Bowser Commission Formed, Members Announced

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.

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The Panetti Ruling and Timberlake's Case

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.

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Clemency Petition for David Woods

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!

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Help Stop David Woods' Execution!

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.

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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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The Bowser Commission

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.

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