Feb. 13
COLORADO:
Eric Autobee's family fights to testify against death penalty for suspect
Edward Montour
Relatives of a prison guard killed by an inmate over a decade ago are fighting
for the chance to testify about their opposition to the death penalty.
Lawyers for Eric Autobee's family are scheduled to make their case to a judge
in Castle Rock Thursday. District Attorney George Brauchler plans to seek the
death penalty for Edward Montour if he's convicted.
Autobee's family argues they have a right to testify during the penalty phase
about how executing Montour would affect them. Brauchler says the law bars
victims from testifying about their opinion on the death penalty because it
would interfere with the jury's job.
Autobee's father has protested against the death penalty outside the courthouse
during jury selection. He says he forgives his son's killer.
-- Case history
Autobee was clubbed to death with a heavy ladle in the kitchen of the Limon
Correctional Facility in 2002.
According to the Denver Post, the suspect, prisoner Edward Montour was already
serving a life sentence for killing his infant daughter when he was accused of
killing Autobee.
Montour, acting as his own attorney, pleaded guilty in 2003 to killing Autobee
and a judge sentenced him to death.
However, in 2007, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down the death sentence,
but not the plea, noting that the U.S. Supreme court had earlier ruled that a
defendant has a constitutional right to have a jury, rather than a judge,
decide the sentence in death penalty cases.
In April of last year, a Douglas County District Court judge allowed Montour to
withdraw his original plea, sending the case back to trial.
The judge, Richard B. Caschette, noted that when the defendant pleaded guilty
he was not represented by a defense attorney and he had a "documented history
of mental illness."
Montour's new defense attorney, David Lane, said his client has offered to
accept a sentence of life without any possibility of parole and "live in a
super-max solitary confinement cell for the rest of his life."
However, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler rejected the
life-sentence deal and is instead pursuing the death penalty against Montour.
"When a man already serving a life sentence for murder kills a prison guard, a
'new' life sentence defies justice, common sense, and makes the taking of Eric
Autobee???s life a 'freebie,'" Brauchler said.
(source: the denverchannel.com)
WYOMING:
Senator Reacts to Firing Squad Bill Being Shot Down
Earlier this week the Wyoming Senate voted not to consider legislation intended
to change the death penalty in Wyoming to firing squad for inmates on death
row. Sheridan Media's Ron Richter has more.
Senator Bruce Burns of Sheridan sponsored the bill and offered his opinion on
why the legislation failed.
Lethal injection is currently the method used in Wyoming, with the gas chamber
as backup. Burns said his motive for the legislation centered around the fact
that states have been having trouble acquiring the drugs used for lethal
injection.
When asked if the issue would be brought up again during next year's general
session, the senator had this to say.
The bill would have required approval by 2/3 of senators for introduction. It
failed Tuesday on a vote of 17 in favor, 13 opposed.
(source: Sheridan Media)
CALIFORNIA:
3 former California governors back proposed death penalty initiative
3 former California governors are set to announce their endorsement Thursday of
a proposed initiative sponsors say would end lengthy death penalty appeals and
speed up executions.
Former governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis will announce at
a news conference the launch of an initiative drive for signatures to qualify
the proposed constitutional amendment for the November ballot.
The measure, if qualified, would ignite the 2nd statewide debate on the death
penalty in 2 years.
A ballot proposal that would have ended capital punishment in California
narrowly lost in 2012, with 48% of voters in favor and 52% against.
The new proposal would establish 5-year court deadlines for deciding death row
appeals, transfer most death penalty cases from the California Supreme Court to
lower courts, and allow capital inmates to be spread among the general prison
population.
It also would require the condemned to work in prison, remove any threat of
state sanctions from doctors who advise the state on lethal injection
procedures, and exempt the execution protocols from a state administrative law
that requires extensive public review.
California now has more than 700 people on death row, and the last inmate was
executed in 2006.
The state currently has no court-approved method of lethally injecting the
condemned, and drugs to do so have been difficult to obtain. The state also has
had trouble recruiting lawyers willing to handle capital appeals, which can
take decades to be resolved in state and federal courts.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
WASHINGTON:
Momentum against death penalty continues as Washington State Governor announces
moratorium on executions
USA: momentum against death penalty continues as Washington State governor
announces moratorium on executions
I have decided to impose a moratorium on executions while I'm Governor of the
state of Washington...With my action today I expect Washington State will join
a growing national conversation about capital punishment
Governor Jay Inslee, Washington State, 11 February 2014
The "national conversation" about the death penalty in the USA has been given a
new topic to consider after the Governor of Washington State announced that he
would not allow anyone to be executed there while he is governor. Governor Jay
Inslee's current term in office is due to run until January 2017.
Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty unconditionally,
welcomes Governor Inslee's decision and urges him and all other officials in
the USA - at local, state, and federal level - to ensure that this
"conversation" is geared towards immediate and continuing action for abolition
of the death penalty across the country, as well as for a nationwide moratorium
pending removal of the death penalty from the statute books. All executions are
in the end a political choice, never a legal necessity. The choice should
always be to act against this cruel and brutalizing punishment.
In his announcement on 11 February 2014, Governor Inslee said that he had
re-evaluated his previous support for the death penalty. He pointed to the high
costs associated with the death penalty, coupled with "no credible evidence"
that it deters murder. At the same time, he said, the death penalty was
inconsistently applied and relatives of murder victims are forced to
"constantly revisit their grief at the additional court proceedings" necessary
in capital cases.
Washington State becomes the second US state in just over 2 years to see a
governor-imposed moratorium. In November 2011, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber
announced that he would allow no further executions while he was governor,
saying that he believed the death penalty to be "morally wrong", and the
capital justice system "broken".
And in May 2013, the Governor of Colorado granted an indefinite reprieve to a
state prisoner who was scheduled for execution. Governor John Hickenlooper
pointed to the question of arbitrariness in the death penalty system, as well
as referring to the national and international trends towards abolition:
"Internationally", he pointed out, "the United States is one of only a handful
of developed countries that still uses the death penalty as a form of
punishment. Approximately 2/3 of countries worldwide have abolished the death
penalty in law or in practice, largely due to concerns regarding human rights
violations."
It was in 2008 that the then most senior Justice on the US Supreme Court had
announced that after more than three decades on the Court he had concluded that
executions amounted to the "pointless and needless extinction of life". The
USA's continuing resort to the death penalty, Justice John Paul Stevens said,
was the product of "habit and inattention" on the part of government rather
than informed deliberation.
4 US states have broken the habit since then and legislated to abolish the
death penalty - New Mexico (2009), Illinois (2011), Connecticut (2012) and
Maryland (2013). Also, in 2007 New Jersey abolished the death penalty and the
last death sentence in New York State was commuted, following a 2004 court
ruling that its capital law violated the state's constitution.
The USA's growing isolation on the death penalty - 140 countries are
abolitionist in law or practice today - has also been expressly recognized in
the newly abolitionist US states. "From an international human rights
perspective", said New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson in 2009 when signing
the abolitionist bill in his state, "there is no reason the United States
should be behind the rest of the world on this issue". 2 years later, Governor
Pat Quinn of Illinois asserted that "we are taking an important step forward in
our history as Illinois joins the 15 other states and many nations of the world
that have abolished the death penalty". In 2012 Connecticut Governor Dannel P.
Malloy promised to sign his state's abolitionist bill into law, saying that his
state would be thereby joining the "16 other states and almost every other
industrialized nation in moving toward what I believe is better public policy".
When he announced in January 2013 that he was sending his state's legislature
an abolitionist bill, Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley also pointed to the
global picture, emphasising that abolitionist countries were "a much more
expansive community than the number who still use the death penalty". He asked:
"So who do we choose to be? In whose company do we choose to walk forward?"
adding that "the way forward is always found through greater respect for the
human dignity of all." The legislature voted for abolition and Maryland
subsequently became the 18th abolitionist state in the USA.
There is reason to be optimistic that more states will follow before too long.
On the same day as Governor Inslee announced the Washington State moratorium,
the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety in the New Hampshire House
of Representatives voted 14-3 to approve a bill to abolish the death penalty in
that state.
At the same time, the numbers of death sentences and executions each years have
markedly declined in the USA in recent years. But too many officials in too
many states are failing to build on the positive momentum and to offer the sort
of principled leadership consistent with what is expected of them under
international human rights law and standards. Many, for example, are currently
scrambling to find solutions to their states' lethal injection problems,
including considering reviving other methods of execution such as electrocution
or firing squad, rather than recognizing that the problem is the death penalty
itself.
Governor Inslee's decision comes just a few days before the 20th anniversary of
the now famous announcement by US Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun that,
after 2 decades of struggling to fashion a capital justice system that would be
consistent, fair and error-free, he would no longer "tinker with the machinery
of death". No combination of rules or regulations, he wrote in his 22 February
1994 dissent, could ever save capital punishment from its inherent flaws.
It seems that Governor Inslee is among the officials in the USA now recognizing
that these flaws make support for the death penalty untenable. The death
penalty, he said, was "unequally applied" in a system with "too many flaws",
and "when the ultimate decision is death, there is too much at stake to accept
an imperfect system."
He is right, and his decision to block any execution during his time in office
is entirely in keeping with repeated resolutions at the UN General Assembly
calling for a global moratorium on executions.
Others should now follow suit.
(source: Amnesty International USA)
**********************
In 1 US State, a Needed Death Penalty Reprieve
Citing serious flaws in Washington state's capital punishment system, Governor
Jay Inslee announced yesterday that he will issue reprieves for any death
penalty cases that come before him while he is in office.
In a statement, the 1st-term Democrat expressed concern about the unequal way
in which the death penalty is imposed and carried out in his state. He pointed
out that its use has sometimes depended on the budget of the county where the
crime was committed, since the costs involved are high. Since 1981, more than
1/2 of the 32 death sentences imposed in Washington state have been overturned.
"[W]hen the ultimate decision is death there is too much at stake to accept an
imperfect system," Inslee said. 9 men are currently on death row in the state.
Inslee is on the right side of history. He joins the governor of Oregon, John
Kitzhaber, who announced a moratorium on executions in 2011, and Colorado
governor John Hickenlooper, who used his reprieve power in a 2013 case,
expressing similar concerns with the flawed use of capital punishment. 18 US
states have abolished the death penalty, including 6 in just the past 6 years.
Seven states that still have the death penalty available on their books have
not executed anyone in the past 10 years.
Inslee announced he would not be commuting any sentences, but that the
reprieved prisoners would instead be serving life without possibility of parole
during his administration. Without a commutation or legislative abolition, a
future governor could withdraw the reprieves and reinstate the death penalty.
Inslee's decision is certainly a step in the right direction, though he should
have gone further and permanently commuted the sentences. Death as
government-sanctioned punishment is not only inherently cruel, it is unfixable;
fortunately, it is also becoming more and more unusual. The Washington state
legislature should follow suit next session and abolish the penalty outright.
(source: Human Rights Watch)
****************
State senator files bill to reverse death penalty moratorium
Gov. Jay Inslee faced scathing criticism of his decision to put a moratorium on
the death penalty while he is in office.
And late Tuesday, a state senator introduced a measure he says would reverse
the moratorium on executions.
Sen. Steve O'Ban, R-Tacoma, says the moratorium is a "misuse of (the
governor's) constitutional powers."
In a statement, he says his legislation would "prohibit a governor from
exercising his or her powers of clemency until after receiving a recommendation
from the state Clemency and Pardons Board." He says it's necessary "to avoid
the arbitrary or capricious use of the governor's pardoning power."
Critics point to the case of Monroe corrections officer Jayme Biendl. The
convict who killed her was already serving life without parole. Now, because of
the moratorium, Byron Scherf will not face the death penalty as long as Inslee
is in office.
"What happened to Jayme Biendl has affected every corrections officer in the
state," said Sen. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, "and they want to know that the
governor stands behind them."
Other Republican leaders were sharply critical of the governor for taking this
action in the middle of the legislative session.
"Instead of focusing on why people are out of work, why counties in this state
have high unemployment, we're having a press availability on the death
penalty," says Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler. "Must have been a slow
news day."
But Democratic Sen. Adam Kline of Seattle says Inslee has not abused his
authority.
"Absolutely not. The governor would have to sign every death warrant. It's his
choice do it or not to do it. I commend him," Kline says.
We caught up with Inslee after a rally on the Capitol steps and asked if he had
any regrets or 2nd thoughts.
"No, I'm at peace with this decision," Inslee says. "I respect everybody's
viewpoints on this, but our state needs to move forward with an equal,
cost-effective system that really does deter crime and I'm intent on getting
one."
(source: KIRO TV news)
******************
Lawmaker seeks to rein in governor on death penalty cases
Republicans are firing back against Gov. Jay Inslee's announcement that he is
suspending executions during his time in office by trying to restrain his
power.
Sen. Steve O'Ban, R-Tacoma, announced Wednesday that he is introducing
legislation that would limit the governor's ability to grant a universal
reprieve to people on death row.
State law authorizes the governor to grant pardons or commute a death sentence.
But O'Ban's legislation would prohibit a governor from exercising his or her
powers of clemency until after receiving a recommendation from the state
Clemency and Pardons Board.
The measure is a response to Inslee's Tuesday announcement that he plans to
halt executions in Washington state throughout his governorship. Right now, 9
men in Washington state are on death row.
O'Ban said that the governor overstepped his constitutional authority by
granting clemency to all men currently on death row without reviewing each case
or seeking a recommendation from the Clemency and Pardons Board.
The 5-member board advises the governor on petitions to grant clemency or
commute death-row sentences, and was established partly to consider a crime's
effect on a victim's family and the surrounding community.
O'Ban said the governor's blanket announcement that he will choose not to
execute death-row inmates subverts state policy as determined by the
Legislature.
"The governor has to follow a procedure the Legislature has set up, and he
didn't," O'Ban said Wednesday night. "The governor's role is to look on a
case-by-case basis at a particular death row inmate, and see if there was some
irregularity in the way the matter was prosecuted, or something like that.
That's his role."
"It's the Legislature's prerogative to decide if as a policy matter if we're
going to have this penalty for these aggravated, horrendous murders," O'Ban
said.
Inslee's announcement didn't abolish the death penalty in Washington, and
convicted felons could still be executed after he has left office. A
legislative action would be required to eliminate capital punishment in the
state.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement Tuesday that Inslee was
acting within his constitutional power in regards to the death penalty cases.
"Washington's Constitution and state statutes grant the governor significant
powers over the fate of individuals sentenced to death," Ferguson said in the
statement. "Consequently, the governor has the authority to hit the 'pause'
button for executions in Washington."
O'Ban said he expects a hearing will be held on his proposal soon, possibly
next week, in the Senate Law & Justice Committee.
It's not clear what potential O'Ban's plan has to move forward in the
Legislature. A deadline for bills to pass out of committees was Tuesday, and an
extraordinary legislative action would be necessary for the Senate to bring the
legislation up for a vote.
Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom, D-Medina, said Wednesday that his focus this
session remains on issues such as funding education and transportation.
"We're going to stick to the issues that really matter," Tom said.
David Postman, a spokesman for Inslee, said the governor's office would not
comment on O'Ban's proposal Wednesday night.
A bill had not been formally introduced Wednesday, but O'Ban said the proposed
legislation would be available for review Thursday morning.
(source: The News Tribune)
******************
Ex-Prisons Director Explains Why He Turned Against the Death Penalty
In 1993, when Dick Morgan was a captain in the Department of Corrections,
working at the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, he was asked to
play what he calls "a key role" in the execution of serial killer Westley Alan
Dodd. Morgan, who rose to become the DOC's director of prisons and retired in
2010, won't say exactly what that role was. But it put him in the death
chamber, where he watched Dodd die by hanging.
One thing he learned, he says, is that "there are over 100 people involved in
an execution." Among them are escorts for the families of victims and the
families of the condemned; escorts for the condemned himself; staffers who stay
with the media and those assigned to crowd control in front of the prison; and
not 1 but 2 teams of executioners, one ready to carry out the deed by hanging,
one by lethal injection. A last minute legal order, Morgan explains, could
change the way an execution has to be carried out.
"It's a huge operation," Morgan says. And it's one he ultimately turned
against, repelled both by what he terms "a colossal waste of money" and by the
"government overreach??? he considers killing inmates to be.
Morgan spoke with Seattle Weekly by phone from Walla Walla this afternoon, one
day after Governor Jay Inslee's declared a moratorium on death penalty. As the
governor did so, he cited unnamed former DOC administrators whom he said
opposed the death penalty. Morgan, who sits on the board of the Washington
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and has testified in the legislature
about his views, says he helped arrange a meeting in early February between
Inslee and former DOC secretaries Eldon Vail and Joe Lehman, both of whom
Morgan knew to have reservations about capital punishment. Morgan was supposed
to attend the meeting himself but was snowed in on the day.
After the Dodd execution, Morgan went on to participate two more, that of
Charles Campbell in 1994 and James Elledge in 2001. He says he considers them
all "monsters." At the same time, his more than 30 years in the prison system
leads him to believe that those on death row are indistinguishable from
thousands of other inmates who commit horrible crimes. "They're just ordinary
inmates," Morgan says of the condemned. "They blend right in."
In fact, he says that those on death row tend to be more manageable than those
who have committed lesser offenses and who are serving short sentences. Given
the inevitably lengthy appeals process, death row inmates know they're going to
be in prison for a long time and it become their "home," Morgan says. "They
want to make it as comfortable as possible and that means not causing trouble,"
he says.
Yet, he says death row inmates are treated as if they are unusually dangerous,
kept apart in separate facilities and unable to even go to a communal food
area. All their meals are brought to them, according to Morgan. That, of
course, only adds to the expense of capital punishment, costs quite apart from
the millions of dollars spent on death penalty trials and appeals.
Morgan acknowledges that some who work capital punishment feel differently. He
says former Penitentiary superintendent Tana Wood, Morgan's onetime boss,
supported the death penalty, for instance. He adds it was in part his loyalty
to her that made him accept when she asked him to work at the Dodd execution.
But he says that the closer you get to an execution, the more you really have
to wrestle with what you believe.
(source: Seattle Weekly)
****************
In Our View: Inslee Errs on Death Penalty----Washington governor's moratorium
on executions an affront to state's residents
Presumably following his conscience and effectively raising the level of
discussion on an important matter for Washingtonians, Gov. Jay Inslee has
placed a moratorium on executions in the state.
This, in some ways, is laudable. The practical application of the death penalty
is replete with moral and philosophical dilemmas - among them being inequity in
how the penalty is carried out; divergent interpretations and laws from state
to state; and the ever-present possibility of executing somebody who is, in
truth, innocent of the crimes for which they have been sentenced. Yet while all
of these issues must remain part of a continuing debate throughout the country,
Inslee's unilateral decision is an affront to Washington residents.
According to Washington law, the governor's oath of office reads in part: "I do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United
States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Washington ... ."
Washington's current death penalty law has been in place since 1981, and
whether or not Inslee approves, it is the law of the state and it is his sworn
duty to support it.
Inslee said that he will offer a reprieve to those on Washington's death row
but will not commute sentences, meaning prisoners will remain on death row
until a governor comes along who is willing to enforce the law. "Equal justice
under the law is the state's primary responsibility," Inslee said. "And in
death penalty cases, I'm not convinced equal justice is being served." In this
regard, he is not alone. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber declared in November 2011
that the death penalty is a "perversion of justice. I refuse to be part of this
compromised and inequitable system any longer, and I will not allow further
executions while I am governor."
Certainly, there have been perversions of justice with the death penalty. Yet
issuing a blanket moratorium is no less of a perversion for murder victims and
their families. As longtime Clark County residents can attest, the case of
Westley Allan Dodd - who was executed in 1993 after molesting and murdering 3
young boys in Vancouver - makes a powerful statement in favor of the death
penalty. It is difficult to envision how the interests of the people would have
been served by housing and feeding Dodd at state expense for the past 20 years;
it is difficult to argue that his punishment did not fit his crimes.
Currently, there are 9 men and no women on Washington's death row. The state
has carried out 1 execution in the past 12 years, and the governor has every
right to issue a moratorium. "Washington's Constitution and state statutes
grant the governor significant powers over the fate of individuals sentenced to
death," Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.
The key phrase here, however, appears to be "individuals" facing the death
penalty. If Inslee were to consider each pending execution on a case-by-case
basis, if he were to ponder whether justice was being served in each given
situation for the prisoner, the people of the state, and the family of the
victim - then his position would be defensible. Instead, he has taken an issue
that requires nuance and bludgeoned it with one sweeping generalization.
There is, undoubtedly, no guaranteed method for perfecting an imperfect system
when it comes to the death penalty. But it is the law in Washington, and it is
Inslee's duty to carry it out. The governor - and others - can make a strong
moral argument against the death penalty. But the people would be better served
if he took those arguments to the Legislature or the voters instead of issuing
a moratorium.
(source: Editorial, The Columbian)
USA:
Is the Death Penalty Dying?
Washington became the 8th state in 10 years to suspend the death penalty, as
growing numbers of Americans are opposing the practice.
The immediate consequence of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's decision to suspend
the state's death penalty Tuesday fits into a national trend. 8 states in the
past decade have rolled back the death penalty, an accelerated pace mimicking
the rapidly changing public opinion surrounding same-sex marriage that started
at the same time.
Public opinion over these 2 cultural wedge issues of the 1990s has changed
dramatically since that time. And in blue states, both public opinion and
public policy have moved significantly since Bill Clinton said Democrats
"should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent" with capital
punishment. (To prove he was tough on crime, Clinton left the campaign trail in
1992 to preside over the execution of convicted murderer Rickey Ray Rector.)
Clinton also later signed the Defense of Marriage Act barring federal
recognition of same-sex marriages 2 decades ago.
Now, more than 100 million people live in states without the death penalty.
Like Washington, Oregon's death-penalty rollback is a pause, not a full repeal:
Gov. John Kitzhaber announced a moratorium on executions in 2011. 6 other
states have permanently ended capital punishment since 2004. New York kicked
things off with a court decision that year finding capital punishment
unconstitutional, a verdict finalized in 2007. That's the year New Jersey
enacted the country's 1st death-penalty repeal legislation in decades. New
Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland all followed suit in the last 7
years. No states had moved to undo their death penalties in the 20 years before
New York did a decade ago.
The same day that Inslee announced his decision in Washington, a state House
committee in New Hampshire voted 14-3 to advance a death-penalty repeal bill
there. According to the Concord Monitor, some of the supporters had previously
voted against repealing capital punishment.
Washington's move is a temporary one, but Inslee said Tuesday that a goal of
his decision was to push the state to decide more permanently if it still wants
to impose death on some criminals. "With my action today I expect Washington
state will join a growing national conversation about capital punishment,"
Inslee said in a speech. "I welcome that and I'm confident that our citizens
will engage in this very important debate."
Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center,
said states that impose moratoriums often go on to abolish the death penalty
entirely. "New Jersey had a moratorium and eventually became an abolition
state," Dieter said. "Illinois took 11 years and a number of governors before
they abolished it, but it did end up that way. But there have been states where
executions were on hold and they got back to them. One governor doesn't control
things."
Support for the death penalty for murders, which peaked at 80 % in 1994,
according to Gallup, has declined markedly since. The last time the polling
company measured public opinion, in October, support was down to 60 %, the
lowest mark since the 1970s.
While support for capital punishment trends downward, support for same-sex
marriage has swung up at about the same rate, from 27 % in 1996 to 54 % last
year, again according to Gallup. And again, 17 mostly Democratic-leaning states
have moved to allow same-sex marriages, starting with Massachusetts via a court
decision in 2004.
Both overlapping collections of states - those without a death penalty and
those with same-sex marriage - are clustered in the Northeast and Upper Midwest
and on the West Coast. President Obama won every state that legalized same-sex
marriage in both 2008 and 2012 and recorded the same perfect record in the
states that have rolled back capital punishment, too.
So far, Republican-leaning states haven't joined the last decade worth of
activity on the death penalty and same-sex marriage, reflecting how public
opinion on both issues does remain polarized. But the burst of legislation,
court decisions, and gubernatorial decisions in these blue states demonstrate
how these 2 "culture war" issues of 2 decades past have joined the political
mainstream.
(source: National Journal)
****************
Ohio's botched execution increases resolve to save David Hammer----by Sr.
Camille D'Arienzo
Jan. 17 dawned dull and gray. Strewn at curbside were the last of Christmas
trees destined to be mulched; the cheerful lights they used to wear were packed
away and the church was inviting us to settle into Ordinary Time.
There was nothing ordinary in a headline in that morning's news: "Ohio killer's
execution takes almost 25 minutes," it reported about the previous day's
events.
News accounts described the long, agonizing expiration of Dennis McGuire, the
condemned man who'd been given a new combination of lethal drugs. His attorney,
Allen Bohnert, said the people of Ohio should be appalled by what was done in
their name. McGuire's daughter, a witness to the execution, was horrified at
her father's protracted suffering.
There was no mention of McGuire's execution at morning Eucharist in my parish
church, but memories of what I'd read earlier on the Internet infused my
prayers and strengthened my resolve to encourage my companions to intensify
efforts to end the use of capital punishment. A dozen of these companions form
the Cherish Life Circle, which meets regularly to explore new ways to promote
this goal and to provide services for families of murder victims.
Of particular concern for us is David Paul Hammer, who was sentenced to death
in 1998 for taking the life of a cellmate. David is in the Special Confinement
Unit of the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Converted to Catholicism
in 2000, he received the sacraments from Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of
Indianapolis and, since then, has evidence of a stunning growth in faith and
concern for others. He is known internationally for his artistic contributions
to Christmas cards sold to raise money to help children in need, many of whom
have suffered the deprivation and abuse that characterized his own childhood.
I have served as his spiritual guide, in concert with Providence Sr. Rita Clare
Gerardot, who visits David biweekly. Members of the Cherish Life Circle
correspond with David and hold him in their hearts. In a few months, David will
face a new trial that will either enforce his death sentence or give him life
without parole.
The Gospel read the day that reported Ohio's botched execution was from Mark
2:1-12. It described creativity in sync with our urgency to save David from
being executed. It told of a few men intent on bringing a helpless paralytic to
Jesus in the hope that he would heal him. Denied ordinary access, they made a
hole in the roof above the room where Jesus was speaking and lowered the man to
where Jesus could tend to him.
Inspired by such courageous ingenuity and appalled by the use of the death
penalty, our Cherish Life Circle had decided to launch a petition drive to
appeal to Pope Francis to intervene on behalf of David and to seek an end to
the use of the death penalty in our country. The way is not yet clear, but
there is no doubt that God will send a star to guide us.
(source: National Catholic Reporter)
*****************
Could Obstacles to Lethal Injection Lead to an End to the Death Penalty?
Access to required anesthetic agents for a lethal injection is quickly
disappearing, leaving the future of the death penalty in the United States in
question.
"Because the European Union opposes the death penalty, it prohibits the export
of goods for executions [and] requires a time-consuming preauthorization review
for every shipment of a potential 'dual use' pharmaceutical," says Rebecca
Dresser, JD, biomedical ethics expert and professor of law and medicine at
Washington University in St. Louis.
This blockage makes it particularly difficult for states that use the death
penalty to obtain anesthetic agents required in the 3-drug protocol for lethal
injections. This protocol involves an anesthetic to induce unconsciousness, a
paralytic to induce a sustained paralysis of muscles and potassium chloride to
stop the heart. Without the anesthetic, the injection would cause extreme and
prolonged pain that could violate the Eighth Amendment's probation against
cruel and unusual punishment.
Dresser discusses the impact of the limited access to lethal injection drugs in
a recent issue of The Hastings Center Report.
"Although the death penalty still has significant support, public support for
alternatives to the death penalty is increasing," Dresser writes.
"Capital cases are expensive, and state budgets are tight. High costs and
concern about erroneous convictions have led a few states to abolish the death
penalty in recent years. Barriers to obtaining lethal injection drugs could
lead more states to do away with the death penalty altogether."
Missouri is a prime example of a state dealing with limited access to lethal
injection drugs. The state recently scrapped a plan to execute a murderer using
propofol as the anesthetic after receiving significant pressure from drug
companies. And the state's Attorney General has proposed restoring the state's
gas chamber to bypass the hassles associated with lethal injection.
(source: Newswise)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
