Upcoming Events

Vigil Schedule

Houston vigils April – June will be at St. Paul’s Methodist Church at the corner of Main and Binz from 5:30 – 6:30 PM on the date of each execution. Currently scheduled executions can be found at the Current Execution Schedule.

Quarterly Death Penalty Report

The hearing for Troy Davis, whose right to pursue innocence claims has been supported by Amnesty International, was held in June. The testimony of many witnesses as heard including witnesses who had recanted their trial testimony. However the judge ruled that testimony could not be heard from witnesses who had planned to testify that Sylvester “Redd” Coles told them that he, not Davis, shot and killed Mark Allen PacPhail. Attorneys for both sides were ordered to file briefs by July 7. A ruling will coming down at a later date, probably in September.

Another case followed by Amnesty International because of questions regarding his mental status, is that of Jonathan Green, who was scheduled to be executed June 30. He received a stay shortly before the execution. The court ordered a stay so that his mental competency can be further explored. Green’s attorney claims that he suffers from schizophrenia and no longer meets the criteria set forth by law to be eligible for execution

After the New York Court of Appeals struck down the death penalty in that state in 2004, Ronell Wilson’s case was handed over to federal prosecutors in order to seek the death penalty after the murder of 2 policemen. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. On June 30 the sentence was overturned and sent back to district court citing the prosecutor’s statements in the penalty phase that they said violated the defendant’s constitutional right not to testify.

On June 18 Utah executed Ronnie Lee Garner by a firing squad, a punishment not available to defendants convicted today. It was the first execution by firing squad in the United States in 14 years. This has reignited the debate of methods of execution again. California’s Office of Administrative Law rejected the new lethal injection procedures proposed by it’s department of corrections.

Ronnie Neal, convicted in the November 2004 robbery, rape and death of Robbins Academy schoolteacher Diane Tilly, was found dead this weekend in his state prison cell, an apparent suicide.

Brad D. Levenson, now a deputy federal public defender based in Los Angeles has been hired to head the new state public defender’s office that will handle state writs of habeas corpus appeals for Texas prisoners on death row. He will be given a $1 million annual budget for a small team of attorneys who will handle a dozen or more cases per year. This office was created by a bill which passed in the last session of the Texas Legislature.

A Texas judge has ordered prosecutors to turn over key evidence from the 1989 murder case that resulted in the execution of Claude Howard Jones in 2000 to the Innocence Project and the Texas Observer for DNA testing. Evidence used to convict him was scanty, and DNA technology was not available at the time of his trial to determine if the stand of hair found at the scene of the crime, and the only physical evidence, was a match to Jones.

The US Supreme Court ruled on June 14 that under extraordinary circumstances lower courts are to accept late appeals. They ruled in favor of Albert Holland, who lost his right to file a federal appeal of his death sentence when his lawyer missed the 1-year deadline established under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). The U.S. Eleventh Circuit ruled that his attorney's conduct in missing the deadline was not egregious enough to warrant setting aside the imposed deadline. The Supreme Court said the facts of this case present for more serious instances of attorney misconduct. Holland's lawyer failed to communicate with him for several years, despite letters from Holland asking information regarding his appeals. Holland also contacted state courts and the Florida Bar Association in an effort to have the lawyer removed from his case. This is a very important ruling and could potentially affect a lot of rulings.

Several states, including Pennsylvania are currently engaged in studies of the economic downside of the death penalty particularly in light of their states’ economy.

Amnesty International recently released its annual report on international abuses and progress in the field of human rights: "The State of the World's Human Rights." The report covers January to December 2009 and addresses human rights issues in every country around the world.

Important Recently Released Reports

Death Penalty Information Center has released its annual report: THE DEATH PENALTY IN 2009: YEAR END REPORT.

The Death Penalty Information center has released a new report "Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis."

Double Tragedies: a report authored by National Alliance of Mental Illness and Murder Victims’ Families For Human Rights

U.N. Special Investigator Report: U.S. Death Penalty Leads to Miscarriage of Justice

A new study on deterrence: Professor Michael Radelet, Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Traci Lacock, an attorney and Sociology graduate student in Boulder: “Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates? The Views of Leading Criminologists,”

Another study on deterrence was done by Professor Franklin E. Zimring, UC Berkeley, School of Law, Professor Jeffrey Fagan, Columbia Law School, and Professor David T. Johnson, University of Hawaii, Dept of Sociology.

On April 30, Amnesty International USA released a report titled “Too much cruelty, too little clemency, Texas nears 200th execution under current governor”.

The Constitution Project has released a comprehensive report on the U.S. system of representation for indigent defendants, “Justice Denied: America’s Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel.” The report finds deep flaws in the country’s public defense system and makes 22 recommendations for state and federal officials for reforming the system. Among the problems that this study identifies are excessive caseloads for indigent defense systems, inadequate funding, ethical breaches, politicalization of the public defender system, and lack of timely appointment of counsel, and sometimes no appointment at all. The full report may be found here at the reprint DPIC link.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has released the latest Death Row U.S.A. report, covering death penalty statistics through January 1, 2009. The total number of death row inmates decreased from 3,309 a year earlier to 3,297. The states with the largest number of death row inmates were California with 678, Florida with 402, and Texas with 358. The states (with 10 or more inmates) with the highest percent of minorities on death row were Texas at 70%, Connecticut at 70%, and Pennsylvania with 69%. The complete Death Row U.S.A. report may be found here.

Eye and Tooth Project.

John Sullivan and Sheli Rae strive to raise opposition to the death penalty through performance art. John lives in Galveston, and anyone who lives in the Houston or Galveston area and is interested in participating in his work can contact him at jpatstx@gmail.com. Different approaches attract different audiences and supporters to our issue. You can find more information at the community arts website. Please notice the link under one of the videos in the article links you to several other videos.

Important Annual Dates to Commemorate

January 17 – Anniversary of the Resumption of Executions in the US – Gary Gilmore executed in Utah. Mode of execution – Firing Squad

March 1 – International Death Penalty Abolition Day – Anniversary of Michigan becoming the first English Speaking territory to abolish the death penalty in 1847

June 29 – July 2 – Annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty

June 29 – Anniversary of Furman v. Georgia decision in 1972. US Supreme Court found death penalty to be arbitrary and capricious. 600 were had their sentences commuted to life.

July 2 – Anniversary of Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976 allowing the resumption of the death penalty in the US

December 7 – On December 7, 1982, Charlie Brooks was the first person executed by the State of Texas under its revised statute – and the first person executed by lethal injection. His execution ushered in a new era in which Texas emerged as the uncontested leader in the use of the death penalty in the United States.

For more information, contact AI Group 23's Anti-death penalty coordinator, Nancy Bailey at:

Nancy Bailey
11939 Brighton
Stafford, TX 77477
281-933-4925
Nancy Bailey

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty, Dale Recinella

Among the Lowest of the Dead: David von Drehle

In Spite of Innocence, Hugo Adam Bedau, Michael Radelet

Dead Man Walking: Sister Helen Prejean

Live from Death Row, Mumia Abu Jamal

The Death of Innocents, Sister Helen Prejean

Executed on a Technicality, David Dow

The Death Penalty In America: Hugo Adam Bedau

The Rope, the Chair & the Needle, Marquart, Ekland-Olson, Sorensen