tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46218981730152219952024-03-18T22:54:20.967-05:00Notre Dame Against State KillingFighting the Death Penalty Through EducationNotre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-55191303212121011892008-07-04T11:53:00.003-05:002008-07-04T11:57:57.352-05:00Supreme Court: Death Penalty Applies Only to MurderOn June 25, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, struck down Louisiana's law allowing a death sentence for those guilty of child rape. The Kennedy v. Louisiana opinion additionally extended the current understanding of death-eligible crimes, clarifying that the death penalty is “for crimes that take the life of the victim."<br /><br />Read full coverage <a href="http://blog.indianacase.org/2008/06/supreme-court-death-penalty-reserved.html">on the InCASE blog</a>.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-8372548558173125232008-03-05T13:55:00.003-05:002008-03-05T14:59:46.339-05:00Innocence Project channel on YouTubeThe Innocence Project has a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/innocenceproject">great account on YouTube</a> where you'll find many interviews with exonerees, as well as video of events like the April 2007 ceremony (embedded below) where 17 people who served decades in prison for crimes they did not commit are honored. Please watch the video below for an introduction to their stories, and visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/innocenceproject">Innocence Project on YouTube here</a>. <br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8wYaOsCVRCI"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8wYaOsCVRCI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />See <a href="http://www.innocenceproject.org/">www.innocenceproject.org</a> for more.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-11626497423528114122008-02-21T11:55:00.002-05:002008-02-21T12:01:53.909-05:00NPR: Father Finds Peace in Forgiveness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR8qTK5IbjYIGC27BsNGmfcS7le28YFK5qRUkxiXBx77F08G6nonNmRIfI4tFpe2BzUwojANgI5WLWts2jT1X7v9G_Spuw0Uhb-e1a_bgzTZUFCCCEvSeXejJmV7J3EARgIzi1P4QS_86/s1600-h/hector_black200.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR8qTK5IbjYIGC27BsNGmfcS7le28YFK5qRUkxiXBx77F08G6nonNmRIfI4tFpe2BzUwojANgI5WLWts2jT1X7v9G_Spuw0Uhb-e1a_bgzTZUFCCCEvSeXejJmV7J3EARgIzi1P4QS_86/s200/hector_black200.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169479785736563858" /></a><br />Hector Black's daughter was murdered seven years ago in Atlanta. <br /><br />In <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18791726">this NPR story,</a> he tells the story of her death and his decision not to seek the death penalty in the case. He briefly details how he forgave the man who killed his daughter.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18791726">Listen to this moving, 4-minute piece here.</a>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-51012805192856615642008-02-21T11:52:00.003-05:002008-02-22T00:32:36.551-05:00Nebraska Newspaper Calls for AbolitionDays after Nebraska's Supreme Court struck down its electrocution statute, the Lincoln Journal-Star published an editorial calling for the end of the death penalty there. The state was left without a means of carrying out executions--as the electric chair was its sole method. <br /><br />The Journal-Star editorial asserts, "The time is ripe to abolish capital punishment in the state...Instead of rushing to pass a new means of capital punishment, the Legislature should take this opportunity to finally get rid of the death penalty."<br /><a href="http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/02/11/opinion/editorial/doc47ae7ff6988bb624573403.txt">Read the full editorial here.</a>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-45257778222235788272008-02-21T11:45:00.003-05:002008-02-21T11:51:42.206-05:00Historic Texas Case Ends with Life SentenceFrom the <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=2625&scid=64">Death Penalty Information Center</a> and AP:<br />On February 15, a mentally retarded man in Texas accepted a life sentence for a murder that occurred over 28 years ago. Johnny Paul Penry was originally sentenced to death for the sexual assault and murder of Pamela Mosley Carpenter. Penry's death sentence was overturned twice by the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to the plea agreement, the prosecution was insisting on a fourth capital sentencing hearing for Penry.<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that although the execution of the mentally retarded was not constitutionally banned, the law in Texas did not give mentally retarded defendants sufficient protection to ensure that their disability was considered as a mitigating factor (Penry v. Lynaugh). Penry was again sentenced to death and again the sentence was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 (Penry v. Johnson). In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia held that the execution of defendants with mental retardation was unconstitutional. Nevertheless, Texas continued to seek a death sentence for Penry, whose IQ has been measured between 50 and 63, well into the mental retardation range. In 2005, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Penry's latest death sentence.<br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-20099919348292339612008-02-10T15:38:00.001-05:002008-02-10T22:19:04.246-05:00Nebraska Strikes Down Electrocution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-SHYbi2uD_2MmQymQKpsn1tCw2nPDqr9T4EZE1_4ROwESp8yorpsRK50yznDuhNEWn-eRmK82BoWQFprXANjPui2E8YCHBfVxIj1bPi_PoOwnjtPFpXp9XxdD4oaBAdWz8MQqjMhR_gI/s1600-h/warhol.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-SHYbi2uD_2MmQymQKpsn1tCw2nPDqr9T4EZE1_4ROwESp8yorpsRK50yznDuhNEWn-eRmK82BoWQFprXANjPui2E8YCHBfVxIj1bPi_PoOwnjtPFpXp9XxdD4oaBAdWz8MQqjMhR_gI/s320/warhol.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165556221442518146" /></a> The Nebraska Supreme Court declared electrocution unconstitutional on Friday, Feb. 8, striking down the electric chair in the only state that still used it as its sole method of execution.<br /><br />In a 6-1 ruling, the Court said evidence shows that electrocution inflicts "intense pain and agonizing suffering" and that "(electrocution) has proven itself to be a dinosaur more befitting the laboratory of Baron Frankenstein than the death chamber" of state prisons.<br /><br />Get more coverage on the InCASE blog, <a href="http://indianacase.blogspot.com/2008/02/end-of-nebraskas-electric-chair.html">"End of Nebraska's Electric Chair."</a> Also see New York Times Legal Columnist Adam Liptak's analysis here: <a href="http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2008/02/09/us/09penalty.html&tntemail0=y">"Electrocution is Banned in Last State to Rely on It."</a>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-19181809399548030072008-02-10T15:25:00.001-05:002008-02-10T15:34:18.020-05:00The Death Penalty in 2007According to the 2007 annual report of the Death Penalty Information Center, 2007 had 42 executions - the lowest number in 13 years. This decrease is due in part to the de facto moratorium imposed while the Supreme Court considers a challenge to lethal injection procedures.<br /><br />62% of executions in 2007 were in Texas, while 86% were in South states.<br /><br />There were approximately 110 death sentences - the lowest number in 30 years.<br /><br />2007 saw three exonerations, in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Carolina, while eleven inmates had their sentences commuted.<br /><br />Both New Jersey and New York ended their death penalties, with the New Jersey legislature passing an abolition bill just before Christmas.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-63551575137084315012008-01-20T23:51:00.000-05:002008-01-21T00:00:20.743-05:00"Lethal Injection is the Wrong Debate"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9d4UNjGYgZPwEaNqiR9VbMDiug0LG5A52DD4Ge2NDDdCw6iCeWB5p-RwwnfFjUctOg843OBw6GZwhjUKUVZg6RaurkD6fCkBvP_hRghIwWlr9xuOC2wMrGvvFOnqlwausf-E3nzB5fx1/s1600-h/Krone_R.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9d4UNjGYgZPwEaNqiR9VbMDiug0LG5A52DD4Ge2NDDdCw6iCeWB5p-RwwnfFjUctOg843OBw6GZwhjUKUVZg6RaurkD6fCkBvP_hRghIwWlr9xuOC2wMrGvvFOnqlwausf-E3nzB5fx1/s400/Krone_R.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157789747323164562" /></a><br />This is the opinion of Ray Krone, who spent ten years in prison for a murder he did not commit before becoming the 100th American exonerated and released from death row since the 1976 reinstatement of capital punishment.<br />In a January 14 op-ed in the San Fransisco Chronicle, Krone writes, "While the court wrestles with technical issues concerning the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, there's a much larger reason our country is rethinking the death penalty: the possibility of sentencing to death and executing an innocent human being." Krone notes: "Unlike almost any American, I speak from experience." <br />This is a great piece that indicates some of the flaws in the American death penalty that run deeper than method of execution. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/EDODUDQO7.DTL">Read the full text here.</a>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-11397354069894396372008-01-20T23:30:00.000-05:002008-01-20T23:44:56.667-05:00Jan. 7 NYT Editorial<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzDWYMb3VxyTkWd0C7bilcdPeCPSKPMEpKl_QYKH_d8-xnrG2tDEMqV2M54Dg0vi0RjLVKWrrMsm9xidb3-7Zu6hnaz9DbAQB_LbzqGvFgS4KlxVgoESCsC0NGGa7i0hTjSMZZyT_UN-s/s1600-h/nytlogo153x23.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzDWYMb3VxyTkWd0C7bilcdPeCPSKPMEpKl_QYKH_d8-xnrG2tDEMqV2M54Dg0vi0RjLVKWrrMsm9xidb3-7Zu6hnaz9DbAQB_LbzqGvFgS4KlxVgoESCsC0NGGa7i0hTjSMZZyT_UN-s/s320/nytlogo153x23.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157785606974691202" /></a>As the Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments in Baze v. Rees, a case out of Kentucky that challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection, the New York Times published an editorial titled "Cruel and Far too Usual Punishment."<br /><br />The piece focuses on the lethal injection debate, but the paper makes some powerful statements and observations about the death penalty in its entirety:<br />"We believe that the death penalty, no matter how it is administered, is unconstitutional and wrong."<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />..."Popular support for capital punishment is, thankfully, declining in this country. The growing number of exonerations of innocent people on death row has shown that the system cannot be trusted to make such an irrevocable decision. There is considerable evidence of racial discrimination in the application of the death penalty. After years of botched electrocutions and other horrors, it is clear that the methods of taking life are barbaric."<br />..."In 2007, executions in this country dropped to a 13-year low, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. We believe that use of the death penalty will continue to decline, and we hope that it will eventually be banned completely. Until that time, however, the Supreme Court has a duty to ensure that it is not administered in a cruel way. Kentucky’s ill-conceived and haphazard administration of lethal injection does not meet that constitutional requirement."<br /><a href="http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2008/01/07/opinion/07mon2.html&tntemail0=y">Read the full editorial here.</a><br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-70467723623295756222008-01-20T23:06:00.000-05:002008-01-20T23:24:54.088-05:00Supreme Court to Examine Child Rape and the Death PenaltyIn early January, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Kennedy v. Louisiana, in which the justices will decide whether the Constitution allows death as a punishment for the rape of a child. <br /><br />According to the New York Times, of the 3,300 inmates currently on death row across the U.S., only two face execution for crimes that did not involve a killing. Both men are in Louisiana. The Court will hear the appeal of Patrick Kennedy, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for the rape of his 8 year-old step-daughter.<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />No one in the U.S. has been executed for a crime other than murder since 1964.In 1977, the Supreme Court decided in Coker v. Georgia that "a sentence of death is grossly disproportionate and excessive punishment for the crime of rape and is therefore forbidden by the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment." But concluding that the "rape of a child under the age of 12 years of age is like no other crime," the Louisiana Supreme Court concluded that death was not disproportionate for Kennedy.<br /><br />In an important amicus brief to the upcoming hearing of Kennedy's case before the Court in April, the National Association of Social Workers and a group of crisis centers argued that allowing the death penalty for rape will encourage offenders to kill their victims to prevent them from reporting the sexual assault.<br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-89743665670919431392007-12-11T19:16:00.000-05:002007-12-11T20:25:48.885-05:00Video: Bud Welch's Lecture at ND<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw9W8lZ6zAjzW2S1pSms4DgVnbEu7JMld2PhwqPZ-rhfkr3IIJXapQ2LY6gehAbUBL7sN2_R-PkR0UNozQ2PA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />In this clip, Mr. Welch says that the feelings of revenge tied to the death penalty are opposed to the healing process for the family members of murder victims.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-52136489438610065952007-12-11T19:15:00.001-05:002007-12-11T20:03:34.884-05:00Video: Bud Welch's Lecture at ND<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwrLy8REYa0xjzLO5jelcoXDX9BZqZHRj3BtetZodTziCTMlyVV2UVy-DuhxDNUuHV5ES86hg6CjIF6O_sn2Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />In this brief clip, Mr. Welch explains the background of his visit with Bill McVeigh (Timothy McVeigh's father).Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-56302118284579007312007-12-11T19:07:00.001-05:002007-12-11T19:11:02.523-05:00Photos: Michael Radelet's November Trip to ND<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73QogJiQWui6FKUqL975mfEsYnItnftgyKjAmL8YPtB8GqibWDrH93JXqG7DDla0WyKphFic0V08qGd5NaCoLeJxVQh49rSEO4S9QbALspCZUX4KRQYvjMpNC9ZgRbJ_IzhgZojIkvIBY/s1600-h/Misc+027.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73QogJiQWui6FKUqL975mfEsYnItnftgyKjAmL8YPtB8GqibWDrH93JXqG7DDla0WyKphFic0V08qGd5NaCoLeJxVQh49rSEO4S9QbALspCZUX4KRQYvjMpNC9ZgRbJ_IzhgZojIkvIBY/s320/Misc+027.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142871975723262466" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_JbGKEJ73dH9XXwB_4yoNyS1-_YpkFPQCrgtNYv5Rhh4E0BbV2LA3bszNje7KC8YLiIaAV95pJ_iZiS_IUmgMejnQx0yxe0bQfs_OdjL3epHea6nQvnkFrOWDjZKn5a9ZQaWAviZA5mg/s1600-h/Misc+026.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_JbGKEJ73dH9XXwB_4yoNyS1-_YpkFPQCrgtNYv5Rhh4E0BbV2LA3bszNje7KC8YLiIaAV95pJ_iZiS_IUmgMejnQx0yxe0bQfs_OdjL3epHea6nQvnkFrOWDjZKn5a9ZQaWAviZA5mg/s320/Misc+026.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142871769564832242" /></a>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-85371830192070972602007-11-03T12:28:00.000-05:002007-11-03T12:42:07.891-05:00Conversion to Moratorium: The Chicago Tribune and the Illinois Death Penalty<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aG2_n9BT9ex5iZ84BqqLGScwwtNXZgZSMdMBkJdYewocf11UfbpZ96sTXGoqeP0RgWB5jZXs-_i3KIVQp9k9Zatiyh15ch8LFIzjLAUZsqDcoJwwMt4XdmJ0TPhGF_FQTAW4vylzHZV9/s1600-h/dold.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aG2_n9BT9ex5iZ84BqqLGScwwtNXZgZSMdMBkJdYewocf11UfbpZ96sTXGoqeP0RgWB5jZXs-_i3KIVQp9k9Zatiyh15ch8LFIzjLAUZsqDcoJwwMt4XdmJ0TPhGF_FQTAW4vylzHZV9/s320/dold.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128667681346561490" /></a><br />Bruce Dold, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Editorial Page Editor of the Chicago Tribune, comes to ND this week as the third speaker in ND ASK's fall lecture series. Mr. Dold will adress the Tribune's role in the Illinois moratorium process and speak about his personal conversion and the editorial page's conversion on the death penalty, at 7:30 pm on Monday, Nov. 5 in the Hammes Student Lounge in Coleman-Morse.<br /><br />Please click below for more about Mr. Dold.<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />Mr. Dold joined the Tribune in 1978 as a reporter. He covered the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns and the mayoral campaigns of Harold Washington and Richard M. Daley. He was appointed to the Tribune’s editorial board in 1990 and became deputy editor of the board in 1995. That same year, he began writing a weekly column that appeared on the Commentary page of the Tribune. He was named editorial page editor of the 155-year-old newspaper in July, 2000.<br /><br />Mr. Dold received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1994 for a series on the death of a three-year-old boy and the failure of the juvenile court and child welfare system to save the child. His writing contributed to sweeping reforms in the protection and care of abused children in Illinois.<br /><br />He received the 1999 Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for Commentary, the 1999 Herman Kogan Award for Commentary from the Chicago Bar Association, and the 1988 Peter Lisagor Award for public service from the Chicago Headline Club. He served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 1997 and 1998. His work has been honored by numerous civic organizations.<br /><br />Under his direction, the Tribune editorial page has received more than dozen major awards, including the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for editorials demanding reform of the death penalty system.<br /><br />He has often appeared on national television and radio programs, including Nightline, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Hardball with Chris Mathews. <br /><br />Mr. Dold received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1977 and a Master of Science in Journalism in 1978 from Northwestern University and has served as an instructor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.<br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-52812753943635310732007-11-03T12:12:00.000-05:002007-11-03T12:31:06.592-05:00In his own words<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWO08lA_8azERROOag8bynG0H4opUBWP_qWEF5QT6_B-bsmgMqluJafW-F8iLR8Mz0e65zSqKLFkLrkqrwy4JeP-lzuBjNhrh3N_Rszlz7H60Eo611nie01Jaewr0NhceCzgTYuNz7DSR/s1600-h/welch.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWO08lA_8azERROOag8bynG0H4opUBWP_qWEF5QT6_B-bsmgMqluJafW-F8iLR8Mz0e65zSqKLFkLrkqrwy4JeP-lzuBjNhrh3N_Rszlz7H60Eo611nie01Jaewr0NhceCzgTYuNz7DSR/s320/welch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128663949019981250" /></a><br />Bud Welch describes his experience following the death of his daughter:<br /><br />“I was opposed to the death penalty all my life until my daughter Julie Marie was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. For many months after the bombing I could have killed Timothy McVeigh myself. Temporary insanity is real, and I have lived it. You can’t think of enough adjectives to describe the rage, revenge, and hate I felt. But after time, I was able to examine my conscience, and I realized that if McVeigh is put to death, it won’t help me in the healing process. People talk about executions bringing closure. But how can there be closure when my little girl is never coming back. I finally realized that the death penalty is all about revenge and hate, and revenge and hate are why Julie Marie and 167 others are dead.”<br /><br />Mr. Welch will be speaking at Notre Dame this week, on Nov. 7 at 8 pm in the CSC Classroom; on Nov. 8 at 12 noon in the Law School and on Nov. 8 at 7:30 pm in the Hesburgh Center.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-7570824879176049702007-11-03T12:02:00.001-05:002007-11-03T12:31:33.562-05:00"Vengeance Solves No Problems"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio7l-8e6m3ul4-A_74o4pZyyBK_6fQbtbMLLOK6fW5ZCrVxpZChmLwLb9_39rY-qp3gTxIJ6BAvU6ctIxgS2dcx0ftUcowJKjWpRFS_gozqxGVo0XncShwEfzJwKgz7hAQ8BK52IgKmOgd/s1600-h/Bud+Welch2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio7l-8e6m3ul4-A_74o4pZyyBK_6fQbtbMLLOK6fW5ZCrVxpZChmLwLb9_39rY-qp3gTxIJ6BAvU6ctIxgS2dcx0ftUcowJKjWpRFS_gozqxGVo0XncShwEfzJwKgz7hAQ8BK52IgKmOgd/s320/Bud+Welch2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128661054212023730" /></a><br />Bud Welch lost his 23-year old daughter in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. In the months after her death, he changed from supporting the death penalty to taking a public stand against it, inspired in part by his daughter's stance against the death penalty prior to her own murder. <br /><br />Mr. Welch will be speaking at Notre Dame this week, on Nov. 7 at 8 pm in the CSC Classroom, on Nov. 8 at 12 noon in the Law School and on Nov. 8 at 7:30 pm in the Hesburgh Center. Click below for more.<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />Mr. Welch has testified before the U.S. Congress, many State Senate and House Judiciary Committees, made numerous radio and TV appearances, and met frequently with the father of Timothy McVeigh. He has addressed the British Parliament and the European Parliament as part of the Amnesty International Journey of Hope in Paris, London and Brussels. <br /><br />His work as a speaker and advocate has been widely recognized. In 1997 Mr. Welch was awarded the "Champion of Justice Award" by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He was given the "Abolitionist of the Year Award" in 1998 by the Okalahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the "Felton Humanitarian Award" from Death Penalty Focus of California, the "Spirit of Compassion Award" of the Prison Action Committee in Buffalo, New York and the ACLU Oklahoma Foundation "Anti-Death Penalty/Prison Project Award." In 1999 Mr. Welch received the "Abolitionist of the Year Award" from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. And in 2002, he was named "Abolitionist of the Year" by Coloradans Against the Death Penalty.<br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-19261493289183265452007-10-26T20:39:00.001-05:002007-10-26T20:47:46.035-05:00National Update: Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Nevada and Virginia stay executions<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVp2kZXTlSdRVUueFWKf6MlfomK3OUhRAkNB6ZMWDBwObBnjOI0fqN60gKi6PnwSeZNNZrpTeDem5F21t_Z2QJgWA3-Pw1Y8TcaCDPDDAsGLuHX5OmC5kO5yAiyN7U7qI9Jmb7mfZ-VJc/s1600-h/map-us.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVp2kZXTlSdRVUueFWKf6MlfomK3OUhRAkNB6ZMWDBwObBnjOI0fqN60gKi6PnwSeZNNZrpTeDem5F21t_Z2QJgWA3-Pw1Y8TcaCDPDDAsGLuHX5OmC5kO5yAiyN7U7qI9Jmb7mfZ-VJc/s320/map-us.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125826728456540466" /></a><br />The past week has once again included numerous stayed and postponed executions across the nation. Georgia and Texas each stayed two, while Alabama, Nevada and Virginia each halted one execution--for a variety of reasons, the most frequent being the pending challenge to lethal injection. <br /><br />Expand this post below to see a listing of the dates of each stay, with links to news articles relating the full stories.<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />10/24 - The scheduled execution of Daniel Siebert in Alabama was stayed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals: <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ib_PKQrlEaaXgTV3ga9gNCbtrLEQ "> Execution of Ill Alabama Inmate Blocked </a>(source: The Associated Press)<br /><br />10/23 - Georgia stays two executions in four days: <a href="http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntget=2007/10/23/us/23georgia.html&tntemail0=y&oref=slogin">Top Court in Georgia Again Delays Execution</a> (source: The New York Times)<br /><br />10/18 - Two executions in Texas postponed: <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Executions_Halted.html">Two Executions Halted Over Challenges </a>(source: The Associated Press)<br /><br />10/18 - Virginia halts execution, raising more questions about national state of the death penalty: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101701870.html">Supreme Court Halts Va. Inmate's Execution </a> (source: The Washington Post)<br /><br />10/17 - Nevada becomes the fifth state to stay an execution since Sept. 25: <a href="http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2007/10/17/us/17lethal.html&tntemail0=y">Court Stays Execution in Nevada </a> (source: The New York Times)<br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-66003125842178654142007-10-26T19:41:00.000-05:002007-10-26T19:44:09.486-05:00Sorry for our blackoutDear ND ASK readers,<br /><br />Our apologies for the technical difficulties and lack of posts you may have noticed if you've been visiting the site lately. We've cleared up some problems, and will continue to cover state and national death penalty news--there's plenty of it right now--as well as ND ASK events.<br /><br />There are three more excellent speakers in our fall lectures series, so we hope to see you at an event soon!<br /><br />Thank you for your continued support,<br />Andrea & the ND ASK teamAndrea Laidmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11568948516093651282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-67519012237002923032007-10-08T21:12:00.000-05:002007-10-08T21:38:34.576-05:00Bush clashes with Texas on the execution of a Mexican National<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigxR4DTwxiArSzgHA-D_mpkOCvCybYmFlqL_AQ6r9x5bTycuStvnvqwSQA0TJ6u8N6V8l29TbPKO9fNbSXMyke1gR8MSVSH69u0Vt9Z_C7aeDfWGh3cZ14pKcStYgVC5V1uhvNFjwzpdP/s1600-h/medellin-ml.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigxR4DTwxiArSzgHA-D_mpkOCvCybYmFlqL_AQ6r9x5bTycuStvnvqwSQA0TJ6u8N6V8l29TbPKO9fNbSXMyke1gR8MSVSH69u0Vt9Z_C7aeDfWGh3cZ14pKcStYgVC5V1uhvNFjwzpdP/s320/medellin-ml.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119159575822938898" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2007-10-07-texasexecution_N.htm">According to the Associated Press,</a> President George W. Bush has tried to halt the execution of a Mexican national on death row in Texas, Jose Ernesto Medellin (pictured to the left), whose case is to be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2185753,00.html">Read more in The Guardian</a> which reports, "It puts Mr Bush in the unusual position of arguing against the death penalty and against the very same Texans who helped put him in the White House. Even more unusually, it puts Mr Bush on the same side of the dispute as the International Court of Justice in The Hague."Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-79542622798886273332007-10-07T17:23:00.000-05:002007-10-07T17:58:57.940-05:00Lethal Injection: Recent developmentsA number of developments have occurred in the last week, following the Sept. 26 decision of the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to lethal injection sometime this winter. Below, starting with the most recent, is a review of the big decisions and stays-of-execution:<br /><br />Oct. 4: Oklahoma’s attorney general asked the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals not to set any execution dates until the United States Supreme Court ruled on a challenge to the lethal injection method.<br /><br />Oct. 2: The Texas Court of Appeals stayed the execution of Heliberto Chi, pending the decision by the US Supreme Court on lethal injection. Some legal experts in Texas view the decision by Texas' highest appeals court and the issues it raised as an indefinite halting of all executions in the state, though Texas officials claim they plan to proceed. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/us/03texas.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/C/Capital%20Punishment">See the New York Times for more.</a><br /><span id="fullpost"><br />Sept. 28: The US Supreme Court granted a rare stay of execution to a Texas inmate, Carlton Turner, Jr., who had appealed to the Court due to the pending lethal injection hearing. <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E6DC1431F93BA1575AC0A9619C8B63">According to the New York Times,</a> "The decision suggests that until it issues a ruling on lethal injection, the court may be receptive to requests to delay such executions, at least for defendants whose cases raise no procedural issues."<br /><br />Sept. 28: Another rare stay of an execution by Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who said the state would not execute inmate Tommy Arthur, while it came up with a new formula for lethal injection. State officials said they wanted to make sure prisoners were completely unconscious before they were killed--an issue that has been problematic in recent months and has temporarily halted executions in several states, including Florida. <br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-19050881688733687712007-10-07T17:07:00.000-05:002007-10-07T17:22:36.829-05:00Judicial Update: Supreme Court to hear lethal injection challengeOn Sept. 26, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by two Kentucky death row inmates, who claim that lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is therefore unconstitutional under the 8th amendment. <br /><br />Current challenges to lethal injection have effectively stopped executions in a growing number of states, including California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee. <br /><br />37 of the 38 death penalty states all use lethal injection (except Nebraska, which still uses the electric chair). <br /><span id="fullpost"><br />According to the New York Times, "Lethal injection was adopted in the 1980s as a more palatable alternative to electrocution, but it has proven increasingly troublesome. Leading medical organizations have told their members not to participate, and lawyers for death-row inmates have produced evidence showing that in the absence of expert medical attention, there is a substantial risk of error in administering the combination of anesthesia and paralyzing drugs necessary to bring about a quick and painless death."<br /><br />The Times also reports, "The Supreme Court case will be argued in January or February and decided by early next summer. While it is pending, judges around the country are certain to be asked to bar executions in those states that are not already under an official or de facto moratorium."<br /><br />Read the Sept. 26 piece, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/washington/26lethal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin"> "Justices to Enter the Debate Over Lethal Injection," </a> for more and continue to check this site for updates.<br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-28343566971291076692007-09-30T20:21:00.001-05:002007-09-30T21:33:50.045-05:00ND ASK Organizing Strategy Session: Tuesday, 10/9<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEexmvGIpqPWxD_doZkGq4baseb3469msHZqs9EdV0LpovppMOvHpo9GnC5dWvP6zGjp4mAJd7IWyuqR8vl73diMd00lzd5qd5oqZ6EI6k8q9Cqlqf2yMKjKzAf-5d6Bcy7_hUAZ_acgVa/s1600-h/ej2000.GIF.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEexmvGIpqPWxD_doZkGq4baseb3469msHZqs9EdV0LpovppMOvHpo9GnC5dWvP6zGjp4mAJd7IWyuqR8vl73diMd00lzd5qd5oqZ6EI6k8q9Cqlqf2yMKjKzAf-5d6Bcy7_hUAZ_acgVa/s320/ej2000.GIF.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116190472132677074" /></a><br />On Tuesday, October 9, Ms. Eunice Timoney-Ravenna will conduct an evening strategy session for student activists and organizers seeking to unite the campus and community on their respective social issues.<br />Ms. Timoney-Ravenna is the Midwest Field Organizer for <a href="http://www.quixote.org/ej/">Equal Justice USA</a> "a grassroots project of the Quixote Center that mobilizes and educates ordinary citizens around issues of crime and punishment in the U.S." <br />Equal Justice USA kicked off the Moratorium Now! campaign in August 1997, shortly after the American Bar Association passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on all U.S. executions. The campaign seeks to build momentum for a national moratorium by mobilizing local groups to adopt their own resolutions and to recruit others in their area to join the call. <br />Through the Moratorium Now! campaign, over 4,000 groups, faith communities, and local governments endorse a moratorium on executions.<br />Further details on the October 9 strategy session will be posted soon.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-56737726197617699872007-09-30T20:17:00.000-05:002007-09-30T21:02:38.456-05:00Juan Melendez to speak at ND on Wednesday, 10/3<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj18FKNY6-v04XWJioiKL2VolTaxus_jbhaiCHxbHEr965UMlPYGDkg8tQC9x89gH5BKUzuc0qtySGk0kDhtNuUj18QRY2Inb44vwZ-VIO9pEJf5z9yfHv1cuXTfzqL9OhBpNyPTbUqYmYE/s1600-h/Melendez.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj18FKNY6-v04XWJioiKL2VolTaxus_jbhaiCHxbHEr965UMlPYGDkg8tQC9x89gH5BKUzuc0qtySGk0kDhtNuUj18QRY2Inb44vwZ-VIO9pEJf5z9yfHv1cuXTfzqL9OhBpNyPTbUqYmYE/s200/Melendez.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116182736896576930" /></a><br />Juan Melendez, an innocent man who spent 18 years on death row in Florida, will speak this Wednesday, October 3 at 5 pm in DeBartolo 102. His lecture is open to the public; his trip to ND is sponsored by the Hispanic Law Student Association and the American Constitution Society of the ND Law School.<br />Juan Melendez became the 24th person exonerated and released from Florida's death row when he was freed on January 3, 2002 after spending almost 18 years facing execution for a crime he did not commit. The photo above was taken upon his release from prison.<br />Melendez was convicted in 1984 at the age of 33 with no physical evidence linking him to the crime and testimony from questionable witnesses. In fact, prosecutors concealed evidence from the court in order to protect the guilty man, a police informant. Melendez's conviction fell apart when the police informant's confession came to light in 1999 - a confession that prosecutors knew about before they took Melendez to trial.<br />Upon his release, the state of Florida gave Melendez what they give to every inmate that leaves prison - $100. <br />Contact us for more information on Melendez and his lecture, at notredameask@gmail.com.Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-31787470183528748312007-09-30T20:15:00.000-05:002007-09-30T21:19:50.305-05:00"A Capital Question" - ND ASK featured in Scholastic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jb5hkZ3YyuUaKmIFqSGJFe5P_VcIEQiFT5jMZ0uHSn-_hiHnR3gxggzXFb4Rq-M5M1ylAZtzVlv-40FrLeDUEMzaZcYr69VZVYRmIuZ_MUHtiHDfBoVXXLzWJpNZRLyOGZcjggCtMkBG/s1600-h/cover.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jb5hkZ3YyuUaKmIFqSGJFe5P_VcIEQiFT5jMZ0uHSn-_hiHnR3gxggzXFb4Rq-M5M1ylAZtzVlv-40FrLeDUEMzaZcYr69VZVYRmIuZ_MUHtiHDfBoVXXLzWJpNZRLyOGZcjggCtMkBG/s200/cover.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116185923762310578" /></a><br />"A Capital Question," a September 27 piece by Michael O'Connor in ND's Student Magazine, Scholastic, covered the objectives and progress of ND ASK. <br /><br />"A Capital Question"<br />ND ASK's anti-death penalty campaign stresses education and advocacy,<br />by Michael O'Connor:<br /><br />Last week, Richard Dieter, one of the nation's leading authorities on the death penalty, visited Notre Dame to discuss a national topic that he says "could become a signature issue for this university." Dieter (ND '68), the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, was the first speaker in a series of lectures this fall sponsored by Notre Dame Against State Killing (ND ASK). Aside from Notre Dame, Dieter has shared his expertise with a myriad of media outlets from the New York Times to the BBC.<span id="fullpost"><br />ND ASK, a campaign initiated in the fall of 2006 and currently sponsored by Campus Ministry, strives to educate and and actively work toward the end of death penalty executions. Although new to the Notre Dame scene, the campaign is up and running. "Over the year we've gained many members and developed four functioning committees: prison ministry, victims' families outreach, advocacy and lobbying, and conference organization," says senior political science and peace studies major, Andrea Laidman, current director and co-founder of ND ASK. The campaign mobilizes largely on the Internet, boasting a listserv of about 200 members and blog readership of up to 300 hits a day last semester on the campaign's Web site, ndask.org.<br />ND ASK distinguishes itself from other student groups in its singular mission. "It is a campaign focused on one issue with a specific objective of educating the campus and working toward a moratorium on executions," Laidman says. A death penalty moratorium is a suspension of executions enacted by a state governor or legislature for a designated period of time (approximately 2-5 years) during which a commission is created to examine the death penalty cases and issues in their specific state. "One of the things we believe at ND ASK is that if you look at the facts of the issue, they only lean to one side, that being a moratorium," Laidman says.<br />In order to bolster the educational goals of their mission, Laidman and the students of ND ASK organized a lecture series including Dieter and national anti-death penalty spokesman Bud Welch, the father of a victim of the Oklahoma City bombing. Welch primarily discusses reconciliation and restorative justice in death penalty cases.<br />Dieter was impressed with the campaign. "[Anti-death penalty focus groups] are rare at the university level. They are much more common at the state level," he says. Although turnout was not overwhelming for Dieter's talk, he believes there is great potential in ND ASK. "This is a small group, but there's a lot more that could be done for this Notre Dame community. This campaign has a unique fit here and could become part of a great tradition," Dieter says. <br />Dieter's attendence marks the start of a building year for ND ASK. "We're hoping to engage students who approach the issue from a variety of perspectives by bringing to campus experts on the death penalty from so many disciplines," Laidman says.<br />Dieter says, "Everyone who participates in this discussion contributes to the national consensus of standards of decency. Voices of people can change the law." <br /></span>Notre Dame Against State Killinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185282196869824424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621898173015221995.post-9777857233005387082007-09-25T12:53:00.000-05:002007-09-25T13:05:06.714-05:00Op-ed piece: The State of State KillingAn op-ed piece I wrote, published in The Observer on September 17, focuses on death penalty trends in Texas and nationally. Read it below, or <a href="http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2007/09/17/Viewpoint/The-State.Of.State.Killing-2971080-page2.shtml">see The Observer website.</a><br /><br />The State of State Killing<br />About every six days in Texas, a man is killed by lethal injection. This is the pace set by the current calendar of executions, where a total of 10 men were scheduled to die in August and September. Two men have recently had their death sentences thrown out - taming the frequency of executions slightly - in rare instances for Texas: A commutation by Governor Rick Perry and a stayed execution by a Dallas county judge.<br />Thirty-nine executions have occurred so far in 2007 across the U.S. Twenty-four of those have been in Texas. No other state has executed more than three inmates this year.<span id="fullpost"><br />The death by lethal injection of Johnny Conner on Aug. 22 marked the state's 400th execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty there in 1982. That's an average of 16 executions per year over a quarter of a century.<br />Sixteen deaths per year is a shocking statistic, but it fails to capture the reality of the death penalty in Texas. Calculating the average number of executions doesn't reveal that 315 of the 400 executions in Texas have occurred in the past 13 years under the tenure of only two governors.<br />From 1994 to 2000, 152 inmates were killed under then-Gov. George W. Bush. From 2000 to today, 164 have been executed with Gov. Perry in charge.<br />These two governors have achieved the highest numbers in American history for a state in killing its own citizens. And to what end? The murder rate in Texas remains more than double that of any state without the death penalty in the nation.<br />While executions continue to climb in Texas, they're declining nationally, returning to levels of the early 1990s when the American public found the death penalty far less appealing than it has in the last decade. Overall support for the death penalty is down, and a 2006 Gallup poll reported that for the first time, more Americans expressed support for life without parole as a sentencing option than for the death penalty.<br />A more recent poll by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) in Washington, D.C., found that 58 percent of Americans want a moratorium on executions. A poll commissioned by the American Bar Association in Indiana reported that 61 percent of Hoosiers agree.<br />In an interview with Newsweek, Richard Dieter, executive director of the DPIC, said Americans are not expressing total opposition or moral objection to the death penalty, but rather concerns about how the state's ultimate punishment is used and implemented. The big issues are protecting the innocent, unfairness and disbelief in the death penalty as a deterrent.<br />According to Dieter, who comes to campus this week to deliver the opening lecture of a five-part series on the death penalty, "[T]here's common agreement about who's on death row: People who can't afford their own lawyers, and a high percentage of minorities. The end result is dissatisfaction."<br />Dissatisfaction, skepticism, and waning support for the idea that minor reforms can bring fairness.<br />Even Perry expressed concerns about fairness, with his commutation of Kenneth Foster on Aug. 30. Foster was sentenced to death even though he did not pull the trigger in the 1996 murder he was convicted of, under a Texas law that makes an accomplice to murder subject to the death penalty.<br />Foster was driving with a group of friends late into the night on Aug. 15, 1996. They were heavily under the influence of drugs and were committing armed robberies. One confrontation between Foster's friend, who had exited the car, and a man on the street ended in murder. Foster was sentenced to death in the case, though he sat eighty feet away in the car when his friend's gun went off.<br />The approach of the scheduled execution of Foster for Aug. 30 (the date of his commutation) received international attention and petitions for his execution to be called off.<br />The idea of executing the man who didn't pull the trigger was just too much, even for Perry.<br />"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry said in a statement. "I am concerned about Texas law that allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously, and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine."<br />As a nation, America is losing confidence in the death penalty. That's the verdict of polls, interviews, nationwide trends, events like Foster's commutation and the stance of experts like Mr. Dieter, who believe that a moratorium on executions is the solution Americans want.<br /><br />Andrea Laidman is a senior political science and peace studies major, and the Director of Notre Dame Against State Killing (ND ASK), a campaign for a moratorium in Indiana.<br /></span>Andrea Laidmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11568948516093651282noreply@blogger.com0