class links students, inmates----SMC project calls for pen pal relationship One Saint Mary's senior has a very special pen pal. His name is Lee, and he loves music, sports and movies. He played basketball in college and once co-hosted his own country music radio show. By all counts except one, Lee is a normal young man. Lee is a death row inmate. While many students might be frightened at the thought of conversing with a convicted murderer, writing to Lee has become an important part of the senior's life. The Observer will not publish the full name of the inmate or the name of the student due to the sensitive nature of the subject. The senior started writing to Lee in January 2003 as a part of a project for her Catholic Social Thought class. Students in professor Joseph Incandela's class choose from three semester-long projects - one of which is continued correspondence with a death row inmate. Incandela conceived the idea for the project based on the experiences of Sister Helen Prejean, the subject of the book and film "Dead Man Walking." "When I first read 'Dead Man Walking' and sort of saw how she started, it sort of got me thinking how to do this same kind of project in a classroom setting," Incandela said. "My basic interest was to get students to experience some of the things we are talking about in class." Incandela created a project in which students can write to death row inmates for one semester. In order to soothe student fears and anxiety about the project, Incandela gives them the option of using pseudonyms and having the letters sent to his office rather than their own mailboxes. At the end of the semester, students write a paper summarizing their experiences and personal growth. Incandela said he hopes this project allows his students to better understand death row inmates and capital punishment. "The purpose of the assignment is not to make students feel sorry for them. Rather, the point is to try to get students to understand the fundamental principle of Catholic Social Thought, and that is that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God," Incandela said. "Every human has a basic dignity that they don't earn by their actions or lose by their actions. On the very basic level, the point is for students to see those on death row as persons." The project has been highly popular in the 8 years that it has been offered. This semester, 34 out of 45 students have chosen to contact death row inmates. Sophomore Maggie Siefert, one of Incandela's students, recently began corresponding with a death row inmate. After receiving two letters from the inmate, Siefert said her opinion on death row has already changed. "I realized that a lot of these people have just made one wrong mistake in their lives, and it's a huge factor," she said. "But they are people too. This project helps to get rid of stereotypes." Sophomore Ashley Brown, who is also taking the class, said she opted to write to an inmate because of her lack of knowledge on the subject. "I chose to do it because it would be interesting to hear from them and get their take on their lives and death row," Brown said. "I realized that they are humans and should be treated as humans." Looking back on her experience, senior Nicole Gifford said she appreciates what she learned by corresponding to an inmate. Gifford took the class in fall 2004 and noted how she changed throughout the semester. "Prior to the class I wasn't decided [about the death penalty]," she said. "I was in the gray area. I thought that if you did a terrible crime then you should be punished. After taking the class, however, I am totally against the death penalty." Gifford also said she still has occasional contact with her inmate and writes to him every few months. Of all Incandela's students who have participated in the project, however, none has had an experience quite like the senior who requested anonymity. January will mark the 3-year anniversary of her correspondence with Lee. Writing 3- to 9-page letters every three weeks has allowed the student and Lee to establish a level of trust with one another. The senior said she feels free to write to him about her friends, family and life at Saint Mary's. "He basically lets me tell him what I want to tell him. He knows that if I want to tell him something specific about my life than I will," she said. "There are enough things to write about that I don't have to tell him all the ins and outs of my life." The senior also said she enjoys hearing about Lee's day to day life, and that she was surprised to learn about the many things he has access to. "In his cell, he has a television, a word processor and a radio," she said. "They have access to movies and to books." Even though Lee has access to life outside his cell, the student said she often feels guilty sharing her experiences with him. "I always feel selfish when I write about things that are going on and I try to stay somewhat neutral about what's going on. I feel selfish about writing that because I don't know if he wants to hear about the things he's missing out on," the senior said. "He tells me to not feel selfish because he definitely wants to hear that there is a world going on outside those walls." The senior said she and Lee often talk about serious issues, such as religion and finding God. "I tell him that I pray for him every night and he is grateful for those prayers," she said. "He says that he prays for me and my family too." One subject the pen pals do not focus on is Lee's crime. While the senior knows the details of his crime and conviction, she said she does not like to dwell on it. By not focusing on his crime, she said she is able to see Lee as a person rather than a criminal. "By looking past his situation, I was able to see that there was more to this person than just a crime," she said. One aspect of Lee's personality the senior said she enjoys is his sense of humor. She is also impressed by his ability to stay positive, despite his situation. "The one thing that stands out to me over anything is his positive attitude. He is always happy, always laughing. He has an unbelievable will to make people laugh and to be positive about his situation," she said. While the senior said she admires Lee's attitude and enjoys his correspondence, she also said she knows her boundaries. "I look at him like another human being and a friend but there is still that distance I try to keep because I realize the position he is in," she said. She also said although she is not emotionally attached to Lee, she cares for him and prays for him. "More than anything else, I want Lee to be at peace with his situation and to find God," she said. The senior said while she was initially apprehensive about writing to an inmate, after corresponding with Lee her opinions about death row and capital punishment have changed. "The class and my letters from Lee have completely opened my eyes to capital punishment. I am not for capital punishment like I was before," she said. "I used to think that if you were on death row, you were there for a reason and you deserved to be punished for your actions. Now, I see that there are so many things wrong with the system and I can't support it as is." While Lee's future is unknown, the student said she remains positive about her correspondence with him and would eventually like to meet him. "I wouldn't be uncomfortable with that situation," she said. (source: The Observer)
