[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----CALIF., ARK., MO.
Jan. 16 CALIFORNIAimminent execution Supreme Court denies stay of execution -- Clarence Ray Allen to be put to death just after midnight The U.S. Supreme Court denied Clarence Ray Allen's request for a stay of execution today, clearing the way for the state to put the 76-year-old inmate to death by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday for ordering three murders from his prison cell a quarter century ago. The court turned down Allen's final appeals at 2:05 p.m. today. One justice, Stephen Breyer, cast a dissenting vote, saying Allen was entitled to review of his claim that his execution would be unconstitutional because of his age, feeble condition and multiple illnesses. Allen "is 76 years old, blind, suffers from diabetes, is confined to a wheelchair and has been on death row for 12 years," Breyer said. "I believe that in the circumstances he raises a significant question as to whether his execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment." There were no comments from the other justices. 5 votes on the 9-member court were needed for a stay of execution. Allen, who turned 76 on Monday, would be the oldest prisoner ever executed in California and the second-oldest in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976 after a 4-year halt. California has executed 12 other inmates since resuming executions in 1992, most recently Stanley Tookie Williams, a onetime gang leader who became an anti-gang crusader and author of children's books in prison. He died by lethal injection at San Quentin on Dec. 13. The Supreme Court order followed a ruling against Allen on Sunday by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, and denial of clemency on Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Allen was not surprised by the court's final rejection, said his lawyer, Michael Satris. "He's making his peace ... bidding goodbyes to a large circle of his family and friends," Satris said at mid-afternoon. The attorney said the execution would be "a low point in the history of California's administration of the death penalty." Allen was 1st convicted of murder for the 1974 killing of his son's girlfriend, Mary Sue Kitts, a witness to a Fresno grocery store burglary by a gang of thieves led by Allen. While serving a life sentence in Folsom Prison, he was convicted of ordering the 1980 murders of 3 people at the same grocery store, one of them a witness to the earlier killing. The gunman in the 1980 killings, Billy Ray Hamilton, was also sentenced to death and is on San Quentin's death row. Prosecutors said Hamilton, a fellow inmate at Folsom before his parole, was given a list of 8 people who had testified against Allen for the 1974 murder. Another inmate testified that Allen offered Hamilton $25,000 to kill them. Federal courts denied Allen's challenge to his death sentence despite finding that he was represented inadequately by his trial lawyer, who failed to contact relatives and friends who might have testified for him at the penalty phase of his trial. Allen remains dangerous to society even while behind bars, and no jurors would have been persuaded to spare his life by evidence that he had been nice to some people at some point in his life, a federal appeals court declared in 2004. Allen has continued to deny his guilt. But his final appeal did not challenge his conviction or sentence and instead focused on his physical condition, including a near-fatal heart attack last September. "To wheel Mr. Allen, a blind, aged, crippled and enfeebled man, into the execution chamber at San Quentin to be put to death would be a bizarre spectacle that shocks the conscience and offends fundamental notions of human decency," his lawyers said in an appeal last month. They said Allen, if allowed to finish his life in prison, posed no risk of harm to anyone. The federal appeals court rejected those arguments Sunday. The court said Supreme Court rulings have barred execution of juveniles and the mentally retarded, who may not have fully understood the consequences of their actions, as well as prisoners who were currently insane and unable to understand that they were being executed. But no U.S. court has found a barrier to executing someone like Allen, who was a mentally sound 50-year-old when he ordered the murders and remains sane today, the appeals court said. "Nothing about his current ailments reduces his culpability and thus they do no lessen the retributive or deterrent purposes of the death penalty," the court said. (source: San Francisco Chronicle) *** Death penalty perverts Christianity, say church leaders Protestant leaders in Austria have called on the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger to suspend the death penalty and spare the life of an elderly convict on death row. And a Catholic sister who has spent her life counselling both those who commit, or are victims of, capital crime says that Christian supporters of the judicial executi
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---TEXAS, ALA., OHIO, CALIF., USA, IOWA
Jan. 16 TEXAS: Judicial system won't work if jury box is empty Inconvenient. Can't afford it. Too busy. Boss won't give me time off from work. A summons for jury duty - the invitation to participate in a cornerstone of democracy that people in most countries can only dream about - too often inspires only excuses. Studies have found that one of the greatest barriers to serving on a jury is economic. People simply cant afford to take time off work - in many cases without pay - for the grand sum of $6 per day. That doesnt pay for courthouse parking and a sandwich for lunch, much less make a dent in the monthly rent or utility bill. But Texas lawmakers are offering a helping hand. On Jan. 1, a new law, Senate Bill 1704, increased juror pay from $6 to a minimum of $40 per day after the 1st day of service - a 500-plus percent increase. The new provision, long recommended by the Texas Supreme Court and various legal organizations, should take some of the economic sting out of jury service. Too busy? Most of us have many demands on our time, and thats showing up in declining jury participation. In Texas' largest counties, almost 3/4 of all those called for jury service simply don't show up. Yet our highest elected leaders have found time to serve. Recently, President Bush said he intends to answer a jury summons from McLennan County, where his Crawford Ranch is located. And Texas Gov. Rick Perry reported to the Travis County Courthouse in 2002 when called for a municipal trial. Their willingness to serve despite many pressing demands highlights the importance of citizen participation in preserving the rule of law in our democratic system. They recognize that our judicial system will not work if the jury box is empty. Our founders treasured the jury trial, along with voting, as the two great pillars of citizen control over government. Thomas Jefferson described the system as "the only anchor ever yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." In the 19th century, Alexis de Toqueville observed: "The institution of the jury . . . places the real direction of society in the hands of the governed . . . and not that of the government." The Texas Constitution has 2 separate guarantees of the right to a jury trial. Texas jurors decide not only guilt or innocence but assess punishment as well. They decide more types of civil disputes than jurors in most states. If your life and property were at stake, youd want the best possible jury, not just the best that could be obtained among the one in 4 citizens who bothered to show up. We talk a lot about how to get and keep good judges in Texas, but good juries are just as important. When large numbers of people avoid jury service, we all suffer. Obviously, the plaintiffs and defendants in a particular lawsuit need good jurors. But the entire public depends on a strong, honest jury pool to render verdicts that keep us safe, secure and prosperous. At a time when our soldiers are risking their lives, the least we can do for our country is to sacrifice a little time and money to keep our justice system strong. Lets each resolve to make answering the call to jury service a New Years resolution for 2006. (source: The Amarillo Globe-News - Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, is a state senator who represents Senate District 25 and is co-author of SB 1704. Fred Heldenfels IV, president and CEO of Heldenfels Enterprises Inc., is a member of the board of directors of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas) ALABAMA: Text of Justice Parker's op-ed page article The text of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker's op-ed page article: In 1997, a vicious thug entered the home of a pregnant Alabama woman. He raped and repeatedly stabbed her, then fled, leaving her to die in a house with three other children. Police acted swiftly and caught the attacker, Renaldo Adams, literally red-handed with blood. After a fair trial, Adams was convicted of rape and murder and given the death penalty. It took the jury less than 30 minutes to recommend his execution. As an Assistant Attorney General under then Attorney General (now U.S. Sen.) Jeff Sessions, I helped prosecute Adams and was satisfied that the Alabama jury chose the punishment that best fit his crime. Consequently, I was shocked to learn that the Alabama Supreme Court just freed Adams from death row. Although I am now a justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, I had to recuse from any involvement in Adams' case because I helped prosecute him. Because I believe the Court's decision illustrates a serious problem with our judicial system, however, I write to explain what I regard as a failure to defend our constitution and laws against activist federal judges. You see, my fellow Alabama justices freed Adams from death row not because of any error of our courts but because they chose to passively accommodate - rather than actively resist - the unconstitutional opinion
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news---worldwide
Jan. 16 IRAN: News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International AI Index: MDE 13/005/2006 16 January 2006 Iran: Amnesty International calls for end to death penalty for child offenders Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to take immediate steps to end the use of the death penalty for child offenders. Two new cases have been reported in which child offenders - persons under 18 at the time of the crime - have been sentenced to death by Iranian courts, in breach of Irans obligations under international human rights law. On 3 January, 18-year-old Nazanin was sentenced to death for murder by a criminal court, after she reportedly admitted stabbing to death 1 of 3 men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in Karaj in March 2005. She was 17 at the time. Her sentence is subject to review by the Court of Appeal, and if upheld, to confirmation by the Supreme Court. According to reports in the Iranian newspaper, E'temaad, Nazanin told the court that three men had approached her and her niece, forced them to the ground and tried to rape them. Seeking to defend her niece and herself, Nazanin stabbed one man in the hand with a knife that she possessed and then, when the men continued to pursue them, stabbed another of the men in the chest. She reportedly told the court "I wanted to defend myself and my niece. I did not want to kill that boy. At the heat of the moment I did not know what to do because no one came to our help", but was nevertheless sentenced to death. Another child offender, 19-year-old Delara Darabi, was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Rasht for a murder committed when she was 17 years old. She denied the killing but the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court at the beginning of January, though her lawyer is reportedly appealing the decision. The Persian language news service Aftab reported that Delara Darabi and a 19-year-old man, Amir Hossein, broke into a house intending to commit burglary, but killed the woman who lived there. Delara Darabi initially confessed to the murder, but subsequently retracted her confession and stated that she had admitted responsibility for the murder at the request of Amir Hossein, to help him escape execution, because he believed that she would not be sentenced to death because she was under 18 at the time of the murder. She said that she was under the influence of sedatives during the burglary. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18. Nevertheless, Amnesty International has recorded 18 executions of child offenders in Iran since 1990. In 2005 alone, at least 8 executions of child offenders were recorded. The Iranian authorities have been reported for about four years to be considering passing legislation to ban the use of the death penalty for offences committed under the age of 18. Despite this, over the past two years, the number of child offenders executed has risen. Recent comments by a judiciary spokesperson suggest that the new law would in any case only prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes when committed by children, as he stated that "qisas" crimes (retribution - the sentence issued in cases where defendants are found guilty of murder) were a private, not a state matter. The majority of executions of child offenders in Iran are cases of "qisas" where the individual has been found guilty of murder. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors states compliance with the CRC, in January 2005 urged Iran to immediately stay all executions of people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18, and to abolish the use of the death penalty in such cases. On 9 December, Philip Alston, the United Nations Human Rights Commission's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said "At a time when virtually every other country in the world has firmly and clearly renounced the execution of people for crimes they committed as children, the Iranian approach is particularly unacceptable... It is all the more surprising because the obligation to refrain from such executions is not only clear and incontrovertible, but the Government of Iran has itself stated that it will cease this practice." Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to prevent the executions of Delara Darabi and Nazanin and other child offenders, and to take urgent steps to abolish the death penalty for all child offenders in accordance with Iran's obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All AI Documents on Iran: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maaeoQAabnyS8bb0havb/ * You m
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----VA., CALIF.
Jan. 16 VIRGINIA: Bill to place moratorium on death penalty fails in committee A bill to propose a moratorium on the death penalty in Virginia has failed before a Senate committee. Richmond Democrat Henry Marsh's bill died on a voice vote after a North Carolina man wrongly convicted and sent to death row in that state testified in support of the measure. Another witness, Ida Reid, the sister of the last convict executed in Virginia, testified that Virginia's justice system is too flawed to put life-or-death faith in the capital punishment verdicts it renders. James Reid was executed in 2004 for killing an elderly woman in her home in 1996. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Friends of Tookie Facing Charges On December 8, 2005, these men (including my uncle) were taken from their cells by guards in riot gear and told that they were going to be questioned and investigated under the charges that they were conspiring to incite a riot and harm guards following the execution of Tookie Dear Friends, My name is Gloria Ross and my uncle, Anthony Ross is an inmate on San Quentin's Death Row. I have very unfortunate news regarding the situation of approximately eight (8) inmates (figure is yet to be verified) sitting on San Quentin's death row who were very good friends of Stan Tookie Williams. On December 8, 2005, these men (including my uncle) were taken from their cells by guards in riot gear and told that they were going to be questioned and investigated under the charges that they were conspiring to incite a riot and harm guards following the execution of Tookie. San Quentin charges that they have a confidential source to prove their claims. They are currently being held in solitary confinement in San Quentin's Adjustment Center. They are being denied access to their property. As of yet, there has been no formal investigation and the inmates have not received questioning or a polygraph test. I just visited my uncle, Anthony Ross, he has lost a lot of weight and his health is steadily deteriorating. His friend, Steve Champion, is also in the hole. They have requested that individuals and organizations contact San Quentin's warden at (415) 454-1460. These calls should stress that there are individuals AND ORGANIZATIONS on the outside very concerned about their well-being. As long as they are aware that folks have an eye out, they are less likely to abuse their power further. Thanks so much for your support. Please feel free to call or write me if you have any concerns or questions. Gloria Ross (source: SF Bay Area) Death with indignity Condemned inmate Clarence Ray Allen turns 76 today. If all goes as planned, it will be the last day of his life. At 12:01 a.m., Tuesday, Allen is scheduled to become the 13th murderer to be killed by the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. It seems that each execution comes with its distinct set of absurdities that raise the question of what, if anything, the state of California is accomplishing with these spectacles. But none has been quite as absurd as this one. Allen, who suffered a heart attack on Sept. 2, would be dead already without the efforts of the prison medical staff to save him. Unlike Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang founder who was executed by lethal injection on Dec. 13, Allen has not attracted a phalanx of celebrities to his cause. Unlike Williams, a physically buffed and coolly articulate portrait of proud defiance, Allen has a frail voice and failing health. His eyesight is almost shot, his hearing is deteriorating and his ability to walk has been sapped by advanced diabetes. About the only similarity between Williams and Allen is that each has maintained his innocence -- though both of their cases have been through long appellate processes to no avail. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected clemency for Williams and Allen. There seems to be little doubt about Allen's guilt or the rottenness of his crimes. He was sent to prison for his role in the 1974 killing of his son's 17-year-old girlfriend, a potential witness against Allen in a market burglary. From prison, he was convicted in connection with the 1980 slayings of 3 people, including a man who had testified against him in the original murder case. Clarence Ray Allen is a despicable, barbaric character. He belongs in prison. But Californians will not wait for a natural end to his sorry life. Just after midnight, he will be pulled out of his wheelchair and ushered to his San Quentin deathbed for an injection of lethal poison. In the great scorecard of humanity, will it matter whether the guards are gentle or rough in the final moments? Does California get extra points for sparing him from a silent, ordinary death by heart failure on Sept. 2? Was it cruel or compassionate to schedule his death exactly one minute after his birthday? Set aside the moral issues. Will Allen's execution deter a single killer? Consider this: Allen wa
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 16 UGANDA: Rwandan avoids death penalty in UgandaRebel convicted of 9 murders A judge sentenced a Rwandan rebel Monday to 15 years in jail, a week after convicting him for killing eight tourists from the U.S., Britain and New Zealand and a Ugandan tour guide who were on a gorilla-watching trip in 1999. High Court Judge John Bosco Katutsi passed the sentence after Jean-Paul Bizimana, alias Xavier Van Dame appealed for lenient punishment. He faced a possible death penalty. "My Lord, I pray for lenience because I have a family to look after," Bizimana said in court. "Those you killed also had families," Katutsi responded sharply. "These people were killed in cold blood and you were part of the gang ... The deceased came to Uganda for pleasure, and they went back in coffins." The judge, however, rejected calls from prosecutors for the maximum death sentence. He permitted the prosecution to appeal the sentence at the Constitutional Court. Three other men were arrested in March 2003 in connection with the killings, and have been sent to the United States to stand trial in the deaths of the two Americans. Rwanda rebels hacked and bludgeoned the travelers to death in a remote rain forest near Uganda's borders with Congo and Rwanda where the party had gone to see the rare animals. The rebels specifically targeted English-speaking people in a bid to weaken U.S. and British support for the new Rwandan government. Bizimana, a member of the former Rwandan army -- which played a key role in the 1994 genocide of more than a half-million people in his country -- was arrested in 2004 near the border with Rwanda and taken to Uganda's capital, Kampala, to face 9 counts of murder. The victims were Americans Rob Haubner and his wife, Susan Miller, of Portland, Oregon; Rhonda Avis, 27, and Michelle Strathern, 26, from New Zealand; Britons Martin Friend, 24, Steven Robert, 27 and Mark Lindgren, 23, and Joanne Cotton, a driver for the London-based outfitter that organized trips to Africa, and Ugandan guide Ross Wagaba. They had been in a group of about 30 tourists visiting Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The rebels invaded the tourist campground on March 1, 1999, and forced 17 tourists who spoke English to remove their shoes and begin marching, the indictment said. It said the rebels killed a park guide by pushing him under a truck and setting it on fire. During the march, 8 people were killed with machetes and axes. Miller also was allegedly raped by 1 of the suspects, the indictment said. 9 people survived, including 1 who was given a note by the rebels warning the United States and Britain not to interfere in Rwanda. Similar notes were found on the bodies of 2 of those killed. The United States and Britain were the largest donors to Rwanda, which was rebuilding after the 100-day genocide. (source: Associated Press) JORDAN: Jordan court confirms death penalty for 2 terrorists In Amman, Jordan's State Security Court (SSC) on Monday confirmed for the 4th time the death penalty passed previously on 2 Islamists, Khader Abu Hosher and Osama Sammar, after condemning them for plotting to carry out acts of terrorism and manufacturing explosives, judicial sources said. The verdict dates back to 1999, when the two defendants and others were charged with planning to attack foreign tourists during the millennium celebrations. The SSC ruling was overruled three times by the Cassation Court, Jordan's highest court of appeal, which urged the SSC to handle the issue in the light of a royal amnesty law that was issued in 1999. The tribunal also on Monday confirmed its previous decision to jail 4 other defendants for terms ranging between 7.5 and 15 years with hard labour. Citing the amnesty law of 1999, the SSC decided to waive the state's right pertaining to the charge that the defendants belonged to the al-Qaeda organization, the judicial sources said. The same court decided Monday to jail a Jordanian, Abdullah Mirayat, for four years with hard labour after finding him guilty of recruiting people to fight U.S. forces in Iraq, judicial sources said. The tribunal acquitted three other citizens of the same charges for 'insufficient evidence', the sources said. The 4 were arrested several months ago and charged with plotting to carry out 'acts that could harm Jordan's ties with a foreign state', according to the indictment. (source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur) THAILAND/WALES: Horton's mother speaks against death penalty The mother of murdered Welsh university student Katherine Horton has said she does not believe her daughter's killers should be executed in Thailand , BBC News reported. Elizabeth Horton told BBC Wales she did not support the death penalty, but said she was not making a plea for clemency. The trial of 2 fishermen accused of raping and murdering Horton, 21, took place on Friday in Surat Thani. They pledged guilty and the court will issue a sentence on Wednesday. H
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF., USA, ALA., TENN., N.C., FLA.
Jan. 16 CALIFORNIA: Ailing Inmate Is Set to DieMurderer Clarence Ray Allen, 76, the oldest man on California's death row, is to be executed early Tuesday. Death penalty foes plan march. Barring a last-minute, court-ordered stay of execution, 76-year-old murderer Clarence Ray Allen will be executed by lethal injection early Tuesday at San Quentin State Prison. Allen would become the 13th person to undergo capital punishment in California since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1977, and would be by far the oldest. State officials were preparing to put Allen to death a week after the Assembly Public Safety Committee approved a bill that would suspend capital punishment for up to three years. During that time, a commission would study whether California's criminal justice system has allowed innocent people to be convicted of crimes, both capital and noncapital. It is far from certain that the bill will clear the Legislature, and even if it does, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may veto the measure. Allen was sentenced to death in 1982 for orchestrating a triple murder in Fresno in 1980. He had arranged the killings while incarcerated at Folsom State Prison, serving a life sentence for another murder. He had been convicted of arranging the 1974 slaying of his son's girlfriend, Mary Sue Kitts, who had told the owners of a Fresno market that Allen's gang had burglarized their store. According to testimony in the 1982 trial, Allen sought to eliminate witnesses who might testify against him if he got a retrial in the Kitts killing. In prison, he offered $25,000 to fellow inmate Billy Ray Hamilton to kill people who had testified against him in the Kitts murder trial. After he was paroled, Hamilton killed one of the witnesses and two bystanders. When Hamilton - who also is on death row - was captured, police found that he had a list of 8 witnesses who had testified against Allen in the Kitts trial. Allen's case has attracted considerably less attention than that of Stanley Tookie Williams, 51, who was executed Dec. 13 despite a vigorous clemency campaign waged by political and religious leaders. Nonetheless, Allen's appellate attorneys continued to work on his behalf over the weekend, and death penalty foes have planned a march from San Francisco to San Quentin today to protest the execution. In recent weeks, two federal judges and the California Supreme Court have rejected motions by Allen's lawyers to bar his execution. The inmate's lawyers said it would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment to take the life of a man who is so old and ailing. Allen, whose birthday is today, had a heart attack in September, is legally blind, has diabetes and uses a wheelchair. >From a legal point of view, U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. said in a ruling released Thursday, that argument has no relevance. The U.S. Supreme Court has barred the execution of individuals for crimes committed as juveniles, as well as individuals who are mentally incompetent to understand the gravity and meaning of their execution. But the high court has never ruled that it is improper to execute someone because of old age or poor health. "Nothing about his advanced age or his physical infirmities - affected his culpability at the time he committed the capital offenses," Damrell wrote. He drew a sharp contrast between Allen and juvenile offenders, noting that in a landmark decision in 2005 the high court said juveniles are immature with impulsive tendencies, have a greater vulnerability to negative influences and have more transitory personality traits. "Clearly, none of these differences apply to a mature adult like [Allen] who committed multiple murders with cold-blooded calculation at age 50," Damrell wrote. The judge also said the argument of Allen's attorneys that "his execution would serve none of the penological purposes of capital punishment is without merit. [Allen's] current condition is irrelevant to the fulfillment of those purposes." Damrell quoted a 2005 decision of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in which Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote: "If the death penalty is to serve any purpose at all, it is to prevent the very sort of murderous conduct for which Allen was convicted." On Sunday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed one of Allen's final legal appeals. The San Francisco-based court ruled against Allen "because he has not demonstrated substantial grounds upon which relief may be granted." His attorneys have an appeal pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it is considered a longshot. On Friday, Schwarzenegger denied Allen's clemency bid. "Allen's crimes are the most dangerous sort because they attack the justice system itself," Schwarzenegger said in rejecting the bid. "The depravity of Allen's crimes has not diminished with the years." As Allen's final appeal was being reviewed by judges in Washington, his relatives and the relatives of his victims were in
