[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 7 JAMAICA: Human rights groups urge Jamaica to shelve idea to resume hanging Forget the death penalty and instead focus on fast tracking critical reforms in the justice and law enforcement systems. That's the advice 2 human rights groups - Stand Up for Jamaica (SUFJ) and Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) - have given to National Security Minister Robert Montague following his announcement that government is exploring the possibility of bringing back the death penalty. Montague said the state minister in his ministry, Senator Pearnel Charles Jr, has been instructed to consult with several stakeholders, including the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's Office, to determine if there are any "legal impediments" to be addressed in resuming hangings. But the groups say there's an abundance of evidence that shows capital punishment is not an effective deterrent to crime, with several countries who continue to impose capital punishment still seeing high rates of violent crime. "Instead of reviving an inhumane and ineffective practice, Government should focus on fast-tracking the critical reforms needed in the justice and law enforcement systems," they said in a joint statement. "Capital punishment does not address the root causes of crime and this is where we feel Minister Montague should focus his attention." SUFJ and JFJ also suggested that if Jamaica is to be a part of the global village then it must accept international norms in order to avoid the consequences of losing critical support and funding from donors and international partners who have clearly expressed their opposition to the death penalty. They added that while they understood the minister's need to send a strong message, "he could have been more prudent in making his comments about the resumption of hanging". "Minister Montague's comments about a resumption of the death penalty has fed into the frustrations of many Jamaicans and has served to ignite passions about what is a very widely debated issue," said SUFJ Executive Director Carla Gullotta. "If we are not careful, this frustration could lead to citizens taking matters into their own hands once they come to appreciate the well-established legal impediments which make the resumption of hanging highly unlikely in Jamaica," Gullotta added. (source: caribbean360.com) AUSTRALIA: Bali 9: Turnbull government considers plan to gag AFP in death penalty cases Australia's federal police would be forbidden from sharing information about drug crimes if it could result in the death penalty under major changes being considered by the Turnbull government. Just after the 1-year anniversary of the executions in Indonesia of Australian drug smuggling ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, a parliamentary review led by retiring Liberal MP Philip Ruddock has called for new guidelines to prevent such cases ever occurring again. The bipartisan report recommends the Australian Federal Police obtain guarantees that prosecutors in partner countries will not seek to apply the death penalty in drug cases before sharing information. In situations where such guarantees cannot be obtained, the AFP should withhold the information. "The need to combat transnational crime cannot override the need to uphold Australia's human rights obligations and avoid exposing people to the death penalty," the report says. The AFP - widely condemned for tipping off Indonesian authorities about Chan and Sukumaran's Bali 9 heroin plot - would have to take a much more careful approach under the plan. In "high risk" cases it would defer to the Attorney-General to make the final decision about how to proceed. Crucially, the new AFP guidelines would apply to foreign nationals as well as Australian citizens. The AFP has defended its role in the Bali 9 case, saying it did not have enough evidence to arrest the Australians before they left for Indonesia. The AFP has not responded to requests for comment to the new report. Official police figures released under Freedom of Information laws last year showed the AFP puts hundreds of people at risk of the death penalty every year - 95 % of them for drug offences - with its information sharing. The report also calls on the government to redouble its efforts to have the death penalty abolished worldwide, particularly in Australia's region and in the United States. Mr Ruddock, who has long been a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, delivered the report as his final act in parliament before calling time on his 43-year political career. "There is no place for the death penalty in the modern world," Mr Ruddock said. Amnesty International said the report was commendable and urged the government to adopt all the recommendations. The Human Rights Law Centre's director of advocacy and research, Emily Howie, echoed that sentiment. "Under current laws and guidelines,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., FLA., TENN., MO., CALIF., WASH.
May 7 GEORGIA: Conversation with Sara Totonchi Despite a recent spate of executions, Sara Totonchi predicts a day in the very near future with no death penalty, in Georgia and nationwide. Totonchi is executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, an Atlanta-based nonprofit founded 40 years ago to represent people, mostly poor minorities, facing a death sentence. Today, the center's staff of lawyers, paralegals and investigators also fights what it perceives as human rights violations in prisons and jails and advocates on behalf of criminal justice reform. Totonchi talked about the center's work and why she says "the death penalty is on life support and its end is imminent." Q: Why was Southern Center founded? A: The Southern Center was founded in 1976 by a group of activists, ministers and lawyers in response to the reinstatement of the death penalty and the horrendous conditions in prisons and jails in the South. Q: Anything changed since then? A: At the time we were founded, the death penalty was rampant. Last year, there were 28 executions in only 6 states nationwide, the fewest since 1991. Even though executions unfortunately are being carried out in Georgia, there were zero new death sentences imposed here in 2015. Q: What's behind the shift? A: A palpable shift in the public's perception of the death penalty. There have been 156 exonerations from death row since 1973 - innocent people who could have been executed. There is a growing discomfort with the government having the ultimate power to extinguish human life. Q: What is Southern Center's basic philosophy? A: That a person's life is worth more than the worst decision they've ever made. We are working to fulfill the promise of equal justice under the law. Q: Do you think the average Georgian cares? A: It is important to remember how wide reaching the criminal justice system is here. Nationally, 1 in 31 adults is under some form of correctional supervision. In Georgia, the statistic is 1 in 12. The realities of how our legal system works become very clear when you or a loved one interacts with it. Q: What other issues is the Southern Center involved in? A: There has been a national awakening about the criminalization of poverty and acts of police violence against people of color. The Southern Center has been sounding the alarm on these abuses for decades. We are involved in criminal justice reform in Georgia. Typically, I wouldn't be on the same political side as Gov. Nathan Deal but his will benefit our state and citizens for years. Q: Why are you against the death penalty? A: My parents instilled in me an obligation to help those less fortunate. Growing up half-Iraqi during the Persian Gulf War era, I saw a parallel between Saddam Hussein's random killing of innocent civilians and the way the death penalty is carried out in the U.S. At the Southern Center, we see cases where clients have been represented by lawyers who knew nothing about the law, fell asleep during trials, referred to their clients by racial slurs. Some clients have struggled with mental health challenges or had childhoods that could be compared to horror stories. We see time and time again that the death penalty is not given out for the worst crimes but to people who have the worst lawyers. It's time to end this practice and embrace equal justice for all. (source: Atlanta Journal Constitution) FLORIDA: With Florida's death penalty on trial, what should happen to 390 on death row? On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments in a Pensacola murder case that in January prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Florida???s death penalty statute unconstitutional. An attorney for murderer Timothy Hurst asked the state's high court to direct a trial judge to resentence the defendant to life in prison. Assistant State Attorney General Carine Mitz asked it to rule that despite the high court ruling, Hurst still should be put to death. If it takes all 12 jurors to convict someone of a capital crime, why isn't the same unanimous standard required to impose the death penalty in Florida? This inconsistency is the core problem in Florida's death penalty process, now in the legal firing line as never before. The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case that could toss the death penalty for all 390 inmates on Florida's death row. It's the result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that found fault with the way the state hands down capital punishment. For decades, Florida has allowed judges - not juries - to make the final call on death. Jurors make a recommendation to the judge during a separate "penalty phase" following conviction, but it doesn't have to be unamimous. Even without a jury majority, a judge can impose death. Florida is one of only three states where death can be imposed without a unanimous jury decision. Alabama and Delaware
