Pending Execution as Ethical Watershed

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.

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ABA Indiana Report Breakdown

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.

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Observer Article on ND ASK & Kernan Article

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.

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ND ASK Statement on ABA Report

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.

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Indiana ABA Death Penalty Assessment Report released

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.

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State of the states

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.

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American Bar Association to call for moratorium in Indiana

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.

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