Nov. 1
TEXAS----new execution date
Jesse Joe Hernandez has been given an execution date for March 28, 2012; it
should be considered serious.
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
*************
Forensic Science Panel Recommends Arson Probe
The State Fire Marshal's Office and Innocence Project of Texas will review past
arson cases to determine whether faulty science could have led to wrongful
convictions after the Texas Forensic Science Commission today approved
recommendations to create a review program and improve arson investigations in
the state.
The momentous and long-awaited move was welcomed by the family of Cameron Todd
Willingham, who was convicted of killing his three daughters in a 1991 arson
fire. He was executed in 2004, and scientists have since discredited the
science that was used to cement his arson conviction.
"It doesn't bring my son back, but I know they couldn't do that," said
Willingham's stepmother, Eugenia Willingham. "Maybe Todd's name will go down in
history as being a part all of this."
The New York-based Innocence Project filed a formal complaint with the Texas
Forensic Science Commission in 2006 alleging negligence and misconduct in the
course of the arson investigations and testimony at the trials of Willingham
and Ernest Ray Willis, who was convicted of arson based on the same type of
science and was later exonerated. They wanted the commission to find that the
State Fire Marshal's Office had erred in its investigation and then require the
agency to review its other arson cases where similar practices were used to
determine whether mistakes were made that resulted in wrongful convictions.
The matter has been a source of heated controversy at the commission through 3
different chairman, inlcudingWilliamson County District Attorney John Bradley,
who strenuously objected to the commission's involvement in the case. He
publicly sparred with the Innocence Project, which contended he was delaying
the case for political purposes. Bradley argued that the commission did not
have jurisdiction to investigate the Willingham case, and he asked Texas
Attorney General Greg Abbott to issue a ruling on the panel's authority.
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Gov. Rick Perry appointed the current chairman, Dr. Nizam Peerwani, who is also
the Tarrant County medical examiner, after the state Senate this year declined
to confirm Bradley's nomination to continue leading the panel.
The new program and recommendations issued today follow Abbott's July ruling
that severely restricted the commission's jurisdiction. He determined it could
not investigate evidence gathered or tested before the commission's 2005
creation.
"I think the recommendations are proof that the Forensic Science Commission has
worked very hard to do their job," said Jeff Blackburn, founder and chief
counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas. "They have been legally confined by
the Attorney General opinion, and I think they're doing the very best they can
within the confines of that opinion."
Prior to today's meeting, State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado and members of the
Innocence Project of Texas and the Texas Forensic Science Commission convened
to discuss the recommendations and how to implement them.
In an email, the Innoncence Project congratulated the commission on the
program, saying members have "reminded the nation that forensic practices must
be based on the most current science and that there is an ethical duty to
correct when it is clear that the state and its forensic practitioners have
unjustly convicted someone."
Now, a new stage of work begins that will require time and cooperation to
conduct an exhaustive review of previous arson cases. But Blackburn said with
the Fire Marshal's involvement, all the pieces are falling into place.
The commission's recommendations include the creation of a questionnaire for
inmates convicted of arson to see if their cases are worth reviewing. The panel
also recommended a review of death certificates in cases where the murder
charge is listed as arson.
The recommendations also include new certification criteria for expert
witnesses, and additional rules and regulations aimed at preventing the use of
outdated science and improving the quality of testimony and analysis.
Since his 2004 execution, Willingham's family has continued a fight to prove
his innocence. Willingham's cousin, Patricia Ann Willingham-Cox, thanked the
commission for its work.
"Have we gotten justice for Todd in the state of Texas? No, not yet, but we
will," Cox said. "Has Todd's death effected needed change? Yes."
(source: Texas Tribune)
*************
Perry in glare over thorny death penalty
Texas governor and Republican White House hopeful Rick Perry has overseen more
executions than any other US governor and is proud of it - but his decision on
one case will likely spark controversy.
Convicted triple murderer Hank Skinner is scheduled to be put to death in Texas
on November 9 but Skinner has steadfastly maintained his innocence and says DNA
testing - so far refused by the state - will exonerate him.
Of the nation-leading 476 executions carried out in Texas since capital
punishment was reinstated in 1976, roughly half have taken place on Perry's
watch, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
While the centre's director Richard Dieter admits that the death penalty has
not emerged as an "electoral issue" ahead of next year's presidential election,
Perry has repeatedly trumpeted his support for capital punishment.
When asked in September if he lost sleep over the idea that an executed inmate
could have been innocent, Perry replied: "No, sir. I've never struggled with
that at all."
"If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police
officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens,
you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas," he said.
"You will be executed."
Perry has granted clemency only once since taking over the governorship when
George W Bush was elected president in 2000 - in 2007, three hours before the
scheduled execution of a man who had been the driver of a murderer.
Under Texas law, the governor has the authority to grant clemency upon the
written recommendation of a majority of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.
He can order a one-time 30-day stay of execution without a recommendation.
Perry "has not lost sleep over this issue," said Kristin Houle, director of the
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"We have seen numerous cases of individuals that have been exonerated from
death row with evidence of wrongful convictions. Five of the 12 exonerated have
occurred during his 11 years" in office, she said.
Perry endured sharp criticism in 2004 for allowing the execution of Cameron
Willingham, convicted for the death of his three children in a fire which
experts later said might not have been criminal in nature.
The execution in Georgia in September of murder convict Troy Davis, who
proclaimed his innocence to the end, sparked condemnation at home and abroad,
and again shone a light on the flaws of the death penalty system.
Skinner, who is married to a Frenchwoman, has repeatedly asked for DNA tests on
evidence that was never processed.
Last week, a group of current and former judges and elected officials urged
Perry to delay the execution until such tests can be performed.
"Executing Mr Skinner without testing all the relevant evidence would suggest
official indifference to the possibility of error in this case and needlessly
undermine public confidence in Texas's criminal justice system," they wrote.
Rob Owen, director of the capital punishment clinic at the University of Texas
School of Law, said the Skinner case was "very political" and could "generate
the same kind of public outrage as the Troy Davis case."
"It's quite possible that this case will attract public attention and become a
national controversy largely because of the fact that our governor is running
for president," Owen told AFP.
But Steve Hall, head of the StandDown Texas project, which advocates a
moratorium on the death penalty and a review of the state's use of capital
punishment, said Perry would likely not lose support over the issue.
"The death penalty is not much of a political issue. It's more popular among
Republican voters," Hall said.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
OHIO:
19 named to review death penalty in Ohio
The 19 members of a state panel that will review whether Ohio’s death penalty
is being administered fairly include six judges, three legislators, two
prosecutors and a sheriff.
The Ohio Supreme Court and State Bar Association yesterday named members of
their previously announced joint task force. The first meeting will be Thursday
in Columbus.
“The task force will not decide whether Ohio should or should not have the
death penalty,” Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said in a statement.
Instead, she said, panel members will conduct a thorough review of capital
punishment to ensure that the state’s death penalty is administered in the most
fair and judicious manner possible.
The task force is expected to make recommendations sometime next year. An exact
date has not been determined, court spokesman Chris Davey said.
Retired 2nd District Court of Appeals Judge James Brogan will chair the panel.
Other members are Sara Andrews, deputy director for the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction; Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters;
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Stephen McIntosh; Ohio State law professor
Douglas Berman; 8th District Court of Appeals Judge Kathleen Keough; John P.
Parker, a lawyer in private practice; Cleveland State law professor Phyllis
Crocker; Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings; lawyer Samuel Porter
with Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur; Jon Paul Rion with Rion, Rion & Rion;
Clermont County Sheriff Albert Rodenberg; Stephen Schumaker with the attorney
general’s office; Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Solovan; Cuyahoga
County Common Pleas Judge John Russo; Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis
Watkins; state Sens. Shirley Smith, D-Cleveland, and Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati;
and state Rep. Lynn Slaby, R-Akron.
(source: Columbus Dispatch)
CALIFORNIA:
Murder Victim Mom Against the Death Penalty
My twin sons, Albade and Obadiah, were just 22 years old when they were gunned
down on the streets of East Oakland. Both students, Albade attending Merritt
College and Obadiah studying to open his own barber shop, they had stopped on
the side of the road to fix Obadiah’s stalled car when somebody shot and killed
them at close range. The pain I feel for the loss of my sons will never go
away. It is made even worse when I hear, almost daily, that another mother in
California has lost her child to violence that has taken so many lives.
The person who killed my twin sons likely still walks the street today. Like
the death of my sons, a shocking 46% of murders in California each year go
unsolved, along with 56% of reported rapes. In this time of economic crisis,
budgets for local law enforcement have been slashed repeatedly. Instead of
hiring more officers to investigate open homicide cases, we are forced to lay
off the very people who could catch these killers. Instead of testing each rape
kit, they languish on shelves while the perpetrator remains free to attack
another person.
While these criminals are still walking our streets, California continues to
waste precious money on a broken death penalty system. Every year, California
throws away $184 million dollars on 714 people that are already locked up
behind bars instead of investing money in public safety programs that work.
Since 1978 when the death penalty was reinstated, we have spent over 4 billion
taxpayer dollars for 13 executions. For the cost of 1 execution, we could be
employing nearly 6,000 police officers to patrol our streets, solve more
serious crimes, and bring justice to more families.
The death penalty is a broken promise. It does not make our streets safer and
it takes away resources from things that prevent violence, like keeping our
kids in school and putting cops on the street. It also denies justice for
thousands of grieving mothers who, like me, will never see their children’s
murderer be held accountable for their crimes.
This is why I support the SAFE California Act (Savings, Accountability and Full
Enforcement for California Act). SAFE California is a ballot initiative that
will replace the death penalty with life without possibility of parole. By
replacing the death penalty with life without possibility of parole, California
will save an estimated $1 billion over the next five years. In addition, it
will allocate $100 million to local law enforcement to investigate unsolved
murders and rapes.
A sentence of life without the possibility of parole offers swift and certain
justice. It also means that inmates will work in prison and pay money into the
victim compensation fund as restitution. This money can help families of murder
victims receive badly needed counseling services and pay for burial expenses.
California voters are ready to dump the death penalty in favor of real justice.
In a Field Poll released in September, 48% of California voters opted for a
sentence of life without the possibility of parole while only 40% chose the
death penalty. A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed 54%
of Californians prefer life without possibility of parole. These recent polls
show California voters’ strong preference for life without the possibility of
parole over the death penalty, with even greater support among communities of
color.
The SAFE Campaign needs over 500,000 signatures to qualify for the November
2012 ballot. This past weekend, hundreds of volunteer and paid signature
gathers hit the streets asking Californians to support SAFE CA. If you would
like to volunteer or donate, please visit www.safecalifornia.org.
(source: California Progress Report----Lorrain Taylor is a SAFE California
supporter. Her twins sons were gunned down in 2000. The killer is still at
large)
CONNECTICUT:
Killer's aunt testifies he should be spared death sentence after his lifetime
of abuse
Joshua Komisarjevsky’s sister testified Monday he was “not the ringleader” of
the Cheshire home invasion, is not a violent person and would never have
intended for anybody in the Petit family to be harmed.
Under cross-examination by State’s Attorney Michael Dearington, the sister said
she did not consider Komisarjevsky’s repeated sexual assaults of her, when she
was age 7 or 8 until age 9 or 10, to be violent acts.
He is 2 years older than her.
“I see that as an act of control,” she said.
The Register is not using her name because she is a sex assault victim.
The sister said the sexual attacks occurred “quite often,” but could not give
an estimate of how many times they took place. “Most of my mind has blocked out
such a traumatic experience.”
The sister and Komisarjevsky’s aunt were called to testify Monday by defense
attorneys as part of the penalty phase of the home invasion trial in an effort
to show he has redeeming qualities and should not be executed for his role in
the triple homicide.
The jury Oct. 13 convicted Komisarjevsky, 31, of 17 counts in the murders of
Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17. The jury
now must decide if he should be sentenced to life in prison or get the death
penalty.
The sister and the aunt, Karlie Lebatique, said it was Steven Hayes, 48, of
Winsted, now on death row for the crime, who killed Hawke-Petit and her
daughters.
But the sister acknowledged it was Komisarjevsky who followed Hawke-Petit and
Michaela from the Cheshire Stop & Shop to their home, then brought Hayes back
there a few hours later in the middle of the night.
The sister also conceded Komisarjevsky entered the house first and assaulted
Dr. William Petit Jr. with a baseball bat.
Referring to Petit, the sister said Komisarjevsky “doesn’t like him,” but feels
“a great deal of sorrow and self-hatred” for what befell the 3 females.
Asked by Dearington why Komisarjevsky doesn’t like Petit, the sister said, “He
doesn’t believe Dr. Petit did enough to help his family out.”
After being severely beaten, Petit was tied up, first on the sun porch and then
in the basement. He said he was able to free himself when he realized the crime
was escalating. Although he made it to his neighbor’s house for help, the Petit
home erupted in flames moments later.
Petit, who was sitting in the courtroom Monday, showed no overt reaction to the
sister’s statement. But after court adjourned, when asked for comment, he said,
“It’s hard to dignify the comments of a person who’s been convicted of six
capital felonies and the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl.”
Komisarjevsky’s sister testified, “I believe he wanted to keep the girls from
dying.” She noted his statement to police that he closed the girls’ bedroom
doors.
She said he did this “in hopes it would give them enough time” to escape from
the flames, fueled by gasoline that had been spread throughout the house and
over their bodies.
Asked by Dearington how she knows Hayes was the ringleader, the sister said, “I
know Joshua is not a violent person by nature. He would not decide he is going
to kill.”
She added, “Knowing him from growing up with him, I can say personally I know
the type of person he is. He never hit me. He never hit my parents. He would
never intentionally harm or decide to kill the Petit family.”
The sister testified in an often shaky voice and sometimes used tissue paper to
stem her tears. Her brother stared down at the table in front of him.
She said she was at a church camp in Maine in 1992 at age 9 or 10, dancing and
singing happily with other girls, when she suddenly broke down crying and
“blurted out” the revelation her brother had been sexually abusing her.
“It suddenly hit me,” she said. “I’m having a great time and I have to go back
home, where Josh was sexually abusing me at that time.”
The camp director called her mother, who brought her back to the family’s home
in Cheshire. There followed an emotional discussion among her parents, her
brother and her about her allegation.
After initially denying her accusation, he said he had done it, she testified.
She said her parents dealt with this by moving her bedroom downstairs and
establishing a rule the two of them could never be with each other unless a
“supervisor” were present.
The sister said her father “didn’t know how to handle it” and professional
counseling was not sought.
Lebatique testified the family does not believe in “secular counseling” because
it’s not in accordance with the Bible. Komisarjevsky’s parents, Jude and
Benedict Komisarjevsky, and Lebatique are “born again” Christians.
Lebatique, who said she loves the defendant “more than you can ever imagine,”
said he should receive life imprisonment rather than the death sentence.
Asked why, she said, “Because ever since he was in the womb, he has been
rejected, attacked, abused and doubted every step of the way by the people that
were supposed to love him the most.
“He’s done some awful things,” she added, “but he needs a second chance. He has
a daughter that he loves.” The daughter is now 9.
She said, “It would not be good for his daughter” if he were executed.
But Lebatique said Hayes should be put to death because, in her view, he was
the one who killed the three victims.
Earlier Monday, Jude Komisarjevsky completed her testimony. She acknowledged
telling police she had discovered “traces of over 900 adult websites” on her
son’s computer. Police were unable to find evidence of this.
She also testified that when her son’s monitoring bracelet, ordered by a court
in a previous case, was allowed to be removed, four days before the home
invasion, he began staying out late at night and “hanging out with a guy named
Steve.”
That was Steven Hayes.
She said the last time she saw her son before the home invasion was about 11:30
p.m. July 22, 2007. When she asked where he was going so late, “He said he had
to meet Steve, so they could meet with a contractor.”
(source: The Middletown Press)
USA (RHODE ISLAND)----re: federal death penalty
Feds asked to stop death penalty in RI case
Several Rhode Island groups have written to a federal lawyer asking him to halt
efforts by prosecutors to pursue a death penalty prosecution against a state
prisoner.
The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday the letter
asks U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. to halt efforts to try
34-year-old Jason Pleau as a death penalty case.
Pleau is accused of fatally shooting a gas station manager outside a bank last
year. Earlier this month, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Gov.
Lincoln Chafee does not have to surrender Pleau to federal authorities. Rhode
Island does not have the death penalty.
The ACLU says 4 other organizations also signed the letter.
A spokesman for Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha declined comment.
(source: Associated Press)
*************
Capital punishment: America’s barbarian
On September 21, a cruel injustice was committed when Troy Davis, convicted of
murdering a Georgia police officer in 1989, was executed. In the weeks leading
up to his execution, the case became highly publicized as Davis appealed for a
third stay of execution. Davis gathered support from over 630,000 individuals,
including former President Jimmy Carter, and major civil rights organizations.
However, despite these efforts and what appeared to be a lack of evidence
implicating Davis in the killing, the Supreme Court rejected Davis’s appeal.
Although Davis’s case became quite the cause célébre, it is just another
reminder of America’s unjust and barbaric practice of capital punishment.
The death penalty is fundamentally unjust. In many situations, as in Davis’s
case, much of the evidence against the accused comes from “fuzzy” eyewitness
testimonies. Many factors can affect how a witness identifies a suspect, from
how a police lineup is administered to the lighting of the area in which the
crime took place. Although new procedures have been developed, such as the
introduction of sequential lineups, according to the Innocence Project, a
non-profit legal organization dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions,
eyewitness misidentification accounts for over 75 % of overturned criminal
convictions. In Davis’s particular case seven of the nine witnesses from the
trial recanted their original witness statements. Although eyewitness
identification has been scientifically proven to be inaccurate, juries and
judges still heavily weigh witnesses.
However, there have been cases in which convicts are executed and after their
execution, new evidence surfaces that suggests they were innocent.
Take, for example, the case of Cameron Todd Wilingham, who in 1992 was
sentenced to death in Texas after being convicted of killing his three children
by arson. In 2004, days prior to his execution, Wilingham’s lawyers submitted a
report to the Governor of Texas (current GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry)
and the Texas Board of Pardon and Parole written by arson expert, Gerald Hurst.
Hurst’s report stated that the previous forensic evidence that had been
gathered in the case contained many errors. State officials, however, did not
look into the report and Willingham was executed.
In the years following Wilingham’s execution new investigations were launched,
and in 2005 the Texas Forensic Science Commission found that there was no
scientific evidence that proved that Wilingham committed arson. There have been
numerous cases similar to Wilingham’s, in which evidence surfaces that proves
that the executed may have been innocent.
Supporters of the death penalty believe that it is the only way in which
justice can be served for murderers. However, how is it just to execute those
who may be innocent? The practice of capital punishment remains a contradiction
within American society. Although this country was founded on the ideals, such
as “liberty and justice for all” we have seen that in far too many death
penalty cases, justice cannot be served when those who appear to be innocent
are executed.
(source: The Tam News)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Why Pennsylvania Doesn’t Need the Death Penalty----With just 3 executions in 34
years, we're not using capital punishment anyway
Last week the nation’s highest court chose not to hear an appeal filed by the
Philadelphia District Attorney’s office that sought to reinstate the death
sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted in 1982 of murdering
Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. The ruling comes nearly a full
decade after a U.S. District Court judge first vacated the sentence in light of
prejudicial jury instructions, and just months after the Third U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld that decision following an order to reconsider from the
Supreme Court. It’s now up to District Attorney Seth Williams to decide whether
to pursue a new sentencing hearing for Abu-Jamal, a process that would not only
dredge up painful memories for the victim’s widow, but is destined to take
place in an atmosphere very different than that of three decades ago, when the
original sentence was levied.
In 1982, the year of Abu-Jamal’s conviction, capital punishment was
overwhelmingly popular in the United States, with nearly three-quarters of
Americans favoring it. Since then support for the death penalty has fallen
across all segments of society, even among groups that represent the families
of victims.
2 days after the Supreme Court decision on October 13th, Gallup released new
poll numbers indicating that support for the death penalty is at its lowest
level in 40 years. While a majority (61 percent) of American citizens still
support it in cases of murder, evidence shows the impetus is emotional
(revenge-based) and not practical. Barely a third believe capital punishment is
a deterrent to future crimes. And contrary to popular belief, victims’ families
rarely get a sense of closure after executions; quite the opposite, families
report that the endless appeals process and decades of legal wrangling in
death-penalty cases only serve to prolong their pain and more often prevent
closure.
Meanwhile, since exonerations tied to DNA evidence began in 1989, jurors have
become increasingly reluctant to hand down death sentences, which have fallen
to an historic low (even Texas only saw eight people added to its death row
last year, compared to 48 in 2000). Just 12 states carried out an execution in
2010 and only seven states carried out more than one (Texas, which still leads
the nation in state-sanctioned killing, oversaw 17 executions last year and 11
so far in 2011.) Over the past four years, four states have abolished the death
penalty and nationwide executions and death sentences have fallen by half since
2000.
Those, like myself, who oppose capital punishment on moral grounds will be
happy to know that despite being on the books in 34 states, capital punishment
is becoming a rarity across most of the country. Yet that is little consolation
for the more than 3,200 people awaiting execution across the nation—which
brings us to Pennsylvania.
With 208 men and women awaiting execution in three state facilities (Greene,
Graterford and Muncy), the commonwealth houses the fourth-largest population of
condemned inmates in the nation. And yet, since the Supreme Court reaffirmed
the constitutionality of capital punishment in 1976, Pennsylvania hasn’t
executed a single prisoner who didn’t voluntarily end the appeals process and
ask to be put to death. Over the same period at least 20 condemned inmates have
died of natural causes.
Keeping all those inmates on death row for so long is an enormous drain on
states resources. Studies show it costs more than twice as much in appeals,
administration and housing to put an inmate to death than to house him or her
for the rest of their lives. Nonetheless, every year the governor of
Pennsylvania, whomever he may be, signs dozens of death warrants—a total of 386
of them over the past 34 years, to be exact. Ed Rendell signed 119 himself, and
Tom Corbett signed eight more this year alone. To put those numbers into
perspective: When our neighbor, New Jersey, banned the death penalty in 2007,
there were just eight men awaiting execution.
The American Bar Association has a theory as to why the Keystone State carries
out so few executions despite having so many condemned: the atrocious state of
our public defender system. Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that
provides no post-conviction financial support for defense appeals, meaning
defendants are typically required to turn to county services and the aid of
less-than-able court-appointed attorneys. As a result, cases are often wildly
mismanaged, and data shows nearly as many death convictions are overturned in
Pennsylvania as are handed down each year, the majority of them due to
ineffective assistance of counsel.
Back in April, a group of city defense attorneys filed a petition in Common
Pleas Court challenging the amount of public funding for criminal defenses in
capital cases. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Philadelphia County pays
court-appointed death-penalty lawyers less than “any remotely comparable
jurisdiction in the country,” which has led to the city having the highest
reversal rate in the country of capital cases challenged over the effectiveness
of defense counsel. Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed a
former Common Pleas Court judge to investigate the claims.
That’s a start. But here’s a better idea: Why don’t we follow the lead of
states like New Mexico and Illinois, both of which have abolished capital
punishment in the past two years, and end a barbaric and wasteful practice that
we aren’t using anyway.
A bill introduced by State Senator Daylin Leach (SB 423) that would end capital
punishment in Pennsylvania is currently sitting in Harrisburg in the Senate
Judiciary Committee, where it is likely to stay given the current political
climate in the capitol. That is, unless fiscally minded Republicans join
progressives who oppose capital punishment on moral grounds and put pressure on
lawmakers to do right by the commonwealth and end this wasteful practice
(before cutting education and health care).
As states across the country rethink their stance on capital punishment, it’s
fallen to a handful of “true believers,” like Florida, Texas and Ohio, to keep
the death machine turning. It’s time Pennsylvania removed itself from the
inauspicious group and joined the rest of the civilized world in abolishing
capital punishment.
(source: The Philly Post, Oct. 20)
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