Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, IL 61820 USA 217-333-7954 (voice) 217-244-1478 (fax) fbo...@law.uiuc.edu (personal comments only)
-----Original Message----- From: Institute for Public Accuracy [mailto:dcinstit...@igc.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 11:02 AM To: Institute for Public Accuracy Subject: Filibuster Option Institute for Public Accuracy 915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045 (202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * i...@accuracy.org ___________________________________________________ Wednesday, January 25, 2006 The Filibuster Option ROBERT PARRY, robrtpa...@aol.com, http://www.ConsortiumNews.com "With the fate of the U.S. Constitution in the balance, it's hard to believe there's no senator prepared to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, whose theories on the 'unitary executive' could spell the end of the American democratic Republic," ConsortiumNews.com editor Parry writes in a recent article, "Alito Filibuster: It Only Takes One." Parry adds: "Alito's theory of the 'unitary executive' holds that Bush can cite his 'plenary' -- or unlimited -- powers as Commander in Chief to ignore laws he doesn't like, spy on citizens without warrants, imprison citizens without charges, authorize torture, order assassinations, and invade other countries at his own discretion." While at the Associated Press and Newsweek, Parry broke much of the Iran-Contra scandal. His most recent book is "Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." PAUL ROGAT LOEB, p...@paulloeb.org, http://www.paulloeb.org Loeb has written a series of articles on the filibuster option including "Alito's Clear and Present Danger" and "Filibustering Evasion." He is author of the book "Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time" and the editor of "The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear." FRANCIS BOYLE, fbo...@law.uiuc.edu Professor of law at the University of Illinois, Boyle said today: "Alito is an extremist. Any judge who refuses to declare that an innocent person has a constitutional right to be free from execution is by definition an extremist. ... If confirmed by the Senate, Alito will join Scalia, Thomas and Roberts to form a solid block of four Federalist Society justices. ... We need only one U.S. Senator with courage, integrity, principles and a safe seat in order to start the filibuster." JOHN BERG, jb...@suffolk.edu Professor and director of the graduate program in Professional Politics at Suffolk University in Boston, Berg is author of "Unequal Struggle: Class, Gender, Race and Power in the U.S. Congress." He said today: "The American system of checks and balances works imperfectly -- but it only works at all when there is some degree of balance. An Alito confirmation would put all the institutions of the federal government under the control of one party, at a time when more and more policy decisions are driven by partisanship." For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 _________________________________________________________________ You received this message as a subscriber on the list: pub...@lists.accuracy.org To be removed from the list, send any message to: public-unsubscr...@lists.accuracy.org For all list information and functions, including changing your subscription mode and options, visit the Web page: http://lists.accuracy.org/lists/info/public From rhalp...@mail.smu.edu Wed Jan 25 13:22:19 2006 From: rhalp...@mail.smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed Jan 25 13:14:30 2006 Subject: [Deathpenalty]death penalty news----USA, FLA. Message-ID: <pine.wnt.4.44.0601251322110.3784-100...@its08705.smu.edu> Jan. 25 USA: Federal executions set to double in single week The number of executions carried out by the U.S. federal government since 1988 is set to double in May, with three lethal injections scheduled in a single week. Convicted murderers Richard Tipton, Cory Johnson and James Roane are scheduled to die in the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 9, May 10 and May 12, respectively. "They don't have much in the way of legal resources remaining other than a clemency petition to President George W. Bush," said David Elliot of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The 3 were members of an inner-city gang in Richmond, Virginia, sentenced to death in 1993 for taking part in a series of drug-related murders. All three are black. In the U.S. criminal justice system most crimes are prosecuted by states rather than the federal government. Last year, all 60 executions carried out were administered by states. The federal death penalty was reinstated in November 1988 with the introduction of a law designed to combat drug trafficking known as the Drug Kingpin Act. Since then, Congress has added over 50 other crimes that qualify for death. They include kidnapping resulting in death, murder for hire, fatal drive-by shootings, sexual abuse crimes resulting in death, fatal carjackings or aircraft hijackings and sending materials through the mail with the intent of killing. Congress is currently discussing new additions that would expand the federal death penalty even further. "There was a dramatic jump in the number of federal capital crimes in the 1990s as Congress expanded its jurisdiction over criminal acts that have traditionally been under the purview of the states," said Ginny Sloan of The Constitution Project based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. "It's also become a way for politicians to show voters they are 'tough on crime,'" she said. The most notorious person put to death at Terre Haute was Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing which killed 168 people. Since then, only two others have been executed for federal crimes and the last execution was in 2003. There are currently 41 people on federal death row, 24 of whom are black. MOUSSAOUI CASE The government is seeking the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, who has pleaded guilty to 6 counts of conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. A jury in Alexandria, Virginia, will determine whether Moussaoui gets the death penalty or life imprisonment in a trial scheduled to begin next month. In general, the number of executions in the United States has been falling in recent years, even while the federal death penalty expands in scope. "The states are cutting back on their use of the death penalty, while the federal government is expanding," said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center. So far this year there have been 2, with another scheduled Wednesday night in Texas. Marion Dudley faces execution for the 1992 shooting deaths of 3 people in a Houston drug house. Critics argue that the federal death penalty is racially biased against minorities. If the 3 executions go forward in May, 5 of the 6 people put to death would have been either black or Hispanic. A Department of Justice study released in 2000 found that 80 % of the cases submitted by prosecutors for death penalty review were against minorities. (source: Reuters) FLORIDA: Supreme Court to Hear Death Row Appeal The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear a Florida death row inmate's appeal that challenges that state's lethal injection method, just hours after the court dramatically stepped in to stop the man's execution. Clarence Hill's lawyer said that he had been strapped to a gurney with IV lines running into his arms Tuesday night when Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued a temporary stay. The full court made the stay permanent, and ordered both sides to file more arguments. Hill argues that the 3 chemicals used in Florida's lethal injection method of execution cause pain, making his execution cruel and unusual punishment. His lawyer also contends that Hill is mentally retarded. He is on death row for the Oct. 19, 1982, slaying of Pensacola police Officer Stephen Taylor, 26, and the wounding of his partner, Larry Bailly, when they responded to a silent alarm of a bank robbery. Hill's case allows the court to revisit a 2004 ruling in an Alabama death case, in which justices said that David Larry Nelson could pursue a last-ditch claim that his death by lethal injection would be unconstitutionally cruel because of his damaged veins. While Hill does not have damaged veins, his appeal cites medical studies about the drug cocktail used by Florida and other states. An appeals court had said he brought the challenge too late. His lawyer, D. Todd Doss, told justices that there is a risk that he will not be properly anesthetized at the time of his death. (source: Associated Press) ************* Killer awaits court decision on execution Condemned inmate Clarence Hill is awaiting word today from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether it will lift the stay that blocked his execution for the 1982 murder of a Pensacola police officer. Hill had been strapped to a gurney and IV lines were running into his arms Tuesday night, his attorney says, when Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued the stay. Kennedy's order gave the court more time to consider whether the chemicals used in Florida's lethal injections cause pain and are cruel and unusual punishment. If the stay is lifted, Hill could be executed Wednesday. "He's alive and we are still fighting for his life," said Hill's attorney, D. Todd Doss. Doss said he filed appeals immediately with the Supreme Court on Tuesday after they were denied by a federal appeals court in Atlanta. Doss does not know how long the stay will last. It could be lifted today or remain in effect for months. He got a chance to talk to Hill after the stay was imposed. "He was thankful to be alive," Doss said. "He was very tired." Carolyn Snurkowski, a death appeals attorney for Attorney General Charlie Crist, said Wednesday that her office was also awaiting a ruling by the high court, as was the Florida Department of Corrections. In a flurry of last-minute appeals, Hill, 48, claimed he was mentally retarded and should not be executed, and he also had challenged the state's use of execution drugs. Later Tuesday night the Supreme Court rejected 1 of Hill's 3 appeals, but did not act on the remaining 2. A total of 29 witnesses had gathered at the Florida State Prison, in an observation room separated from the execution chamber by windows. Their view was blocked by a brown curtain remained drawn. Some witnesses exchanged notes while waiting. The witnesses, who included Florida Senate President Tom Lee and several of the victim's relatives, were sent home after Kennedy filed paperwork that said Hill's death sentence would "be stayed pending further order" of the justices. Witnesses and journalists remained at the execution site for about an hour, waiting for further information, as officials awaited a court decision. Earlier, Hill had lost appeals at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Hill is sentenced to die for the Oct. 19, 1982, slaying of Pensacola police Officer Stephen Taylor, 26, and the wounding of his partner, Larry Bailly, when they responded to a silent alarm of a bank robbery at Freedom Federal Savings Bank. Hill shot Taylor in the back as he tried to handcuff his accomplice. Bailly returned fire, wounding Hill. Hill was to be the 61st inmate executed in Florida since 1976, when executions resumed after a 12-year moratorium, and the 257th since 1924, when the state took that duty from individual counties. Hill's accomplice was sentenced to life in prison. (source: Associated Press) ************* Cop-killer's execution could stay on hold The U.S. Supreme Court stay that spared Clarence Hill's life Tuesday night is expected to continue to keep him alive, with no action today even if the stay, signed by Justice Anthony Kennedy, is lifted. Hill was set to die for the 1982 shooting death of Pensacola police officer Stephen Taylor. Gov. Jeb Bush in November signed Hill's death warrant, setting the time for his execution at 6 p.m. Final appeals before circuit courts and the Florida Supreme Court and federal appeals courts failed. But Hill's attorneys had three pending motions before the nation's highest court and Kennedy granted the stay based on a filing that argued lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Kennedy rejected 2 other appeals. Florida Assistant Attorney General Carolyn Snurkowski, who is handling the state's arguments in Hill's appeals, said the appeal that resulted in the stay was rejected Tuesday afternoon by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. An appeal was then filed with the Supreme Court at 4:45 p.m., just more than an hour before the scheduled execution. The state filed its responses at 5. Hill's attorney, Todd Doss, was not available this morning. Kennedy's stay didn't come until 7 p.m. For an hour, witnesses that included Taylor's brother and sister, sat silently, staring forward at their own reflections in the glass panes that separate the witness room from the death chamber. A brown curtain stayed drawn, never opened to signal the execution was proceeding. Shortly after 7 p.m., assistant warden Randall Polk announced the stay and witnesses were led out. Department of Corrections officials will not say if Hill was strapped to a gurney, a needle inserted in his arm to deliver deadly chemicals, during that time. A department guidelines document indicates the condemned is already in the death chamber when witnesses are brought in. "We were prepared to proceed," said Debbie Buchanan, a spokeswoman for the department, in what she described as a prepared statement vetted by attorneys. Robby Cunningham, also a department spokesman, said officers remain "on standby." But Russell Schweiss, a spokesman in Bush's office, said an execution today is not expected. Snurkowski said the death warrant signed against Hill remains valid for a week, a clock that began running at noon on Monday. If the stay is lifted, she said, the governor would discuss with the warden about readiness to conduct the execution. Another execution, of A.D. Rutherford, is scheduled for 6 p.m. next Tuesday. For now, Hill awaits a further order from Kennedy. In his order Tuesday night he said the stay could be lifted by him alone or the entire court. "I don't predict," Snurkowski said. (source: The News-Press)
