Notre Dame Against State Killing

Supreme Court: Death Penalty Applies Only to Murder

2008-07-04T11:53:00.003-05:00

On 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."

Read full coverage on the InCASE blog.

Innocence Project channel on YouTube

2008-03-05T13:55:00.003-05:00

The Innocence Project has a great account on YouTube 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 Innocence Project on YouTube here.

See www.innocenceproject.org for more.

NPR: Father Finds Peace in Forgiveness

2008-02-21T11:55:00.002-05:00

Hector Black's daughter was murdered seven years ago in Atlanta.

In this NPR story, 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.

Listen to this moving, 4-minute piece here.

Nebraska Newspaper Calls for Abolition

2008-02-21T11:52:00.003-05:00

Days 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.

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."
Read the full editorial here.

Historic Texas Case Ends with Life Sentence

2008-02-21T11:45:00.003-05:00

From the Death Penalty Information Center and AP:
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.

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.

Nebraska Strikes Down Electrocution

2008-02-10T15:38:00.001-05:00

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.

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.

Get more coverage on the InCASE blog, "End of Nebraska's Electric Chair." Also see New York Times Legal Columnist Adam Liptak's analysis here: "Electrocution is Banned in Last State to Rely on It."

The Death Penalty in 2007

2008-02-10T15:25:00.001-05:00

According 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.

62% of executions in 2007 were in Texas, while 86% were in South states.

There were approximately 110 death sentences - the lowest number in 30 years.

2007 saw three exonerations, in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Carolina, while eleven inmates had their sentences commuted.

Both New Jersey and New York ended their death penalties, with the New Jersey legislature passing an abolition bill just before Christmas.

"Lethal Injection is the Wrong Debate"

2008-01-20T23:51:00.000-05:00

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.
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."
This is a great piece that indicates some of the flaws in the American death penalty that run deeper than method of execution. Read the full text here.

Jan. 7 NYT Editorial

2008-01-20T23:30:00.000-05:00

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."

The piece focuses on the lethal injection debate, but the paper makes some powerful statements and observations about the death penalty in its entirety:
"We believe that the death penalty, no matter how it is administered, is unconstitutional and wrong."

..."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."
..."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."
Read the full editorial here.

Supreme Court to Examine Child Rape and the Death Penalty

2008-01-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

In 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.

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.

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.

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.

Video: Bud Welch's Lecture at ND

2007-12-11T19:16:00.000-05:00

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.

Video: Bud Welch's Lecture at ND

2007-12-11T19:15:00.001-05:00

In this brief clip, Mr. Welch explains the background of his visit with Bill McVeigh (Timothy McVeigh's father).

Photos: Michael Radelet's November Trip to ND

2007-12-11T19:07:00.001-05:00

Conversion to Moratorium: The Chicago Tribune and the Illinois Death Penalty

2007-11-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

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.

Please click below for more about Mr. Dold.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He has often appeared on national television and radio programs, including Nightline, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Hardball with Chris Mathews.

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.

In his own words

2007-11-03T12:12:00.000-05:00

Bud Welch describes his experience following the death of his daughter:

“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.”

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.

"Vengeance Solves No Problems"

2007-11-03T12:02:00.001-05:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

National Update: Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Nevada and Virginia stay executions

2007-10-26T20:39:00.001-05:00

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.

Expand this post below to see a listing of the dates of each stay, with links to news articles relating the full stories.

10/24 - The scheduled execution of Daniel Siebert in Alabama was stayed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals: Execution of Ill Alabama Inmate Blocked (source: The Associated Press)

10/23 - Georgia stays two executions in four days: Top Court in Georgia Again Delays Execution (source: The New York Times)

10/18 - Two executions in Texas postponed: Two Executions Halted Over Challenges (source: The Associated Press)

10/18 - Virginia halts execution, raising more questions about national state of the death penalty: Supreme Court Halts Va. Inmate's Execution (source: The Washington Post)

10/17 - Nevada becomes the fifth state to stay an execution since Sept. 25: Court Stays Execution in Nevada (source: The New York Times)

Sorry for our blackout

2007-10-26T19:41:00.000-05:00

Dear ND ASK readers,

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.

There are three more excellent speakers in our fall lectures series, so we hope to see you at an event soon!

Thank you for your continued support,
Andrea & the ND ASK team

Bush clashes with Texas on the execution of a Mexican National

2007-10-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

According to the Associated Press, 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.

Read more in The Guardian 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."

Lethal Injection: Recent developments

2007-10-07T17:23:00.000-05:00

A 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:

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.

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. See the New York Times for more.

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. According to the New York Times, "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."

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.

Judicial Update: Supreme Court to hear lethal injection challenge

2007-10-07T17:07:00.000-05:00

On 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.

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.

37 of the 38 death penalty states all use lethal injection (except Nebraska, which still uses the electric chair).

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."

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."

Read the Sept. 26 piece, "Justices to Enter the Debate Over Lethal Injection," for more and continue to check this site for updates.

ND ASK Organizing Strategy Session: Tuesday, 10/9

2007-09-30T20:21:00.001-05:00

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.
Ms. Timoney-Ravenna is the Midwest Field Organizer for Equal Justice USA "a grassroots project of the Quixote Center that mobilizes and educates ordinary citizens around issues of crime and punishment in the U.S."
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.
Through the Moratorium Now! campaign, over 4,000 groups, faith communities, and local governments endorse a moratorium on executions.
Further details on the October 9 strategy session will be posted soon.

Juan Melendez to speak at ND on Wednesday, 10/3

2007-09-30T20:17:00.000-05:00

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.
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.
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.
Upon his release, the state of Florida gave Melendez what they give to every inmate that leaves prison - $100.
Contact us for more information on Melendez and his lecture, at notredameask@gmail.com.

"A Capital Question" - ND ASK featured in Scholastic

2007-09-30T20:15:00.000-05:00

"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.

"A Capital Question"
ND ASK's anti-death penalty campaign stresses education and advocacy,
by Michael O'Connor:

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dieter says, "Everyone who participates in this discussion contributes to the national consensus of standards of decency. Voices of people can change the law."

Op-ed piece: The State of State Killing

2007-09-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

An 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 see The Observer website.

The State of State Killing
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Dissatisfaction, skepticism, and waning support for the idea that minor reforms can bring fairness.
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.
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.
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.
The idea of executing the man who didn't pull the trigger was just too much, even for Perry.
"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."
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.

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.

Executing Reason: Expert Perspectives on the Death Penalty and an Indiana Moratorium

2007-09-06T00:28:00.001-05:00

ND ASK is proud to announce its second annual fall lecture series, Executing Reason: Expert Perspectives on the Death Penalty and an Indiana Moratorium.
The series gathers some of the nation's foremost capital punishment scholars and activists:

September 20-
Mr. Richard Dieter, Esq., Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
October 9-
Ms. Eunice Timoney-Ravenna, Midwest Field Organizer, Equal Justice USA.
November 5-
Mr. Bruce Dold, Editorial Page Editor, Chicago Tribune.
November 19-
Dr. Michael Radelet, Sociology Dept Chair and Professor, University of Colorado.
Date TBD-
Mr. Bud Welch, National leader in reconciliation/restorative justice whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Watch for more details as the opening lecture approaches.

Show your Support -- Buy an ND ASK T-Shirt

2007-09-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

You've already bought "the shirt" for this season, and if you're a freshman, you've got a Frosh-O t-shirt...Why not add to your ND collection--and show your support for a moratorium in Indiana--by purchasing an ND ASK t-shirt?

Click on the design above for a closer look. The t-shirts are black, with the ND ASK logo across the front and a quote on the back, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. -M. Gandhi".

The price is $10--just send an e-mail to notredameask@gmail.com with the size (S-XL) and quantity and we can deliver your order to your dorm room or mail it to your home if you're off-campus or not a local supporter, and arrange payment however you prefer.

Proceeds will help fund our second annual fall lecture series, "Executing Reason: Expert Perspectives on the Death Penalty and an Indiana Moratorium." Thank you for your support.

Richard Dieter to speak September 20

2007-09-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

Mr. Richard C. Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, in Washington DC, will speak at Notre Dame on Septmeber 20. His lecture, The Death Penalty in America--Present and Future, will be at 7pm in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium on Notre Dame's campus.

Mr. Dieter, himself a graduate of ND, is an attorney and an Adjunct Professor at Catholic University's School of Law. He has been the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, DC since 1992. The Center is a non-profit organization serving the public and the media with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment. The Center prepares in-depth reports, issues press releases, and conducts briefings for journalists and others working on this issue.

Mr. Dieter has worked for many years on issues related to human rights and the death penalty, including work as the director of the Community for Creative Non-violence’s pre-trial release program, the founder of the Alderson Hospitality House for visitors to the women’s federal prison in Alderson, West Virginia, and the founder of the Quixote Center’s death penalty project. He has given numerous speeches at universities and is frequently quoted in the major newspapers around the country. He has appeared on NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, CBS Evening News, The Today Show, PBS News Hour, Fox News, CNN, C-Span, Court-TV, and many other programs.

He has testified about the death penalty before numerous state legislatures and has prepared reports for the U. S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. He has authored articles on the death penalty for both magazines and scholarly journals. His most recent publications are: A Crisis of Confidence: Americans' Doubts About the Death Penalty; Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty; and The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides. He has been an invited speaker at international events in Taiwan, Tokyo, Paris, and London, and recently testified before the European Parliament in Brussels.

Secrecy Upheld in the Execution Process, Despite Mistakes

2007-08-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

In a July 30 article, "After Flawed Executions, States Resort to Secrecy,"* New York Times legal columnist Adam Liptak examines the shift toward protecting the identity of those involved in the execution process in several states. Ironically, this comes at a time when botched executions are increasingly reported. Amidst growing awareness of the incompetence of those performing lethal injection procedures, citizens are left with no one to hold accountable when the identity of involved officials is withheld.

Liptak writes:
"In the wake of several botched executions around the nation, often performed by poorly trained workers, you might think that we would want to know more, not less, about the government employees charged with delivering death on behalf of the state.

But corrections officials say that executioners will face harassment or worse if their identities are revealed, and that it is getting hard to attract medically trained people to administer lethal injections, in part because codes of medical ethics prohibit participation in executions."

In Missouri, for example, a doctor who "had supervised more than 50 executions by lethal injection testified last year that he sometimes gave condemned inmates smaller doses of a sedative than the state’s protocol called for, explaining that he is dyslexic."

The doctor had his right to practice revoked by two hospitals following numerous malpractice suits. In September of last year, a federal judge barred him from participating “in any manner, at any level, in the State of Missouri’s lethal injection process.”

However, the Louisiana state legislature has acted to nullify this ruling. Liptak explains:
"A new law, signed this month by Gov. Matt Blunt, makes it unlawful to reveal 'the identity of a current or former member of an execution team,' and it allows executioners to sue anyone who names them.
The governor explained that the law 'will protect those Missourians who assist in fulfilling the state’s execution process.' "

The new Missouri law even bars medical licensing boards from taking disciplinary actions against doctors or nurses who participate in executions (contrary to the stance of prominent medical organizations, including the American Medical Association).

Liptak also points to recent developments regarding flawed lethal injections procedures in Florida, where a judge ruled a week ago that procedures issued by Florida’s corrections department in May (that there is only one job requirement to be an executioner: you must be “a person 18 years or older who is selected by the warden to initiate the flow of lethal chemicals into the inmate") is inacceptable. The judge halted a pending execution, declaring that the system must include experienced and competent people before it can be allowed to carry out death sentences.

Liptak asserts:
"It would be good to know more about who is performing executions in Florida. But that state’s law, like Missouri’s, forbids the disclosure of 'information which identifies an executioner.' Quite a few states have similar laws, and a new Virginia law shielding executioners came into effect this month.

This is a serious issue to examine and monitor as lethal injection procedures continue to be analyzed across the country. Does the public have right to know who is carrying out executions and if these officials have the medical competence to do so? Or does the protection of the executioner outweigh concerns about cruel and unusual punishment, and the effective torture that can be the result of a botched dosage or otherwise flawed injection.
----
*Article accessible to Times Select members only.

Bowser Commission Formed, Members Announced

2007-07-19T03:19:00.000-05:00

The Indiana General Assembly recently announced the members of the Bowser Commission, a group of Indiana legislators assigned to examine mental illness and death penalty sentencing in Indiana--carrying out the good work and fulfilling the moral vision of the late Indiana Senator, Anita Bowser.

On February 28, the Indiana Senate passed a resolution urging the Legislative Council to create the Bowser Commission - at a time when Senator Bowser's cancer battle was growing in seriousness. She passed away just days later. Before her illness, she had attempted to pass legislation barring execution of the mentally ill.

ND ASK applauds this step toward the work Senator Bowser hoped to see completed, in the naming members of the Commission, which will be active through November 1. We await the findings of their work, trusting that the injustice of sentencing the mentally ill to death will surface and influence future Indiana law.

See previous posts regarding Senator Bowser and the creation of the Bowser Commission by clicking the label, "Bowser," below.

The Panetti Ruling and Timberlake's Case

2007-07-19T03:18:00.001-05:00

In January, Indiana inmate Norman Timberlake received a stay of execution after it was found that executing him before the Supreme Court heard the Scott Panetti case would be unjust and, dependent on the Court's decision, potentially unconstitutional. The June ruling of the Court re-asserts a 1986 decision, stating that in order to be executed, a convicted murderer must be able to recognize the relation between their crime and their pending death. According to this ruling, Timberlake's death sentence should be overturned, as his execution would prove a violation of our nation's principles.

Objections to the execution of Panetti, whose mental insanity includes a delusion that he is being killed to keep him from preaching the gospel, were considered parallel to those surrounding Timberlake--a paranoid schizophrenic who thinks that he is being tortured daily by a machine that will kill him to keep him silent.

The Indiana Supreme Court, in ruling that it could not allow Timberlake to be executed until Panetti was decided on
and various questions about mental illness and qualifications for the death penalty answered, provided an opportunity for justice that no lower court in the state's system afforded Timberlake.

ND ASK will monitor and report on any future hearings in Timberlake's case. It is crucial that his death sentence be overturned in light of the Panetti ruling, and we must work to ensure that the Supreme Court's recent decision takes effect in Indiana.

Supreme Court blocks execution of Texas Inmate Scott Panetti

2007-07-16T10:10:00.000-05:00

On June 28, the Supreme Court issued a decision overturning the death sentence of Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti. The justices ruled that Panetti, who has insisted during various stages of his capital trial and imprisonment that he is being punished for preaching the Gospel, had not been shown to have sufficient understanding of what he was being put to death for.

Since the 1986 Supreme Court case of Ford v. Wainright, the execution of the mentally insane has been constitutionally barred. But the standard for determining competency has not been laid out beyond the assertion that the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment requires that a defendant who is to be executed must be able to recognize the relationship between his crime and his sentence.

Panetti killed his wife’s parents in 1992. Now 49 years old, he remains on death row in Texas. A schizophrenic who served as his own lawyer in court, often amounting to an incoherent and outrageous defense, Panetti claims that his body has been taken over by an alter-ego and that demons are bent on killing him for his Christian beliefs.

Medical records demonstrate that during the decade preceding his crime, Panetti had been hospitalized 14 times for schizophrenia, manic depression, hallucinations and delusions. He nailed shut the curtains of his house, buried his furniture and threatened his family—claiming to have seen visions of the devil. In 1995, after winning approval from a Texas trial judge to represent himself in court, Panetti repeatedly tried to subpoena Jesus and donned an array of costume-like attire (including purple western shirts and cowboy hats) in the courtroom. It was the jury of this trial that convicted Panetti in 90 minutes and sentenced him to death.

Panetti’s long and turbulent history in the capital process, a 15-year proceeding, has fueled criticisms of the courts and trial system in Texas, where it is now clear that at least one insane man has represented himself. The ruling overturning his death sentence is, as executive director of Amnesty International Larry Cox commented last week, “a much-needed step toward a more humane America.”

Update from ND ASK Director

2007-06-25T06:18:00.000-05:00

Dear ND ASK members and readers,

In the past six weeks, we’ve been silent on this blog, due to the end of the school year at ND. The months of May and June brought transitions out of South Bend and travel to homes and jobs across the country and world for many of ND ASK’s members.

ND ASK co-founder and co-director, Will McAuliffe, graduated with the class of 2007. While he has left Notre Dame, his work on the death penalty in Indiana is just beginning. He will continue his contributions to this blog, and to our organization’s objectives and actions.

I will continue to run ND ASK on campus and across Indiana, putting together a central committee of students to lead the campaign and expand our efforts state-wide.

The past six weeks, both in Indiana and abroad, have included many events to note—some are hopeful to those who share our goals, while others must be viewed as further motivation to continue working against the death penalty.

On June 8, the parliament of Rwanda voted to abolish the death penalty.
One week later, on June 15, the state of Indiana executed Michael Lambert.

The contrast between these two events—the commutation of death sentences of hundreds of prisoners indicted in the Rwanda genocide and the failure of the Indiana justice system to grant life without parole, a sentence with a possibility of rehabilitation, to the second inmate killed in our state this year—indicates the need for a different dialogue on violence and the dignity of persons in Indiana.

With this post, ND ASK will again provide frequent coverage of capital punishment-related developments in Indiana and elsewhere. We will share campaign updates throughout the summer as we build our calendar and plan of action for the coming academic year. We will continue to address both sides of violence in our work for a moratorium on executions in the state of Indiana, working towards the prevention of violence before it occurs and an entrenched attitude of rehabilitation following tragedy.

Thank you for your continued support,
Andrea Laidman
Director, ND ASK
alaidman@nd.edu

Iraq's Death Penalty

2007-05-09T12:03:00.000-05:00

Found this article about Iraq's death penalty and unfair trial system to be interesting, particularly as their execution rate has risen dramatically since the new government was formed.

From CNN:

Sitting on Iraq's death row is a 25-year-old woman convicted in the slayings of three relatives. She says her husband carried out the killings and fled. She confessed to being an accomplice, she says, only after being tortured in police custody...

She was tried and convicted in a single day, August 15, 2005...

The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority abolished capital punishment in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. But shortly after the government was handed over to Iraqis, the death penalty was reinstated in August 2004.

Since that time, more than 270 people have been sentenced to death, and at least 100 people -- including Hussein -- have been executed, according to Amnesty. Four women are currently on death row. Two of the women have their young children, ages 1 and 3, with them on death row, Amnesty says.

You can read an April 20th press release from Amnesty about Iraqi trials and confessions in regards to the death penalty here.

David Woods' Final Statement

2007-05-07T21:31:00.000-05:00

Below is a copy of David Leon Woods' final written statement before his execution. Click on the image to enlarge it in order to read it. This post will likely be updated later with a text transcription of the statement included.

Vigil Pictures and Article

2007-05-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

You can read more about the vigil in this article published on May 4th in the Michigan City News Dispatch. Additionally, ND ASK Co-Director Andrea Laidman was interviewed by Fort Wayne's WANE TV. A transcript and video of the coverage can be found here.

Pictures below:

Members of ND ASK pause for a picture with Father Doyle, Chairman of the Duneland Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Joe Baker from the University of Illinois drove several hours to the vigil with three other U of I students.

Marty Pizzini, Education Coordinator for the Dunaland Coalition, lead a drum litany about the death penalty.

We thought we would be the youngest people at the vigil but 20-month old Gerald Hayes quickly proved us wrong.

Impending Tennessee execution of Workman

2007-05-06T04:02:00.000-05:00

This documentary on YouTube raises some serious doubts about Philip Workman's guilt. Watch it for yourself and see what you think.

If you think this case merits clemency for Workman and/or investigation by Governor Bredesen, please send him an e-mail.

Workman's execution has been put on hold by a federal judge due to potential issues with the state's revised execution protocols. Hopefully this temporary hold will give the Governor enough time to review the case and realize that there's not much holding it together, let alone enough to be certain of Workman's guilt.

Execution Vigil

2007-05-04T13:19:00.000-05:00

Getting off our bus at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, our collection of students from Notre Dame, St. Mary's, and Holy Cross were greeted with the tail end of a beautifully sung "Ave Maria." The smiles and warm greetings from the veterans of execution vigils that we met there briefly veiled the reason why we had all gathered together outside of the prison on a chilly night. We were there because a man was about to be killed.

It was an eclectic mix of ages and backgrounds. Former inmates stood alongside former prison employees and priests. Soon-to-be octogenarian Father Doyle mingled with students 60 years younger than he. It was a truly wonderful cross-section of Indiana. The thing that we all held in common was our belief that the execution that was about to occur was unjust and would not solve anything. As the other death row inmates put it in their letter to the Governor and the parole board, David's execution "diminishes us all."

A variety of testimonials and readings were given, ranging from religious to personal stories about David and other experiences with the prison system. People marched around with a variety of signs in opposition to the death penalty while guards paced with their dogs just inside the gates.

As the midnight hour of execution neared, we all gathered together directly in front of the gates and tried our best to light candles despite the harsh gusts of wind. We said some prayers and began our silent vigil while the final steps of the system of capital punishment were taken inside the prison in front of us. We waited for what seemed like an eternity in silence. Each time a guard passed by the entrance of the prison, I held my breath, anticipating that we were about to be hit with the tragic report of execution. However, no answer came.

At about 30 minutes past midnight, a hearse pulled around the side of the prison. Everyone's eyes followed it as it disappeared from sight. Several minutes later, we heard a door slam shut. An unspoken truth settled over our group. After 50 minutes of silence and no sign of movement from the prison, Michael Griffin from Holy Cross led us in offering prayers and petitions for the Placencia family, David Woods and his family, and the prison employees.

At about 1 am, we could see members of the Placencia family filed into a white van and were whisked away while Wanda Callahan, David’s spiritual advisor of 23 years, slowly made her way out the front and into her car. The lack of information compounded the chill of the wind and the exhaustion of the group. Wanda was the first to reach us, driving through the gate and getting out of her car to deliver her account of the execution and talk about her friend David.

David went peacefully, she said, smiling and nodding as the lethal drugs were delivered into his body. He was at peace with God, she said, and knew that he was going to a better place. She mentioned how sad it was that the first time he felt safe in his entire life was when he was sent to death row. Everyone was gathered around, listening to her shaky voice deliver such powerful words. After she had finished her account of the situation, she hugged several of us, thanking us for our prayers and thoughts. She told us that she could certainly feel our presence during the execution.

Officials from the prison approached next and told us that David Leon Woods had been executed at 12:35 am.

David Leon Woods, 1964-2007

2007-05-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

Minute of Silence at Midnight

2007-05-03T15:37:00.000-05:00

This will likely be the last post before our group heads off to the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. There will certainly be a large discussion tomorrow about what happened and plenty of information posted here.

For those of you who are up at midnight, please observe a minute of silence and reflect on the pain that David's crime caused to Juan Placencia's family and the pain that this execution will cause David's family. More victims of David's crime will be created tonight by Indiana.

Also, let us hope that this execution will in fact bring healing to the Placencia family. God knows that healing will be the only good thing to result from this, if indeed even that happens.

Governor Daniels Denies David Woods Clemency

2007-05-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

Despite the heroic efforts of David Woods' attorneys and the calls for clemency by all those who signed our petition and contacted the Governor, David Woods' request for clemency has officially been denied by the Governor. According to the Indy Star article, Governor Daniels based his decision primarily on the unanimous recommendation against clemency made by the parole board. Their letters to the Governor can be found here.

This means that, barring a U.S. Supreme Court intervention, David Woods will be executed shortly after midnight tonight.

While it may be too late for David, a call to the Governor voicing your opposition to his decision may help down the road. The Governor can be reached at 317-232-4567.

Letter from Inmates to Indiana Parole Board

2007-05-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

This post is long overdue but is certainly still relevant as tonight, David Woods will be executed. The following is a letter written and signed by twenty death row inmates at Michigan City. Bear in mind that they are talking about a man who was 19 at the time of the crime and clearly poses no threat to society from within prison and hasn't given any evidence in his 23 years on death row that he is a danger to the guards or other inmates.

This is who Indiana is executing tonight.

Dear Parole Board Members:

This letter is in support of clemency for our friend and brother David (Dave) L. Woods, who has been a part of the Indiana State Prison Death Row Unit for twenty-two years now. Dave's presence on the Death Row Unit has had a stabilizing effect on us all because of his peaceful and accommodating nature. Dave has never refused to assist any of us in a time of distress or need, and has gone out of his way to be a friend to all. Dave has been a Range Porter several times over the years, a job that requires patience, kindness, and an attitude of caring for others. This is a position of trust amongst staff and prisoners alike. Dave is a man whose conduct conforms to a high standard of propriety and correct behavior. Dave has never, in his 22 years on the Death Row Unit, demonstrated any violent side to his decent character. We, the men that have been touched by Dave's friendship on a daily basis during these past 22 years, beseech and implore you to set a precedent in logic and mercy based on the objectives of the Indiana Department of Corrections, and spare Dave this sentence of death by execution, which diminishes us all.

Seats still left for Vigil!

2007-05-03T09:19:00.000-05:00

At approximately midnight tonight, after 23 years on death row, David Woods will be executed at the Michigan City Prison. We fully intend to demonstrate to the Governor that this is not done in our name.

For those of you in the South Bend area, there are still several seats available on our bus to Michigan City tonight. The bus will be leaving at 9:45pm from McKenna Circle on campus which is located on Notre Dame Ave. Please register ahead of time so we know to expect you!

Due to the time change between South Bend and Michigan City, the bus will be returning back to campus around 2:30am. The bus is free of charge and we encourage anyone who is interested to please join us for this important event.

Petition Sent to Governor Daniels!

2007-04-30T18:10:00.000-05:00

A hard copy of our petition asking for clemency for David Woods was overnighted to Governor Daniels early this afternoon with 490 signatures! In addition to the hard copy of the signatures accumulated so far, the link to the petition website was included so that any signatures acquired after printing should be noted by the Governor.

However, there's more you can do!

If you have not already, please call the Governor at 317-232-4567. Simply let them know that you are asking the Governor to grant David Woods clemency. No ideological debates will ensue; it will only take a minute and every little bit counts. Talking points provided by David's lawyer can be found here for those who wish to elaborate on their requests.

You can read the text of the accompanying letter written and signed by ND ASK co-directors Will McAuliffe and Andrea Laidman below.

April 30, 2007

The Honorable Mitch Daniels
Office of the Governor
Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-8797

Governor Daniels,

Please find attached the names and information of almost 500 people asking you to grant David Woods clemency. As is apparent by the comments left by some of the petitioners, there are a variety of reasons that people have reached the conclusion that clemency is the appropriate action: some for religious reasons, some over concerns for human dignity, and others who are simply appalled that we would execute someone with such a traumatic background and history of service to the death row community. We are certain that none of these reasons are alien to your conscience, yet we are equally certain that seeing that they are echoed throughout Indiana and the United States should give you no reason to proceed with the execution of David Woods and should bolster your confidence in granting clemency.

We would also like to emphasize the unprecedented relevance of this particular execution in relation to the release of the American Bar Association’s report on Indiana with which we’re certain you are aware. This report, in essence, has revealed many of the flaws in the judicial system particularly as it relates to capital cases. This information has existed for some time yet has never been so accessible or well-documented. To carry out an execution in the wake of such an important document that calls into question the nature and certainty of justice in Indiana would be an affront to Indiana’s central tenets “…that justice be established, public order maintained, and liberty perpetuated.” There is no justice in carrying out an execution which has resulted from a flawed and unjust system.

We sincerely hope that the words of the petitioners reach your mind and your conscience. We hope that you take great pause when you consider that 61% of Hoosiers would support a moratorium on executions. We pray that you carry out justice in the only way that our God and society finds acceptable by granting clemency to David Woods.

We thank you on behalf of all the petitioners for your consideration of this matter. We appreciate the gravity of the situation and the scrutiny which accompanies your decision, but are certain that you will inevitably conclude that society and the notion of justice upon which our country and the state of Indiana were built are not served by the death of this man.

Most Sincerely,

Andrea Laidman
Co-Director, ND ASK

Will McAuliffe
Co-Director, ND ASK

The International Death Penalty Debate Rages On

2007-04-30T02:04:00.001-05:00

The Economist:

...The horrors of cruelly administered, or botched, execution are not confined to developing countries or to lands that follow the letter of hudud, traditional Islamic punishment. In Florida last December, Angel Diaz was executed by lethal injection. The three-drug cocktail that is used by 37 American states is supposed first to induce unconsciousness, then to paralyse muscles and block breathing, and finally to stop the heart. But after the first injection, Diaz continued to move, squint and grimace as he tried to mouth words...

...According to Amnesty International's latest report, “at least” (precise figures are hard to get) 1,591 executions were carried out worldwide last year, well down on the previous year, but nearly 40% higher than in 2003. Yet Piers Bannister, the lobby group's death-penalty specialist, believes that the world is gradually inching its way towards abolition....

U.S. Supreme Court overturns 3 Texas death sentences

2007-04-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

From the NY Times:

"WASHINGTON, April 25 — The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned death sentences in three cases from Texas, all by votes of 5 to 4 and all with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy providing the margin of victory to his four more liberal colleagues.

...The three decisions on Wednesday provided the latest chapter in the Supreme Court’s dialogue with the two lower courts, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which handle appeals from the Texas death row, the country’s most active. As an exasperated Supreme Court majority has seen it, these courts have found repeated and unpersuasive reasons to evade the Supreme Court’s evolving death penalty jurisprudence.
It was that jurisprudence that was the underlying focus of the dispute among the justices. A 1996 federal law, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, raised the bar against federal court review of state prisoners’ petitions for writs of habeas corpus.
...In the years since the 1996 law took effect, the court has been extremely reluctant to find error on the part of state courts of the type that would permit inmates to gain access to federal court. It remains to be seen whether the rulings on Wednesday will extend beyond the court’s sustained annoyance with the Fifth Circuit to signify a more expansive view toward habeas corpus, a prospect that perhaps explains the vigor of the chief justice’s dissent."

400 Signatures Asking for Clemency!

2007-04-27T00:39:00.000-05:00

Our online petition has now hit the 400 signature mark, bringing us to the threshold of our original goal of 500 signatures! Obviously, there is no magic number which will force Governor Daniels to examine his conscience on this case and grant David Woods clemency so we ask those who haven't signed the petition to do so now and for those who have signed but haven't passed on the important message of forgiveness and hope to do so immediately.

The petition will close on May 1st, so there are several crucial days left for us to speak out against the inhumane execution of this man. Please sign or forward the petition immediately!

Additionally, one of David Woods' attorneys has asked for our help in contacting Governor Daniels by calling his office at 317-232-4567. Don't worry, you don't need to engage in an ideological debate over the death penalty, you simply need to voice your request for clemency for David Woods. If you wish to give a more detailed request, the following message from his attorney has been provided:

"Please call 317-232-4567 request Gov. Daniels to grant clemency for
David Leon Woods. The Board voted 5-0 against,
but we got 1 "agonized" vote from Daniels appointee Randall Gentry.

David was 19 at the time of his enraged stabbing of a 77 year old man who had previously been engaged to his mother.

His prior adult record was 1 Public Intoxication. His mother was totally dysfunctional & would have sex w/ guys younger than David in front of him. [David] didn't graduate, abused in children's home, medicated to sleep during trial.

Attorneys appointed shortly before trial; the one "right out of law school" co-counsel was doing [mitigation] investigation during trial. Mother testified for state in penalty phase & then at clemency said it was because male prosecutor told her it was the only way she could help her son & he would take her to dinner.

LWOP (Life Without Parole) was not an option at the time. David is only seeking LWOP; he told the board he didn't deserve freedom for what he did.

All the other guys on the row signed a touching letter vouching for how peaceful & kind David has been during the last 22 years.

We are still in the courts, but nothing has a realistic chance of success.

Thanks for any phone calls you can generate."

Again, please contact Governor Daniels' office at 317-232-4567 as soon as possible. Every voice counts.

Meet our Forum Keynote Speaker: Paula Sites

2007-04-26T01:30:00.000-05:00

We're fortunate enough to have the Indiana Public Defender Council's Assistant Executive Director, Paula Sites, as our keynote speaker for our upcoming forum, Achieving the Inevitable: Ending the Death Penalty in Indiana. If you have not already done so, please register!

Paula Sites was born three days before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Birmingham, Alabama bus, and while she claims no direct memory of either event, both fill her with a measure of gratitude and wonder. She serves as Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defender Council, a statewide support center for public defenders.

Since 1990, she has provided training, consultation, and research assistance to attorneys representing capitally charged or sentenced clients throughout the state, and monitors the status of all capital cases filed in the state. In her capacity as Assistant Executive Director, she also works with a variety of organizations and government agencies to promote the fair administration of justice in Indiana, focusing on capital punishment as well as issues involving criminal defendants with mental illness, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities.

She recently served on the Indiana Assessment Team of the ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. She is a past winner of the Indiana State Bar Association Women in the Law Achievement Award and the Amnesty International USA Indiana Abolitionist of the Year.

Parole Board Letter Excerpts and Links

2007-04-24T22:59:00.000-05:00

For those interested in the rationale of each parole board member in recommending against clemency for David Woods, here are excerpts from each of their letters. Additionally, a link to each letter is included so they can be read in their entirety.

William R. Harris:

In Woods' request for clemency, his current attorneys describe his case as "has been the subject of a tortured past".[sic] He has been described as a neglected and abused child, whose case was improperly litigated on every step of the court system. However, Wood's [sic] childhood was not that bad and he was only in 3 foster homes and one county group home. The Parole Board recently saw an offender that had been in 28 foster homes and institutions before reaching adulthood, and he was not a murderer. I have to use offender to offender comparison for these decisions, not text books, and not apples to oranges.

...Practice making 20 stab motions, it takes so long and you can stop after 5, 10, or even 15. I believe Woods didn't stop because Mr. Placencia could identify him... Woods decided he had to die.

Click here to read Mr. Harris' letter in its entirety.

Valerie J. Parker:

By his own testimony... Mr. Woods admitted that he was the orchestrator of the events that day...He admitted that he was without a doubt the individual who in a raged [sic] filled moment, rage directed at his mother, violently stabbed this helpless 77 year old man to death.

Let's face it, at the time of this crime David L. Woods was considered in every sense of the word to be an adult. He now has to suffer the adult pain caused by his adult choices. Mr. Woods had every opportunity to help Mr. Placencia after stabbing him the first time. But as this helpless elderly gentleman pleaded for his life, Mr. Woods chose to continue to hurt and not help, until he had taken all of the life from this victim. Throughout the clemency process, this board has been sufficiently advised of Mr. Wood's [sic] tumultuous, tortured past, but I say to you today that his situation is not unique enough in my heart and mind to ordain or accept murder as a response to his pain or a means of coping with it.

Click here to read Ms. Parker's letter in its entirety.

Thor R. Miller:

The reality is that Woods is noto mentally incompetent. His legal counsel was forced to deal with a difficult, uncooperative client who even went so far as to file his own motions and failed to follow their legal advice and properly participate in his legal defense.

...Testimony and evidence provided concerning Mr. Wood's [sic] horrible childhood and appalling living conditions is merely an attempt to place blame where blame should not lie. Since when should having a horrible childhood give one the license to kill? Thousands of people experience horrors in their daily lives, yet most will continue to obey the law. No exceptions should be made for Woods.

Click here to read Mr. Miller's letter in its entirety.

Randall P. Gentry

Mr. Woods' own testimony sufficiently revealed the crime details to a point that it is not hard to understand the cruelty of his actions. Stabbing a person twenty plus times takes effort, a great deal of rage, and huge lack of respect for life. This was no bar room fight. This was a seventy-seven year old man in his home in the middle of the night murdered by three adults.

...This was not an accident, but a planned crime that may have deviated as intended. The result was murder. While we may all search to ease our minds as to why this crime occured, it is important to understand this crime did happen and Mr. Woods admits he committed the act of murder against Juan Placencia.

...In hindsight, [his background] may provide a precursor to the future, but I render a guess many children have had a similar horrible upbringing and yet failed to commit a murder.

...In my opinion, Mr. Woods is not a monster as society might define one, but Juan Placencia did not deserve to die this horrific death. With the lack of some fact or mitigation that is not currently in the record, I struggle to recommend that we should alter course from the original sentence.

...I continued to review and reread documents right up to the preparation of this recommendation to you. I was unclear on what I was looking for, justification to move forward with this sentence or a reason to recommend Clemency. The crime in question can be described in one sentence, but the reason behind the crime could take pages. I found it easy to be deflected from the decisions that has to be made. Attempts to present mitigating arguments for Mr. Woods, such as an awful childhood, a long standing issue with his mother, mild mental retardation, or even improper legal representation at trial fail to excuse what has been done.

Click here to read Mr. Gentry's letter in its entirety.

Christopher E. Meloy, Chairman:
[Woods'] level of understanding, his introspection, and his assessment of others in his life leads me to believe that Mr. Woods' mental capacity is more than sufficient not only to understand the correlation between his actions and logical consequences but he also appears to be a person who holds a personal peace after significant, in-depth, and introspective review of his life's situations.

...the truth was accurately discovered in this case.

...When satisfied with his thefts, Mr. Woods returned to Mr. Placencia but not to help despite the elderly man's pleas but to stab him 20 additional times leaving him for dead.

Click here to read Mr. Meloy's letter in its entirety.

Please e-mail notredameask@gmail.com if you have any issues opening these links.

Live from Indianapolis: David Woods' Clemency Hearing

2007-04-23T14:45:00.001-05:00

David's mother approached the front of the auditorium and spoke in a hushed, reserved tone. She put forth just enough effort to make her terse answers barely audible. When the defense attorney asked her the names and ages of her children, she paused and finally stated that she didn't know their ages. When asked to simply recount their names, she hesitantly proceeded to name her six children, with grinding hesitation between each name. When asked which of the siblings were David's full brothers and sisters, she said that three were, but only gave two names.

Mary Pilkington stated that, while she testified against David at his trial, she did so without her knowledge. According to Pilkington, the prosecutor "put his arms around her" and told her "I'll get your son off and I'll help you and take you out to dinner." After a pause, Mrs. Pilkington added, "I didn't know I was on the wrong side."

The most shocking stories of the day came from one of David's sisters, Mary Anne. The themes of her stories focused on neglect, abuse, and outright disturbing scenarios. She began by recalling a time when she stepped on a rusty nail in the yard. When she limped inside, her mother's response to her whimpers was "you take care of it yourself." She told about the time her brother held the door shut when she had to go to the bathroom so she was forced to go in a bucket. When her mother found out, she took the feces out of the bucket and "shoved it in [her] mouth." One time when she was sitting on a porch railing, her mother backhanded her, sending her sprawling onto the pavement below. Her mother's response to her cries of pain: running in the house to get a camera in order to snap photos of her crying daughter.

The most gruesome and twisted recollection, however, was the time that Mary Anne's mother fed Mary Anne her pet rabbit, unbeknownst to her at the time and revealed the truth to Mary Anne only after she'd eaten the rabbit by showing her the severed head of the rabbit that she had placed in the back yard. Additionally, Mary Anne testified that when she was 10 years old, she was molested by her step father. When she told her mother about it, her mother told her "don't tell no one." When the police found out about the molestation, Mary Anne's mom simply replied that "she asked for it" and attempted to bribe Mary Anne with $50 if she changed her story.

The main theme running throughout the clemency testimony was summed up in her next sentence: "I just wanted her to love me."

Sherry Hudson, a capital habeas petition investigator, took a snipe at Alabama's prolific death penalty sentencing by stating that “even in Alabama this wouldn’t have been a death penalty case.” Her role in the David Woods saga was to investigate mitigating circumstances for presentation in Woods’ appeal as no investigation had been done in the initial case. Additionally, Woods’ file from the original case had been lost or destroyed.

Wanda Callahan, a pastor from the Church of the Brethren spoke passionately about David’s reformation since his time in prison. As a volunteer pastor for the prison for 36 years, Wanda has seen her share of “rough types” but states that by no means is David one of these personalities. She had nothing but good things to say about him, stating that “he has so much goodness” and that “he acts like the peacemaker on death row.” She warned the panel that if he were to be executed that “you’re going to do a great big harm to death row. He’s what holds that place together most of the time.” Additionally she stated that “I wish my churches were full of people like David,” backing her claim “I don’t know anyone who’s as good a Christian as David is.”

Ms. Callahan posed the observation that “he never felt safe until he was on death row. Isn’t that a horrible thing?” She left the panel with this parting thought: “If you kill David, it’s going to be a cruel case of injustice. If you do, I’m certainly going to pray for you.”

After presenting several other people close to David and his case who testified along the same lines of abuse and dysfunction as a child leading to his crime, the State presented their side of the argument, backed by six members of the victim’s family.

The deputy prosecutor presented the perception that Woods “learned over time” buzz words and terms alluding to mitigation. He emphasized that Woods was the leader of the robbery and that at least 29 judges in 6 different courts have written 8 different opinions all affirming the sentence of death for Woods. He stated that “the defense is asking you to believe that all those judges and juries were unreasonable.” Additionally, he rebuffed Woods’ good behavior on the row, stating that it would be ludicrous that “he should be rewarded for not having committed more crimes.”

Additionally, the deputy prosecutor called the ABA report, released in February, a product of the “moratorium project” and claimed that it contained “many assertions” that “are false or inaccurate.” Ultimately, he concluded stating that “no reasonable person would have voted differently.”

Juan Placencia’s granddaughter spoke about her grandfather saying that he “brought those children up to love God, family and country.” She listed his 13 children and 72 grandchildren all by name, a process that took several minutes. She stated that “our community is a community of love and tradition” but cautioned that “life is not always the way we wish it would be,” refusing to accept Woods’ upbringing as an excuse for the killing. She read several letters from family members not in attendance which cited Juan’s pleas for mercy as he was stabbed, the need for enforcement of laws as a fundamental element of society, and ultimately struck the tone that “Juan’s pleas only took seconds, not years.”

Juan’s daughter, Catherine Placencia, stated that Woods “took the best man in the world: our father.” Additionally she refused to accept Woods’ childhood as a mitigating circumstance: “…he blames everything… he’s gotta look in the mirror and blame himself, because he’s the one who did this to my father.”

Another of Juan’s daughters, Mary Anne Petrie, gave a tearful statement, showing a picture of the family with Juan stating that “we’ve got pictures to look at, that’s it.” Also she qualified her desire for an execution by saying that “this is justice, it isn’t revenge.” She accused Woods of spewing falsehoods about his faith and his rationale for the murder: “No Christian would lie like he’s doing.”

Two more of Placencia’s descendants gave statements which focused on Woods making conscious choices which led to the murder and also made the conscious choice to stab Juan Placencia 21 times. One of Juan’s grandsons, Glen McDonald begged that the board “allow justice to be served so that another healing process may begin.”

After rebuttals from both sides which essentially summarized the main points of the pleas by both sides, the panel was adjourned for deliberation. Upon their return at 2:30 pm, each panel member read their letters of recommendation to Governor Daniels. Each member of the panel recommended that Governor Daniels deny clemency. These full statements will be posted on the website later, but they all focused around the severity of the crime and its inexcusability, despite Woods’ upbringing.

Reporting from the David Woods Clemency Hearing

2007-04-22T23:41:00.000-05:00

I will be attending David Woods' clemency hearing in Indianapolis which begins at 9am today (4/23) and will do my best to update this post as soon as possible after the testimony phase of the hearing and then again after the board reads their recommendation. Check this post regularly throughout the day for updates and quotes from the hearing.

I will provide an objective report in this space as well as a separate follow-up post with my analysis of the proceedings for those interested in my take on how it went.

Stay tuned!

-Will McAuliffe
Co-director of ND ASK

Achieving the Inevitable: Ending the Death Penalty in Indiana

2007-04-22T22:51:00.000-05:00

We are proud to finally announce our title --Achieving the Inevitable: Ending the Death Penalty in Indiana-- and schedule for the upcoming forum on April 27th-29th.

If you haven't already registered, click here to do so!

Click below to expand this post and see the schedule.

Friday, April 28

7:30 pm, Opening Remarks

8:00 pm, Screening of The Exonerated
(Jordan Auditorium)

Saturday, April 29

9:30 - 10:45, Breakfast and Keynote Address by Paula Sites, Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defender Council (Center for Social Concerns)

11- 12:15, Panel Session 1:

The American Bar Association & Indiana: Moving toward a Moratorium
(Room 121, Mendoza College of Business)

Prison Ministry: Building Relationships with Death Row Inmates
(Room 122, Mendoza)

Mental Illness and the Death Penalty: Arbitrary, Capricious and Inhumane
(Room L014B, Mendoza)

12:30 - 1, Presentations:

Indiana's Movement Against the Death Penalty
--Chris Hitz-Bradley, President, Indiana Information Center for the Abolition of Capital Punishment
(Room 121, Mendoza College of Business)

From Death to Detention: 18th Century Great Britain's Penal System as the End to Capital Punishment
--Professor Sean O’Brien, Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies
(Room 122, Mendoza)

Sane Punishment for the Mentally Ill
--Kathleen Bayes, Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness – Fort Wayne
(Room L014B, Mendoza)

1-1:50, Working Lunch:

Group Discussions with Guest Speakers and Panelists on Students’ Role in the Movement for a Moratorium in Indiana

2-3:15, Panel Session 2:

The American Bar Association & Indiana: Moving toward a Moratorium
(Room 121, Mendoza College of Business)

The Role of Religion and Churches in Ending Indiana’s Death Penalty
(Room 122, Mendoza)

The Role of Indiana’s Media in the Movement for a Moratorium
(Room L014B, Mendoza)

3:30-4:30, Action and Information Session on the May 4th Execution of David Woods:

--Discussion of ND ASK’s planned response to the pending execution of David Woods, including a petition to Governor Mitch Daniels and a vigil at Michigan City prison. Also, Wanda Callahan, longtime spiritual adviser to David will speak to his rehabilitation and their twenty-year friendship.

7:30-9, Film Screening: The Thin Blue Line
(Jordan Auditorium)

9:15, Grotto Vigil:
--In remembrance of the victim of David Woods’ crime, Juan Placencia, and his family

Sunday, April 29

9:30 – 11, Breakfast and Closing Remarks:
(Oak Room, South Dining Hall)

Click here to register now!

Speakers and location subject to change. Updates will be sent to those registered for the forum and posted regularly on our blog.

Clemency Petition for David Woods

2007-04-21T18:09:00.000-05:00

Please sign our petition calling for Governor Mitch Daniels to grant David Woods clemency! It only takes a few moments and, with enough signatures, may help sway the Governor towards clemency.

Additionally, please notify all interested family and friends of this important petition. Together we just may be able to stop the execution!

ND ASK to Hold Execution Vigil at Michigan City Prison

2007-04-18T01:24:00.000-05:00

Notre Dame's Campus Ministry has been generous enough to sponsor a bus load of protesters for a vigil at Michigan City Prison on the night of David Woods' execution (May 3rd-May 4th, the execution occurs at midnight). ND ASK is now taking seat reservations for the bus. The transportation is free of charge and is open to anyone who is interested, including anyone outside the Notre Dame community.

We hope to fill the bus and show our support for a moratorium against the death penalty while bearing witness to the tragedy of capital punishment. Details and updates on the vigil will follow. Please fill out the form below to reserve a seat. Vigil updates and details to follow via e-mail and on the blog.

Additionally, plans for a vigil in remembrance of the victim, Juan Placencia, and his family are in the works and details will be posted soon.

Help Stop David Woods' Execution!

2007-04-17T00:55:00.000-05:00

The details of David Woods' tortured life paint a picture of a child and young man deprived of care, guidance, and love. The failure of his parents and of appropriate state intervention culminated in the tragic killing of Juan Placencia on April 7, 1984. The following are some of the details that we know about Woods' life before his crime:

Woods' father left within the first few years of his life and his mother was an abusive alcoholic.
His mother would often return home from bars with strangers and engage in sexual activity in full view of her children, at one point even 'offering' two of his sisters to motorcycle gang members who had taken to regularly partying and engaging in sexual activity at the home.
His mother would chain the refrigerator shut and only give the children food as a reward for stealing.
David Woods is borderline retarded, having tested in the low 70s to mid 80s on various IQ tests.
Woods was at one point removed from the environment by the state and placed in a juvenile facility where he was sexually assaulted.

David Woods was 18 years old at the time of his crime and has now spent 20 years -- over half of his life -- on death row.

This information is provided thanks to the tireless diligence and efforts of Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network and the IICACP. More information on David Woods' life and legal proceedings can be found at both of these sites. Details on taking action can be found below by expanding the post.

To take action against Woods' execution, write the clemency board before April 23rd at:

Indiana Parole Board
Indiana Government Center - South, Room E321
302 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2278

Fax them at 317.232.5738

Additionally, appeals can be sent to Governor Mitch Daniels up until the execution at:

Governor Mitch Daniels
Office of the Governor, Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797

Fax Governor Daniels at 317.232.3443

Additionally, he can be emailed through a form on his website here.

Please contact us at notredameask@gmail.com for any additional information or assistance in this urgent matter.

Dallas Morning News calls for abolition

2007-04-16T11:41:00.000-05:00

MICHAEL HOGUE/DMN

Common sense and outspoken criticism of the death penalty are starting to permeate even the staunchest bastion of capital punishment: Texas. With its 391 executions since 1976, Texas has plowed forward with executions even when there is significant doubt or good reason for pause.

But it seems that even such a state bent on anachronistic retribution is not immune to reason and reality. Today, the Dallas Morning News called for the abolition of the death penalty in an editorial. This is the largest state paper to have taken such a step and hopefully is but a symptom of the larger, inevitable change that is sweeping the country.

ND ASK Spring Forum Registration

2007-04-16T05:47:00.000-05:00

ND ASK is proud to announce its first annual forum on the death penalty at which we will address the growing national trend towards moratoriums and abolition as well as the evolution of various legal issues. The primary focus will be how to harness and accelerate this national trend here in Indiana, moving public opinion as well as political capital towards the end of capital punishment.

The forum will feature several panel discussions on topics such as legal issues regarding mental illness and lethal injection, the importance of the media’s role in ending the death penalty, as well as a keynote speech by Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defenders Council, Paula Sites.

Pending Execution as Ethical Watershed

2007-04-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

The pending execution of Indiana death row inmate David Woods on May 4^th is a milestone in the history of Indiana’s death penalty. Our nagging doubts and fears about the death penalty system being Indiana’s “other lottery” have now been confirmed and thoroughly documented in a recent report by the American Bar Association. Out of this report rises an opportunity to show that Indiana will not stand by while a man is executed as a result of so flawed and suspect a system. Instead, we must show that Indiana stands for fairness and true justice by demanding a hold on executions until the ABA report’s recommendations can be further examined and the death penalty system as a whole can be judged.

A moratorium is not only advisable, but is also overwhelmingly supported by 61% of Hoosiers as demonstrated in an ABA commissioned poll. Once the ticking clock of impending executions is silenced, objective examination of this system will expose the inhumanity, inefficiency, and injustice of capital punishment. I urge all who are concerned about ensuring the legitimacy of our justice system to petition their legislators and Governor Daniels for a stay of Mr. Woods’ execution and a moratorium on capital punishment.

CT ASK: Fighting the Death Penalty Through Publication

2007-04-08T23:02:00.000-05:00

The Chicago Tribune recently published an editorial which called for the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois. The state of Illinois has had a moratorium on the death penalty since Governor George Ryan implemented it in early 2000. This strong stance by the renowned publication is reflective of the larger shift in public opinion nationwide towards moratorium and abolition, the subject of an April 8th Chicago Tribune article.

Additionally, the Tribune has now set up an easily accessible archive of its articles on the death penalty dating back to 1997 which can be accessed at chicagotribune.com/deathpenalty.

Death Row Inmate Akeem Aki-Khuam Takes Plea for Life

2007-04-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

Akeem Aki-Khuam, formerly Edward Earl Williams, plead guilty to three counts of murder in exchange for life in prison. Khuam was convicted in 1993 for the murder of Michael Richardson, Debra Ann Rice, and Robert Hollins, with three accomplices, all of whom have plead guilty and are serving life sentences.

Khuam's death sentence was overturned in 2002 U.S. District Court Ruling, but prosecutors have been in the process of retrying the case. Khuam now awaits his sentencing which is scheduled for May 7-9, initially the starting date set for his now terminated retrial.

Execution Date Set for Indiana Inmate David Woods

2007-04-06T22:03:00.000-05:00

This past week, the Indiana Supreme Court set an execution date of May 4 for David Leon Woods. Woods was sentenced in March of 1985 for the lethal stabbing of Juan Placenia, his 77 year old neighbor in Garrett, Indiana. Woods was 19 years old at the time of the murder and has now been on death row for 22 years. Woods has filed a motion to join a suit begun by Norman Timberlake which challenges the legitimacy and legality of lethal injection. Woods' attorney, William Van Der Pol, Jr. "...contends the Supreme Court erred..." regarding Wood's eligibility for death, citing mental retardation as a reason for Woods' exemption.

ND ASK will be organizing a vigil to be held at Michigan City the night of the execution as well as demonstration in South Bend and petitions to suspend the use of the death penalty in Indiana, citing fundamental errors in the process.

ND ASK in Notre Dame Magazine

2007-04-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

ND ASK is featured in the Spring 2007 issue of Notre Dame Magazine, with the article, ND ASK: Student coalition targets Indiana's death row.

The piece provides an overview of the founding of ND ASK, our overall objectives and rationale, and recent activities. We're very thankful for and encouraged by this coverage--in a publication that is circulated to thousands of ND alum. Please be sure to read the article here.

The Hampton Union: "New Hampshire should eliminate the death penalty"

2007-04-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

As the Hampton Union reports in the paper's April 6 editorial, "New Hampshire should eliminate the death penalty," no one has been executed in the state since 1939. But state legislators voted to keep the state death penalty law in tact last week--even while New Hampshire does not have a chamber in which to give a lethal injection.

A recent case involving the killing of a Manchester police officer has forced New Hampshire to confront capital punishment, and while lawmakers have opted to maintain it as a legal option, the Hampton Union is offering a different stance.

The paper argues, "We don't think that the state should put itself in the position of taking a human life. Other states, such as Texas, have death penalties — and they use them. Yet crime has not stopped. Murders have not stopped."

They also point to flaws in our criminal justice system: "How many times have we read or heard of people being sent to prison only to find out years later that they were innocent? The same can be said of murder trials, only there is no coming back from the death penalty. According to a Michigan State University report, since 1973, more than 120 people have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged. New Hampshire should not put itself in the position of killing an innocent person."

The Hampton Union, like many other newspapers across the country (including the South Bend Tribune), is taking on a bold stance in declaring its opposition to the state's death penalty law. The paper is exercising its responsibility to educate citizens and better their ability to participate in our democracy, and should be applauded for doing so. Be sure to read the full Hampton Union editorial here.

The Death Penalty's Bankruptcy

2007-03-22T05:13:00.000-05:00

Many of you may know the statistics on the economic cost of the death penalty in various states (which is invariably higher everywhere than life without parole) but you may not realize just how high a financial cost capital cases can carry and what kind of impact it can have on the judicial system.

A case in Georgia has bankrupted the public defenders office, forcing Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller to push jury selection back to September 10th. The Georgia Public defender Standards Council can no longer afford to pay Nichols' representation which means that any continued attempts at trial would likely be considered unconstitutional as all accused are entitled to public defense, especially so in the case of a looming death sentence.

So, we again ask ourselves, how much more is society willing to pay to kill someone rather than lock them up?

Here in Indiana, we pay 38% more to execute someone than lock them up for life without parole. Florida spends $51 million more each year, California spends a whopping $90 million annually, and Texas pays three times the cost of life imprisonment for capital cases.

What makes the DA's decision to purse the death penalty even more zealous and reckless is the fact that Nichols has offered to plead guilty as long as the death penalty is taken off the table as a possible sentence. How much is it worth to the taxpayers to see him killed rather than imprisoned for life? About $1.4 million thus far.

It's incredible that even when the moral and civil costs of the death penalty are put aside, the economic and judicial costs still point to a bankrupt system.

ABA Indiana Report Breakdown

2007-03-18T05:08:00.000-05:00

The report sitting in front of me is a veritable gold mine of information regarding the death penalty in Indiana; a wealth of knowledge which points to the inevitable conclusion that a moratorium on executions is the way to go. However, the Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Report, issued recently by the American Bar Association, is also 318 pages long (not including the executive summary and appendices). The summary alone is about 30 pages, more reading than most of you are likely willing to venture into unless you're seriously studying the death penalty in Indiana.

So, as a service to you, the readers of this blog, I will do my best to read and deliver the essential statistics and analysis of the ABA report's 13 chapters. Likely I'll be going at the pace of one-two per week so it should be easy to keep up. There's lots of information here that will likely serve as the foundation of a renewed push for a moratorium here in Indiana and most of the stats speak for themselves.

Check back soon for my breakdown and excerpts of Chapter 1 which addresses the history and current death penalty system here in Indiana.

The full report can be found here on the ABA's website.

Taking a Personal Stance Against the Death Penalty

2007-03-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

Individual opponents to the death penalty, as they are often not directly impacted by the continuing presence of capital punishment in the US, are often left without the means to personally take a stance on the issue. As citizens of a country and of states that still impose the punishment, they are being counted as implicit supporters, even while acting against capital punishment.

An organization started by a group of Notre Dame students in 2005 offers an opportunity to make a bold statement on an individual level: If I were murdered, I would not want my killer to be subject to the death penalty.

The Signers Movement promotes the Declaration of Life, a document put forth by the Cherish Life Circle, a group founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1993.

The full text of the Signers.org declaration reads as follows:

I hereby declare that should I die as a result of a violent crime, I request that the person or persons found guilty of homicide for my killing not be subject to or put in jeopardy of the death penalty under any circumstances, no matter how heinous their crime or how much I may have suffered.

Visit the Signers website to join the list and visibly uphold your personal convictions against the death penalty.

Chinese Law Agencies Urge More Caution

2007-03-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

China's four major law enforcement agencies, the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Justice, called for more cautious handling of death penalty cases in a jointly issued document on Sunday.

"Our country still cannot abolish the death penalty but should gradually reduce its application," the statement said. "But where there is a possibility someone should not be executed [due to possibility of innocence], then without exception the person should not be killed."

The statement indicated that China cannot entirely abolish the death penalty, but took major steps toward ensuring that "each death sentence is made in a fair way." The agencies asked law enforcement officials to strictly obey laws in identifying facts, collecting evidence, dealing with procedures and adopting punishments. The document especially sought to prevent law enforcement officials from inquisition by torture and extorting confession, going as far as noting the human rights of criminals.

Asserting such principles is a big step for China's judicial system, which executes more people than any other nation in the world. China revised its death penalty laws last year, mandating the Supreme People's Court to review any death sentences handed down. The country has been under pressure to take a closer look at its policies after China's deputy chief prosecutor revealed that almost every wrongful conviction in recent years has been the result of torture and intensive interrogation techniques.

See the AP story here: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070312/D8NQICPG0.html

X-Row: Where Common Sense Goes to Die

2007-03-11T01:21:00.000-05:00

Conversations with death row inmates are never really as casual or pedestrian as they would appear to be on a simple written transcript. In fact, it's when the topic is the most common or mundane that it always hits me that the person I'm talking to has committed a horrible crime; a crime horrible enough that the state has sent them to death row to await execution.

My latest visit left me --as these visits usually do-- with so many more questions than answers: What does it feel like to wake up in a prison cell? What is it like to wake up missing a part of your family because they've been murdered? How can these two different sides of the equation be reconciled? What is this system of capital punishment supposed to achieve in all this?

For some clarity, I turn to these simple facts:

My friend on death row killed people.

He is sorry for this every day; at times agonizing over his crimes.

He wants to learn and ultimately to educate others about his mistakes and the dangers of drug use. He wants to give back to society somehow in an effort to try and repay his debt to society.

The state, on the other hand, is going to spend more taxpayer money and judicial resources to fight his every appeal until they've killed him.

Does this make any sense? Does it make any sense whatsoever that this guy who has done something terrible and wants to attempt to make up for it is being obstructed from doing so? Does it make any sense that the state is pouring tons of money into trying to kill this guy that they have safely locked up and that gives me a handshake and hug each time I visit?

He has a debt to pay. Killing him would be the easy way out. Let's make him write an autobiography about how drugs destroyed his life and pitched him into prison. Let's make him tell his story about how he wakes up each day with the guilt and pain that only a repentant murderer can know. Let's force him to invent a constructive means of reducing recidivism; a program built from the perspective of a repeat offender.

Make him pay with his life, not with his death.

Indiana Loses 'the conscience of the General Assembly'

2007-03-05T19:32:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, Indiana Senator Anita Bowser of Michigan City died in a hospice in Indianapolis.

Senator Bowser was consistently a fierce critic of the death penalty and was at the forefront of working towards ending its use in Indiana. She managed to raise the minimum age for death penalty offenders to 18 and was working towards ending execution of the mentally ill during the current legislative session.

She will be greatly missed.

It nows falls upon others in the Indiana Senate to take up the banner of the noble causes which she furthered during her tenure. Hopefully, her bravery and passion has inspired others to take such strong stances against the death penalty within the legislature. There would be no greater tribute to Senator Bowser than the elimination of the death penalty.

Montana Senate Votes for Abolition

2007-03-05T19:25:00.000-05:00

Kudos to the Montana Senate which recently voted for abolition of the death penalty in their state. Senators cited innocence, cost and pro-life ethic among their reasons for supporting the abolition. The bill now faces a final vote and will go to the House for consideration.

As we continue to see the wave of moratoriums and legislative moves towards abolition, we can only hope that Indiana soon gets caught up in serious debate over the death penalty before faced with another execution.

International Death Penalty Abolition Day

2007-03-01T03:49:00.000-05:00

Today, March 1st, marks the anniversary of Michigan becoming the first US state and English-speaking territory worldwide to abolish the death penalty back in 1847. This action has its roots in the wrongful execution of a Detroit native based on circumstantial evidence in 1828. Seven years after his execution, his ex-roommate confessed to the crime on his death bed. This lead to the abolition of the death penalty in Michigan being the first act of the legislature upon Michigan becoming a state in 1847.

We hope that someday soon, we can celebrate the same accomplishment here in Indiana.

However, until then, we will honor this holiday by holding our committee meetings at the CSC beginning at 6:30. Click here for the posted committee schedule. We hope to see you there.

The Bowser Commission

2007-02-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

As those of you who reside in Indiana may already well know, State Senator Anita Bowser, has been battling the death penalty throughout her legislative career. However, she has unfortunately taken up a personal battle with cancer which has recently taken her away from her work and it is uncertain whether or not she will be returning to the Senate. In honor of her recent attempts to pass legislation barring the execution of the mentally ill, the Senate passed a resolution which urged the Legislative Council to establish a commission to examine the issue of such executions.

We applaud Senator Bowser for her constant efforts to bring attention to the death penalty's immorality and ineffectiveness and hope she has a speedy and sustained recovery.

The bill reads as follows:

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the Legislative Council to assign and direct an interim or statutory committee to study issues pertaining to the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill individuals.

Whereas, Mental illness does not preclude the imposition of the death penalty in the State of Indiana;

Whereas, Various aspects of the death penalty continue to evoke constitutional scrutiny in the highest courts of this state and country;

Whereas, The issue of mental illness and the death penalty is an increasingly active topic of discussion in legislatures and courts throughout the United States;

Whereas, Senator Anita Bowser has been a tireless champion of civil liberties and the rights of all our citizens;

Whereas, Senator Anita Bowser has been a staunch and tireless opponent of the death penalty;

Whereas, Senator Bowser has authored legislation which successfully precluded the imposition of the death penalty on mentally retarded persons;

Whereas, Senator Bowser has also authored legislation which successfully precluded the imposition of the death penalty on individuals less that 18 years of age;

Whereas, in recognition of Senator Bowser's efforts on these issues, the legislature should study the issues surrounding the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill individuals; Therefore:

Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly
of the State of Indiana, the House of Representatives concurring:

SECTION 1. That the Indiana State Senate hereby urges the Legislative Council to assign and direct an interim or statutory committee to study issues pertaining to the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill individuals.
SECTION 2. That the committee, if assigned by Legislative Council, should operate under the direction of the Council and be known as the Bowser Commission.
SECTION 3. The Secretary of the Senate is directed to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Legislative Council.

Spring Meeting: ND ASK Continues to Grow and Forms Committees

2007-02-26T22:45:00.000-05:00

Our spring planning meeting this past Wednesday exceeded all expectations, drawing about 30 students, 24 of whom signed up to be active members of newly formed committees which are intended to address various facets of the campaign's mission. The committees are as follows:

State and Community Network Committee – The purpose of this committee is to build and maintain relationships with various groups and individuals within the Notre Dame/South Bend community, across the state of Indiana, and across the country. Members will communicate with other anti-death penalty groups, parishes, social activist groups and community leaders and update them on our events and goals.

Fundraising Committee – In order to maintain the level of professionalism and quality that we’ve strived to attain, we have set a fundraising goal of $5,000 for the 2007 spring semester. This committee will be fundraising from a variety of on and off campus sources through mailings and over the telephone. Additionally, the committee will construct a donor database for future fundraising.

Academic Conference Committee – The academic conference that we’ve scheduled for April 13th-15th will require lots of work. The committee will help contact and schedule potential speakers, put together the conference itinerary, distribute information to potential attendees, and also manage logistical details such as space reservation/preparation, catering, and accommodations for speakers.

Victims’ Families Outreach Committee – It is crucial to any work against the death penalty that we are not negligent of the pain incurred by the families that have lost someone to a capital offense. This committee will establish contact with families of victims of any convicts that ND ASK is in communication with. Members will also prepare statements and put together a campaign strategy to better services for victims’ families. We will also have an informal Prison Ministry committee to facilitate communication with inmates on death row as well as visits.

If you are interested in joining any of these committees, please e-mail us at notredameask@gmail.com or attend the upcoming meetings this Thursday (3/1) in the CSC Lounge. The meeting times are as follows:

6:30-6:40: Prison Ministry
6:40-7:00: State and Community Networks
7:00-7:20: Academic Conference
7:20-7:40: Victims’ Families
7:40-8:00: Fundraising

We hope that you can join us!

Vatican Denounces Death Penalty

2007-02-26T22:27:00.000-05:00

In a statement to the 3rd World Congress Against the Death Penalty, the Vatican reiterated the need for abolition of the death penalty. The statement noted that it is "difficult to justify today" and also that it is "not only a refusal of the right to life, but is also an affront to human dignity."

While the link to the full text of the statement seems to be missing, more excerpts can be found here.

When we note that the Vatican's statement is not considering only the United States with our super-max prisons and highly developed penal system, but rather the entire globe, we realize that it is impossible to justify the use of the death penalty here in the United States.

Maryland Governor testifies against death penalty

2007-02-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

Earlier today in Maryland, the newly sworn in Governor Martin O'Malley testified before a legislative panel that the death penalty was inhumane and ineffective. In a courageous move, Governor O'Malley is testifying on behalf of legislation that would repeal the death penalty in the state of Maryland; legislation that was not, as the Washington Post article notes, a part of his campaign platform.

This kind of brave political and moral leadership is just what the death penalty abolition movement requires. Just as former Governor Kernan recently called for a moratorium along with other members of the ABA assessment team, Governor O'Malley is speaking his mind on the issue, and quite articulately at that.

Hitting all the right notes, Governor O'Malley cites excessive cost, lack of deterrence, arbitrary sentencing and issues of innocence and wrongful conviction as well as moral reasons for his opposition. In addition, he astutely points out that the money wasted on capital cases could be used instead to better the lives of Maryland residents and aid law enforcement and social service agencies in preventing future crime.

We hope that the political voices that have recently become outspoken against the death penalty are simply the beginning of a larger trend indicating that citizens and politicians are fed up with the broken system of capital punishment. Hopefully this kind of political pioneering emboldens those who have had their doubts to speak up and call for a thorough examination of the death penalty and its role in society.

Observer Article on ND ASK & Kernan Article

2007-02-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have yet to pick up today's Observer, here's a link to an article discussing our response to the recent ABA report.

Additionally, an article in today's Indy Star discussed former Indiana Governor Kernan's take on a moratorium; an issue particularly relevant to him as he granted 2 clemencies under his governorship yet did not establish a moratorium. As spokesperson for the ABA Assessment Team, he now supports such a moratorium entirely.

Additionally, here's an article with some interesting comments by a reverend who served on a capital case jury and convicted Eric Wrinkles to death.

ND ASK Meeting Thursday, 2/22

2007-02-21T05:56:00.000-05:00

This Thursday (2/22) we will be holding a large organization meeting at 6 PM in the CSC coffeehouse. We will be discussing our spring agenda as well as announcing the creation and purpose of several committees:

State and Community Networks Committee
Fundraising Committee
Academic Conference Coordination Committee
Victims Families Outreach Committee

We will be looking for volunteers for each of these committees and will ensure that, no matter how busy your schedule, there is an important role you can play in each one of them.

Additionally, there are several roles that we are looking for volunteers to take on:

Press Relations Coordinator
Co-Sponsor/Coalition Relations

This meeting and your participation will be crucial to our success as a campaign. In case that's not enough, we'll also have free pizza.

For those who cannot attend but wish to learn more about our plans and how to play a role in the campaign, please e-mail us for information.

See you there!

ND ASK Statement on ABA Report

2007-02-21T05:53:00.000-05:00

The following statement was released to the press concerning our response to the recent ABA report. We hope you find it useful and understand our emphasis on picking up where the report left off.

Today marked the release of the American Bar Association’s report on the state of Indiana’s death penalty trial and sentencing process and an accompanying recommendation for a moratorium on executions in Indiana. The report serves as an excellent resource to further the discussion of issues surrounding the death penalty here in Indiana and throughout the country. Its contents present us with evidence of a system that is broken and its recommendations suggest how it might be fixed. The thorough and objective nature of the research and creation of the report coupled with the professionalism and dedication of those who served on the panel have resulted in this articulate and expansive base of reference for future action regarding capital punishment in Indiana.

We at Notre Dame Against State Killing (ND ASK) applaud the diligence of the assessment team and the contents of their report and herald their call for a moratorium on executions as both courageous and well-founded; the call confirming the fears and doubts that many of us have held regarding the inequity and unfairness of a judicial system that we hold to the highest of standards. We firmly believe that those who truly examine the logistics and goals of the death penalty system will arrive at the inevitable conclusion that due to the fallible nature of human beings, we cannot possibly support a system whose penalty is irreversible. Within the process of investigation and prosecution, there are mistakes being made when lives hang in the balance. It is inconceivable to continue with such a system given the blatant exposition of these flaws in the ABA report.

While the scope of the report does not presume to question the validity of the death penalty itself, but rather intends to ensure the fair and just execution of the laws, we at ND ASK take the call for a moratorium on legal grounds and add to it questions of the death penalty’s morality, efficacy, and legitimate role in a modern civil society. We thank the American Bar Association and the Indiana assessment team for their crucial work and hope that its expositions of incontrovertible fact are heeded well by Governor Daniels and those in the State Legislature. As the ABA’s poll results of Indiana reveal, 61% of Indiana’s citizens support a moratorium. It is time to halt all executions and begin to honestly and thoroughly examine the death penalty and reach the inevitable conclusion that it is simply an archaic, inefficient, and inhumane means of justice which must be stricken from our society.

Indiana ABA Death Penalty Assessment Report released

2007-02-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

The report is now available to the public on their website and will be discussed at a 2:30 press conference in Indianapolis.

We'll post our own excerpts and commentary as soon as we've have time to look it over. Until then, there's an excellent article in the Indy Star that breaks the report down a bit and discusses its intentions. It looks like the report hits on many of the main points that need to be addressed; many of which may not be easily fixed. It's also food for thought that the Governor has yet to respond to the report.

As previously posted, the baton is now in the hands of those of us around the state who want to see the death penalty gone.

State of the states

2007-02-20T00:14:00.000-05:00

The downward trend of convictions and executions, coupled with recent investigations into the use of the death penalty on a state by state basis and ensuing moratoriums, makes it clear that the death penalty is on the way out. Tennessee's governor recently halted executions for a 30-day period (which has turned up such blatant and absurd examples of negligence such as portions of electrocution procedures incorrectly copied and pasted into the new lethal injection manual) following Florida's botched execution in December during which it took the inmate 30 minutes to die. The House of Representatives in both New Mexico and Colorado have furthered bills to abolish capital punishment outright and a similar repeal bill has made it out of committee in Nebraska.

I'll say it again, the death penalty is on the way out.

With such developments across the country, we can only hope that tomorrow's announcement of the ABA's recommendation to establish a moratorium here in Indiana takes hold. The national political and social climate is just right for this report to resonate all the way to the Governor and the legislature, resulting in the implementation of the recommended moratorium.

Ultimately, however, the report will not speak for itself. While it will contain painstakingly researched and interpreted data, it is up to us to take those facts and the report's recommendations straight to the top. We urge everyone to take the initiative to further this cause in whatever way they can. Whether it be a simple conversation with a friend about death penalty issues or a letter to the editor, any means of expanding knowledge about the death penalty's inherent flaws should be utilized until it is no longer an obtrusive stain on the fabric of our society.

American Bar Association to call for moratorium in Indiana

2007-02-17T19:49:00.000-05:00

This coming Tuesday (2/20), the American Bar Association's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project will release an extensive report which calls for a moratorium on the death penalty here in Indiana. For those of you not familiar with the concept of a moratorium, it essentially halts all executions indefinitely while keeping capital punishment as legal and a potential future measure. To date, 9 of the 38 states with death penalty statutes have imposed a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

The report's findings will be announced at a press conference this Tuesday at 2:30.

Several friends of ND ASK, former Indiana Governor Joe Kernan, Senator John Broden, and Paula Sites, were a part of the panel that has worked so diligently to discover and interpret the facts around the issue of the death penalty and we thank all of the panel members for their hard and invaluable work.

We applaud their recommendation for a moratorium and eagerly anticipate reading their analysis that lead to this conclusion. We'll post a link to the report as soon as it's available as well as excerpts and comments.

"Kill the Death Penalty"--an LA police officer's perspective

2007-02-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

In a February 9 article published in The Nation, LA police officer Sunil Dutta provides his argument against capital punishment.

Introducing his analysis of and opposition to the death penalty, Dutta writes:

"Working as a police officer, I have a unique vantage point from which to view the death penalty: It is no less than a vestige of medievalism... Geography, politics, socioeconomic status of the victim and killer, timing, prosecutorial selection, jury composition, jurisdiction of police investigating the crime and the victim's and killer's gender and skin color usually determine who gets the death sentence. When it comes to the death penalty, there is only one deduction: This punishment is totally arbitrary and therefore should be held unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the politics of expedience guides our Supreme Court and Congress -- and when it comes to capital punishment, we are still mired in the Dark Ages."

Officer Dutta touches on many varying and crucial issues that must be considered when opposing the death penalty, from judicial fairness to giving resources to victims families. His argument and occupational and personal experience with homicide and the death penalty make this article an especially worthwhile read.

"Playing God: The fight to kill the death penalty"

2007-02-17T12:50:00.000-05:00

The first article in a three-part series in the Canadian National Post exploring the death penalty in America appeared today. Reporter Mary Vallis examines the changing attitude regarding capital punishment in our nation, through pairing recent eminent events in the death penalty realm (from moratoriums in Illinois and New Jersey to the December 2006 botched execution in Florida) with an analysis of public attitude.

The article provides an excellent summary of important events in the anti-death penalty movement, and combines expert opinions with statistics to analyze current trends in the American outlook on capital punishment.

"We write as mothers who have been scarred by the death penalty."

2007-02-17T02:09:00.000-05:00

This op-ed that appeared in Friday's (2/16) Maryland Gazette was written by two mothers whose experiences give their voices immense weight in any death penalty discussion. One almost had her son executed for a crime he was later found innocent of and the other lost her daughter to a brutal rape and murder. Both of them are calling for an end to the death penalty.

I urge you to read this piece as it brings the individual human stories into the debate that are often lost in the statistics and semantics of the death penalty.

Dale Recinella Talks Cancelled

2007-02-14T13:41:00.000-05:00

Due to several flight cancellations, Mr. Recinella will not be able to join us here at Notre Dame for his scheduled talks, despite his best efforts.

We will be doing our best to bring his informative and passionate talks to campus sometime later this spring. Until then, be sure to check out his website iwasinprison.org for insight into the great work that he and his wife do.

Death Penalty Still 'Arbitrary and Capricious'?

2007-02-13T02:50:00.000-05:00

Back in 1972, the Supreme Court ruling on Furman v. Georgia stated that the imposition was "arbitrary and capricious" and therefore unconstitutional. When the death penalty was deemed to be constitutional again granted that a series of conditions apply to its usage, as ruled in Gregg v. Georgia, it was implied that the use of the death penalty would no longer be arbitrary or capricious.

However, a recent case in Oklahoma demonstrates just how false this premise is in today's justice system.

A man may be eligible for the death penalty depending on what side of a gravel road he was on at the time.

Seriously?

Unfortunately so. Our capital punishment system is so broken that we're pulling out a tape measure to decide whether or not we're going to further tie up our already backlogged judicial system and waste taxpayer dollars trying to kill someone as opposed to spending the money where it is needed such as victim's family resources and real, effective law enforcement.

ND ASK to Create Documentary

2007-02-12T21:41:00.000-05:00

Recently, we here at ND ASK managed to get our hands on some grant money thanks to the efforts of Helen Adeosun and have decided to put it towards good use by filming a documentary about the death penalty as well as other aspects of the justice system here in Indiana. We intend for the film to be a means of conveying information about capital punishment to a wide variety of audiences and providing it as a tool for education and advocacy.

We're very excited about getting this project started but we need some help from those of you with film skills and interest in the topic. Please drop us a line ASAP if you'd like to get some more information on our plans or have some ideas of your own. We'll also be talking about this at our meeting next Thursday (2/22) at 6PM in the CSC.

Death Row Chaplain to Speak at ND

2007-02-12T01:33:00.000-05:00

Florida Death Row lay chaplain and '76 Law School alum, Dale Recinella, will be on campus this Wednesday and Thursday to speak about his experiences ministering to those who have been sentenced to death and to share his opinions and insights about the death penalty. We were lucky enough to have Mr. Recinella with us to speak in the fall and we're blessed to have him this second time. If you didn't see him last time, you can't afford to miss hearing his intensely personal and passionate observations of our justice system and capital punishment.

Dale will be giving two different talks during his stay with us at Notre Dame:

"The Death Penalty Leaves No Survivors"
Wednesday, 2/14 at 7:00PM in the Hesburgh Center, Room C-103

"A Tour Inside Death Row and Solitary Confinement"
Thursday, 2/15, 12:00 Noon in the Law School, Room 120

You can read more about Mr. Recinella's work and background at his website, www.iwasinprison.org or check out his book, The Biblical Truth about America's Death Penalty.

We hope to see you there!

ND ASK T-Shirts

2007-02-12T00:48:00.000-05:00

We are happy to announce that ND ASK t-shirts have arrived and are now for sale! For a measly 10 bucks you can get your hands on the fashion statement of the Spring. Available in sizes S-XL.

The front has our beautiful yet bold logo and the back has the Gandhi quote: "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." E-mail us at notredameask@gmail.com to order one. If you're a student we'll drop them off at your dorm or if you're outside the Notre Dame community we can ship them right to you. Get one while they last!

New York Times Magazine Examines Lethal Injection

2007-02-09T02:47:00.000-05:00

This Sunday's New York Times Magazine will feature an examination of lethal injection across America entitled The Needle and the Damage Done. It is already available online and I encourage you to read it in its entirety. It is incredibly in-depth and provides an incredible insight as to just what this process of systematically killing people entails. Many of the details discussed in the article are rather disturbing but help shed some light on just how broken the death penalty system is in general as well as lethal injection specifically.

A few excerpts:

"For instance, Doerhoff testified that executions in Missouri have taken place in the dark, an execution team working by flashlight, and that the execution team consists of 'nonmedical people.' For most, the day of the execution is 'the first time probably in their life they have picked up a syringe... so it's a little stressful for them to be doing this.'"

"Deborah Denno, a professor at Fordham University Law School, says that what she thinks of as America’s deep ambivalence about capital punishment — our inability to do away with it or to think very hard about it — has meant that Chapman’s story, that of one man making a small and modestly considered proposal that then persists over time, is not unique... She found that many states made errors when creating their own protocols by using drugs that Chapman originally suggested. As Denno wrote in 2002 in The Ohio State Law Journal, 'One of the most striking aspects of studying lethal-injection protocols concerns the sheer difficulty involved in acquiring' those protocols. She found that only one-quarter of the states that used lethal injection specified the quantities of the drugs to be injected."

The story goes on to articulate numerous inconsistencies with procedures and also includes opinions from those who still favor the use of the death penalty and lethal injection.

Inaugural ND ASK Blog Post!

2007-02-09T02:24:00.000-05:00

We here at Notre Dame Against State Killing have finally created a blog to better serve those of you who are interested in the issues surrounding the death penalty and working towards the elimination of its use. For those of you unfamiliar with our campaign, we encourage you to visit us at our website, www.ndask.org, where you can catch up on all the work that we've been doing thus far. Our philosophy is this: the death penalty is unethical and ineffective; it simply doesn't make sense in the context of our society today. While the majority of Americans prefer life without parole to the death penalty, 41% still believe that the death penalty has a place in our justice system. We attempt to address the conflicting opinions in a thorough and intelligent manner. While we'd ultimately like for you to agree with our opinion, all constructive comments and suggestions are always welcome in our debate. We hope to be of help to you as you try to determine what is best for our country.