Tag: death penalty
Rick Perry Can Run, But He Can't Hide: Pressure Builds to Admit Texas Executed An Innocent Man
Published October 15, 2009 by Alternet.
As the corporate media picks up on the tragic story of Cameron Todd Willingham, Gov. Perry is going to desperate lengths to cover it up.
By Liliana Segura / Alternet
U.S. authorities urged to overturn death sentence after jury consulted Bible
Published October 15, 2009 by the Guardian.
Jurors read from scripture as they deliberated on whether Khristian Oliver should be sentenced to death
By Chris McGreal / the Guardian
The Texas jury didn't hesitate to find Khristian Oliver guilty of shooting and bludgeoning an elderly man to death. Oliver had stood over his bleeding victim, repeatedly hitting him in the head with a rifle butt before robbing his house.
But then came the difficult decision over whether to sentence Oliver to death, and that's when the Bibles came into their own.
Charles Dean Hood: Fairness Irrelevant in Texas?
Published September 17, 2009 by The Rag Blog.
Prosecutor and judge were having affair...
New trial denied to death row defendant
By Ted McLaughlin / The Rag Blog
Killing an innocent man
Published September 15, 2009 by SocialistWorker.org.
By Nicole Colson / Socialist Worker
CAMERON TODD Willingham was executed by the state of Texas for a crime that he didn't commit.
Caller-Times: "Texas justice system has major flaws"
Published September 13, 2009 by the Caller-Times.
Editorial from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times
For the past three years in Texas, news reports have revealed that dozens of innocent people have been convicted of violent crimes they didn’t commit. At least 38 men in Texas spent decades in prison based on wrongful convictions and the state will now make compensation payments for these exonerees.
Opposing the death penalty is not about innocence
Published September 11, 2009 by Salon.com
By Lee Kovarsky / Salon.com
Fighting the death penalty should not hinge on proving that innocent people have been sentenced to die
New State Office Handles Death Penalty Appeals
Published July 27, 2009 by the Houston Chronicle.
By Lise Olsen / The Houston Chronicle
Texas, which executes more convicts than any other state in the nation, will open its first capital defense office next year to manage appeals for death row inmates after years of reports that appointed private attorneys repeatedly botched the job.
200 Executions and Counting: Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Cruel Death Tally
Published on June 2, 2009 by AlterNet.
By Liliana Segura / Alternet
At roughly 6 p.m. tonight, Texas Gov. Rick Perry will make history when he presides over the 200th execution of his tenure. It's a chilling achievement, one that dwarfs that of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who famously signed off on 152 (with a little help from his friend, then-legal counsel Alberto Gonzales).
Harris County Attorneys Overworked in Capital Cases
Published on May 25, 2009 by the Houston Chronicle.
By Lise Olsen / Houston Chronicle
About one-third are over recommended limit on felonies
Lawyer Jerome Godinich, chastised by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals this year for repeatedly failing to meet federal death penalty deadlines, has represented an average of 360 felony clients per year in Harris County — a caseload that surpasses every other similar attorney.
Shrinking Newsrooms Hurts Abolitionist Movement
Published on May 20, 2009 by the New York Times.
By Tim Arango / New York Times
Newsroom Cuts Seen as a Blow to Fight Against Death Penalty
Opponents of the death penalty looking to exonerate wrongly accused prisoners say their efforts have been hobbled by the dwindling size of America’s newsrooms, and particularly the disappearance of investigative reporting at many regional papers.
Rodney Reed Denied New Trial; Protest on Monday!
Press release from the Austin chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty:
Reed’s Supporters Plan Protest for Monday, December 22, 2008, 5:30 p.m. at the Capitol in Austin, 11th and Congress.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief in the case of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed on Wednesday, as his family members and supporters decried the ruling.
TCADP Releases Report on Death Penalty Developments in 2007
Press release from TCADP website:
Questions Regarding the Constitutionality of Lethal Injection Protocol Cap Year of Dramatic Developments in Nation’s Most Active Death Penalty State
Rob Will on Troy Davis
Editorial note: Rob Will is a Texas death row inmate and a member of the D.R.I.V.E. Movement.
By Rob Will
I recently heard that Troy Davis has been issued another stay of execution, though I’m not sure of all the details. (Sometimes, news takes a while to reach the confines of this dungeon.)
I’d like to encourage everyone to go to his support website and offer any help that you can. Remember, inaction is consent and the only way to make change happen is to be active.