[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARKANSAS----Urgent Action: Execution Set For Crime Committed At Age 20 (USA: UA 78.17)
Urgent Action EXECUTION SET FOR CRIME COMMITTED AT AGE 20 Kenneth Williams, aged 38, is due to be executed in Arkansas on 27 April for a murder committed during a prison escape in 1999. Twenty years old at the time, he asserts he is not the same person he was then, and can contribute to society if allowed to live. Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet: * Calling for clemency for Kenneth Williams and for his death sentence to be commuted; * Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse violent crime or to minimize the suffering caused; * Pointing out that the death penalty denies the possibility of rehabilitation and reform of individuals, and does nothing to further our understanding of the roots of and responses to human violence. Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of forwarding this one! Contact the official by 27 April, 2017: The Honorable Asa Hutchinson, Governor of the State of Arkansas State Capitol, Suite 250 500 Woodlane St Little Rock, AR 72201 USA Fax: +1 501 682 3597 Email: http://governor.arkansas.gov/contact-info/ (use US detail); or i...@governor.arkansas.gov (asking for email to be forwarded to governor) Salutation: Dear Governor ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IMPENDING EXECUTION----TEXAS----Urgent Action: Juror And Victim's Parents Oppose Execution (USA: UA 72.17)
Urgent Action JUROR AND VICTIM'S PARENTS OPPOSE EXECUTION Paul Storey, aged 32, is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 12 April. Among those who are calling for clemency are the parents of the man he was convicted of killing in 2006. One of the jurors who voted for the death sentence also opposes the execution. Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet: * Calling for the execution of Paul Storey to be halted and his death sentence commuted; * Noting that one of the jurors has said he would not have voted for the death penalty if the jury had been presented with the mitigation evidence revealed on appeal, which would have been enough to result in a life sentence, the sentence that the prosecution had offered to both co-defendants; * Noting the call for commutation of Paul Storey’s death sentence made by the parents of Jonas Cherry. Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of forwarding this one! Contact below official by 12 April, 2017: Clemency Section, Board of Pardons and Paroles 8610 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, Texas 78757-6814, USA Fax: +1 512 467 0945 Email: bpp-...@tdcj.state.tx.us Salutation: Dear Board members ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 3 TANZANIA: Bunge Committee Touts Review of Death Penalty The Parliamentary Committee on Constitution and Legal Affairs has advised the government to review death penalty laws to allow death row prisoners who have been in prison for a long time to have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. The Committee Chairman, Mr Rashid Shangazi, said here yesterday that the review of the laws should also consider putting time limit for execution of the punishment and allow it to automatically change to life imprisonment if not implemented. Mr Shangazi said that once his committee recommended for review of the punishment, but the MPs are now proposing for time frame of executing the death penalty and if not implemented it should change to life imprisonment. "The number of prisoners who are on death row has been increasing, but the punishment has never been executed since the second phase government, why should we continue to have this punishment in place," Shangazi queried. He said delays in executing the punishment has been affecting death row prisoners and also it is against human rights of which Tanzania has signed various conventions to protect them. "The Committee advise the government to go through the laws governing this punishment, it can recommend for a section that will set time limit of execution and allow it to change automatically to life imprisonment if not implemented within the given time." Debating on 2016/2017 budget implementation and budget estimates for 2017/2018 for the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the lawmakers advised that the government should work on various issues among them death penalty and overcrowding in prisons. The Minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, promised to work on all issues raised by the Committee. Statistics show that the number of Tanzanians on death row has reached 465 and the punishment has never been executed in the country since 1994. Tanzania Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance reports show that only the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere endorsed the punishment. According to Universal Periodic Review report, there are 465 death row prisoners in Tanzania among them 445 males and 20 females. Human rights activists have been pushing for the abolishment of death penalty because it does not help the convicts to transform and it is against human rights as stipulated in the country's constitution. (source: Tanzania Daily News) PHILIPPINES: Mary Jane remains in limbo 2 years later Mary Jane Veloso of Nueva Ecija has remained in death row in Indonesia after she was saved at the last moment by appeals from international groups as well as Philippine officials. She was due to be executed for drug trafficking along with 2 Australians, a Brazilian, 4 Nigerians, and an Indonesian in April, 2015. But just hours before dawn, she was led back to her cell while the 8 other death convicts were executed by firing squad. President Joko Widodo heeded appeals of those who said Mary Jane had been a victim of human traffickers and asked that she be spared so she could testify against them. Her case is pending to this day and she remains a death convict, unless she is granted a pardon by President Widodo. In an interview last week, Widodo who had refused all requests for pardons in the last four years said he would consider a moratorium on executions, "but I must first ask my people." He appeared to have made 1 concession from his firm stand on the death penalty - only drug convicts from countries that implement the death penalty were executed in Indonesia last year. Mary Jane may have benefited from this concession last year but if the Philippine Congress revives the death penalty this year, it will no longer help her. The bill reinstating the death penalty for drug crimes was swiftly approved last March 7 by the House of Representatives and has now been sent to the Senate. In this connection, Bishop Ruperto Santos, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Mission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, said last January that If Congress enacts the death penalty bill into law and we start executing our own convicts, "we will lose any moral authority to ask for clemency for our Filipinos who have been sentenced to death abroad." Thus 2 years after she was saved from execution at the last minute in April, 2015, Mary Jane remains in limbo and her fate hinges largely on the decision of President Widodo and the Indonesian people whose views he will seek in a survey. It also hinges in part on our own government. If Congress revives the death penalty as sought by the new administration, it is not likely that she will be saved from execution much longer. (source: Manila Bulletin) BANGLADESH: Bangladesh High Court upholds death penalty of 2 hardliners The Bangladesh
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., FLA., ARK., NEV., USA
April 3 TEXAS: Texas House to hear 2 death penalty bills today 2 death penalty bills will be heard in committee Monday April 3, 2017 at the Texas House of Representatives in Austin, TX. The 1st one is House Bill 3054 by Herrero (D-Robstown). Herrero is presenting a revision in jury instructions in death penalty cases to inform hold-out jurors of the effect of their holding out. Also up for debate is House Bill 3080 by Rose (D-Dallas) which would create procedures to exclude persons with "severe mental illness" from the death penalty. In light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Moore v. Texas, the discussion on the latter bill could be very interesting. The Moore opinion concerned the intellectual disability (formerly known as mental retardation) of an individual, not mental illness. HB 3080 could turn into a forum for addressing Moore - even though Moore does not need legislation to be implemented statewide. (source: eparisextra.com) DELAWARE: Bill aims to amend death penalty statuteUnanimous jury would determine capital punishment Legislators are proposing changes to Delaware law that would require a jury to unanimously agree before a person is sentenced to death. Under the Extreme Crimes Protection Act, a jury - not a judge - would decide whether a defendant is sentenced to death. In August, Delaware Supreme Court ruled Delaware's death penalty law violates a person's constitutional right to a jury as outlined in the U.S. Constitution's Sixth amendment by allowing a judge to decide whether a defendant receives a death sentence. Since then, Delaware's death penalty has been on hold, and sentences for 12 men on death row were reduced to life in prison. The proposed amendments would require that a jury unanimously find that an aggravating factor or factors exist making a person eligible for a death sentence, and that those factors outweigh all mitigating factors. As written now, a jury recommends to a judge whether aggravating factors exceed mitigating factors. The jury's decision does not have to be unanimous. Current law gives a judge the final say on the death sentence. A judge may sentence a defendant to death even if a jury is not unanimous on a death sentence or recommends life in prison. The proposed legislation ends a judge's ability to issue a death penalty against a jury's decision. However, it allows a judge to give a lesser sentence even if a jury votes for a death sentence, said Rep. Steve Smyk, R-Milton, a prime sponsor of the bill. "The judge can dial it down, but if a jury says life in prison, that's the system. That's what we go by, and we should accept that," Smyk said. As another protection for a defendant in a death penalty case, the proposed legislation would allow a jury to consider mitigating factors presented by the defense, even if they have not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Still, Kathleen MacRea, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, said her group will not support the Extreme Crimes Protection Act or the changes it espouses. "The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. It doesn't keep people safe. From a policy perspective, it risks convicting innocent people," she said. The ACLU was a strong proponent of legislation proposed in 2015 to repeal Delaware's death penalty. That legislation had the support of then-Gov. Jack Markell and dozens of lawmakers, but the bill failed in a January 2016 vote. It has not been reintroduced. MacRea said the ACLU intends to rally similar opposition against the Extreme Crimes Protection Act. "We'll definitely testify against it," she said. "The bottom line is the death penalty system is a biased system." Smyk said he expected groups opposed to the death penalty to be against any measure that could bring back the death penalty. However, he said, there has been a slight shift in favor of it since the Feb. 1 prison siege at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna. "I don't support a death penalty, but I support the victims of crime," Smyk said. "Without a death penalty, you'll unleash more people of the caliber that took the life of Steven Floyd. And that's a reality." Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, said he continues to support repealing the death penalty, but he would consider the statute changes and give the bill a thorough review. "I'm still in support of the repeal. But if there is any piece of legislation that brings greater clarity to the code, I've typically been in support of it as long as it's balanced and fair," Lopez said. "I will definitely keep an open mind." Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, did not return calls for comment. "It has to be a united effort," Smyk said. "Many people are going to have to talk about it to get it done right." The bill continues to be circulated for more sponsors at Legislative Hall, and it is expected to
