Nov. 17
PENNSYLVANIA:
Sister of convicted killer: "He's not some monster"
A Monroe County man found guilty of murdering and dismembering a woman will
soon learn his fate.
The same jury that convicted Charles Ray Hicks of murder in the 2008 death of
Deanna Null will determine his punishment.
The 40-year-old faces the death penalty or life in prison.
Hicks was found guilty of 1st degree murder and other charges on Friday, after
more than a week of testimony.
On Monday, the jury heard from a new panel of witnesses hoping to save his
life.
For the 1st time since the beginning of the trial, Hicks' family members
entered the courtroom.
"I love my family," Hicks told reporters Monday.
His mom and 2 sisters walked into the courtroom fighting back tears.
They were later called as witnesses.
His mother, Emma Hicks, was the 1st witness called upon by the defense.
The Texas-native told jurors a death-sentence would pain her to the core.
"Words can't describe how difficult that would be. Almost unimaginable," said
Emma Hicks.
Hicks' mother also told jurors her son was a high school athlete and enlisted
in the U.S. Navy in 2004.
His oldest sister, Charlotte, said her son looked up to him.
"I don't want him to see his uncle die." Charlotte Hicks said with teary eyes.
"Even though things have happened, I still know he is a good person and a role
model for my son."
An ex-fianee told jurors she only saw Hicks become violent or unruly once.
She claimed he was high at the time, and said she later called off the wedding
because of Hicks' drug habit.
Psychiatrist Kenneth Weiss testified Hicks has a history of mental illness. He
is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and on at least 2 occasions tried to commit
suicide, he said.
"He had tried to cut his wrists. That's when I knew," said Charlotte Hicks.
Defense attorney Robin Spishock described Hicks as a "model prisoner."
Prosecutors are looking to prove Hicks undoubtedly and intentionally tortured
Null.
Null's body parts were found along 2 highways in Monroe and Lackawanna counties
in 2008.
Her severed hands were discovered in Hicks' home in Tobyhanna, according to
investigators.
Hicks can only be sentenced to death if the jury's decision is unanimous.
The hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday morning.
(source: WFMZ news)
VIRGINIA:
Use of Death Penalty Declines in Virginia
Virginia has executed more people in its history than any other state,
according to the Death Penalty Information Center. However, on Friday U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder took the death penalty off the table for 4 people
charged in the death of reserve police officer Kevin Quick. Daniel Mathis,
Shantai Shelton, Mersadies Shelton and Kweli Uhuru could instead face life in
prison.
CBS19 legal analyst Scott Goodman says one of the factors that may have gone
into Holder's decision was the number of defendants in the Quick case, and that
several possible key witnesses are also charged, or have pleaded guilty, to
crimes relating to Quick's death.
"The prosecution in this case has no doubt that they have the right people that
are involved in the murder, but they may have some doubt on the relative
culpability; whether they can rely on what some of the witnesses are telling
them about who is the most responsible," Goodman said.
Goodman says ages of the individuals, lack of a prior violent record, and
mental capacity can also play into the decision to take the death penalty off
the table in any given case.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, executions in Virginia have
seen a sharp decline from a peak of 57 inmates on death row in 1995 to 8
presently. Goodman says up until the 1970's the criteria was not as strict for
imposing the death penalty as it is now.
"There was a time when you could impose the death penalty if it wasn't even a
murder, a serious rape, people have been executed for that." Goodman said.
"Depravity of mind, mutilation of the body, multiple stab wounds, only those
types of murders qualify for the death penalty and those are a minority of the
murders committed."
2 former Former Virginia Attorneys General have called for changes to the
state's death penalty to minimize the risk of executing an innocent person
based on a September 2013 report from the American Bar Association.
Capt. Kevin Quick went missing in January 2014, and his body was found in
Goochland County days later. The 4 people charged in Quick's death are
scheduled to go on trial in May.
(source: newsplex.com)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Prosecution still deciding whether to seek death penalty in Kevin Millner
homicide
The Guilford County district attorney's office is still deciding if it will
seek the death penalty in the case of a man charged with shooting and killing a
man in a hotel parking lot.
Montray Deboris Price, 21, of 1706-B Maplewood Lane is charged with 1st-degree
murder in the death of Kevin Christopher Millner, 32. Millner was found shot
dead in a car in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express at 4305 Big Tree
Way on Sept. 2.
Prosecutor Chris Parrish said the district attorney's office has not decided if
it will seek the death penalty in Price's case, should he be found guilty.
"It's too early in the process," he said.
Several members of Price's family were in Guilford County Superior Court on
Monday to support Price.
Millner's family and Samantha Yost, Millner's girlfriend, were not there.
Parrish said he had called to tell them there would be no decision on Monday.
He was unaware Price's family would be there, he said. Also charged in
Millner's homicide are Craig Deonte Hairston, 25, and Colby Wade Watkins, 29,
both of Danville, Va. Hairston also is charged with 1st-degree murder and
felony conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. Watkins is charged
with felony conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.
(source: News-Record)
GEORGIA:
Starved woman expected to survive; DA considers death penalty for suspects
It isn't an easy consolation to accept, but Iasia Sweeting's family has come to
believe her daughter didn't die in vain. Instead, they believe the 15-month-old
died so that her mother might live.
"That was our immediate feeling," said Darnell Morgan, a cousin of the
malnourished 21-year-old woman who was rescued by police last week from a
Peachtree Corners hotel and is expected to recover. "She's definitely going to
survive. There's no doubt about that."
Sweeting, a former DeKalb School of the Arts student, is recovering at Gwinnett
Medical Center after being found in dire need of treatment in the Extended Stay
America hotel, where her deceased daughter was also reportedly deprived of food
for "misbehavior." The family says Sweeting has begun to speak again and that
tests have come back showing no life-threatening damage to her gaunt body.
"Assuming her condition doesn't take a turn, the now 59-pound woman - whose
family says she was abducted 4 years ago - will be a key witness in the state's
case against her alleged tormenters, suspected cult members accused of starving
the mother and baby.
"Considering the nature of disturbing case, District Attorney Danny Porter said
Monday he may pursue the death penalty, though he was cautious not to lean one
way yet.
"It's certainly something I'm going to look at," Porter said.
Calvin Mcintosh, 44, the father of the baby and a suspected member of
separatist group the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, and his daughter Najlaa
Mcintosh, 23, are accused of murder in baby Alcenti Mcintosh's death, along
with a litany of other charges. Calvin Mcintosh is also accused of raping and
fathering 2 children with Najlaa, who reportedly claims to be pregnant yet
again.
Porter said he needed to do more research before deciding what punishment to
seek on the murder charges. He's planning meet with medical examiners and
experts to decide if capital punishment would be appropriate, as he believes it
is in the case of the death of a 10-year-old Lawrenceville girl who was
allegedly starved by her parents.
"We've decided to seek the death penalty in the Emani Moss case. Part of that's
based on the idea that, for a child that age it, would take 30 days to starve
her to death," Porter said. "I just don't know if the same thing applies with a
15-month-old. The good news is the child's mother survived. We'll get a better
sense of what was happening in that hotel room than we have."
Police searched room 310 at the hotel last Tuesday after Calvin Mcintosh
reportedly brought the 15-month-old to Northside Hospital in Sandy Springs. The
child was pronounced dead on arrival and the man told officers she had died at
the Extended Stay America on Jimmy Carter Boulevard, according to a police
report.
Upon arrival there, police found Sweeting lying on the floor, wrapped in
blankets and presumably not far from death. Three children - a 5-year-old and
two 3-year-olds - in the room were also believed to be severely malnourished.
Police said 2 of the children were fathered by Calvin Mcintosh with his
daughter. One of the 3-year-olds belonged to Calvin Mcintosh and Sweeting.
Sweeting's mother is attempting to get custody of the child from the state.
Sweeting's family says she had been living the hotel for some time after Calvin
Mcintosh "coerced" her away from DeKalb County in 2010, though they were never
able to make contact with her to attempt to bring her home. Mcintosh wasn't
charged in Sweeting's disappearance, as police ruled her a runaway. Later, she
was stopped by a Gwinnett police officer and reportedly wasn't interested in
going home.
Before the reunion last week, the family had been dogged in attempting to track
down Sweeting. Her mother heard she had been seen at the hotel and went there
every month hoping to see her. Morgan, Sweeting's cousin, said he once pulled
the fire alarm to draw residents outside, but the residents had apparently
grown accustomed to regular false alarms and ignored it.
Morgan said his cousin and the rest of the family is now focusing on moving
forward.
"Everything is about future care," he said. "She's going to need at least a
home health aid, she's going to need a hospital bed, she's going to need a
psychiatrist."
(source: Gwinnett Daily Post)
LOUISIANA:
Louisiana delays executions until late June, The Lens reports
Louisiana has put state executions on hold until after at least June 25, when
legal proceedings over the constitutionality of Louisiana's method of putting
prisoners to death will be taken up next in court, according to The Lens.
Lawyers for Christopher Sepulvado, who was sentenced to death for killing a
child in a brutal manner, have been challenging Louisiana's lethal injection
protocol for the last several months.
The state intended to administer the same drug on Sepulvado that was used in
botched executions in Ohio and Oklahoma. Questions were raised about whether
Louisiana's lethal injection drugs would cause undue pain to Sepulvado and
other people killed by the state.
Several states, including Louisiana, are having a difficult time securing a
drug they prefer to use for executions. Many suppliers no longer want to
provide the drug if it will be used to administer the death penalty. This means
states are relying on new formulas, which could be leading to the execution
problems.
The June death penalty delay means the Louisiana Legislature's next session
will come and go before another person is executed. Lawmakers took up a few
bills that would have altered the proceedings around the death penalty last
year, though none ended up passing into law. It's possible execution protocol
could change before June as a result of the 2015 session.
The Legislature has already set up a committee to examine the cost of carrying
out the death penalty. There is also a study underway to research the best ways
to administer executions -- possibly looking into alternatives to lethal
injection for Louisiana.
(source: nola.com)
OHIO:
Brothers in Barberton triple murder seek plea deal to avoid death penalty
2 brothers accused in the New Year's Eve triple murder of a family in Barberton
are negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty.
Michael and Eric Hendon both appeared in court on Monday in Akron. The pair is
accused of shooting and killing John Kohler and his 2 children, Ashley and
David, in their Barberton home.
Ronda Blankenship, who survived the shooting, was also in the courtroom.
Defense lawyers and the Summit County Prosecutor's Office tried to hammer out a
deal, but after 3 hours of negotiations, no agreement was reached.
The plea deal could include life in prison with no chance of parole for the
shooter, and maybe a life sentence with a possibility of parole for the other.
The prosecution received a confession from one of the brothers earlier in the
case.
The Hendons are due back in court next week for an update on a possible plea
agreement.
(source: WOIO news)
********************
Akron police union president calls for execution of accused Akron cop killer
The president of the Akron police union believes that the man accused of
killing an off-duty police officer and wounding 4 others should be sentenced to
the death penalty.
Paul Hlynsky, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge No. 7,
said on Monday that officers will ask prosecutors to seek the death penalty for
Kenan Ivery, 35. He is charged with aggravated murder and 5 counts of felonious
assault in Akron Municipal Court.
A judge ordered Ivery held without bond at his initial court appearance on
Monday. He is scheduled for another hearing on Tuesday. The Summit County
Prosecutors decide whether or not to present evidence to a grand jury for the
death penalty.
The grand jury ultimately decides if the case will move forward with death
specifications.
Ivery is accused of fatally shooting Officer Justin Winebrenner, 32, and
wounding 4 others, including David Wokaty, 34, Michael Capes, 41, Jennifer
Imhoff, 41, and off-duty officer Thomas Russell, 51.
"We're terribly upset about it. We lost one of our buddies, our members our
comrades," Hlynsky said. "There's no way to take away this pain. He's a hero to
us. We won't rest until this guy is executed."
Winbrenner was a 7-year police veteran, a father of a 4-year-old girl and
engaged to be married to an employee of Papa Don's Pub, where the shooting
happened.
Akron Police Chief James Nice said Winebrenner, Wokaty and Capes saved peoples'
lives when Ivery opened fire on the bar early Sunday morning.
Nice detailed what he observed on surveillance video taken from the bar. He
said Ivery was escorted out of the building once by an employee earlier in the
night. The 2 talked for about 5 minutes.
Ivery returned to the bar later with a gun, Nice said. Winebrenner, Capes and
Wokaty all noticed Ivery toting a gun, Nice said. Wokaty is a bouncer at the
bar and Capes was a patron.
All 3 rushed Ivery as he pulled his gun, Nice said. Some shots were fired
inside the bar and others were fired after the group shoved Ivery outside, Nice
said.
Winebrenner was struck in the chest and Capes in the foot, according to Nice
and court records.
"Their conduct is heroic," Nice said.
1 man suffered major injuries but is recovering. Another suffered injuries to
his leg. The 2 others were shot in the arm and in the torso.
No one other than Ivery fired a shot in the bar, Nice said.
"It's just a guess, but many people would have been shot," Nice said. "5 were
shot as is, 3 that actually addressed him directly. Had he not been forced out
by these individuals, many people would have been shot."
Hlynsky said Ivery was lucky he was taken alive considering he was found when
it was dark and officers knew he had a gun.
"The hatred for him is so bad here," Hlynsky said of Ivery. "Believe me, I'd
like to take a crack at this guy and so would a lot of other people here."
Fundraisers, memorials set
Memorials and fundraisers are being set up in Winebrenner's honor. Donations
can be sent to the Officer Winebrenner Memorial Fund at the Akron Police Credit
Union, 217 S. High Street, Room 508, Akron, Ohio.
A vigil is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the East Market Street United Church
of Christ.
(source: cleveland.com)
ARKANSAS:
Machete Killing Victims Drunk At Time Of Death, Medical Examiner Testifies
The Fort Smith man accused of slashing 2 men to death with a machete last year
began his murder trial Monday in Sebastian County Circuit Court.
Gregory Kinsey is charged with 2 counts of capital murder in the June 2013
deaths of Brandon Prince and Nathan Young. Prosecutor Dan Shue said he is
seeking the death penalty in the case.
Attorneys for both sides delivered opening statements Monday morning, before
the prosecution moved on to calling witnesses. A medical examiner testified
blood tests showed Prince had a .22 blood-alcohol level at the time of his
death, while Young's blood-alcohol level was .10.
A neighbor who said he witnessed the killing also testified and said Kinsey
approached the men and told them, "I am Satan," before the altercation.
Kinsey's attorney said the suspect acted in self-defense during the incident,
and he was provoked by Prince and Young, along with another man who survived
the machete altercation.
Authorities found Prince and Young dead from extensive cuts outside a duplex on
North D Street near downtown Fort Smith. Investigators said Kinsey killed both
of them with a machete he was carrying at the time of his arrest. During his
investigation, Kinsey told authorities he was walking home from the Dollar
Store when he was approached by the group of three men who became
argumentative.
Kinsey told police he attacked Prince and Young after he told them to back off
and felt they wouldn't let him go. Kinsey has been behind bars, without bond,
at the Sebastian County Detention Center since his arrest that night.
The trial comes after several resets in the case so that both sides could
properly prepare. Authorities released surveillance video last year showing
Kinsey at a nearby Dollar General buying paper towels, soda and tea bags the
night of the incident. Moments later, police said he and 2 men fought in an
alley near the store.
911 calls at the time indicate that the confrontation had turned violent.
911: "Where's your emergency?"
Caller: "I need an ambulance at 1618 North D like right now, I don't know what
just happened someone is bleeding to death."
The 911 call continues, as a frantic neighbor describes the scene and comforts
screaming children in the background.
Police found the bloody Dollar General bags inside Kinsey's home, according to
court documents. They also seized several knives from his home.
According to the medical examiner, Young's cause of death was "multiple chop
wounds," while Prince sustained "injury to axillary artery due to chop wound of
left arm."
Video was also released of Kinsey interviewing with police after his arrest. In
the video Kinsey offered his account of what happened, telling officers, "He
(Nathan) asked me why I was creeping around in the shadows like that. I became
angry. I tossed my bags and yelled and told him, 'Please, I don't want to go to
prison today.'"
Kinsey told police he had a clear mind at the time of the attack and once it
began he described feeling like he was watching a movie.
"I remember he tried to flee, but I don't think I registered it at the time. I
pursued him. I kept trying... I wasn't trying to kill him. I was trying to
incapacitate him. It's just once I started swinging, I just kept swinging,"
said Kinsey to police.
Judge Stephen Tabor issued what attorneys called a "partial gag order" in the
case. The order blocked some photos from being released, including 2 photos of
Young and Prince taken at the crime scene as well as photos from inside
Kinsey's home.
2 videos from Kinsey's cell phone were also blocked from being released.
Before the gag order was issued, though, photographs were released showing the
inside of Kinsey's apartment, where walls were smeared with a red substance,
showing finger-marks and handprints
(source: KFSM news)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Execution date nears for Missouri man
Attorneys for a Missouri man scheduled to be executed this week are asking the
courts and Gov. Nixon to spare his life, alleging that race played a role in
his death sentence.
Leon Taylor is scheduled to die by injection at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for
killing an Independence, Missouri, gas station attendant during a robbery in
1994. He would be the 9th man put to death in Missouri this year and the 11th
since November 2013.
Taylor is black. The victim of the crime, Robert Newton, was white.
The jury at Taylor's trial deadlocked on sentencing, and a judge imposed death.
The Missouri Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing, and an all-white jury
opted for the death penalty.
(source: Associated Press)
SOUTH DAKOTA----nex execution date
Warrant of execution issued for Rodney Berget
A warrant of execution has been issued for a man convicted of killing a South
Dakota correctional officer.
Attorney General Marty Jackley announced Monday that the execution of Rodney
Scott Berget has been scheduled for May of 2015. The warrant states the
execution will take place between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. during
the week of May 3 through May 9 of 2015.
A specific time and date will be selected by the warden of the State
Penitentiary, Jackley said. Per South Dakota law, the warden will announce the
date within 48 hours of the execution.
Berget was convicted and received the death penalty for his role in a 2011
prison escape attempt that resulted in the killing of correctional officer
Ronald Johnson. Another inmate charged in Johnson's death, Eric Robert, was
executed in 2012.
(source: KSFY news)
COLORADO:
Death penalty expert off prosecution team in Aurora theater shooting
case----Dan Zook, who previously tried 4 death penalty cases as a prosecutor in
El Paso County, came to the 18th Judicial District in early 2013 specifically
to work on the trial of accused theater shooter James Holmes
An experienced death penalty prosecutor brought to the Arapahoe County district
attorney's office to handle the Aurora theater shooting trial is no longer on
the case.
But according to state records and recent case filings, he is no longer on the
case. Michelle Yi, a spokeswoman for District Attorney George Brauchler said
Monday that Zook is no longer with the DA's office, but said she could not
comment further because of a gag order in the case.
According to the Colorado Supreme Court's attorney registration database, Zook
is still registered as a lawyer with the DA's office, but his law license is
listed as "inactive." According to the Colorado Office of Attorney
Registration, Zook's license has been inactive since March.
Zook last appeared in court for a hearing in the Holmes case in October 2013,
according to court records. He was listed as one of the prosecutors in court
documents until August.
Zook did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.
In a statement announcing Zook's hiring last year, Brauchler said Zook is an
experienced prosecutor well-versed in capital cases.
"Dan is the most experienced death penalty prosecutor in the state of Colorado
and a national expert on these cases. He brings a wealth of talent to our
office and will be a valuable addition to our team. His career shows his
dedication to achieving justice for the people of the state of Colorado,"
Brauchler said at the time.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding dozens more during a July 20,
2012, shooting rampage at an Aurora movie theater. He has pleaded not guilty by
reason of insanity and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
He is due in court Tuesday for a hearing about what images the judge will allow
to be admitted at his trial next year.
(source: Aurora Sentinel)
USA:
Eric Holder Shares His Feelings On The Death Penalty
This interview was reported for The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news
organization that just launched. For more criminal justice news produced and
curated by The Marshall Project, sign up for their email. You can also like
them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.
Bill Keller and Tim Golden of The Marshall Project spoke with Holder in
Brooklyn, where he was visiting a widely praised drug court. The transcript has
been edited for length and clarity.
The Marshall Project: You've been pretty outspoken on criminal justice issues
across the board - more outspoken than your boss, actually. What would you
single out as your proudest accomplishment in the area of the criminal justice
system, and what would you single out as your biggest disappointment?
Holder: In January 2013 I told the people in the Justice Department after the
re-election that I wanted to focus on reforming the federal criminal justice
system. I made an announcement in August of that year in San Francisco, when we
rolled out the Smart on Crime initiative. It was a way of breaking some really
entrenched thinking and asking prosecutors, investigators, the bureaucracy - to
think about how we do our jobs in a different way - to ask the question of
whether excessively long prison sentences for nonviolent offenders really
served any good purpose, how we used enhancement papers, moving discretion to
prosecutors and asking them to make individualized determinations about what
they should do in cases, as opposed to have some big policy sent to them from
Washington.
And I think that by and large - not without opposition, to be totally honest -
the federal system has embraced that vision. And I think that we have started
to see the kind of changes that I hoped we would see.
And the biggest disappointment?
I'm proud of the fact that - in 2010, I guess - we reduced that ratio, the
crack-powder ratio from 100-to-1 to about 17- or 18-to-1. I'm still
disappointed that, given the lack of a pharmacological distinction between
crack and cocaine, the ratio is not 1-to-1. You know, it was the product of a
lot of hard work that the president was intimately involved in. But I think he
would agree with me that that number should be at 1-to-1. Before the 2nd term
is over, could there be a push for a 1-to-1 ratio?
That is something that I know the president believes in, that I believe in. One
of the things that I'd like to see happen before the end of this administration
is that there would be a drug court in every district in this country. As I
speak to my successor, the 83rd attorney general, and as I speak to the
president, I'm going to push them to make that a goal for this administration,
to have a drug court in every district by the end of Barack Obama's 2nd term.
While we're on the subject of drugs, a lot of people, including your choice to
be the head of the Civil Rights Division, have pointed out that marijuana
accounts for an awful lot of the excessive incarceration in this country, and a
fair amount of the disproportionate numbers of African-Americans who are in
that system. You've held back from calling for marijuana decriminalization.
What holds you back?
I think the question of how these drugs get scheduled and how they are
ultimately treated is something for Congress to work on. I think we've pushed.
We have done an awful lot. You look at what's going on now in Colorado and
Washington and the way we've dealt with those initiatives, identifying the 8
priority areas that we thought still would warrant federal involvement, and yet
if you look at where we are now with those states and with what other states
are doing, and the way we view the whole issue of the use of medical marijuana,
we're in a fundamentally different place than we were when Barack Obama became
president and I became attorney general.
So I think we've made significant progress in looking at that drug in a more
realistic way. But I think our society has to ask itself the question of how
ultimately we are going to view the use of marijuana.
Are you saying that you and the president can't afford to get too far ahead of
public opinion on this?
The enforcement policies that this administration has undertaken, in its
decision not to sue, for example, in Colorado - not to try to preempt those
laws in Colorado and Washington - really shows leadership. And it took guts for
the president to do what he did, what we did together. So I don't think it's a
question of following public opinion. I think that we have taken leadership
positions.
What we have learned through other huge societal changes is that we can lead,
we can point the way, but society has to come along. I can think of a couple of
different areas where I don't think that was done, where we sought to impose
things. And I think that has led to controversy where, if given a little more
time, society would have gotten to a better place.
Would you predict that the ultimate outcome of this evolution on marijuana is
that it's decriminalized?
I certainly think that you're going to see decriminalization efforts be more
widespread around the country. I'm not sure exactly where it will ultimately
end up. And I'm not sure what we see in Colorado and Washington are necessarily
predictions of the future.
Mass incarceration is one of the very few areas in today's policy world where
there actually is some common ground between right and left. When you have Cory
Booker and Rand Paul cosponsoring legislation and Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry
adding these issues to their agenda - how significant is that?
It's both jaw-dropping and heart-warming to see that an issue that is that
important can get people from such disparate political views together. To think
that you can have Rick Perry, Eric Holder, Rand Paul, Newt Gingrich, Dick
Durbin, Patrick Leahy all essentially agreeing - there might be some
disagreement about approaches on the fringes - with the basic notion that mass
incarceration is not financially sustainable and also is not just, not fair. To
get some of the most conservative members of the Republican Party agreeing with
the Democratic Black Caucus is something that bodes well for what I think needs
to happen in this country.
We have 5 percent of the world's population, 25 % of the people in
incarceration. That's not something that we can sustain. 1/3 of the budget at
the Justice Department now goes to the Bureau of Prisons, and if you look out
to 2020, it goes up to 40, 45 % or so. Which squeezes out the other things we
want to do with regard to other areas of crime that we want to focus on, other
initiatives that we want to support.
And then if you look at the impact that mass incarceration has on communities
from which these people are extracted, it leads to broken families, it leads to
social dysfunction, it tends to breed more crime. So - look, I'm a prosecutor
first and foremost, and as a judge I put people in jail for extended periods of
time when that was appropriate. Smart on Crime says if you commit violent
crimes you should go to jail, and go to jail for extended periods of time. For
people who are engaged in non-violent crimes - any crimes, for that matter - we
are looking for sentences that are proportionate to the conduct that you
engaged in.
Have you reached out to any of these figures on the right? Personally?
Oh, yeah. We had lunch with Rand Paul. I've had breakfast with some of my more
interesting adversaries in Judiciary hearings - Trey Gowdy, Jason Chaffetz. We
had these kinds of conversations where I think there was a growing realization
that we have to change things. You know, this war on drugs that we've been
involved in for 30, 35 years.... We have not considered all the collateral
impacts of the war on drugs, and I think people are now prepared to do that,
and not tar the people who are asking these questions with being "soft on
crime." It doesn't have that political resonance that it once did, so I think
people are willing to step up and take some changes to do what they believe,
and I believe, is the right thing.
Given all that, why hasn't the Smarter Sentencing Act become law?
I think it was - and I want to say "was" - a victim of the dysfunction, the
gridlock in Washington D.C., where a lot of good ideas go to die. After the
election, next year, I'm actually optimistic that a version of that act will
become law. I think the stars are kind of lined up.
Looking at the realignment process in California and other experiments that are
out there in reducing incarceration, do you worry at all about the danger of a
race to the bottom, in which states and counties are much more eager to get
people out of prison and stop paying for it than they are to pay for the
housing and social services that will assure a lower crime rate in the future?
If this is done correctly you not only save money, you keep the American people
safe by cutting down on the recidivism rate.
But this cannot be seen as simply something that is cost-saving, because that
would potentially lead to states' doing exactly what you say: racing to the
bottom, and just trying to push people out of prison.
I think people who have responsibility for the criminal justice systems around
the country understand that if you do that you???re really only putting people
out for some short period of time before they ultimately come back. So there
has to be a greater emphasis on rehabilitation while people are in prison, and
then reentry efforts to prepare them to exit prison.
Did you notice, or have any reaction to, the news that the Koch brothers
recently donated money to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
to help support indigent defense?
I was not aware of that. That's a good thing to hear - people from very
different places along the ideological spectrum understanding that we have to
make our criminal justice system more fair. It's about 51 years or so after
Gideon, and there are way too many people on the civil side, as well as the
criminal side, who don't have their legal needs met. There's a justice gap. And
to hear that the Koch brothers would be contributing money in that way is
something that I think should be applauded.
I was at a conference not long ago with some U.S. attorneys who were upbraided
by one of the federal defenders who said, we're doing all kinds of innovative
stuff and coming up with new programs and bearing a disproportionate share of
the responsibility for solving these problems. But we're way underfunded, and
you, the Justice Department, could be doing a whole lot more to help us. Why
aren't you?
We are. The Access to Justice Initiative has not only been something that has
shared best practices. We have, to the extent that we could, funded different
ideas around the country, tried to raise the consciousness of various states,
usually through their court systems, to fund indigent defense. So, yeah, we
understand that there is a financial component to this, there is a resource
component to this issue. The people who work for me, assistant U.S. attorneys
in many of our offices, have caseloads that are way too large, but, boy, you
look at the average public defender, and the amount of time that they are
allowed to spend with a client before they have to enter into a courtroom and
try to zealously defend that person - those caseloads are just, well, they???re
just unbearable. Just unbearable. That is something that we have to fix. I
think in some ways, that's the ultimate test.
The question will be, are we prepared to spend money, to live up to who we say
we are as a nation? Are we going to live up to Gideon, one of the great Supreme
Court cases of all time, and give money for the defense of people who are
charged with crimes? That, I think, is going to be difficult. But I think
again, there is a growing consensus that it's the right thing to do for a whole
bunch of reasons. It's the morally right thing to do, and ultimately it saves
us money in the long run.
How do you feel about the privatization of prisons, prison services,
post-prison services like parole? Is that a good thing?
You know, I suppose it can be done well. But I am a person who believes that
that's essentially a state function, a government function. I think it's done
best by well-funded, well-led governmental entities. That's just where I come
from.
The country has been moving away a little bit from privatization on the prison
side, but now there is a new burst of business from the surge in immigration
detention going to private companies, some of which have rather checkered
pasts. Are you comfortable with that?
No, I'm not. I'm concerned about what I hear about, documented cases that have
been presented to me about the way in which people who are in the system for
immigration reasons - as opposed to drug selling or violent crime - and the way
in which people are treated, the conditions under which they are held. That is,
I think, extremely troublesome. It points to the need for comprehensive
immigration reform. This is another place where we are going to look in the
mirror and ask ourselves, who are we as a nation? Are we prepared to devote
governmental resources to that issue? And that is quintessentially something
for the government to do. There can be a place for the private sector to help
in that regard, but I think government must lead in that area.
The Obama administration came in advocating transparency in the business of the
federal government. Why hasn't the Justice Department gotten involved in
litigation in Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida and elsewhere involving transparency
as it relates to lethal injection drugs? You've got all these states going to
enormous lengths to keep secret the nature of the drugs they use. You guys have
stayed out of those cases even when the states have tried to keep that
information from judges.
What the president has asked me to do is to review the death penalty. Among the
things we're looking at are the protocols that we use. There's essentially been
a moratorium in the federal system, and given the issues that we have around
these questions of drugs, where you get them, it will be interesting to see how
that moratorium ultimately resolves itself.
This is something the president has asked me to look at. My hope is to have a
report on his desk before I leave as attorney general, both with regard to the
protocols and the policy behind the death penalty, or the use of the death
penalty.
I think that the issue is made real when you look at some of the things that
have happened in the states over the last year or so, where you had these
botched executions, where you had an inability to get the appropriate drugs.
We've had doctors unwilling to participate in the process. I think this is
pushing this country toward some really fundamental questions about - even
though, you know, people still support the death penalty by 55 %, or whatever
the number is - some fundamental questions about continued use of the death
penalty.
There was an execution that was just stayed by the Supreme Court in Missouri,
that had to do in part with a case in which a defendant missed the deadline for
filing a habeas claim in federal court. That deadline came from the 1996
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. You were around when that came
into being. Is that part of the array of issues that you???re looking at?"
Yeah, I would think so. When you're talking about the ultimate penalty, when
you're talking about the state taking someone's life, there has to be a great
deal of flexibility within the system to deal with things like deadlines. There
is always a need for finality in the system, that is a good thing. But there
has to be enough flexibility so that you can look at the substance of a claim,
especially when the death penalty is at stake. If you rely on process to deny
what could be a substantive claim, I worry about where that will lead us.
I disagree very much with Justice Scalia's certitude that we have never put to
death an innocent person. It's one of the reasons why I personally am opposed
to the death penalty. We have the greatest judicial system in the world, but at
the end of the day it's made up of men and women making decisions, tough
decisions. Men and women who are dedicated, but dedicated men and women can
make mistakes. And I find it hard to believe that in our history that has not
happened.
I think at some point, we will find a person who was put to death and who
should not have been, who was not guilty of a crime.
(source: The Marshall Project By Bill Keller & Tim Golden; Huffington Post)
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