Feb. 24 TEXAS: Hippocratic oath keeps doctors out of death chambers----Creed doesn't allow participation in lethal injections Physicians are bound by an oath to "first do no harm" - and that is the central issue in the indefinite postponement of a California inmate's execution after a federal judge ruled that an anesthetist must be present. A federal judge in California this week ordered that an anesthesiologist independently verify that death row inmate Michael Morales is in fact unconscious before any lethal drugs are administered during his execution. On Tuesday, corrections officials there were unable to comply with the judge's order and were forced to postpone Morales' execution. The reason was that 2 doctors contacted were not willing to violate the Hippocratic oath. Called in to certify In Texas, which leads the nation by far in the number of executions carried out, a physician is called in to certify the death of an inmate after an execution. Many other states follow the same practice, which abides by American Medical Association standards, but witnessing or verifying that an inmate is sufficiently sedated before the lethal doses are delivered violates the oath. In court filings, Morales contended that the drug protocol leaves open the possibility that he would experience excessive pain during his execution. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel opined that Morales' claim "raises at least some doubt as to whether the protocol actually is functioning as intended." In Texas, a similar challenge was raised recently about the same three-drug cocktail used here and in California. But the case failed on procedural grounds, said Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office. The effectiveness of Texas' 3-drug cocktail, the focus of the California case, was not addressed. Strickland said he knew of no current case raised on behalf of any of the more than 400 inmates on Texas' death row. 3-drug cocktail During executions in Texas, California and dozens of other states, these drugs are administered: sodium thiopental, a barbiturate that puts the inmate to sleep; pancuronium bromide, a drug that paralyzes the muscles; and potassium chloride, which activates the nerve fibers lining the inmate's veins and causes cardiac arrest. In Texas, a volunteer physician, who is not in the chamber during the execution, makes contact with the inmate only afterward, when called in to confirm the inmate has died. A trained technician applies the two needles, typically into the arms or hands. When called upon, the doctor enters the chamber, checks for a heart rate and then announces the time of death, usually about 10 minutes after the drugs are delivered. "Our methods have been evaluated and seem to be the best protocol to follow to carry out a lethal injection," said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "This has been the protocol used since 1982." (source: Houston Chronicle) USA: Lethal Injection Executions Face Scrutiny Death row inmates in more than a dozen states are fighting lethal injection, and with surprising success. What once appeared to be a long-shot legal argument now seems to be gaining ground. Judges from California to Louisiana, and even at the nation's highest court, are entangled in disputes between state prison officials and inmates who claim their executions may be painful. The eventual outcome of the cases could be sweeping because every state that has capital punishment, except for Nebraska, has lethal injection. Nebraska uses only the electric chair. "Every lawyer worth his salt is putting in a lethal injection challenge," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment. An emerging issue is the role of medical professionals in ending the lives of prisoners, providing an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at jailhouse executions. The Supreme Court refused this month to let Missouri put to death an inmate despite the state's assurances that it uses a board-certified surgeon to mix the drugs and insert intravenous lines into the prisoner's groin. The inmate claims that the doctor, whose name is kept secret, would violate medical ethics. Earlier this week, California postponed an execution because no doctor or nurse would agree to administer a fatal dose of barbiturate. A judge is reviewing the state's system. Based on the experience of other states, California, which has 650 condemned inmates, could be in for a long delay in executions. In Louisiana, no inmates have been executed since 2002 as the state contests a lawsuit over the training of its executioners and the mix of drugs used. New Jersey, where a moratorium is now in place, was ordered by a state court 2 years ago to reconsider its procedure. Although lethal injection does not appear to be in jeopardy, states could face new requirements for drugs and training. Legal battles are ongoing in California, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, according to anti-death penalty groups. A mandate that licensed medical personnel help with executions could pose practical problems for states, however, because the American Medical Association and other medical groups have long opposed that. "The people most qualified for doing executions are prohibited from doing it," said Dr. Jonathan Groner, who teaches at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. The administration of a fatal dose of drugs was considered more humane than other methods used over the years: electrocution, firing squad, gas chamber and hanging. For now, the Supreme Court is dealing with only a technical part of the fight, whether inmates can bring last-minute civil rights challenges to lethal injection. The court has a chance to broaden its review to address a contention that the drug cocktail used in most states causes pain that amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. A Florida case that could be acted on as early as Monday raises that issue, and a 2nd one, from Tennessee, comes up for a vote this spring. The Supreme Court has never before told states how they can impose capital punishment. Death penalty supporters do not believe the Constitution guarantees convicted killers the right to a pain-free execution and think the Supreme Court, with 2 new members named by President Bush, will condone lethal injection. "There is practically no chance that lethal injection as such would be thrown out," said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, who wants the court to intervene. "I would like to see the uncertainty done with." Besides Texas, there appears to be no rush to execute inmates with the legal landscape so unsettled. Only one other state, North Carolina, has an execution scheduled next month. In the North Carolina execution, lines would be inserted in each of Patrick Moody's arms by technicians and the drugs administered by people hidden by curtains. One of his lawyers, Charlotte Blake, said she is more optimistic now that judges are paying attention to health issues that have long been a part of death row appeals. "There's a renewed vigor," she said. North Carolina has already changed drug dosages in response to a lawsuit that Moody may join. "It's been coming for years," said Gary Clements with the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana. He first began pursuing appeals to lethal injection 15 years ago and has slowly seen more death row attorneys join in. "Science and math are scary to a lot of lawyers," Clements said. ******************* Capital Punishment: Don't Improve It, Get Rid of It It is so typically American for us to try to improve the productivity of a process, even when the process is killing in the name of the people. Yet in boosting the productivity of any process the FIRST question to answer - before improvements to effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, or any other criteria even become relevant - is, "Why is this process worth doing at all?" If there's a good answer, then improve the process. Otherwise, get rid of it. Capital punishment may have had a place in American society at one time. But that time is past. We will get the process right at last only when we eliminate it completely. (source: Richard Wise, Op-ed news) CALIFORNIA: Death Penalty Foes Fte Partial Victory They had prayed and protested, gone to jail and gone to the media. On Tuesday, death-penalty foes celebrated a partial victory: the life of Michael Morales, the man who had stabbed, raped and bludgeoned to death 17-year-old Terri Winchell in 1981, would be spared - for a few months at least. "This gives hope to our whole country, because this is torture, this is absolute torture and thats why we have to get rid of the death penalty," said Cynthia Johnson of Kensington, who had come to San Quentin Tuesday evening with other members of the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to protest what was to have been Morales execution. "This is fantastic that one man's life has been saved and that were one step further to eliminating the death penalty," said Jes Richardson, with the St. Geronimo-based Ghandi Peace Brigade. Morales' execution was first delayed Tuesday morning just after midnight when 2 anesthesiologists, who had agreed to monitor the execution by injection of a three-drug sequence, learned that they would have to intervene if Morales regained consciousness. The execution was canceled around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. Earlier that day, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel had ordered that Morales would be executed with a single drug, a massive dose of sodium pentothal. Tuesday afternoon, however, the judge added that the drug must be administered directly into Morales vein by a medical professional and not administered by others through an intravenous tube. No medical professional could be found who was willing to carry out the procedure. Fogel scheduled a hearing for May 2 and 3 on constitutional questions regarding the lethal injection procedure. Until that time, there will be no executions in California. "This makes our argument very strong that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment," said Crystal Bybee of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. "Its great news for Michael Morales to get a stay of execution, but it also means something for people on death row." Dr. Sureya Sayadi, who had joined the 40 or so other death penalty foes at San Quentin Tuesday evening and had protested at noon the day before with the group from the Berkeley Fellowship, was particularly outraged at the idea that doctors were being asked to help put people to death. Doctors learn to "do no harm, they learn how to help patents," she said. "Even in times of war, if you see a patient from the other side, you take him as your patient." On Monday, a dozen protesters from the Berkeley Fellowship blocked the east gate at the prison; 3 among them, Hal Carlstad and Cynthia Johnson of Kensington and Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner Phoebe Anne Sorgen, were arrested. Sorgen spoke to the Daily Planet by phone Monday soon after her release. "I cant stand it that our state is an executioner, setting an example for our children and the world," she said. "The U.S. did not choose to join the world in opposition to the death penalty." The European Union has abolished the death penalty and all countries that wish to join the union must abolish it as well. Canada has outlawed the death penalty; Mexico did so last year. Sorgen said that at noon on Monday, about a dozen people blocked San Quentins east gate, in a symbolic gesture preventing entry of the medical personnel, who were to participate in the execution. When asked to stop blocking the gates, Carlstad, Johnson and Sorgen refused, were arrested and taken to the Marin County Jail, where they were cited for trespassing on state property and obstructing a public thoroughfare. They were released after being cited. Others would learn of their action through the media, Sorgen said. "People wont feel such despair. It will give people cause to think and might push people to do something (against the death penalty)." Also on Monday, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in El Cerrito, some 50 people of various faiths gathered to pray, light candles and speak about how to end state-sanctioned murder. Many then went to join the vigil of about 250 people at San Quentin. While TV stories show the pain and hurt of the families of the victims -Terri Winchell's family spoke out, saying Morales' death would bring closure to the family - 2 people spoke at St. Johns about their personal loss to violence. Murray Richardsons son was beaten to death when he was 10 years old. "Years later, I was able to forgive the killer of my son," he said. "My firm belief is that killing is wrong." Deacon Thom McGowan remembers when he got the news that his grandson was shot to death on the streets of Richmond. Vengeance and more violence is not the answer, he told the gathering. "The cycle of violence in which someone decides to take revenge is contagious. That's something we seem not to have grasped clearly. We need to follow Gods rules." Father John Maxwell is pastor at St. Johns, where vigils are held before each execution. "Even with bad people like Michael, life is sacred," he said. "We can be protected by throwing away the key (to the jail.)" St. Johns parishioner James Vaughn asked the congregation to sign a petition calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. The idea is to take a time out from executions "until we can figure it out," he said. A bill, AB 1121, proposed by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, died in the Assembly last year. On Tuesday, however, State Assembly members Sally Lieber, D-San Jose, and Koretz introduced Assembly Bill 2266 that would allow voters to decide whether to establish a temporary moratorium on executions in California. The moratorium would take effect in January 2007. The legislation must 1st be passed by the State Legislature then signed by the governor before going on the ballot." (source: Berkeley Daily Planet) GEORGIA: Former first lady joins call for death penalty freeze Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter on Friday joined the call for a moratorium that would put the use of the death penalty in Georgia on hold. In a written statement, Carter cited an American Bar Association report recommending a freeze on the state's use of the death penalty until flaws in its use are addressed. The report said Georgia is the only state that fails to provide legal counsel to poor people once they are sentenced to death and the only state that requires defendants to prove mental retardation beyond reasonable doubt - the law's highest standard. "There are serious questions about the fairness of its application in our state," Carter said. "If we are not going to abolish the death penalty, a moratorium would give time to thoroughly examine its imposition in the different counties in our state and develop uniform legal procedures that would more accurately ensure that innocent people are not killed." Beginning with her stint as First Lady of Georgia in the early 1970s, Carter has been an outspoken advocate for mental health care. She also is a longtime death penalty opponent. Carter said she "wholeheartedly" endorses the ABA's Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Team Report, calling it "a welcome contribution to public thinking on an important topic that affects all Georgians." On Thursday, state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, introduced bills calling for a moratorium and setting up a commission to study Georgia's use of the death penalty. Republican leaders who control both chambers of the Legislature and Gov. Sonny Perdue, also a Republican, have continued to endorse the state's use of the death penalty, saying appropriate checks and balances are already in place. Georgia, which uses lethal injection, has executed 39 people since 1976 and now has a death row population of 109, according the Washington D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. ON THE NET----The Carter Center, http://www.cartercenter.org (source: Associated Press) OKLAHOMA: Following the refusal of several doctors to participate in an execution in California, State Rep. Paul Roan authored a bill preventing any medical licensing board from retaliating against state doctors and nurses who participate in executions in Oklahoma. House Bill 2660, which passed today in the House Judiciary Committee, would prevent any "licensing entity, board, commission, association, or agency" from taking any action to "revoke, suspend, or deny" a license to any medical professional because that person participated in an execution. "Whether you believe in the death penalty or not or think it is cruel and unusual punishment, it is the law in Oklahoma," said Roan, D-Tishomingo. "Doctors and nurses should feel they have the protection of the law on their side if they participate in a state-ordered execution." The bill was requested by the State Department of Corrections following a fiasco in California this week in which several anesthetists refused to comply with a federal court order to ensure that a man scheduled to die by lethal injection was properly anesthetized before the lethal doses of medicine were administered. The execution was postponed indefinitely after the anesthetists objected they might have to advise the executioner if the prisoner woke up or appeared to suffer pain, an action the doctors believe to be medically unethical. The American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the California Medical Association all opposed the anesthetists' participation in the execution as unethical and unprofessional. The DOC wants to ensure that if similar actions take place here, medical professionals will feel they can participate in an execution without fear of retaliation by a medical board or organization. HB 2660 now moves to the House floor for consideration by the full body. (source: OCADP) NEW YORK: Former Death Row Inmate to Lecture March 1 Kirk Bloodsworth, the 1st death-row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence, will discuss his experience in a talk Wednesday, March 1, on campus. Free and open to the public, the talk will begin at 7 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. In June 1993, Bloodsworth's case became the first capital conviction in the U.S. to be overturned as the result of DNA testing. A former Marine and Maryland resident, Bloodsworth was convicted of sexual assault, rape, and 1st-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to death in 1985. By the time of his release, Bloodsworth had served almost 9 years - including two on death row - for a crime he did not commit. In his lecture he will recount his experience of wrongful conviction, exoneration, and his successful lobbying effort that led to the passage of the federal Innocence Protection Act and the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction Testing Program. The lecture is sponsored by Skidmore's Law and Society Program. (source: Office of News Relations, Skidmore College)
