[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., S.C., GA., FLA.
February 5 TEXAS: Anthony Graves, Wrongfully Convicted Death Row Inmate, Gives Voice to Voiceless Since August 23, 1992, Anthony Graves has been behind bars for the gruesome murder of a family in Somerville, Texas. There was no clear motive, no physical evidence connecting him to the crime, and the only witness against him recanted, declaring again andagain before his death, in 2000, that Graves didn’t do it Imagine spending nearly 2 decades in prison for a crime you never committed. Even worse, imagine spending 12 of those years behind bars on death row. That is the story of former Texas death row inmate Anthony Graves, whose case garnered international attention after he was wrongfully convicted of multiple homicides in 1992. Graves was sentenced to the death penalty. Graves’ sentence was overturned in 2006. Then, after having to deal with countless legal loopholes and roadblocks, he was forced to fight and wait another four years in order to be fully exonerated and released from prison in 2010 after 18 ½ long years. Sadly, stories of false imprisonment and wrongful conviction have impacted countless African Americans for decades — from having to deal with the controversial and inhumane convict-leasing system, to flawed public policy that disproportionately impacts African Americans. Graves’ case serves as but one example of the complex nuances that make up the America’s controversial criminal justice system. In 2017, Netflix released a documentary entitled “Time: The Kalief Browder Story.” The film chronicles the tragic case of Kalief Browder, a young Black teenager who spent three years of his young life in pre-trial detention and solitary confinement on New York’s Riker’s Island, without ever being convicted of a crime. Despite denying the charges, Browder was held because he was on probation for a prior incident. On top of that, because his parents could not afford the money for bail to get him out of jail. Half of Broder’s time in jail was spent in solitary confinement, until 2013 when he was released and all charges against him were dismissed. 2 years after being released, at the age of 22, Browder committed suicide outside of his mother’s home, which led to calls for criminal justice reform in New York. Stories and incidents like these have prompted activists from across the globe to focus on ways to help bring about comprehensive and effective criminal justice reform in the United States, which is why Graves has chosen to work with the ACLU of Texas and Texas Southern University’s Urban Research and Resource Center (TSUURRC) to launch the Anthony Graves Smart Justice Speaker’s Bureau. Graves said this program was much needed across the country. “I travel all across the country sharing my story and no matter where I go, I hear story after story about someone who has been impacted by the criminal justice system, whether it was them or someone close to them,” said Graves. “I felt like I had to do something to give these people a voice to share their stories, which I strongly believe will empower them to help bring about changes in the criminal justice system in America.” The Anthony Graves Smart Justice Speakers Bureau is the only program of its kind in the nation. The program works with qualified persons to help reduce recidivism and to encourage entrepreneurship and academic development through a 12-week training program, that is taught on the Texas Southern University (TSU) campus. The Anthony Graves Smart Justice Speakers Bureau allows formerly incarcerated people to be trained in professional public speaking and to serve as effective ambassadors related to criminal justice issues. The program utilizes highly credentialed and experienced trainers who follow approved curriculum specific to the topic areas of criminal justice reform. The class sizes range from 5 to 10 students who are trained and prepared for speaking engagements around the country. Students who successfully complete the program receive a certificate of achievement certifying their skills. Selection for training is competitive. Applicants submit a 10-minute video for consideration and/or participate in a phone interview. Afterwards, candidates are then invited to a face-to-face interview. Speakers are trained to be effective agents of change at the local, state and national levels. Speakers’ skills and time are highly valued. Trained speakers are fairly compensated consistent with speaking fees for other public policy professional engagements. The TSU Urban Research and Resource Center (TSUURRC) chose to partner with the ACLU of Texas with a goal to help reduce mass incarceration by 50 percent. They hope to do this through researching the key drivers of incarceration and formulating policies aimed at impacting those drivers in a way that achieves the goal. “This program trains the people who will be most influential in telling the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., TENN., OHIO
February 5 ALABAMAimpending execution Judge Denies Muslim death row Inmate's '11th-Hour' Requests for Imam in Execution Chamber, Plea for Gas Once a stay was tossed, a devout Muslim inmate on Alabama’s death row who is set to be executed on February 7 failed to sway a federal judge to commute his sentence or let him inhale lethal gas instead of lethal injection cocktail, and was barred from having his imam by his side. Dominique Hakim Marcelle Ray, 42, is slated to die by lethal injection on February 7 as scheduled and won’t have his spiritual advisor or the Holman Correctional Facility’s staff Christian chaplain with him when the time comes. In 1995, Ray was convicted of the robbery, rape and murder of Tiffany Harville, after his co-defendant confessed to cops that it was Ray who slashed the 15-year-old’s throat and pulled a couple of dollars from her purse. What’s more, according to the order filed on February 1 in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, Ray had killed before, having “murdered two teenage brothers.” The jury voted overwhelmingly (11 to 1) in favor of sentencing Ray to death. However, days before he was to be put down, Ray argued for a series of accommodations, including a stay, chucking the lethal injection and lobbying for his Muslim “private spiritual advisor” to be by his side inside the death chamber “during the execution,” the order read. "Ray seeks an 11th-hour stay of his execution so that the court can resolve 3 issues," U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins wrote in the order. The judge denied just about everything except for allowing Ray to be alone in the execution chamber. Regarding the imam, Watkins was blunt, saying there was nothing compelling him to deviate from Alabama protocol. “The state has never allowed an inmate’s private spiritual advisor to be inside the chamber during the execution, regardless of the private spiritual advisor’s affiliation,” he wrote. The judge said that the chaplain at Holman (who is Christian) is “a trained member of the execution team” who has “witnessed dozens of execution and trained on how to respond is something goes wrong… If the chaplain disobeys orders, he will face disciplinary action.” Watkins added that in a private imam, the training is unknown and leaves open scenarios that “go outside the State’s control.” Ray’s tardiness was a central factor in shooting down the imam request. “Since Ray has been confined at Holman for more than 19 years, he reasonably should have learned that the State allows only members of the execution team… inside the execution chamber,” the order reads. As a result, Ray, who found Islam back in 2006, will die without any clergy present. “The court will enter a consent order requiring that the state prison chaplain not be in the execution chamber during Ray’s execution,” according to Watkins's order. Watkins submitted that Ray would have plenty of time to be with his imam right up until around 4:30 p.m., when "goodbyes are said" and Ray will take "the final walk to the chamber," the order read. Also, Ray’s lethal injection will go forward despite the man’s last-ditch efforts to die by nitrogen hypoxia. Legislation was signed into law last March (following Oklahoma and Mississippi) by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey granting inmates the choice to die by nitrogen gas rather than lethal injection. The effort came after Utah brought back firing squads and Tennessee brought the electric chair out of retirement. For Ray to have been able to take advantage of the nitrogen hypoxia alternative, he needed to make a formal request by July 1 of last year. Ray and his attorneys apparently waited too long. His request for gas arrived only 10 days before his execution, the order stated. (Newsweek's attempts to reach Ray's attorneys were not immediately returned.) Watkins blamed Ray’s “dilatory” effort to let so much time pass while “the execution click had started ticking.” (source: newsweek.com) Being Spared?The U.S. Supreme Court has said juries must consider a defendant’s life, education and mental health before voting for execution. Lawyers for an Alabama man say that never happened in 1999, and now it’s too late. On the morning of July 29, 1999, 12 men and women filed into the jury box in the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama. The day before, they had convicted Domineque Ray of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in a cotton field outside of town. It had taken just an hour and 40 minutes to deliver their verdict. It was a terrible crime, and not the first killing Ray, 22, had been convicted of. Five and a half months earlier, Ray had been found guilty for his role in the murders of 2 teenage boys in Selma. Now, shortly after 9 a.m., the jury was set to hear testimony on whether Ray’s life should be spared or if he should be sentenced to die. Juries in death penalty cases have b
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., IDAHO, CALIF., WASH., USA
February 5 MISSOURI: Controversial Missouri bill would allow organ donations from death row inmates A controversial bill before state lawmakers in Jefferson City would allow death row inmates to voluntarily donate organs moments before they are executed. Supporters say Missouri could be the 1st state in the country to do it, but opponents say not so fast. The legislation is House Bill 630. The question now up for debate at the state capitol, elsewhere there is a question as to whether death row inmates should be allowed to give life through organ donation as they`re about to be executed. House Bill 630 calls for executions in Missouri to be carried out in a manner that allows consenting inmates to make organ and anatomical donations. 30-year-old Julia Sommer has been on kidney dialysis since 2015. Both of her kidneys have failed and she says she needs a kidney transplant. Julia thinks the potential of more organs being available through donation is positive even if the organs come from death row killers. “It needs to happen. It needs to happen because it will save lives and there is such a terrible organ shortage,” said Sommer. Zach Sanders played a major role in developing the bill. He`s the executive director of the group Missouri Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. Sanders` father was murdered by Russell Bucklew, one of the people facing execution in Missouri. Sanders believes giving death row inmates a chance to donate their organs before execution could bring something positive to all of the tragedy surrounding death row cases. “Maybe if we can improve a life or even save a life, why wouldn`t we? You know, try to find light in the darkness out of all of this and save somebody`s life,” explained Sanders. Sanders and his group sold state representative Jim Neely on the bill. Neely, who represents parts of northwest Missouri including Cameron has been a doctor for years. Neely told Fox 2, “If we`re going to execute somebody and they have tissues or organs that are usable and they`re wanting to donate, why not do it?” But not everyone is on board with the bill. Among those with questions, the Missouri Catholic Conference. The group opposed the bill when it first came up last year. They have similar concerns now even though they haven`t yet officially established a position this time around. The concerns include whether a death row inmate about to be executed is truly in the right frame of mind to voluntarily consent to organ donation and if the state of Missouri should be in the business of harvesting organs from death row inmates. “Is it proper in that setting to be doing this, you know, and for the state to be doing it when they`re about to put someone to death,” questioned the group`s executive director Tyler McClay. There are similar concerns the group Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. They have already come out against the bill. Elyse Max with that group told us, “This isn`t a viable source of organ donors and it`s a slippery slope. It`s kind of stating that we value an inmate`s organs more than their innate value as a human. And so, we think this is further exploitation of a vulnerable population.” Zach and Julia acknowledge the concerns but for them, it boils down to a matter of life and death...they are choosing life even if it comes from death row. “There needs to be a source for more organs and death row inmates would definitely be a good place to start,” said Julia. Neely also sponsored the bill during the last legislative session. It unanimously passed out of committee but never made it to the floor for a full house vote. So far in this session, the bill does not have a hearing set for it. But representative Neely is confident that the bill can pass both the House and Senate. Neely says details on how the whole procedure would work would be left up to the Department of Corrections. A department spokesperson told us they have no opinion on the bill and that no plans are in place to implement the legislation if it passes. We will see what happens at the session moves forward. (source: KPLR news) IDAHO: Idaho judge urged to force disclosure of execution drugsA judge will decide whether the public interest in knowing where Idaho has obtained its lethal injection drugs for executions is outweighed by what prison officials say is the risk that future drug suppliers will dry up Idaho's attempt to withhold information about the source of its lethal injection drugs is similar to hiding the type of ammunition used by firing squads or the brand of rope used in a hanging, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho told a state judge on Monday. The arguments from the ACLU's Ritchie Eppink came at the close of a trial pitting the Idaho Department of Corrections against a University of Idaho professor who sued for access to execution doc
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
February 5 UNITED KINGDOM: UK, Stand Firm against Data Demands in Death Penalty CasesUS Could Use Data Demanded from UK – But Pretend It Didn’t After heated debate, the United Kingdom has just inched closer to adopting laws that would allow the United States to demand and obtain digital evidence – such as e-mails, texts, and chats – directly from companies that are storing it in the UK. This would do away with important rights protections under the existing treaty and policies, which require the UK authorities to scrutinize US demands for data on a case-by-case basis. The US has already similarly undermined rights safeguards by adopting the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, which Human Rights Watch opposed. Some members of the UK Parliament tried to put the brakes on these developments, pointing out that the US could demand British-held evidence in US prosecutions that could lead to a death sentence – a punishment the UK government opposes. Last Wednesday, the House of Commons responded by approving an amendment requiring the UK Home Secretary to ask the US – and any other country that allows capital punishment and hopes for a data-access agreement with the UK – for written assurances of the “non-use” of information from the UK in connection with a death-penalty case. However, the Home Secretary would not actually need to receive such assurances. This is a problem. Even if Parliament strengthened the amendment to require assurances, the UK is poised to remove the most important means of ensuring US authorities stick to their rights commitments in every case: review and approval of each data demand. Our research also prompts concerns that if the US does offer assurances that it won’t “use” data from the UK in death penalty prosecutions, it may decide for itself what “use” means – potentially in a way that allows it to take advantage of evidence from the UK, but conceal how it was actually used. Through the practice of “parallel construction,” US police and prosecutors can avoid revealing the true origins of information in a criminal trial by deliberately re-obtaining it in some other way. And as we reported last year, we have specific concerns that the US government may employ a non-obvious definition of the word “use” to avoid revealing that it has taken investigative steps it prefers to hide. As we have also urged regarding the UK’s potential extradition of ISIS suspects to the US, the UK should stand firm in not facilitating executions. This means preventing the US from grabbing UK-held data without strong, clear safeguards to protect against capital punishment. This isn’t an arcane debate about ones and zeros. It could be a life and death matter. (source: Human Rights Watch) INDIA: 162 death penalties imposed by trial courts in 2018, highest in 2 decades In 2018, 162 death penalty verdicts were pronounced by Sessions Courts, the highest since the turn of the millennium, according to a report. The trend dipped slightly in 2014 and began climbing, reaching a record high in 2018. The report, titled 'Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2018', also notes that the Supreme Court moved in the opposite direction, commuting 11 death sentences it heard in 2018 to life imprisonment. Of the 114 death penalty cases handled by the High Courts that year, the majority (50%) were commuted. Here's a breakdown of the number of cases heard by all courts. The highest number of death sentences between 2015 and 2018 were given for cases involving both sexual violence and murder. The year 2018 saw the legislative expansion of the death penalty, introducing it as a possible punishment for rape of girls below 12 years of age. 9 persons were convicted under this new law in 2018. On August 1 2018, the Union Cabinet approved a bill providing death penalty or life imprisonment for crimes involving maritime piracy or piracy at sea, according to the report. However, the Supreme Court's concern about the death penalty was observed on 2 fronts: 1st, the commutation of 11 out of 12 death sentences to life imprisonment; and 2nd, Justice Kurian Joseph’s dissenting opinion in Chhannu Lal Verma v. State of Chhattisgarh, calling for the need to reconsider the death penalty as a punishment. A State-wise analysis shows that of the 426 persons on death row in the country (as on December 31, 2018) the highest number of convicts are from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. No.of death row convicts: Maharashtra 66, Tamil Nadu 14, Bihar 22, Uttar Pradesh 66, Madhya Pradesh 66, Karnataka 25 Of these, the status of 11 persons convicted under the Army Act is unknown. (source: The Hindu) SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka ready for landmark hanging of drug convicts: Minister Sri Lanka is ready to execute 5 drug convicts and end its 42-year capital punishment moratorium once President Maithripala Sirisena s
