[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., ARK.

[Rick Halperin]

July 6


OHIO:

Ohio's prison population increase could mean more beds at MANCI


Ohio's prison population increased 6 percent in the past year, adding to
concerns among some public officials about overcrowded conditions and
tensions between inmates and guards.

In June, there were 46,356 inmates in 32 prisons that were built to house
35,730, according to state records. The Lorain Correctional Institution in
northeast Ohio was the most overcrowded prison with 1,983 inmates. It was
designed to hold 756.

The extra prisoners at the Lorain facility are forced to sleep in bunk
beds placed in commons areas.

The Mansfield Correctional Institution, despite losing death row last
year, has 2,232 inmates. It is designed to hold 1,418, meaning it is
operating at 157.4 % of capacity.

"This is a recipe for disaster," said state Sen. Robert Hagan, a
Youngstown Democrat and member of the Correctional Institution Inspection
Committee, which issued a new report on the Lorain facility. "When you
have more and more people crowded into an area, you have more fights and
more discussions on how to hurt other people and less talk about
rehabilitation."

It's unclear if the prison population increase is a random spike or a
long-term trend. A team of researchers is studying the issue, and a report
could be ready within a week, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman with the
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Ohio prisons Director Terry Collins said the increase may be linked to a 4
% increase in felony cases -- 77,042 -- filed in courts across the state
in 2005.

He said sentencing alternatives, such as community-based corrections
programs that judges have used for years are filled, leaving prison as the
sole option in many cases.

To alleviate crowding, Collins said he is looking to add nearly 1,300 more
beds in 6 prisons -- Pickaway, Ross, Warren, Toledo, Mansfield and Marion
-- by reopening cellblocks that were closed several years ago.

MANCI will have 118 beds added.

Cost of reopening the units hasn't been determined, Collins said. The
state may be able to bring in staff from other prisons, which would help
save money, he said.

"But any time you shuffle staff like that, we have to make sure we're not
hurting one prison to help another," said Collins, who oversees an annual
budget of about $1.6 billion.

(source: Mansfield News Journal)






TENNESSEE:

"Former Corrections Officer To Be Sentenced"


Middle Tennessee knows him as Walter Kuntz, but his family called him
Steve.

In January 2003, Kuntz was booked into Wilson County Jail, charged with
drunk driving.

8 hours later he was dead, beaten to death by guards. Patrick Marlowe was
supervisor at the jail when Kuntz was killed. Thursday morning, the former
corrections officer will find out how long his own prison sentence will
be.

For the Kuntz family, Marlowe's sentencing will be the final chapter after
3 1/2 years of pain and tears. Marlowe does not face the death penalty,
but the former guard could spend the rest of his life in jail. Marlowe's
sentencing hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, July 6.

A judge already sentenced 2 other former jailers to substantial prison
terms. Former jailer Gary Hale will spend 9 years behind bars. A judge
slapped Tommy Conatser with a 5 year and 10 month sentence.

(source: WKRN News)






ARKANSAS:

'Dear Governor Huckabee' -- Letters from around the world support
convicted killers.


In mid-April, I helped cook up a scheme with a convicted killer.

My co-conspirator was Jason Baldwin, one of the 3 young men who became
known as the "West Memphis Three" after their convictions in 1994 for
murdering three 8-year-old boys in that city.

In 2002 I wrote a book, "Devil's Knot," about the case. It ended, as had
the trials, with Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., at ages 16 and 17,
being sentenced to life in prison, and Damien Echols, 18, being sentenced
to death.

12 years later, appeals for all 3 continue.

I wrote my book as a journalist. But researching it convinced me that the
trials were unfair.

Many others share that view and have worked for years to see justice in
this case. It represents a mounting disgrace to this state.

In the 12 years since the trials, thousands of letters have been sent to
Arkansas public officials, only to disappear into the black hole of
bureaucracy. So here was the conspiracy:

I rented a post office box, and Jason Baldwin wrote a letter, which I
forwarded to the Worldwide Web.

In his letter, Baldwin appealed to supporters to write letters to Gov.
Mike Huckabee explaining their concerns.

This time, though, Baldwin asked that the letters be sent to Huckabee in
care of the post office box I'd rented.

In just over 2 months, more than 450 people, from as near as Little Rock
and far away as Paddington, Australia, took the time to write to
Arkansas's governor.

And, per Baldwin's request, many of them noted on the outside of their
envelopes some of the key points they raised within, to publicize what
disturbs them about this case.

32 letters came from outside the United States. Here's a sampling.

>From Holland: "These young men have been sentenced because of their
individuality, because of standing out and being themselves. They deserve
a fair trial."

>From Norway: "Innocent 'til proven guilty. Not the other way around."

>From Ireland: "These men were convicted on hearsay that snowballed out of
control and this tragedy rolls on and on."

And from Poland: "I used the case ... with my 18-year-old students as an
example of how justice can be violated in a democratic country. Inside
this envelope there are letters written by them, asking Mr. Governor to
have the case re-examined..."

More than 350 letters came from states in the U.S. outside of Arkansas.
Some writers demanded, "No more witch hunts!" Others simply asked Arkansas
officials, "Got evidence?"

A few alluded to Huckabee's presidential aspirations.

>From New York: "Is a 'confession' from a disabled and challenged youth
enough 'evidence' in your state to ruin lives?"

>From Kentucky: "The lives of three young boys were taken in a heinous
crime. Hopefully, 3 more lives will not be needlessly wasted."

>From Ohio: "I discuss the difficulty many of us have in high school
finding our identity, and I am concerned that if a crime had taken place
in my area during my difficult transition, would I have been blamed also?"

>From Pennsylvania: "If the citizens of Arkansas, or anywhere in this
nation, can be sentenced to death solely on the basis of the clothes they
wear, the music they listen to, the books they read, the poems they write,
and the religion they practice, surely our personal freedom and the
underlying principles of our legal system have been severely compromised."

>From Oregon: "guilt should be proven, not innocence."

>From Illinois: "The use of so-called Satan worship as evidence of crime,
supported by an expert witness who had never taken a course in his
subject, makes this trial seem like a replay of Salem."

>From Arizona: "There are too many inconsistencies in this case, and now
that America is over its Satanic Fever Panic, it's time to help these 3
men, one waiting to die."

>From Colorado: "...no physical evidence, murder weapon, or motive, coupled
with the an error-filled confession..."

>From Virginia: "Show me one piece of evidence that proves these boys are
guilty and I'll never write another letter for their support!"

>From Utah: "I have admired your willingness to make your struggle with
diabetes public. I hope you will show the same openness and ability to
admit mistakes in the case of the West Memphis Three."

>From Michigan: "Demonstrate that you are a man willing to stand up to
injustice, a man unafraid to follow the righteous path this nation has set
forth."

>From Wisconsin: "This would have never happened in Wisconsin."

And this: "Here in California, we live with our own same [problems]
concerning the convictions in the McMartin case and in Kern County, the
lives blighted due to a misguided societal hysteria about the sexual and
Satanic abuse of children. We have only just begun to try to make amends
much too little, much too late. It is with knowledge of the gravity of our
mistake that I ask you to take the wider course."

Huckabee has rebuffed calls for him to get involved in efforts to support
new trials. He has said he has seen little interest in this case from
inside Arkansas. But 52 of the letters-more than 10 %-were written by
Arkansans.

>From Pine Bluff: "My name is Gunner Lowry. I am 12. The three kids were
killed before I was born but I still know about them. I know that the
police caught the wrong people. That isn't right. What can you do about
it? Please help before Damien gets the death penalty."

>From Mountain View: "Certainly the families of the murdered children
deserve to know the truth..."

>From Fayetteville: "The governor needs to face reality and show the world
we are reasonable and fair people."

>From Clinton: "Because we are human, we make mistakes. Correct a mistake
made years ago; give the boys a trial free of constitutional error."

And from Little Rock:

- "If this is how a murder investigation is conducted in Arkansas, then
I'm afraid to think of how many other innocent men and women are behind
bars."

-"The Constitution gives me the freedom of Speech and Religion. I can wear
black, listen to heavy metal music and worship anything I want to! God,
Satan, a goat or even a stop sign! It doesn't matter and it doesn't make a
person a murderer."

-"Stop Satanic Panic in Arkansas. It's wrong."

-"Please educate yourself on this case, Governor, before these innocent
young men spend another day in prison or lose thier lives. Please call a
halt to the corruption and shameful practices that put them there, by
launching your own investigation, or granting clemency."

And finally, this succinct statement, also from Little Rock:

"There was no physical evidence linking any of the accused boys to the
crime-absolutely none-and no plausible motive. More importantly, the
state's principal 'evidence'-the 'confession' of a mentally challenged boy
who was interrogated for 6 hours without having a lawyer or parent
present-was riddled with errors."

These letters will be delivered to Gov. Huckabee's office on July 14.
Arkansans who want add letters of their own may send them, no later than
next Tuesday, to:

Write to Freedom

Attn: Gov. Mike Huckabee

P.O. Box 7406

Little Rock, AR 72217.

(source: Arkansas Times)