Death Penalty

Earlier today the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted 6-1 to reccomend commutation of Foster's sentence.  Just a short time later, here's what Governor Perry had to say:

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry today commuted the death sentence of Kenneth Eugene Foster of San Antonio to life imprisonment after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (TBPP) recommended such action.

On May 6, 1997, Foster was sentenced to death for his role in the 1996 capital murder of Michael LaHood. Foster sought to have his death sentence commuted to a life sentence arguing that he did not shoot the victim, but merely drove the car in which that the actual killer was riding. In addition, Foster was tried along side the actual killer, Maurecio Brown, and the jury that convicted Foster also considered punishment for both him and his co-defendant in the same proceeding.

"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Gov. Perry said. "I am concerned about Texas law that allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously, and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine."

The TBPP voted 6-1 to recommend commutation, and the governor signed the commutation papers Thursday morning.

The governor's action means Foster's sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment as soon as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice can process this change.

HIP HIP HOOORAY!!!

Many many thanks to all who sent appeals!

~From your friends at the PADP

The execution of DaRoyce Lamont Mosley, 32, has been delayed as the U.S Supreme Court considers an appeal by Mosley that he is not guilty in the 1994 slaying in Kilgore.

The delay in the execution comes after both the Texas Court of Criminal Court and the 5^th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block the execution of Daroyce Mosley.

Mosley didn't deny walking into the Kilgore bar intending to rob the place, but insisted his uncle who accompanied him was responsible for the July 1994 murders of Patricia and Duane Colter, Alvin Waller, and Luva Congleton. The uncle, Ray Don Mosley, now 44, took a plea bargain and is serving life in prison.

DaRoyce Mosley said he wrongly confessed to the slayings of the four victims.

Abolish Intern DC

The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied a motion to stay the execution of Edward Jerome Harbison clearing way for the state to put the inmate to death by lethal injection for the 1983 murder of Edith Russell in Hamilton County.

He is scheduled to be executed in the early hours of Sept. 26.

In a petition filed by Harbison from prison earlier this month, he asked for a stay based on claims of fraud during his trial and appellate court review.

In turning down the appeal, the Supreme Court said Harbison's claims of fraud do not refer to any pending Tennessee court cases.

The only hope that Edward Harbison has in avoiding the death chamber is to petition Governor Phil Bredesen for executive clemency.

Please help save Harbison's life by writing letters to Governor Phil Bredesen asking him to grant clemency to Edward Jerome Harbison.

Remember to commend Governor Bredesen for his earlier brave and wise decision in halting all executions in Tennessee for 90 days.

The envelope should be addressed to:

Governor Phil Bredesen

Governor's Office

Tennessee State Capitol

Nashville, TN 37243-0001

Via Fax: 615-532-9711

Abolish Intern DC

At the start of this week, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, submitted his resignation.

Here is a short Gonzales recap from the death penalty angle.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has been overzealous in ordering federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, including in an Arizona murder case in which no body had been recovered.

He refused to hear the concern of a federal prosecutor in Arizona, Paul K Charlton who argued against a death sentence in a case in which no body had been found.

Several U.S attorneys were fired last year in part because of clahses with Gonzales and his aides over the death penalty.

Charlton one of the prosecutors who was fired, was told that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty had spent a "significant amount of time" with Gonzales on the issue -- as much as "5 to 10 minutes." When he asked to speak with Gonzales directly, he became an object of ridicule among Gonzales' senior staffers. After Charlton was fired, Department officials cited "insubordination" as one of the chief causes. Is this how much time it takes to determine whether one deserves life or death?

Regardless of all of this, the US Justice Department was finalizing regulations that would give him new authority in capital cases to shorten the time death row inmates have to appeal their convictions in federal court. The new provisions, added to last year's reauthorization of the "anti-terror" USA Patriot Act, would grant the attorney general the power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate legal counsel to capital defendants.

It is shocking to note that Gonzales was a strong death penalty proponent despite an increased awareness that innocent people had been executed and that there had been botched executions. He frequently ignored the crucial issue of life versus death and never at any one thought what it would be like to be on the receiving end of his actions.

In my opinion, the departure of Gonzales can be regarded as good and bad news. The good news is that his resignation may be deeemed as a victory for death penalty abolitionists as he was so eager to expand the use of capital punishment.

The bad news is that Justice Department is putting the final touches on regulations that could give the next Attorney General important new sway over death penalty cases in California and other states, including the power to shorten the time that death row inmates have to appeal convictions to federal courts Therefore it is essential that you let your voice be heard as we do not know what the next Attorney General's course of action is.

Abolish Intern DC

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A federal appeals court has ruled that a request for mental-health professionals to examine an Arkansas death-row inmate Terrick Nooner should be reconsidered in court. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis asked a lower court Friday to again examine a request on behalf of Nooner for the mental examination.

The decision of the court comes barely a week after the Arkansas Board of Parole and pardons urged Governor Beebe to reject Nooner's clemency request.

Nooner was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1993 slaying of an Arkansas college student, Scot Stobaugh during a robbery.

Lawyers for Nooner argued their request for the mental examinations was not an appeal of his original conviction in Pulaski County court. Instead, the lawyers said it was a means to try to have the court allow examinations the Arkansas Department of Correction has denied over the last year and a half.

In light of the subsequent developments, the execution on Nooner that was originally scheduled for September 18, 2007 is put on hold and it will be for a doctor to determine whether the mental status examination warrants attention.

Abolish Intern Dc

In their zeal to perpetuate state killing, several state governments have placed themselves on a collision course with the Medical Profession.  To evade legal challenges that the process of lethal injection is excessively, unconstitutionally cruel, states have been devising strategies for incorporating medical personnel into their executions, to give these premeditated killings an air of cool, antiseptic professionalism.  But this has required concealing the identity of the participating medicos, since medical ethics rules forbid doctors from assisting in the taking of a life.  In Alabama and Ohio, a curtain is drawn to prevent witnesses from seeing the doctor involved, and in Missouri the participating physician can sue anyone who reveals his name.

The latest chapter in this depressing charade comes from Florida, where the Ron Word of the AP reports that, currently, a doctor assists Sunshine State executions, and that he hides his identity with a "plastic moon suit, similar to those worn by hazardous materials teams, [which] covers the doctor completely from head to toe. Goggles worn beneath the clear plastic face shield conceals the doctor's identity even further."  He also reports that the moon suit is, for some reason, purple. And that, now, Florida wants to add more medical professionals to the process [is the purple moon suit lobby secretly behind this?]

In effect Florida, and other states, are asking an entire profession to sacrifice its integrity for the sake of executions that do nothing but score a few political points for self-proclaimed "tough-on-crime" politicians.  The next time you take your children in for vaccinations, do you really want to be worried about whether the medical professional handling the needle might have donned a purple suit the night before and helped kill somebody?

Could it not be more pathetically obvious how degrading this whole process is, how it demeans and debases everyone it touches?

- Brian at PADP -

Just a day after the state of Texas carried out its 400^th execution, two death row inmates are to begin a hunger strike on August 23 in an apparent protest to their upcoming executions. Kenneth Foster Jr., and John Joe Amador are to be executed by lethal injection one day apart from each other.

Amador is to be executed on August 29 for the murder of 32 year old Reza Ayari, a cab driver from San Antonio. Amador has been on death row since 1995 and was 18 years old at the time of his offense.

Foster is to be executed on August 30 for driving the car during a robbery in 1996 when Michael LaHood Jr. 25, was shot and killed during an attempted robbery.The man who shot and killed him, Mauriceo Brown has already been executed on July 19, 2006 for this crime. Brown confessed to the shooting and claimed he acted solely alone, and that the other defendants had no knowledge of the shooting.

Although Foster never left the car, and never touched the gun, he was sentenced under "The Law of Parties", where a defendant can be sentenced to die for being at the scene of the crime. Two other defendants in this crime Julius Steen and Dewayne Dillard, however were sentenced to long prison terms.

The hunger strike is the lastest disruption at the ‘capital' of capital punishment where 400 inmates have already been put to death since the state resumed the use of capital punishment in 1982. In this year alone 21 inmates have already been put to death by lethal injection and there are ten death row inmates awaiting execution at the Texas death machine.

However, this  is not the first time that death row inmates in Texas have gone on hunger strike for in October 2006 and January 2007, death row inmates began a hunger strike calling for humane living conditions.

We can not stand idly by while executions are carried out at an alarming rate in Texas and need to do something. You can fuel the resistance against the death penalty, so take some time and write a letter to Governor Perry protesting the executions.

Here are two things that you can include in the letter:

- Express sympathy for the family of the victims and explain that you are not seeking to excuse the manner of their deaths or to downplay the suffering it will have caused;

- Call for Kenneth Foster, John Amador and other death row inmates to be granted clemency.

Address of the Governor

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax:         1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor

Remember Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world.'

Abolish Intern DC

A divided Arkansas Board of Parole urged the governor on Monday to reject a clemency request by death row inmate Terrick Terrell Nooner, who is scheduled to be executed Sept. 18

Nooner was convicted of capital murder and aggravated robbery in Pulaski County and sentenced to die in the 1993 slaying of Scot Stobaugh, a 22-year-old University of Arkansas at Little Rock student who was killed while washing his clothes at a coin laundry on West Markham.

At the center of Nonner's petition for clemency was his claim that he suffers from mental problems among many things.

The board heard Nooner's clemency request last week during a hearing at the department of Corrections' Varner Unit, where the state's death chamber is located and voted 4-3 to reject Nooner's request

Board members John Belken, John Felts, Carolyn Robinson and Lynn Story voted against Nooner's request for clemency.

Story noted on a comment sheet that, "I believe they have the right man."

Parole Board Chairman Leroy Brownlee, Abraham Carpenter and Richard Mays Jr. supported Nooner's clemency request.

Brownlee recommended that Nooner's sentence be commuted to life without parole and he noted on a comment sheet that, "Evidence for a conviction leaves too much doubt for a capital murder charge."

Mays Jr. also said he believed there "are too many unanswered questions" for Nooner to be executed. He wrote, "I think there are mental issues with the inmate."

Much as the Arkansas Board of Parole has urged the Governor Mike Beebe to reject a clemency request by death row inmate Terrick Terrell Nooner, the governor has discretionary powers to consider the clemency petition and can overturn the Board's decision.

Write to Governor Mike Beebe and urge him to overturn the Board's decision and grant clemency to Terrick Terrell Nonner.

This is how you can address you letter.

Hon. Mike Beebe
Office of the Governor
State Capital Rm. 250
Little Rock, AR 72201

Dear Governor Beebe:

.......................Abolish Intern DC

Over the last few weeks, we have blogged about the case of Kenneth Foster who is scheduled to be executed August 30, 2007 for the murder of Michael LaHood, despite the fact that Mauriceo Brown, the person who shot LaHood, was executed in 2006.

By now, you have probably read what the best friend of the victim, the wife of Kenneth Foster, the lawyers, district attorneys and the like have had to say about the case. In this blog, I would like to draw your attention to an interview that Kenneth Foster had with KXAN, Austin News.

From Conversation Booth 23 and possibly 2 weeks of conversations left, Kenneth Foster said he is fighting with and for every breath.

"I want you to realize that you're going to kill a man who hasn't killed anybody," Foster said.

"There are guys walking around out here with cases worse than mine, killers, walking around right out here," Foster said. "They're walking around, and they've got me back here on death sentence for driving a car."

Check out the Interview of Kenneth Foster and also hear how the family of the victim in this case supports the death penalty.

Then take action and help stop the execution of Kenneth Foster

Abolish Intern Dc

Texas has executed far more death row inmates than any other state since the resumption of the death penalty in 1976, and will soon hit the grim total of 400.

On Wednesday August 22, 2007, the state of Texas is scheduled to execute Johnny Conner for the May 1998 murder of Kathyanna Nguyen.   If the execution is carried out, he will be the 400^th person executed and Texas will have outdistanced any other state in America in terms of executions carried out.

Texas regarded as the ‘capital' of capital punishment has carried out 20 executions this year the most of any state and is scheduled to executed nine other people this year besides Johnny Conner.

Four states with the death penalty have not carried out a single execution since 1976 when the U.S. Supreme Court approved newly revised death penalty statutes.  Another 14 death penalty states have each executed less than 6 people in the past quarter century.  This year, states as diverse as New Jersey, Montana, Maryland, and New Mexico considered doing away with the death penalty altogether.

While executions in Texas have continued at an alarming pace, new death sentences have decreased significantly both in this state and nationally in the past five years. Texas juries and prosecutors may be realizing that the pursuit of a death sentence is not worth the time, effort, financial investment, or the risk of executing the innocent, when society can be protected with the statutory provisions of either a mandatory 40-year-prison sentence or a sentence of life without parole.

Although death sentences may have declining popularity among the people in Texas, it hasn't stopped Texas from executing people and showing a total disregard for human life. It seems that when the death penalty was reinstated in Texas, it came back with a vengeance and the number of people put to death is proof of this.

It is against this backdrop that, I urge you to raise up your voices and take part in the Vigils throughout the state of Texas that have been planned to mark this somber occasion. 

Help stop the execution of Johnny Conner and other death row inmates.

Abolish Intern DC

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

kathy gill is a writer, educator, motorcyclist and political junkie who has worked inside government -- at the state and federal level -- as well as outside government as a state and federal lobbyist...

she posts on about.com regularly and posted this recently regarding the scheduled executuion of kenneth foster and the state of texas...

Texas leads the nation in executions: 35 percent of the country's executions since 1977 took place in Texas. It's home to 7.8 percent of the nation's population.

And it's about to make the history books by executing a man for murder ... when he did not kill anyone.

Read what happened that night in 1996 from the best friend of the man who was murdered. (tip)

Read what lawyers, district attorneys and the like have to say about the case, from ABC News.

Then look at the chart -- the one that shows a clear political divide in this country. It's one where we could argue that the old testament (eye for an eye) trumps the new testament (turn the other cheek). If you live in a red state, you are more likely to face the death penalty and execution than if you live in a blue state: the odds are 9-to-1.

For us, this is an intellectual exercise. But for Kenneth Foster Jr, it's his life. His case will be heard on 28 August by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles; he is scheduled for execution two days later. No one expects the Governor to intervene.

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

while it's true that amnesty international is a secular organization, when you're organizing to abolish the death penalty in the southeast united states you have to build relationships with people of all faiths who often wear their faith upon their sleeves...that's because you have to met people where they gather and in the south they gather primarily in churches...

george h. jones is one such ally from leeds, alabama...here is his letter to the editor published in the tuscaloosa news...

Dear Editor:

Our [state] attorney general released a missive that is not only sadly short on facts but seems increasingly bloodthirsty. He is joined by the chorus of supporters of state sponsored killing that no amount of fact seems to impress.

[Troy] King says people don't change, which contradicts Christ, who stated there is no person beyond the redeeming grace of God. No wonder all of the mainline churches are taking an increasingly strong stand against state killing.

Glen Stassen tells us "the cross on Christian churches signifies not that we should advocate more crosses for others but that we all need mercy. On this basis, Christians should take issue with capital punishment regardless of whether a person is innocent or guilty, or regardless of whether lethal injection is cruel or humane. In short, executing people is morally wrong in principle."

The American Bar Association judged "we are the only industrialized nation with such a hunger for death in its justice system. The barbaric practice simply cannot be justified."

Coretta Scott King said: "An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never served by the taking of a human life."

Scientists have shown it is excruciatingly painful, but in the 12 states without the death penalty, the homicide rate is 46 percent lower.

What about those who are exonerated (more than 200 at latest count)? Some 12 states and the feds have set up a standardized system ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 for each year of incarceration.

Kenneth Foster was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but apparently that is enough to = death in the death-penalty-loving state of Texas.  Yes, Foster is guilty of robbery, but he did not kill anyone, nor did he conspire to do so.  With just two weeks until his scheduled execution, his wife and thousands of others around the country are praying that Kenneth Foster will live past August.  His eleven year-old daughter hopes to still have a dad.

The whole country is reading with horror about this case in Texas - check out this ABC News Article that is currently ranked most popular on their website.  And while you're there, please vote (right side, middle of page) on whether Foster should be executed.

And then TAKE ACTION to prevent this horrible miscarriage of justice from taking place.  

Still not convinced?   Read in his own words why even the victim's best friend opposes Foster's execution.

...from your friend's at the PADP in D.C. ...

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

the persons most likely to be given the death penalty and actually executed in the usa are blacks who kill whites, a new study has found...

the study released in the august issue of american sociological review based its finding on an examination of the outcomes of 1,560 people sentenced to death in 16 states between 1972 and 2002...it addressed the issue of actual executions, penalty just being given the death penalty since everyone given a death sentence is not always executed...

according to the study's co-author, ohio state university sociology and political science professor david jacobs, the persons most likely to be executed are blacks who kill whites followed by hispanics who kill whites.;..by contrast, blacks given the death penalty for killing other blacks or non-whites were far less likely to be executed. The study found a black person killing a white person was more than twice as likely to be executed than a white person killing a non-white...jacobs said that the study shows "the post-sentencing capital punishment process continues to place greater value on white lives."

so for all you naysayers who erroneously claim that race no longer matters in the united states - yes that's a pointed jab at proponents of so-called race neutral policies - suck on this empirical popscicle...

peace out <3

when you look around it's nice to see young urban professionals capable of articulating a reasonable and cogent opinion against the use of capital punishment...the following piece is from emmarie huetteman, a the summer associate editorial page editor at the michigan daily...one thing of note - if you visit the on-line page where the piece is published you will see numerous (and i mean NUMEROUS, like 4 out of 9) comments from this nation's most laughed at death penalty proponent for whom we should all take a moment and pray that he gets a life...

peace out <3

MY CONVICTION

By: Emmarie Huetteman

8/13/07

This summer marks the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's temporary moratorium on capital punishment. And today marks the second day since I heard that Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) and I might actually agree about something.

Because Sam and I are Roman Catholics, it seems only natural that we should be opposed to the death penalty. Our faith promotes forgiveness and life, after all. And as the Republican presidential hopeful once reasoned, "If we're trying to establish a culture of life, it's difficult to have the state sponsoring executions."

But then again, Catholicism wasn't enough to change the minds of death penalty supporters Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R). In fact, when the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted a survey two years ago to gauge American opinion on the death penalty, it discovered that opposition to it is highest among those who characterize their religious affiliation as "secular." So if religious convictions aren't motivating individuals to oppose capital punishment, what is?

Maybe it's suspicion about why the United States is the only Western nation that still uses the death penalty. Our neighbors Canada and Mexico abolished the practice in 1976 and 2005, respectively. Even Germany, which has been fighting the culture of death stereotype since the Third Reich, got rid of the death penalty in 1949.

Maybe it's the influence of social theorists who believe that capital punishment doesn't deter violent crime. They assert that those who commit murder are not typically in a rational frame of mind, whether due to drug use, passion or mental illness, and thus don't consider the consequences of their actions. In fact, a United Nations study in 1998 concluded that the death penalty's effectiveness in deterring crime could not be proven, adding that it was unlikely that it ever would.

Or maybe it's an acknowledgement that we're only using the death penalty to comfort ourselves. In "The Audacity of Hope," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) asserts that while the policy is ineffective in reducing crime, he supports its use when "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage." When someone rapes and murders a child, for instance, the crime is so horrifying that we want to feel justified in our almost primal desire to exact revenge. We don't want to recognize our shared humanity with that murderer, and we certainly don't want to see any similarities between his crime and our justice.

This year marks the 31st anniversary of the reinstatement of capital punishment. And today I realized that maybe I was too quick to say that I agree with Brownback. Upon further research, I found out that he used to support the death penalty, and still supports it in "rare, extreme cases." His convictions aren't even strong enough for the issue to appear in his platform.

But if Brownback won't take a strong stance on this, I will. Capital punishment is an antiquated policy, ineffective in purpose and unjust in nature. Rather than take steps toward its abolishment, though, this country continues to ignore its blatant flaws and aggravate the problem.

Last month, Missouri legislated that anyone who reveals the identity of an executioner is fair game for legal action. Why? Because The St. Louis Post-Dispatch released the name of the doctor who admitted to giving inmates less than the required sedative dosage during lethal injection, basically subjecting them to torture. He blamed his dyslexia. Far be it from anyone to subject him to discomfort for the sake of questioning an inherently flawed system.

I wish someone would question the system.

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

this month texas is poised to execute its 400th inmate since it resumed the practice of capital punishment in 1982, a far higher total than any other american state...according to many it's a testament to the influence of the state's conservative evangelical christians and its cultural mix of old south and wild west...

texas has executed 398 convicts since it resumed the practice in 1982, six years after the u.s. supreme court lifted a ban on capital punishment, far exceeding second-place virginia with 98 executions since the ban was lifted...it has five executions scheduled for august...according to richard dieter, executive director of the death penalty information center:

"In Texas you have all the elements lined up. Public support, a governor that supports it and supportive courts. If any of those things are hesitant then the process slows down. With all cylinders working as in Texas it produces a lot of executions."

texas stands at an unusual geographical and cultural crossroads: part old south, with its legacy of racism, and part wild west, with a cowboy sense of rough justice...

support for capital punishment in texas has also been attributed to the state's high rates of violent crime, though it is not strikingly above the national average...according to fbi statistics for 2005, the national rate of violent crime was 469.2 per 100,000 inhabitants while the same rate for murder and non-negligent manslaughter was 5.6...for texas, the same figures were 529.7 and 6.2...

so here's the kicker...if the death penalty was a deterrent you would expect that these nearly 400 executions would have resulted in texas having a lower homicide and manslaughter rate than the national average and not a higher one...

hellooooooooooooooooooo --- executions thus sound more like conservative evangelical revenge rather than an attempt to save lives by having fewer murders in texas...

following are some facts and figures about executions in texas and the united states, the only industrialized, western democracy that still carries out the death penalty...

-- There are 38 U.S. states with the death penalty plus the U.S. government and the U.S. military. The U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on capital punishment in 1976. Twelve states and the District of Columbia do not have the death penalty.

-- Texas leads the way by far with 398 executions in what some refer to as the "modern" capital punishment era which began in Utah on January 17, 1977, with the firing squad execution of Gary Gilmore. Virginia is second with 98, Oklahoma is third with 85 and Missouri is next with 66.

-- Of the 1,089 number of executions which have taken place in the United States in the modern era, 891 have occurred in the South.

-- Texas has the second highest per capita execution rate in the United States behind only Oklahoma. Delaware is third.

-- Some states "clear" their death row cases more quickly than others. Virginia has had 98 executions but only has 20 inmates currently on its death row, a ratio of five executions to each death row inmate. Texas has 393 inmates on its death row making its ratio almost one on one.

-- Forty-two percent of death row inmates are black though African Americans account for only about 13 percent of the U.S. population. About 45 percent of death row convicts are white.

-- The number of executions in America have been falling, in part because of lower murder rates but also because of concerns about the lethal injection method and wrongful convictions. There were 53 executions in the United States last year, the lowest number since 1996, when there were 45.

(Source: Death Penalty Information Center; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Reuters)

one future trend that could continue to chip away at support for racist, cowboy justice in texas is a continuing demographic shift...there is evidence that the state's booming economy attracts outsiders -- and potential jury members -- from more liberal regions and its latino population continues to grow rapidly...latinos are less enthusiastic on the death penalty than traditional white evangelical texans...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

a death sentence is arbitrary and fluid and an execution is not...it's final, finite, finuto, or as they say south of the border, "es el fin,"...

capital case after capital case demonstrates that systems in place across the united states are error prone and fallible...and it's the issue of innocence (aka wrongful convictions) that gives pause to middle of the road "supporters" of the death pernalty to the degree that little if any cognitive dissonance is generated...

here's another of those cases...is gregory wright guilty or not guilty of the charges for which he was convicted...i don't know but there's too many questions here to have this case result in an execution when life sentences (or life without parole) are sitting there for the use...

on december 10, 1997, a texas court convicted and sentenced gregory edward wright to the death penalty for murder...today, his attorneys have authorized release of news that approved dna tests show evidence used at his trial, and crucial to the prosecution case, is unlikely to be reliable...this new dna evidence, together with a recent successful polygraph test, suggests that wright has been truthful in his assertion of innocence...

on august 6, 2007 greg's legal team authorized the following announcement:

"Following approved DNA testing in recent weeks, Gregory Edward Wright was excluded as a contributor to the DNA on the knife used in the crime for which he has been accused. Additionally, it has been found that Greg's DNA is inconsistent with the biological material found on the pair of jeans, claimed at the trial by the prosecution to have been worn by him."

these two facts, coming as they do on top of a successful polygraph examination, represent significant new evidence in this case...it is the intention of wright's attorneys to seek immediate consideration of these factors by every legal means...

in june 2007, the supreme court of the united states refused to consider a writ of certiorari...in november 2006 the 5th circuit court of appeals declined a certificate of appealability...that's not good...wright's wife, connie, states:

"The new DNA evidence challenges still further the prosecution theories of my husband's actions and complicity in the crime of murder. He has further shown he has told the truth by convincingly passing a polygraph test in May this year. Greg has always declared his innocence of this crime and now it is the duty of the courts to heed this new evidence. I live for the day of Greg's exoneration and release from Death Row. We place our trust in the legal process of the American courts to ensure that Greg is protected from a miscarriage of Justice."

stay tuned...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

it's an occupational hazard and you can charge me with cultural imperialism and i can live with that but i am compelled to identify bigotry and institutional discrimination resulting in human rights violations when i see them...and this is one of those moments...

it seems that an islamic sharia court in northern nigeria has ordered 18 men to be kept in prison pending their trial for alleged sodomy...it has been reported that the men were arrested for allegedly hosting a gay marriage in a predominantly muslim city...

now bigotry and ignorance are one thing but here's the overkill -- the 18 men could face the death penalty if convicted...they were arrested in a hotel in bauchi, were said to be wearing female clothing and had gathered to celebrate a gay marriage...
 
local officials say the men's action contravened islamic law, which governs bauchi state in muslim-dominated northern nigeria...i don't know what federal laws if any apply...bala ahmed, spokesman of the bauchi state sharia commission, says the suspects were all young men:

"They are young; they are very young, promising children if they use the best of their knowledge and their time," he said.  "They are all youth, they are 18 years, 20 years, 25 years. Nobody, I believe, among them is up to 30 years. Fine and handsome-looking, but they are misusing their time, misusing their opportunity to get involved in this evil practice."

really...
 
and it's not the first time this situation has arisen with these potential results either...more than 10 muslims have been convicted for sexual offenses and sentenced to death by stoning...most of the sentences have been commuted to prison terms or rejected on appeal...but ahmed says the islamic council is determined to extract maximum punishment for the 18 men...

"If they are found guilty, let them be punished, so that it will serve as a deterrent to those who are intending to do this," he added.  "Because we want to stop this menace completely. We don't want to hear about this homosexuality in our society."

former president olusegun obasanjo, a southern christian, unsuccessfully initiated a bill to ban gay marriage in nigeria...like many african countries, nigeria is considered to be a conservative society where homosexuality is considered a taboo...

stay tuned for potential action from the program to abolish the death penalty and/or the OUTfront program of amnesty international usa...

peace out <3

Earlier today the 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeal in Cincinnati ruled that Mr  Kenny Richey's death sentence has been overturned. The state of Ohio may now release Mr Richey or re-try his case within 90 days. A similar decision was made in 2005 but was later challenged and set aside.

The appeal was one of the last available appeals open to Richey. Mr Richey was convicted of arson and murder in the state of Ohio in 1986 and sentenced to death on 27 January 1987. He has been on death row since then - over 20 years - but has always protested his innocence.

Evidence has since emerged casting serious doubt on Mr Richey's guilt.

Amnesty International Scotland Director John Watson said:

'This is fantastic news and represents the opportunity that Kenny's long fought for - the chance to clear his name in a proper trial.

'Nobody should be sent to the living hell of death row but Kenny Richey's 20-year ordeal came after a flawed trial and serious concerns about the Ohio justice system.

'On the one had it is disturbing that it has taken this long for Ohio to look again at Kenny's case - but now at least Kenny may be on the road to release.'

Mr Richey, who has a Scottish mother and grew up in Edinburgh, is also the subject of a longstanding campaign from a Scottish anti-death penalty campaigner, Karen Torley. Ms Torley said:

'I am absolutely delighted at today's news - it's been a long, long time coming.

'We're now hoping that he does get a re-trial, so that Kenny actually has the chance to clear his name.

'I have always had full confidence in the fact that Kenny is absolutely innocent - and Kenny is now one vital step closer to proving that to the world.'

For several years Amnesty International has been urging the Ohio state authorities to allow Kenny Richey the opportunity to have fresh evidence heard. It has also repeatedly asked the UK government to maintain pressure on the US authorities in line with the government's policy of opposing the death penalty in all instances. In 2004 the government confirmed that it has a 'comprehensive lobbying strategy' over Richey's case.

We will keep you updated as we get more information

Abolish Intern DC

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

when i think hotbed of radical whacko thought i think the galveston county daily news...

yep, that's right, the ol' galveston county daily news...the first edition of the daily news appeared april 11, 1842, making it the oldest continuously published newspaper in texas...just about 6 years after the battle of the alamo came this juggernaut of radical news...at the time, texas was an independent republic...sam huston was finishing his last term as president...galveston was a fledgling village of more than 4,000 citizens..

still don't believe me??? well, from 1866-1884, the daily news occupied three floors of an iron-fronted building in the 2200 block of market street in downtown galveston...hear that??? - OCCUPIED, just like those hippies that took over columbia university in the (19)60's and what not...

so when they run a piece on how texas ought not kill kenneth foster you take it with a grain of salt...or sand...or sugar...or whatever...

don't you just love humor??? - here's that piece on foster...

peace out <3

Don't conspire to let Foster die

Heber Taylor

In a democracy, people have a collective responsibility to make sure the laws they create work and don't result in miscarriages of justice.

That is why you should care about Kenneth Foster Jr., who is scheduled to be executed Aug. 30.

Foster was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die, although he did not kill anyone or conspire to kill anyone.

Foster is guilty of making some awful decisions. He also is guilty of armed robbery. He deserves to be in prison.

But he does not deserve to die.

Foster is on death row because of a poor reading of the Law of Parties. The law was intended to hold people responsible for conspiracies. It's a good concept, but a flawed law.

If you are a getaway driver and help plan a robbery, you're responsible for anything that happens as a result of the robbery. If the people who point guns at the clerk and demand the money start shooting, the getaway driver is on the hook for that. That's as it should be.

But, as a federal judge pointed out, Foster did not kill or conspire to kill Michael LaHood in San Antonio in 1996.

Instead, when he was 19, Foster drove three friends around in a car that had been rented by his grandfather. One of those friends, Mauriceo Brown, turned out to be a murderer.

With Foster driving, the young men rode around, smoked marijuana and committed two armed robberies.

Had one of the robbery victims been shot, you could make a better case for applying the Law of Parties. But, according to testimony from two of the men involved, Dewayne Dillard and Julius Steen, Foster repeatedly pleaded that he needed to return the car home.

It's hard to see him conspiring to kill Michael LaHood. In fact, he had no idea who LaHood was when Brown got out of the car and shot him.

Brown was executed last year.

Steen got 35 years to life. Dillard got life. What's the rationale to sentence Foster to death when the other two in the car got prison terms?

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Eighth Amendment does not allow the death penalty for "a minor participant in a felony and does not kill, attempt to kill or intend to kill."

U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson of San Antonio tossed out the death sentence. But the appellate court in New Orleans overturned his ruling.

If people in Texas let Foster die, we'll be putting our approval on the idea that it's OK to use a law designed to punish conspirators even in cases where there's no conspiracy. And we'll be saying we'll stretch the law in cases where we're mad enough against one criminal but we won't stretch the law in cases where we're not that mad at his two riding buddies.

We hope an awful lot of Texans have the integrity not to sign off on that farce.

Gov. Rick Perry could and should put a stop to this with the recommendation of a commuted sentence from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

We urge you to write the board and the governor. Tell them Foster should pay for his crimes in prison. But he shouldn't be executed.

** Addresses to write: Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Executive Clemency Section 8610 Shoal Creek Blvd. Austin, Texas 78757

Gov. Rick Perry Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711