May 6
VIRGINIA:
Virginia Death Row Inmates Prevail in Fourth Circuit
A federal appeals court Friday upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of
Virginia death row inmates, finding that their living conditions amounted to
cruel and unusual punishment.
In a 33-page opinion, Judge James Wynn in the Fourth Circuit affirmed a ruling
by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which found
that the state was “deliberately indifferent” to the physical and psychological
harm caused by the state prison system’s accommodations for death row inmates.
Thomas Porter, Anthony Juniper, and Mark Lawlor – death row inmates who were
housed in the state’s Sussex I State Prison about 40 miles south of Richmond –
sued the state Department of Corrections in 2014.
According to Wynn, the inmates lived in 71-square-foot cells – about 1/ the
size of a standard parking space. They were allowed 1 hour of outdoor
recreation 5 days a week, a 10 minute shower 3 days a week, could have a TV and
a CD player, and had access to the prison library to check out books. Their
living spaces were continuously lit for safety purposes.
But it was the fact that the inmates lived in solitary confinement for 23 or 24
hours a day that the district court found to violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban
on cruel and unusual punishment, and Wynn agreed.
The judge said that, contrary to the lower court’s ruling, a “legitimate
penological justification can support prolonged detention of an inmate” in
solitary confinement. However, Wynn said that evidence in this case established
that the inmates’ living conditions were unconstitutional.
“In sum, the undisputed evidence established both that the challenged
conditions of confinement on Virginia’s death row created a substantial risk of
serious psychological and emotional harm and that State Defendants were
deliberately indifferent to that risk,” Wynn said in his opinion.
He pointed to reports filed by the inmates in which they described experiencing
paranoia, hallucinations, and appetite and sleep disturbances from living in
solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time.
Judge Robert King joined Wynn in affirming the lower court’s ruling.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer noted that Virginia’s
Department of Corrections made changes to inmates’ living conditions a year
after this case was filed. He said the plaintiff inmates concede that their
living conditions no longer violate their rights.
Improvements included more recreational time and access to family members.
Additionally, the state spent $2 million building a new “dayroom” and an
outdoor recreation yard.
Niemeyer agreed that solitary confinement was constitutionally unsound, but he
questioned why the appeals court was agreeing to uphold an injunction that is
now moot because of the accommodation improvements.
“It simply cannot be claimed that the district court’s award of equitable
relief in 2018 was ‘necessary to correct’ a violation of a federal right when
the 2015 changes had, by the plaintiffs’ own concession, already corrected the
alleged violation and no new violation was in any way being threatened,”
Neimeyer said.
The inmates’ attorneys and the Virginia Department of Corrections did not
immediately respond to requests for comments Friday.
(source: Courthouse News)
FLORIDA:
Judge to rule whether lethal drug is 'cruel' for serial killer Bobby Joe Long
A Hillsborough County judge is expected to rule Monday whether the execution of
Bobby Joe Long through lethal injection would be a cruel and unusual
punishment.
During a hearing Friday, a doctor from California testified about the
anesthetic drug etomidate, which is one of the first drugs administered during
the execution. Dr. Steven Yun said Long should have any an adverse reaction to
the drug, based on the serial killer’s medical history.
However, Long’s attorney said his client had traumatic brain injury when he was
younger and suffers from epilepsy. He argued that his condition, coupled with
the cocktail of lethal drugs, could, could cause him to have a seizure during
the execution.
During the hearing, Long's attorney challenged the doctor's expertise, pointing
out he didn’t even read up on the drug before his testimony.
"As a critical practicing anesthesiologist, I don't need to read basic
textbooks to review my knowledge on etomidate, the same way I don't need to
review my car manual to drive my car," explained Dr. Yun.
Long is responsible for the murder of at least 8 victims and kidnapping and
torture of at least one other. He was convicted and sent to Florida’s death row
in 1986.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant, and his execution date was
scheduled for May 23. Lisa McVey, a survivor who escaped Long's clutches and
because a Hillsborough County deputy, said she plans to attend the execution.
(source: Fox News)
OHIO:
Forgiveness, not death penalty, says Journey of Hope
Forgiveness was the message shared today at a community event where families of
murder victims and exonerated death row inmates spoke against capital
punishment.
Recently, Governor Mike Dewine put all executions on hold here in Ohio. While
that is a positive step in the eyes of those who spoke at today's event, they
hope to eliminate the need for executions altogether.
Bill Pelke has come a long way to talk to the dozens of people at the Vineyard,
Columbus.
"I live in Anchorage Alaska," Pelke said for openers. Back in the 80s he and
his grandmother lived in Indiana. In 1985 she was murdered by a group of
teenage girls posing as Bible study students.
"One of the girls grabbed a vase off the end table and hit [my grandma] over
the head, and as she fell to the floor another girl pulled a knife out of her
purse and began to stab her," Pelke related.
The 15-year-old girl who did the stabbing was sentenced to death.
"I thought if they're going to execute people for killing people then they
should execute the person that killed my grandmother, and so I had no problem
when the judge sentenced her to death."
But it didn't take long for that to change.
"I envisioned tears coming out of my grandmother's eyes and streaming down her
cheeks, and I knew they were tears of love and compassion."
Pelke was part of an effort to reduce the girl's sentence to 60 years and has
been working to eliminate the death penalty ever since.
"If you have love and compassion for all humanity, you're not going to see
anybody put into the death chamber and their life taken from then."
Ohio has had the death penalty since 1803 and is one of 30 states that still
has it. For now, Governor Dewine has put executions on hold until a new method
can be devised that courts will find Constitutional.
Pelke says the hiatus is good, but he wants to see the death penalty abolished
like it has been in neighboring states.
None of Ohio's neighbor states are actively pursuing executions.
(source: NBC News)
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