[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, TENN.
Dec. 10 TEXAS: Frullo challenger hopes to reform education, criminal justiceEd Tishler running on Democratic ticket for Texas House District 84. Ed Tishler wants to stop the death penalty and raise the minimum wage, but first to be elected to the Texas Legislature from Lubbock County. The political newcomer is running on the Democratic ticket for a seat in Texas House District 84, currently held by Republican John Frullo. He admits his party-affiliation places him as an underdog, but says he's ready for a challenge. "This is a heavily Republican district, and I'm running as a Democrat, so it will be difficult - but not impossible," he said. Tishler is a retired teacher, a father of 4 and a 32-year resident of Lubbock. He criticized the support his upcoming opponent gave for a state budget that contained spending cuts to education. Instead, he suggested reforming the state school system both financially and academically. He proposes smaller class sizes, more vocational education and lower-cost higher education. "Education is a big concern," he said. "I would like to see it adequately funded, and I would like to see programs instituted that ensure the success of students." Tishler also wants to reform the criminal justice system, from decriminalizing drug use to replacing the death penalty with life in prison. He pointed out statistics that indicate homicide rates are lower in states without capital punishment, suggesting Texas' high execution rate does not effectively deter crime. "Texas has one of the highest populations of people on death row, and still the homicide rate hasn't changed," he said. He also feels too high a number of prison and jail inmates are mentally ill, and mental health care could serve as a better alternative to incarceration in many cases. "It's a drain on the criminal justice system, and it's not helping people with mental problems," he said. Tishler also proposes raising Texas' minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10. "Certainly the head of household deserves a decent wage to keep him or her and the family out of poverty," he said. The candidate is opposed to voter-identification laws and supports establishing a state health insurance exchange. Among his other platforms is gender equality in salaries. "I would like to see women get equal pay for equal work, and make voting an easier right, rather than roadblocks be put in the way," he said. (source: Lubbockonline) GEORGIA: Some Georgia Inmates Under Life Sentence With Parole To Be Re-sentenced Some Georgia prisoners serving life sentences without parole will be resentenced after a recent state Supreme Court ruling invalidated the terms under which those inmates were punished. Those who qualify for resentencing would have been sentenced before they turned 18 and faced the death penalty. Stephen Reba, an attorney with Emory University's Barton Child Law and Policy Center, says the majority of those who will see new sentences would be about 30 years old today. "[The court decision] means they can't be resentenced to an illegal sentence, and the court has said life without parole is an illegal sentence," said Reba, who represents several men up for resentencing. Reba is referring to is a recent state Supreme Court decision in the case of Marcus Moore, in which the court unanimously ruled Moore was too young to receive a life sentence without parole under a 2005 U.S Supreme Court decision. In 2001, then-17-year-old Moore was found guilty of murdering Neiteka Wesbey and Corey McMillan, among other crimes committed in the commission of felony murder. Before the sentencing hearing, Moore entered a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Under the terms, he agreed waive his rights to appeal in exchange for a life sentence without parole. "In order to receive a life without parole sentence on that charge at the time - the defendant had to be death penalty eligible - had to be noticed with the death penalty first - in order to receive a life without parole sentence," Reba said. But in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court said in Roper v. Simmons it's unconstitutional to use the death penalty against offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime. That led the Georgia Supreme Court in October to unanimously rule Moore's sentence void. "Since they could not have been subjected to the death penalty at the time Mr. Moore's sentence was imposed, he could not have been subject to the possibility of life without parole," said WABE legal analyst Page Pate. Reba estimates about 10 men - all convicted of murder - would qualify for resentencing. Pate says while those men can't be resentenced to life without parole, the state Supreme Court decision doesn't prevent future juveniles from receiving that sentence, as Georgia sentencing law no longer ties life without parole to the death penalty. "Going forward, it's still an open
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., OKLA., UTAH, CALIF., USA
Dec. 10 MISSOURIimpending execution (temporarily) stayed Federal Court Panel Stays Allen Nicklasson's Execution A panel of federal judges stayed a Missouri man's execution late Monday, a little more than a day before he was set to die. Allen Nicklasson, 41, had been scheduled to be put to death at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for killing businessman Richard Drummond in 1994. But a 3-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to stay the execution based on Nicklasson's claims of ineffective counsel. A stay in a death row case is not unusual and doesn't mean the execution ultimately will be scuttled. A message left late Monday by The Associated Press with Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, was not immediately returned. However, the state is expected to appeal the decision to the full appeals court. After going nearly 3 years without an execution, Missouri had been preparing for its 2nd in 3 weeks. The state executed racist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin on Nov. 20. It was the first execution in Missouri using a single drug, pentobarbital. Nicklasson was sentenced to die for killing Drummond, a businessman from Excelsior Springs, Mo., who in 1994 stopped to help when he saw a car stranded along Interstate 70 in eastern Missouri. Nicklasson and 2 others forced Drummond to drive to a secluded area, where Nicklasson killed him. One of the other men in the car, Dennis Skillicorn, was put to death in 2009. The 3rd, Tim DeGraffenreid, pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder and was spared the death penalty. Nicklasson's attorney has asked the Missouri Supreme Court to intervene and will petition Gov. Jay Nixon for clemency, she said Monday. The crime happened in August 1994. Nicklasson, Skillicorn and DeGraffenreid left Kansas City to buy drugs in St. Louis. They were heading back home when their 1983 Chevrolet Caprice stalled on I-70, soon after they stole guns and money from a home near Kingdom City, about 100 miles west of St. Louis. Drummond, a technical support supervisor for AT&T, saw the stranded motorists in the late afternoon and decided to help. Nicklasson put a gun to Drummond's head and ordered him to drive west. They directed him to a secluded wooded area in western Missouri, where Nicklasson shot Drummond twice in the head. His remains were found 8 days later. Nicklasson and Skillicorn stole Drummond's car and drove to Arizona. When the vehicle broke down in the desert, they approached the home of Joseph Babcock, who was shot and killed by Nicklasson after driving the pair back to their vehicle. The victim's wife, Charlene Babcock, was killed at the couple's home. Both men were convicted of the Arizona killings and sentenced to life in prison, then got the death penalty in Missouri. Nicklasson has been on death row since 1996. The group Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty had planned vigils in support of Nicklasson in seven Missouri locations Tuesday night, including outside the prison in Bonne Terre where executions take place. Rita Linhardt, board chairman for Missourian for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Nicklasson suffered from abuse and mental illness. He was institutionalized and released as a young man, even as he pleaded to stay because he felt he needed more help, Linhardt said. He became homeless, got hooked on drugs, and his crimes escalated, Linhardt said. "There were opportunities along the way where he could have been helped, but the state dropped the ball," Linhardt said. Nicklasson grew up with a mother who was a stripper. He declined interview requests Monday, but in a 2009 interview with the AP, he recalled his mother shooting up heroin and bringing home a series of abusive boyfriends. He said he still has scars from one who burned him. He met Skillicorn at a drug rehab center in Kansas City in 1994. Skillicorn was out of prison following a 2nd-degree murder conviction for killing a man during a robbery. The men, along with DeGraffenreid, decided to go on the drug run, leading to the fateful meeting with Drummond. Missouri previously used a 3-drug method of executions, but changed protocols after drugmakers stopped selling the lethal drugs to prisons and corrections departments. The pentobarbital used in Missouri executions comes from an undisclosed compounding pharmacy. The Missouri Department of Corrections declines to say who makes the drug, or where. (source: Associated Press) * Missouri Supreme Court denies execution stay for death row inmate The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday denied a death-row inmate a stay of execution, less than 2 days before the man is scheduled to be put to death. 41-year-old Allen L. Nicklasson is scheduled to die via lethal injection at a prison in Bonne Terre, Mo., at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. His attorney, Jennifer Herndon, filed motions in the Missouri Supreme Cou
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 10 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Nelson said no to death penalty A commendable legacy of Nelson Mandela is the abolition of the death penalty in South Africa. He denounced it as an act of the utmost cruelty and barbarity and its abolition became "one of the touchstones of commitment to a new social order." Soon after his release in February 1990, then president FW de Klerk at the request of Mandela announced an immediate moratorium on executions. The last hanging was on February 2, 1989. In 1997 the South African parliament enacted the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act that removed the death penalty from the statute books, acknowledging that capital punishment is inconsistent with the prohibition of "cruel, inhuman, degrading punishment." Despite several calls for its return in order to reduce the country's high murder rate, it has not been reinstated. The T&T Constitution also prohibits "cruel, inhuman, degrading punishment." Chapter 1 Part 1, Section 5, Subsection 2:b explicitly states: "Parliament may not impose or authorise the imposition of cruel and unusual punishment." Morgan Freeman, who starred as Mandela in the remarkable film Invictus, describes him as "a man of incomparable honour, unconquerable strength, and unyielding resolve - a saint to many, a hero to all who treasure liberty, freedom and the dignity of humankind." We in T&T can pay our tribute to Madiba by also removing the death penalty from our statute books. Ishmael Samad (source: Letter to the Editor, Trinidad Express) CHINA: Japanese politician arrested for transporting drugs A Japanese politician has been formally arrested in China for transporting drugs, the Guangzhou Procuratorate said yesterday. Takuma Sakuragi, the city councilor of Inazawa in central Aichi Prefecture, was detained at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou on October 31 after 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were found in his luggage. He was held at the Guangzhou detention center in the southern Guangdong Province since then. His arrest was approved by the Guangzhou Procuratorate last Friday. Sakuragi, 70, could face the death penalty. He arrived in China on October 29 and was due to take flight CZ3613 from Guangzhou to Shanghai on October 31 before heading back to Japan. Airport security found the drugs hidden in shoes inside his luggage. Inazawa officials said the city councilor was in China for his private business. An earlier report said Sakuragi denied carrying the drugs, saying the luggage was given to him by his business partner, who is from Nigeria. The Guangzhou Procuratorate said they had arrested 2 other suspects on November 18 and 19. According to the Chinese law, possession of 50 or more grams of the stimulant drugs, such as methamphetamine, carries the death penalty. (source: English People's Daily) TANZANIA: 'Death sentence unacceptable' Every human being has the inherent right to life and this right must be protected by law. The right to life is a supreme right without which, other rights become insignificant. Our reporter GERALD KITABU interviewed a lawyer and protection officer for Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, BENEDICT ISHABAKAKI on death penalty in Tanzania. EXCERPTS: QUESTIONS: What do you mean when you say right to life? ANSWER: Every human being has the inherent right to life and this right must be protected by law. The right to life is a supreme right without which, other rights become insignificant. The fundamental nature of the right is also clear from the fact that it is non-derogable; that is to say, it must not be denied even in public emergencies such as war and other acts threatening the life of the nation. International human rights instrument has guaranteed this right as the most sacrosanct in a number of treaties and international instruments including the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), 1981, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even the mother law, I mean the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 guarantees the right to life yet the right to life continue to be violated through laws that impose the death penalty in Tanzania. Q: What is the current state of death penalty in Tanzania? A: First of all the death penalty is a calculated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by state. 2/3 of the world's nations have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice, but there are still many countries still performing executions. According to Amnesty International, in 2010, 23 countries carried out executions and imposed death sentences. Tanzania still retains death penalty in law, but has had a de facto moratorium on executions since 1994. Tanzania imposes death penalty in capital offences such as murder cases, treason, and military-related offences. Despite the moratorium on executions, the government of Tanzania remained undecided on the quest
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 10 GLOBAL: Global trend to end death penalty is accelerating dramatically Commentary: China, Iran, North Korea and the US are among the world's most prolific executioners. Which nation will be the last, lonely outpost of state killing? Which country will be the last to abolish the death penalty? Not so long ago, posing such a question would have seemed overly optimistic at best, and naive at worst. But as we mark Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 - the 65th anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - we do so knowing that the global outlook is shifting rapidly. The tide has turned irreversibly in the long battle against the death penalty, an inherently cruel and deeply flawed punishment that has done incalculable damage to countless individual lives and whole societies. The global trend toward abolition has accelerated dramatically in recent years. As recently as the late 1970s, only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Yet today, according to the UN, some 150 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. As understanding has grown that capital punishment is an abhorrence unworthy of a civilized society, government after government - from all major regions, cultures and religions - has rejected it. They have done so because experience and evidence demonstrate that the death penalty is cruel, irrevocable and a violation of the right to life. It damages and poisons society by endorsing violence, and by causing injustice and suffering. It has no particular deterrent effect on violent crime, and in fact abolitionist nations often have lower murder rates than those that still execute. Not only have most individual governments concluded that the death penalty is wrong. Increasingly the world's community of nations is sending a clear, collective and powerful political message that there is no place for capital punishment in humanity's future. In December 2012, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly and decisively for a global moratorium on the death penalty. This was the 4th such vote since 2007; on every occasion the number of nations supporting a moratorium has risen. This latest UN call was supported by a record 111 countries, with Central African Republic, Niger, South Sudan and Tunisia all voting in favor for the 1st time. Meanwhile, several nations - including Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia - moved from a negative vote to abstention. Such categorical, undeniable and remarkable progress explains why we at the International Commission against the Death Penalty - an independent body opposed to capital punishment in all cases, led by a group of high-profile commissioners from across the world - are convinced that capital punishment is steadily, inexorably moving toward the history books. At the same time, we know there can be no complacency. Recent executions or resumptions of death sentences after de facto moratoriums in countries such as India, Indonesia, Kuwait and Nigeria have all caused international concern. A major stumbling block is the behavior of a small group of hard-core executing states. The world's most prolific executioners are China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, the US and Yemen. The inclusion of the United States in this list is regrettable, yet there are grounds for hope. Across the US, numbers of executions and death sentences are declining as courts impose life imprisonment instead, while public support for capital punishment has dwindled to its lowest levels in nearly 4 decades. Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York have abolished the practice in recent years, while Oregon imposed a moratorium on executions. Legislation repealing Maryland's death penalty came into effect on October 1, following a vote by the House of Delegates in March and Governor Martin O'Malley's subsequent signing of the decision into law. With the stroke of a pen, Maryland became the 18th state, and the 6th in as many years, to become abolitionist. Meanwhile, other states such as Colorado, Delaware, Oregon and New Hampshire are moving closer to abolition. Former President Jimmy Carter's call ilast month for a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty - and for the US Supreme Court to reintroduce the ban on capital punishment it had imposed between 1972 and 1976 - is most welcome. Globally, it is clearer than ever that abolition is politically right and politically possible. Any objective assessment shows that full global abolition would be a true victory for humanity. Fortunately, the question now is no longer one of "if" but one of "when." Increasingly, it will also be a question of "who": Which nation will be the last, lonely outpost of state killing? Which will be the last to cross the threshold to a modern, civilized system of justice by finally abolishing this cruel, inhuman and degra
[Deathpenalty] Call for Nominations: 2014 Triumph of the Spirit Award
feel free to circulate widely Greetings from the SMU Embrey Human Rights Program! It is my honor to announce that the Embrey Human Rights Program has established a human rights award entitled Triumph of the Spirit. This award is designed to recognize an individual whose life and efforts have been and currently are devoted to the defense, protection, and advocacy of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This award represents the interconnected spirit of humanitarians around the world and a shared longing to support all of humanity. I would like to ask you for assistance in identifying and nominating worthy candidates. Criteria for the Triumph of the Spirit Award: - The nominee does not need to be widely known. Ordinary individuals are made extraordinary by their circumstances and by championing widespread and meaningful change. - The nominee should have an established reputation for integrity, creativity, and dedication to human rights principles. - The nominee must be an individual. Institutions, organizations, and groups are not eligible. - The recipient should embody the mission of the Embrey Human Rights Program.* This year’s deadline for nominations is January 15, 2014. The nomination form can be accessed at the following address: http://blog.smu.edu/humanrights/triumph-of-the-spirit-nominations. Thank you for your efforts over the years to better our society and world. There is no such thing as a lesser person. Peace, Rick Halperin Director, Embrey Human Rights Program *The mission of the Embrey Human Rights Program at Southern Methodist University is to educate students and other members of the global community to understand, promote, and defend human rights as responsible citizens of the world. ___ 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 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., MO., S. DAK., USA
Dec. 10 OHIO: Mammone appeals conviction to Ohio Supreme Court The Canton man convicted of killing his 2 young children and former mother-in-law is taking his appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court. Arguments in the case will be heard in Columbus on Wednesday. The Ohio Supreme Court will hear the death penalty appeal of the Canton man convicted of the 2009 murder of his 2 young children and former mother-in-law. The hearing is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center. Mammone does not have an execution date. In 2012, the 5th District Court of Appeals denied James Mammone III's request for a new trial and upheld a lower court's decision. Attorneys with the Ohio Public Defender's Office had asked a judge for post-conviction relief on several grounds, including allegations of mistakes by his trial attorneys, juror misconduct and withheld drug-testing evidence. A 3-judge panel for the 5th District held that the judge ruled correctly on the arguments, including that preliminary drug-test results would have helped Mammone at trial and called into question his confession to police. In the appeal to the supreme court, attorneys for Mammone are arguing that publicity prevented an impartial jury in the 2010 trial. The defense contends Mammone could not get a fair trial in Stark County. Mammone's attorneys also claim the trial attorneys were ineffective when questioning jurors about the death penalty and pretrial publicity, according to the supreme court's public information office. During his trial's sentencing phase, Mammone gave a 5-hour unsworn statement to the jury explaining his actions. He killed his two children, age 5 and 3, and former mother-in-law out of retribution following his divorce and said he was trying to spare the children from being raised in a broken home. The defense argues that his statement to the court should have been limited. Another claim is that the prosecution showed the grisly crime scene and autopsy photos beyond the boundaries set by the high court, according to the public information office. (source: Canton Repository) TENNESSEE: Question: Why Don't More Death Penalty Sentences Occur in Rutherford County and Elsewhere in our State? With more and more murder trials being heard in Rutherford County in 2014, some residents have spoken out suggesting more convictions should equal more death sentences. Regardless of where you may stand on this issue, the written law specifies what can end with a death penalty sentencing and what cannot end in a death sentencing. One of the murder trials schedueld to take place in 2014, deals with Jacob Pearman who allegedly killed his wife in the Blackman home on Valentines Day, earlier this year. Whitesell told WGNS that certain requirements must be met in a court of law for the death penalty to be pursued. Statutory Aggravating Circumstance: (1)The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or depraved (or involved torture) (2) The capital offense was committed during the commission of, attempt of, or escape from a specified felony (such as robbery, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, arson, oral copulation, train wrecking, carjacking, criminal gang activity, drug dealing, or aircraft piracy) (3)The defendant committed 'mass murder' which is defined as the murder of 3 or more persons whether in a single episode or at different times within a forty-eight month period (4) The defendant knowingly created a grave risk of death for 1 or more persons in addition to the victim of the offense (5) The murder was committed by means of a bomb, destructive device, explosive, or similar device (6) The murder was committed for pecuniary gain or pursuant to an agreement that the defendant would receive something of value (7) The defendant caused or directed another to commit murder, or the defendant procured the commission of the offense by payment, promise of payment, or anything of pecuniary value (8) The murder was committed to avoid or prevent arrest, to effect an escape, or to conceal the commission of a crime (9) The defendant has been convicted of, or committed, a prior murder, a felony involving violence, or other serious felony (10) The capital offense was committed by a person who is incarcerated, has escaped, is on probation, is in jail, or is under a sentence of imprisonment (11)The murder was committed against a person less than 12 years of age and then defendant was 18 years of age or older (12)The victim was especially vulnerable due to a significant handicap or disability, whether mental or physical and the defendant knew or reasonably should have known of such a handicap or disability (13) The victim was a government employee, including peace officers, police officers, federal agents, firefighters, judges, jurors, defense attorneys, and prosecutors, in the course of his or her duties (14)The victim was a correctional o
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
BANGLADESH: The lost cause of forgiveness amidst death sentences Jamat e Islami leader to be executed Now when the world leaders are gathered to pay their final tribute to Nelson Mandela whose legacy is traced in his non-violent and persistent struggle for Justice and liberation, a movement for forgiveness, truth and reconciliation, we hear the news about Bangladesh getting ready to execute one of its opposition leaders for war crimes in 1971. In time of violence and revenge can we imagine a pure forgiveness, an unconditional reconciliation, and a hospitable reception of heterogeneity as a true tribute to an exemplary life? When a large chunk of educated and liberated people ask for abolishment of death penalty, we see a movement erupting in capital city, Dhaka asking for changing the life imprisonment into a death penalty. Some of the participants and propellant of the movement at Shahbagh believe that this is to uproot or fight the radical Islam from the society, but can it be uprooted by asking for violence - a more legitimate one? Post war Bangladesh failed miserably to act on reconciliation; we see little or no attempt towards this direction. Even when Jamat e Islami came in power with Bangladesh Nationalist Party it pay no attention of imagining something which Mandela imagined. Perhaps it was not easy but was it in South Africa? Today at this very moment when am writing this, Abdul Quader Mollah is unexpected hours away from his execution, an execution order which was passed on 8th and he has 15 days time to appeal for plea, the desperate power wanted it tonight but it passed a stay order till 10.30 a.m. tomorrow as per latest report. Earlier he was sentenced to life imprisonment and the protest erupted in February, which lead to series of violence demanded death sentence for him and for other accused leaders. This very tribunal is seen with cynicism among many, many analyst sees it as a way of finishing the opposition but beyond politics and legality lies some disturbing reality and urgent questions. Bangladesh was part of Pakistan until 1971; the war of liberation freed it from the clutch of Pakistan with the help of Indian army, obviously. Those who were against it fought along side with army or on their own, Jamat e Islami is one of the most prominent whose military wing Al Badar and Ash Shams took part actively and there were Bangladeshi nationalist militias as well reciprocating the violence. While we see justice from a privileged and vantage point of nation state, we don't see it in terms of suffering and loss. Mukti Bahini fought for the liberation and is accused of excesses as well but it can't be seen in opposition to Bangladeshi nationalistic imagination, as they are foundational element of this very nation state. Lot of Bihari (People from North Indian state of Bihar who migrated in a large number in 1947 to east Pakistan, now Bangladesh) were killed, raped, displaced from Bangladesh, the justice is a lost cause for them, perhaps. The persecution of Bihari is a well-known fact and over 1,50,000 was killed during this war of liberation. Some were blamed to be siding with Pakistani Army but most of them were killed for their ethnicity. The violence is memory; it's a cycle and moves on endlessly until we interrupt it with forgiveness and reconciliation. This interruption is costly not because it may ask for blood but it may ask for a large heart, a giant step towards future, a more disturbing way of looking at past, remembering memory in a forgetful way. 'Forgiveness forgives only the unforgivable. One cannot, or should not, forgive; there is only forgiveness, if there is any, where there is the unforgivable. That is to say that forgiveness must announce itself as impossibility itself. It can only be possible in doing the impossible' famous French philosopher Jacques Derrida reflected on forgiveness in these words. How a society shall forgive when it lives in atmosphere of violence? When Mollah denies all the charges against him does he find himself beyond the boundary of forgiveness? If the Shahbagh movement, which started with people gathering in Shahbagh in February this year in Dhaka protesting against the leaders of Islamist party and asking for death sentences, is for eradicating radicalism then it cannot end up creating a radicalism which will then be encountered by another radicalism opening up a cycle of violence and hatred, a series of unending confrontation. The secular versus Islamic polarization will never resolve the crisis of 4-decade-old nation. When the world today speaks with reverence and hope about forgiveness will they ever consider this case to act upon. While many leaders of Islamist party are locked up in holes and might be waiting for their turn and the streets are witnessing bloody clashes, we may wonder how hard it is to accept the difference not of language and culture,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., OKLA.
Dec. 10 NORTH CAROLINA: Death penalty sought in Caswell County child starvation case Dominique and Willie Lunsford Jr., the couple accused of killing their 8-year-old daughter Danielle, will face the death penalty in Caswell County, N.C. The Lunsfords are accused of killing their daughter by starving her over a period of time. Danielle Lunsford was taken to Danville Regional Medical Center in October 2010 - when she was 8. When she arrived, the little girl was in cardiac arrest, unresponsive and severely malnourished. Chief Caswell County Assistant District Attorney LuAnn Martin said in court Tuesday the Lunsfords home schooled all of the children in the home and kept them away from neighbors and relatives. When the Lunsford brought Danielle Lunsford to DRMC, she weighed only 35 pounds, Martin said. Danielle Lunsford was later transported to Vidant Children's Hospital in Greenville, N.C., where she passed away on Sept. 25 after being on life support for nearly 3 years. (source: GoDanRiver.com) OKLAHOMAnew execution date Court sets Jan. 23 execution for Oklahoma inmate The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has scheduled a Jan. 23 execution date for a death row inmate convicted in the stabbing death of an Oklahoma City woman 25 years ago. The court set the execution date Tuesday for 52-year-old Kenneth Eugene Hogan. Hogan was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to die for the January 1988 stabbing death of Lisa Stanley at Stanley's home in Oklahoma City. Hogan acknowledged stabbing Stanley but said it was self-defense after Stanley lunged at him with a knife. The victim was stabbed 25 times. Hogan's 1st conviction was overturned in 1999 by a federal court that said the jury should have been allowed to consider a verdict of manslaughter. Hogan was re-tried in 2003 and was again convicted and sentenced to death. (source: Associated Press) ___ 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 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 10 BANGLADESH: Appeals of 6 war criminals still pending Nazmus Sakib There is a little chance for the other cases to be heard with the top court adopting the policy Appeals of 6 war criminals are still pending in the top court with the apex court hearing the case of death-row convict Delowar Hossain Sayedee who lodged an appeal on March 28 against the judgement of February 28 by the war crimes tribunal. There is a little chance for the other cases to be heard with the top court adopting the policy of disposing of the cases one by one. Since the inception of war crimes trial in January 2010, 2 tribunals have already delivered verdicts on 9 cases since January 21 this year. Excepting 2 cases the 7 others were challenged in the Appellate Division. The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 states that the government and the defence can appeal to the Appellate Division within 30 days of the verdict pronounced by the tribunals. Death-row convict Jamaat leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman appealed against the verdict on June 6. Former Jamaat Chief Ghulam Azam was given 90 years' imprisonment considering his old age and heath though the tribunal judges said he had deserved death sentence. The convict filed appeal on August 5 for acquittal while the government also filed an appeal a week later seeking death penalty. Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, the Jamaat secretary general, filed appeal on August 11 against the capital punishment handed down to him. Death-row convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, member of the BNP standing committee, lodged an appeal on October 28 against the verdict of October 1 while Abdul Alim, former BNP minister, filed an appeal on November 7 against the verdicts that sentenced him to death. Meanwhile, fugitive Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar, a former Jamaat-e-Islami member, did not appeal against the death sentence he was given on January 21 by the tribunal. He has been absconding since the issuance of a warrant of arrest against him. In addition, 2 absconding al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, who were given death penalty on November 3 for killing intellectuals on the eve of independence, also did not lodge appeals. The trio could not appeal against the death sentence as the stipulated timeframe is over, and if they are caught they have to walk to the gallows. (source: Dhaka Tribune) ___ 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 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., KAN., MO.
Dec. 10 OKLAHOMAexecution Ronald Clinton Lott, convicted of killing 2 elderly women in 1980s executed in Oklahoma Oklahoma on Tuesday executed a man who was convicted of killing 2 women - one 83, the other 93. Ronald Clinton Lott, 53, was pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. An Oklahoma County jury convicted Lott of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the deaths of Anna Laura Fowler, 83, in September 1986 and Zelma Cutler, 93, in January 1987. He was also convicted of raping the women. State and federal courts denied Lott's appeals. Fowler lived alone in Oklahoma City when Lott broke into her home through the back screen door and attacked her on Sept. 2, 1986. Authorities said Fowler was raped and a knotted cloth was used to bind her hands. She had multiple injuries, including rib fractures and bruising on her wrists, hands, eyes, lips and cheeks. She died from asphyxiation, and her grandson found her dead on her bed the next morning. Cutler's home was across the street from Fowler and she also lived alone. Police found her dead on her bed on Jan. 11, 1987. The electricity to Cutler's home had been shut off at the breaker box and the phone wire had been cut. She had been raped and had multiple rib fractures and bruising. Another man was initially charged and convicted and was sentenced to death. During the appeals process, DNA samples excluded the man and implicated Lott, who at the time was incarcerated for raping 2 other elderly women. In November, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to deny commuting Lott's death sentence to life in prison. At the clemency hearing, Lott apologized to the victims' families and asked for their forgiveness. "I'm so sorry for what I've done. And I'd ask them to forgive me," Lott told board members, victims' family members and others during a teleconference from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester. "I caused them so much hurt and pain." Lott initially told members of the Pardon and Parole Board that he wanted to waive his clemency hearing, but made a statement after his attorney pleaded with him to do so. He refused to ask the board to spare his life, though, despite his attorney's pleas. Jim Fowler, the son of Anna Fowler, urged the board to spare Lott's life "and let him rot in that damn cell." Oklahoma is scheduled to execute another inmate before the end of the year. Johnny Dale Black, 48, is scheduled to be executed Dec. 17 for the 1998 stabbing death of a Ringling horse trainer. Lott becomes teh 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Oklahoma and the 107th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990. Only Texas (508) and Virginia (110) have executed more inmates since the death penalty was re-legalized in the USA on July 2, 1976. Lott becomes the 37th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1357th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) KANSAS: The Carr brothers' case needs closure This isn't the traditional Christmas season message that one wants to write about or read but in case you haven't caught up with recent developments the Carr Brothers of Wichita are back in the news. A hearing is scheduled next week on their 13-year-old murder convictions and death sentence. If there ever was a case meriting the death penalty this is it. Frankly, I'm infuriated that the Carrs weren't sent to meet their maker long ago. I have reluctantly evolved to where I could accept a truly non-parole able life sentence for certain heinous murder cases but as long as we have capital punishment and people who are convicted and sentenced under that law it is pathetic we engage in a seemingly endless series of appeals, efforts to find technical loopholes to reverse justice and put off death for those having no reasonable doubt about their guilt. Reginald and Jonathan Carr certainly fit this definition, not only admitting their crimes but found guilty with mountains of clear, convincing evidence. Their appeal process stalled because of a legal dispute over Kansas' capital punishment law but in 2006, almost eight years ago, the nation's highest court ruled in Kansas favor enabling 7 convicted killers to proceed to the gallows. Since then, there have been no executions. For the record the Carr brothers broke into a Wichita home on Dec. 15, 2000, taking 5 people hostage, killing four of them in a field with the only survivor forced to run naked to help at a nearby house. Reginald was also convicted of killing a woman during a car jacking several days earlier. Their trial was closely followed and there was absolutely no evidence of innocence. Defense attorneys, trying to avoid the death penalty for their clients, filed nearly 2 dozen extent ions before finally submitting leg
