Halfway through his first term, Mark Gonzalez, the District Attorney of Nueces County, Texas, is still trying to decide what his stance is on the death penalty, according to the Texas Observer. Gonzalez, called a “progressive prosecutor” by many, due to his progressive stance on many issues, said he’s conflicted about the death penalty and wants to let the people of Nueces County decide whether capital punishment should stand in the county. He expected to receive a “test case” with a jury, to help him decide what the policy should be. … [Read more...] about Texas DA to decide his stance on Death Penalty
DEATH PENALTY
California Death Row prisoner qualifies under new felony murder rule
Demetrius Howard is on California’s Death Row for a crime in which he did not kill anyone. He was never accused of firing a shot, but based on California’s felony murder rule then in effect, he was eligible for a death sentence due to his participation in the crime, reported The Appeal. The felony murder rule was revised in 2018 so that participants in a crime do not face a death penalty unless they directly killed, or encouraged the killing, or otherwise “acted with reckless indifference to human life” when commit- ting their crime. … [Read more...] about California Death Row prisoner qualifies under new felony murder rule
Amnesty International urges death penalty repeal
“Two wrongs don’t make a right. The death penalty is no way to impart justice,” says Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International. In 2016, the US Supreme Court in Hurst v. Florida ruled that Florida’s capital sentencing law was unconstitutional. Yet, despite the ruling, Florida still has the second-largest death row in the nation and is fourth in the number of executions since 1976. Amnesty International wants Florida to abolish their death penalty but it’s an uphill battle. A new report released by Amnesty … [Read more...] about Amnesty International urges death penalty repeal
CA leads nation in women on Death Row
California leads the nation with 23 women on Death Row, but the condemned women are largely invisible and forgotten behind bars, and their stories rarely see the light of day. California has more than three times the number of condemned women in Texas (six on condemn) and in Alabama (five on condemn), according a Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) report. The women on California’s Death Row are housed in Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla. Until 1933, they were housed in San Quentin in the Women’s Ward. They … [Read more...] about CA leads nation in women on Death Row
Arkansas judge faces sanction for blocking lethal injection
An Arkansas judge faces judicial sanction for blocking the state’s use of a lethal injection drug on the same day he pro- tested the death penalty out- side the governor’s mansion, reported The Associated Press. The Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission charged Judge Wendell Griffen, a Pulaski County Circuit Judge, with violating ethics rules in June. The three- member panel cited the judge’s online and social media comments against the death penalty as evidence of an ethical violation. Griffen asked a judicial ethics commission to … [Read more...] about Arkansas judge faces sanction for blocking lethal injection
Texas court updates death penalty protocols
A Texas court implemented updated protocols for Death Row prisoners with intellectual disabilities. The revised standards came after the U.S. Supreme Court had set aside Texas prisoner Bobby Moore’s execution, Reuters reports. The new protocols allowed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reinstate Moore’s death sentence. Moore, 58, was convicted of murder in 1980. He was sentenced to execution, but the execution was set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court because of its 2002 ruling that the execution of inmates with intellectual disabilities … [Read more...] about Texas court updates death penalty protocols
States struggle to carry out executions
Lethal injections, legal battles and difficulty obtaining drugs have forced a number of states to find alternative ways to carry out the death penalty, reports the New York Times. Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi have authorized the use of inhaling the inert gas nitrogen for executions. “An oxygen-deficient atmosphere” can knock a person unconscious after just one or two breaths and “the exposed person has no warning and cannot sense that the oxygen level is too low,” according to a report from the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard … [Read more...] about States struggle to carry out executions
Pope Francis condemns the death penalty
Pope Francis declared executions are an attack on human dignity and the church would work with “determination” to abolish capital punishment worldwide. The Pope also made official changes to the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, according the New York Times. The Catechism is the book of doctrine for 1.2 billion Catholics and is studied by adults and taught to children. Ending the death penalty is among the Pope’s main goals, along with protecting the environment and caring for refugees and immigrants. Most countries, including those … [Read more...] about Pope Francis condemns the death penalty
Prosecutors accepting guilty pleas: no executions
It’s now been four years since a Georgia jury handed down a death sentence. In the majority of the capital punishment cases, prosecutors are allowing the alleged suspect to enter a guilty plea in exchange for a life-without-parole sentence, reported Bill Rankin in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Many of Georgia’s district attorneys still strongly support capital punishment. According to state records, last year prosecutors announced they were seeking the death penalty in 26 cases. But, this year they have filed notices to seek death in … [Read more...] about Prosecutors accepting guilty pleas: no executions
India adopts capital punishment for child rape under twelve
In April, India passed a law permitting the death penalty for rape of a child under 12, reigniting an international debate over capital punishment. In India, only four people have been executed in the past 13 years. Three of those executed were convicted of terrorism and one for rape of a minor, Chaitanya Mallapur reported for the Business Standard News. Sentence Of the 109 prisoners sentenced to death in 2017, 43 people (39 percent) were sentenced to death for murder involving sexual violence. Now, India is the 14th country to … [Read more...] about India adopts capital punishment for child rape under twelve