Death Penalty

To be silent is to be an accessory to these crimes.

Bryan Stevenson: Racism and the Death Penalty 

The Death Penalty Information Center has released its latest report, "Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis." The report combines an analysis of the costs of the death penalty with a newly released national poll of police chiefs who put capital punishment at the bottom of their law enforcement priorities.

Campaign to End The Death Penalty

Both the Ct House and Senate passed a bill to abolish the death penalty. Ct Governor Rell, a true Republican, vetoed It.

The death penalty does not save money. It is no deterrent. It is error prone. It is vengeful, but satisfies no one. Because of US continued use of the death penalty, advanced countries refuse to extradite to us. The Declaration of Independence reads "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."  But Republicans don't respect international law.

This is what is wrong with the death penalty. Despite years of appeals, important evidence sometimes never gets a hearing. Mistakes go uncorrected, and doubts about guilt are not addressed. Executing someone where such doubts about his guilt remain unresolved undermines public confidence in our justice system. Responsible public officials should not allow that.

So here's the question: Why is it that Republicans along with their 'pro-life', talk-radio propagandists favor not just waterboarding but the death penalty ?

George W. Bush during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States. Still Republicans nominated him and we are all paying the price. Republicans at the very top spawned Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, waterboarding, secret prisons, and other lawless 'justice'. The US now has the highest rate of incarcerations in the world.

Not to be outdone...

200 Executions and Counting: Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Cruel Death Tally By Liliana Segura, AlterNet Today marks the 200th execution under Gov. Perry, a record even deadlier than George W. Bush's tenure. What's the matter with Texas? Read more »

Troy Davis

was convicted of shooting police officer Mark Allen MacPhail, but only on the basis of witness testimony. Most of the witnesses have since recanted, many alleging that police coerced them into making false statements.

On May 20, twenty-seven former judges and prosecutors from across the political spectrum filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis.  Signers of the amicus brief include Larry Thompson (Deputy Attorney General of the United States, 2001-2003), former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA; U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, 1986-1990); William S. Sessions (Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1987-1993), and John Gibbons (former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit). Their brief urges the Court to order an evidentiary hearing in District Court, arguing that “Mr. Davis’ petition for an original writ meets this Court’s exceptional circumstances test because Mr. Davis can make an extraordinary showing through new, never reviewed evidence that strongly points to his innocence, and thus his execution would violate the Constitution.” Davis’ attorneys filed a writ of habeas corpus with the Court, pursuant to its original jurisdiction, asking for the same hearing.  Davis has a significant amount of new evidence pointing to his innocence that has never been fully reviewed in court.  He was sentenced to death primarily on eyewitness testimony, but 7 of the 9 eyewitnesses have recanted their testimony and some evidence points to one of the two remaining witnesses as the person who committed the murder.   The amicus brief may be read here and the original writ of habeas corpus may be read here.

In the end, the execution of Troy Davis would solve nothing. It would only add to the pain of everyone involved, and destroy public faith in Georgia’s ability to administer justice fairly. Georgia officials should do the right thing and make sure the execution of Troy Davis does not proceed.

Civilized countries do not use the death penalty

Abolition of the death penalty is a requirement for countries seeking EU membership. All candidate countries have acceded to Protocol No. 6 concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). In addition, EU Member States are all signatories to Protocol No. 13 to the ECHR concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. This treaty explicitly bans the death penalty in all circumstances, including in war-time. (From the EU's Human Rights page.)

Dean Koh of the Yale Law School on the death penalty

Youtube Republican debate question on the death penalty

Expediting the Death Penalty

EU will not extradite without assurance that there will be no death penalty

Mexico will not extradite without assurance that there will be no death penalty.

Links

CNADP (Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty)

Information

• Death Penalty Information Center
• Innocence Project

State Resources

• State Commission on the Death Penalty

National Organizations

• American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project
• The American Friends Service Committee
• Amnesty International
• Amnesty International - The Program to Abolish the Death Penalty
  • USA: The execution of mentally Ill offenders- general information , the 43-page summary report , the full 189-page report.
• Campaign To End The Death Penalty
• The Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty
• Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
• Death Penalty Focus
• The Death Penalty Documentary Project
• Death Watch International
• Equal Justice USA/Quixote Center
• Fellowship of Reconciliation
• I Dream A World - National Site
• I Dream A World - Connecticut Site
• Journey of Hope… From Violence to Healing
• League of Women Voters of Connecticut: study on the death penalty in Connecticut
• Lethal Injection Web-Based Clearinghouse
• Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death Penalty
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Murder Victims Families for Human Rights
• Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
• New Hampshire Citizens Against the Death Penalty
• New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty
• People of Faith Against the Death Penalty  
• The Petition to Ban Lethal Injection
• Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
• Witness to Innocence

Bibliography

Capital Punishment, Murder by the Book: Jodie Sinclair

The Top Ten Death Penalty Myths: The Politics of Crime Control: Rudolph J. Gerber and John M. Johnson

Dead Wrong: Michael A. Mello

Who Owns Death Mitchel and Lifton

Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case, Hugo Adam Bedau and Paul G. Cassell, editors, Oxford, 2004;

The Death Penalty: An American History by Stuart Banner, Harvard, 2003; The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment, by Franklin E. Zimring, Oxford, 2003.

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