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National News Archive from 2011
- Archive
of National News
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excerpts from the years 2000 | 2001 | 2002
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- AL: Inmate, Failed by His Attorney, Is Executed Despite Jury's Vote for Life
Leroy White was executed in Alabama on January 13 despite the fact that his trial jury, the prosecution, and members of the victim's family had sought a different sentence.
(1/24/11, DPIC Update)
- AR: Arkansas Releases West Memphis Three, One from Death Row
Damien Echols was freed from death row and two codefendants were freed from prison in Arkansas on August 19 after almost two decades of maintaining their innocence for the murder of three children in 1993. (8/22/11, DPIC Update)
- AZ: Trial Prosecutor Now Opposes Death Sentence as Execution Approaches
Daniel Cook is scheduled for execution on April 5 in Arizona, despite the fact that the lead prosecutor at his 1988 capital trial has said that he would not have sought the death penalty if he had known more about Cook's traumatic background and mental illness.
(3/28/11, DPIC Update)
- CA: New Study Reveals California Has Spent $4 Billion on the Death Penalty
A new study of California's death penalty found that taxpayers have spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment since it was reinstated in 1978, or $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out since then. The study, conducted by U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Arthur L. Alarcon and Loyola Law School Professor Paula M. Mitchell estimated that capital trials, enhanced security on death row and legal representation for capital defendants add $184 million to California's budget annually.
(6/27/11, DPIC Update)
- CA: Gender Bias in Death Sentencing
In a review of 1,300 murder cases in California between 2003 and 2005, the authors found gender disparities with respect to both defendants and victims in the underlying crime. (3/7/11, DPIC Update)
- CT: Key Connecticut Committee Approves Death Penalty Repeal Bill
The Connecticut legislature's Judiciary Committee approved (26-17) a bill to repeal the death penalty for future crimes and replace the sentence with life without parole.
(4/18/11, DPIC Update)
- GA: Sister Helen Prejean Appeals to U.S. Drug Company on Behalf of Georgia Death Row Inmate
Noted author and human rights activist, Sister Helen Prejean, has released a letter sent to George S. Barrett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardinal Health in Dublin, Ohio, asking him to secure the return of drugs that may be used to execute Andrew De Young in Georgia and "to take every step possible to make your actual practices comply with your stated business and ethical codes."
(6/27/11, DPIC Update)
- GA: Federal Agency Seizes Georgia Execution Drug
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has seized Georgia's foreign supply of sodium thiopental, saying it will hold the drug while it investigates whether the Department of Corrections imported the drug legally.
(3/21/11, DPIC Update)
- GA: Georgia Accused of Illegal Actions in Securing Execution Drugs
The allegations are outlined in a letter delivered to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Feb. 24 and describe an attempt by the corrections agency to circumvent the law to secure sodium thiopental from foreign sources in the face of a national shortage of the drug.
(2/28/11, DPIC Update)
- IL: Gov. Quinn Signs Death Penalty Ban, Commutes 15 Death Row Sentences to Life
Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a historic ban on the death penalty in Illinois and commuted the sentences of 15 death row inmates to life without parole. The governor said he followed his conscience. He said he believed in signing the bill he also should "abolish the death penalty for everyone," including those already on death row. "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history," Quinn told reporters afterward. "I think it's the right, just thing to abolish the death penalty." Quinn signed the legislation during a private ceremony in his Capitol office surrounded by longtime opponents of capital punishment in a state where flaws in the process led to the exoneration of numerous people sentenced to death. (3/9/11, The Chicago Tribune)
- IL: Governor Refuses to be Pinned Down on Death Penalty Repeal
Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday that he would "follow my conscience" in deciding whether to sign a bill abolishing the death penalty that has been approved by the General Assembly. With the matter solely in his hands after historic votes by the state House and Senate, Quinn declined to give a firm answer on the direction he plans to take. But the governor did point to the state's history of "serious problems" with the death penalty, which he said could have resulted in "terrible tragedies" if inmates wrongfully condemned to die had not been exonerated. (1/12/11, The Chicago Tribune)
- IL: House Votes to Repeal Death Penalty
By a vote of 60-54 on January 6, the Illinois House approved SB3539, a bill to repeal the death penalty and use the money saved to assist victims' families and improve law enforcement. The action came eleven years after a moratorium on executions was put in place by then Governor George Ryan.
(1/10/11, DPIC Update)
- LA: Odds of a Death Sentence 97% Higher If Victim is White
A recent study conducted by Professors Glenn Pierce and Michael Radelet published in the Lousiana Law Review showed that the odds of a death sentence in parts of Louisiana were 2.6 times higher for those charged with killing a white victim than for those charged with killing a black victim.
(1/31/11, DPIC Update)
- MT: Montana Senate Votes to Repeal the Death Penalty
The Montana state Senate passed a bill that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life without parole. In a 26-24 vote, all of the Senate's Democrats and four Republicans supported ending capital punishment, marking the second straight legislative session for such a vote.
(2/21/11, DPIC Update)
- OH: Victim's Family Asks Ohio Board to Spare Inmate's Life
The family of a man who was killed in Ohio recently petitioned the parole board to commute the death sentence of the defendant in the murder.
(2/14/11, DPIC Update)
- OR: Gov. John Kitzhaber Stops Executions In Oregon, Calls System 'compromised And Inequitable'
Gov. John Kitzhaber announced today he will not allow the execution of Gary Haugen -- or any death row inmate -- to take place while he is in office. The death penalty is morally wrong and unjustly administered, Kitzhaber said. "In my mind it is a perversion of justice," he said at an emotional news conference in Salem.
(11/22/11, OregonLive.com)
- PA: Mumia Abu-Jamal No Longer Faces Death Penalty
Philadelphia prosecutors have dropped their pursuit of the death penalty against Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of fatally shooting a police officer nearly three decades ago. Abu-Jamal will instead serve a life sentence in prison, prosecutors said. (12/7/11, CNN.com)
- PA: Court of Appeals Again Reverses Mumia Abu-Jamal's Death Sentence
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit overturned the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Pennsylvania inmate who was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer 30 years ago in 1981. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a previous grant of sentencing relief handed down by the same court
... Both cases involved the question of whether the jury was incorrectly instructed on evaluating mitigating factors in determining the proper sentence.
(5/2/11, DPIC Update)
- TN: Tennessee Inmate Faces Execution Because of Lawyer's Failures
A forthcoming article in the ABA Journal reveals the tragic admissions of failure by a well-known defense lawyer that led to a death sentence and potential execution of Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman.
(2/28/11, DPIC Update)
- TX: Inmate With IQ of 62 Faces Imminent Execution
A recent editorial in the Houston Chronicle highlights the case of Texas death-row inmate Milton Mathis, whose IQ of 62 places him well below the threshold for intellectual disability (formerly called "mental retardation"). Mr. Mathis faces execution on June 21, despite the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, which banned the execution of inmates with intellectual disabilities. (6/20/11, DPIC Update)
- TX: Victim's Family and Jurors Urge Clemency for Texas Death Row Inmate
Attorneys for Tim Adams filed a petition for clemency urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend sparing Adams' life and to ask Governor Rick Perry to commute his death sentence to life in prison without parole.
(2/7/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Year End Report: Death Sentences Plunge to Historic Lows
The Death Penalty Information Center released its latest report, "The Death Penalty in 2011: Year End Report," on statistics and trends in capital punishment in the past year. The report noted that new death sentences dropped to 78 in 2011, marking the first time since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 that the country has produced less than 100 death sentences in a year. ... "Executions, death sentences, public support, the number of states with the death penalty all dropped from previous years. Whether it's concerns about unfairness, executing the innocent, the high costs of the death penalty, or the general feeling that the government just can't get it right, Americans moved further away from capital punishment in 2011." (12/12/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Death Penalty's Unlikely Opponents
Coleman, 50, is among the most unlikely opponents of the death penalty, people who lost loved ones to unspeakable violence yet believe executing the killer will do nothing for family members or society. Their stance is backed by groups like Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation and Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, and their reasons aren't as religious or political as one might think. Some feel so strongly they've spoken against the death penalty even when it wasn't an option in their loved one's case. (10/24/11, CNN.com)
- USA: Expensive Federal Death Penalty Case Ends with Life Without Parole
A unanimous jury in a federal death penalty prosecution in New York voted to impose a life sentence on Vincent Basciano, an organized-crime leader who had earlier been convicted of murder, racketeering, and conspiracy. ...
the case had already cost taxpayers $3 million, and the ultimate bill was estimated to be as high as $10 million. (6/13/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Most Recent Death Row USA Report Now Available
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's "Death Row USA" shows that the number of people on the death row in the United States is continuing to slowly decline, falling to 3,260 as of April 1, 2010.
(5/2/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Military to Pursue First Capital Prosecution Against Terror Suspect
Military prosecutors have recommended the death penalty for the accused mastermind of the deadly 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. (4/20/11, CNN.com)
- USA: Federal Government Spending Millions Pursuing Death Penalty for Inmate with Life Sentence
The federal government is seeking a death sentence for Vincent Basciano, who is already serving life without parole. Because the death penalty is being sought, the case has already costs millions of dollars and the final bill will likely be $10 million or more.
(4/18/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Latest Foreign Supplier of Drugs for U.S. Executions Refuses to Continue
When the sole U.S. supplier of a drug used by all death penalty states announced it was halting production earlier this year, many states turned to sources overseas. ... Now that company has announced it will no longer supply the drug for use in lethal injections.
(4/11/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: The Effect of Victim Impact Evidence in Capital Trials
A study recently published in the journal Criminology meaured the effects of victim impact evidence (VIE) on the likelihood of the jury returning a death sentence. (3/7/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Sen. Leahy Introduces Bill to Reauthorize Justice for All Act
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) introduced legislation (S. 250) that would reauthorize the Justice for All Act. The Act, first passed in 2004, provided important tools and assistance to help state and local governments use DNA evidence to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent. It also bolstered crime victim support services. (2/7/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Anesthesiologists Raise Concerns About New Drug for Lethal Injections
A nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, a key drug used in executions around the country, has forced states to consider alternative drugs for their lethal injections. ... The use of pentobarbital, however, has drawn concerns from some anesthesiologists who said the drug has not been used to put patients to sleep and has not been tested for executions. (2/21/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Almost Half of U.S. Jurisdictions Have Had No Executions in 10 Years
Although the United States is considered a death penalty country, executions are rare or non-existent in much of the nation. Twenty-six of 53 jurisdictions in the U.S. (50 states, the District of Columbia, the Federal Government, and the Military) either do not have the death penalty or have not carried out an execution in at least 10 years. Most of those have not carried out an execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
(1/10/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: States Scramble to Find Lethal Injection Drugs
Recent revelations about the source of drugs used in lethal injections in the U.S. reveal the extent to which some states have gone in their pursuit of the deadly chemicals. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, Arizona obtained its three lethal injection drugs from Dream Pharma, Ltd., a small pharmaceutical company in west London located in the back of a driving school.
(1/10/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Racial and Geographic Disparities in the Federal Death Penalty
A new study published in the Washington Law Review addresses the racial and geographical disparities in the implementation of the federal death penalty. It concludes that the disparities in the federal death penalty may exist because federal cases do not use a county-level jury pool but instead employ a wider pool from the federal-district level, resulting in the dilution of minority representation in the jury pool. According to the authors, "Capital verdicts become separated from the moral judgments of the community when [there are] fewer minority group members in the jury pool." (1/3/11, DPIC Update)
- USA: Hispanics and the Death Penalty
According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Hispanics represent a larger proportion of those on death row than in the past. Hispanics constituted almost 20% of the new admissions to death row in 2009 (18 new inmates). Half of the new Hispanic death row inmates were from California, bringing their total to 157 Hispanic inmates, the most in the country.
(1/3/11, DPIC Update)
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