1. LUCASVILLE, Ohio – Donald Palmer was executed Sept. 20 for killing two men 23 years ago, “I want you to know I’ve carried you in my heart for years and years,” Palmer, 47, said to the victim’s families. His last words reported by The Associated Press: “I’m so sorry for what I took from you…I pray you have good lives now.”
2. LOS ANGELES –America’s War on Drugs is a failure, said actor Brad Pitt after watching a documentary about people affected by harsh drug laws, according to The Los Angeles Times. The documentary, “The House I live In,” by Eugene Jarecki, won the Grand Jury Prize last January at the Sundance Film Festival.
3. SACRAMENTO – Prison officials have announced new guidelines for handling 3,100 prisoners held in isolation. The new rules allow isolated prisoners more privileges, give them incentives to leave gangs, and let them get out of the isolation units in three to four years—instead of six—if they behave and participate in rehabilitation programs.
4. CANON CITY, Colo. – State officials are spending $208 million on a newly built prison that is not scheduled to house prisoners, according to the Denver Post. The prison known as Centennial South consists of 948 solitary confinement cells.
5. HARTFORD, Conn. – Newly released prisoners are having a hard time finding housing and jobs, according to The Associated Press. State officials say of the more than 1,500 offenders released each month, about 79 percent are rearrested within five years. “If you make it virtually impossible for someone to get a job, then you make it a virtual certainty that they’re going to commit more crimes,” said Michael Lawlor, a high-ranking state official. “If you don’t have a place to live, it makes it more likely.”
6. WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an Illinois law that would prevent the taping of police in the line of duty is unconstitutional because it violates free speech, according to the Associated Press.
7. SAN FRANCISO – In a 2-1 ruling, a Death Row prisoner’s conviction was overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled John Culver’s ability to present a defense was violated. Culver’s public defender obtained a sworn statement from another man saying he committed the murder but the trial judge barred the testimony.
8. NEW YORK – A man who spent the last 11 years in prison has been awarded $2 million after his conviction was overturned. Michael Clancy was arrested in 1997 for murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. Clancy was released in 2008 after an informant told police he was at the scene when someone else did the killing. Another informant subsequently confirmed his innocence.
9. FLORENCE, Colo. – A lawsuit claiming federal prison officials transfer mentally ill prisoners to the Supermax facility, where they stop treating their illnesses, has prompted steps to improve their treatment, according to the Denver Post.
10. DETROIT – A judge has freed a man who spent almost 10 years in prison after a prosecutor requested that the rape case against him be dropped. From the time when James Grissom, 54, was picked out of a photo line-up in 2002, he consistently declared his innocence, according to The Associated Press. Even though there was no physical evidence or witnesses, he was convicted of the charges and sentenced to at least 15 years in prison. After the trial, officials learned the alleged victim had lied about as many as nine assaults in California, the AP reports.
11. HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The execution of a 33-year-old prisoner was been stopped two and a half hours before being taken to the death chamber. The U.S. Supreme Court said the execution was stopped so that the court could review the case. Anthony Haynes was scheduled to be executed for killing police Sgt. Kent Kincaid, 40, while he was driving with his wife.
12. FORT WAYNE, Ind. – A judge frustrated over the state’s high recidivism rate has received a national award for a program aimed to reduce the number of released offenders returning to prison, according to The Associated Press. Chief Justice John Roberts presented Allen County Superior Court Judge John Surbeck with the 17th National Center for State Courts’ Williams Rehnquist award.
13. JARRATT, Va. – Johnathon Montgomery was released from prison four years after the woman who accused him of rape said she lied about the incident. Gov. Robert McDonnell telephoned Montgomery, apologized to him, and granted him a conditional pardon, the Newport News Daily Press reported. “It feels awesome,” Montgomery said regarding his release. “It’s a great feeling. …You don’t know what is lost until you’ve lost it.”
14. HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Ramon Torres Hernandez became the 14th person executed in Texas this year, according to The Associated Press. Hernandez was convicted of raping, robbing and killing Rosa Maria Rosado, 37, after abducting her from a San Antonio bus stop 11 years ago. Hernandez, 41, told a family member he was “sorry for putting you through all this” as his final statement, the AP reports.
15. CHICAGO – After 15 years in prison, murder charges were dropped against Alprentiss Nash, 37. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison in connection with the 1995 death of a man on Chicago’s South Side. “The decision to vacate this conviction comes as a result of a comprehensive investigation into the facts of this case,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. “Based upon the new DNA evidence and the collective results of our investigation, it is my assessment that we do not have the evidence that is required to sustain this murder charge,” she added.
16. OMAHA, Neb. – Two people were awarded $800,000 to settle wrongful conviction cases against them. Ada JoAnn Taylor and James Dean sued the state for $500,000 each for bogus convictions of rape and murder. A county judge agreed and awarded $500,000 to Taylor, acknowledging she spent nearly 20 years incarcerated. Dean, who spent five and a half years in prison, was awarded $300,000.
17. LUCASVILLE, Ohio – State officials put to death its 49th person since resuming executions in 1999. Brett Hartman continued to claim his innocence for the 1997 murder of Winda Snipes, reports The Associated Press. “I’m good. Let’s roll,” were his final words.
18. McALESTER, Okla. – Garry Thomas Allen, 56, was executed Nov 6 for the 1986 killing of his fiancée, Lawanna Gail Titsworth, 24. His attorneys had argued that Allen shouldn’t be put to death because he was insane and couldn’t understand the judgment against him.
