tagged w/ Death Penalty
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A gay Conservative MP has urged Foreign Secretary William Hague to intervene in the case of an Iranian teenager sentenced to death for sodomy.
Iain Stewart, the MP for Milton Keynes South, called for pressure on Iran to show some "human compassion" in the case of Ebrahim Hamidi.
Mr Hamidi, 18, was sentenced to death two years ago at the age of 16 for an unspecified assault on another man. Homosexuality is illegal in Iran.
Although the alleged victim withdrew his allegation, a provincial court is insisting on the death sentence despite the Iranian Supreme Court rejecting the guilty verdict and execution order.
The judge in the case is using a legal provision which allows for subjective judicial rulings where there is no conclusive evidence.
Mr Hamidi is understood to be heterosexual and gay rights campaigners such as Peter Tatchell say that this is an instance where straight people can be executed for homosexuality offences.
Mr Stewart, who is also the deputy chairman of Conservative LGBT group, LGBTory, said that the Foreign Office should pressure Iran to free Mr Hamidi or at least save him from the death penalty.
He added: “It is an outrage that this young man faces execution. In the first place it is utterly abhorrent that homosexual acts are illegal and carry draconian penalties in Iran. That, plus the fact that there is considerable doubt as to whether the event actually took place, makes it unthinkable that Ebrahim should lose his life.
"I am calling on the Foreign Office to do whatever it can to exert diplomatic pressure on Iran to show some human compassion and free this young man, or at very least commute the death penalty.
"In the meantime, my heart goes out to Ebrahim and his family at this dreadful time”.
Matthew Sephton, LGBTory chairman, added that the coalition government has promised to use its influence abroad to change views on "cruel and outdated" laws against homosexuality.
He said: ”I just hope that Mr Hague is able to speak to the Iranian government and that Ebrahim is saved from such barbaric treatment from his own country.”
PinkNews.co.uk is awaiting comment from the Foreign Office.
Mr Hamidi was arrested with three other men in 2008, after a fight between two disputing families. The alleged victim initially claimed he had been sexually assaulted but later withdrew his allegation, saying his family had pressured him into making it.
The three other men were cleared of the charges. All four said they had been tortured and Mr Hamidi said he had signed a confession which was not true.
Previously, he was represented by the human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei but Mr Mostafaei has gone into hiding after a warrant for his arrest was issued.
The lawyer is also representing Sakineh Ashtiani, the Iranian woman who has been sentenced to death by stoning on charges of adultery.
Speaking last week, UK-based gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: "Ebrahim's case shows the flaws and failings of the Iranian legal system. It is further evidence that innocent people are sentenced on false charges of homosexuality."
"An international campaign can help stop Ebrahim's execution, just as a similar global campaign has, so far, halted the stoning to death of Sakineh Ashtiani."A gay Conservative MP has urged Foreign Secretary William Hague to intervene in the... more
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(CNN) -- A Texas state board is set Friday to revisit questions surrounding a controversial 2004 execution, with supporters of the man's family warning the panel is trying to bury its own critical review of the case.
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze -- but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson.
The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic Sciences Commission, which has been looking into Willingham's execution since 2008. But a September 2009 shake-up by Texas Gov. Rick Perry has kept that panel from reviewing the report, and the commission's new chairman has ordered a review of its operating rules. Critics say that may kill the probe.
"They are attempting permanently to keep the investigation from continuing and moving on, and I do believe it's because they don't like the direction the evidence is leading," Willingham's cousin, Pat Cox, said Thursday.
The Forensic Science Commission's chairman is now John Bradley, an Austin-area district attorney with a reputation as a staunch supporter of the death penalty. Bradley has pledged to state lawmakers that the Willingham investigation "absolutely" will continue -- but said the panel needs better rules to guide its work, and could not say when the Willingham issue would move forward.
Thursday, he told CNN that concerns of Willingham's supporters were based on "a lot of misinformation."
"I think that's being used very much as a side issue to politicize, through some New York lawyers, the work of the commission," Bradley said. "The commission has been very clear that the commission is going to address the merits of the Willingham case."
The panel meets again Friday in Houston, and one of the items on its agenda is a legal opinion arguing that the panel has "relatively narrow investigative jurisdiction." The unsigned memorandum argues that the commission's mandate covers only cases on which a state-accredited forensic laboratory worked.
But because Texas started accrediting crime labs in 2003, Cox and others who have backed the family say that would mean cases such as Willingham's and that of another inmate, Ernest Willis, would be dropped. State Sen. Rodney Ellis, who pushed for the commission's creation, calls the opinion flawed.
The Forensic Sciences Commission "was operating within the language and intent of the law when it determined that it had jurisdiction to investigate the case the first time in August 2008," Ellis said in a written statement to CNN. "Frankly, I am surprised that the commission is even questioning whether or not it has jurisdiction, since it unanimously decided -- with the attorney general's representative in the room -- to review the cases over two years ago."
Ellis, a Houston Democrat, serves as the chairman of the board of The Innocence Project -- the "New York lawyers" that have supported efforts by Willingham's stepmother and cousins to clear his name. The group advocates for prisoners it says are wrongly convicted, and Ellis said the commission's work "is too important to be bogged down in political bickering."
"Texans need the FSC to perform its work in a timely manner, so the public can once again have confidence in forensic evidence and confidence that the truly guilty are behind bars and the innocent are free," he said.
But Bradley said the commission has never decided to apply the logic of the legal opinion to the case on Friday's agenda.
Bradley was named the panel's chairman two days before the Forensic Sciences Commission was to hear from Craig Beyler, a Maryland-based fire science expert. Beyler concluded the arson finding at the heart of the Willingham case "could not be sustained," either by current standards or those in place at the time.
The Innocence Project requested the investigation after a report it commissioned reached the same conclusion. Death-penalty opponents say an impartial review of Willingham's case could lead to the unprecedented admission that the state executed an innocent man.
Perry, who signed off on Willingham's execution, is up for re-election in November, and his critics have accused him of trying to short-circuit that review. Perry has said he remains confident of the condemned man's guilt, and police in the town of Corsicana, where the fire occurred, say other evidence beyond the arson testimony Beyler criticized supports the prosecution.
Cox, a retired nurse in Ardmore, Oklahoma, told CNN that spiking the commission's investigation would be a "blatant miscarriage of justice."
"The reasonable people of this country and the state of Texas can see through what this is," she said.(CNN) -- A Texas state board is set Friday to revisit questions surrounding a... more
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Twelve Iranian women and three men are on death row awaiting execution by stoning despite an apparent last-minute reprieve for a mother of two who had been facing the horrific sentence after being convicted of adultery.
Human rights groups and activists welcomed a wave of international publicity and protests over the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, who was awaiting execution in the western Iranian town of Tabriz after what her lawyer called an unjust trial and a sham conviction.
The Iranian embassy in London said in a statement that "according to information from the relevant judicial authorities" the stoning would not go ahead. If confirmed it would be an victory for a brief but intense campaign that was first highlighted by the Guardian last week.Twelve Iranian women and three men are on death row awaiting execution by stoning... more
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jubal
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added this
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1 year ago
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Ronnie Lee Gardner caused a media sensation when he decided that he wanted to be executed by Firing Squad, rather than Lethal Injection. Gardner, who was guilty of fatally shooting 2 men, got his wish at 12:17AM on June 17, 2010,Ronnie Lee Gardner caused a media sensation when he decided that he wanted to be... more
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Did they just announce a firing squad was used to kill an inmate on deathrow?
Is this 1860?
Are we at war with Mexico?
I had no clue that firing squads are used in the USA as a means to ones end....
Only in Utah :)
"Historians say the method stems from 19th Century doctrine of the state's predominant religion. Early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believed in the concept of "blood atonement" — that only through spilling one's own blood could a condemned person adequately atone for their crimes and be redeemed in the next life. The church no longer preaches such teachings and offers no opinion on the use of the firing squad. "
gotta love law abiding Mormon Cowboys.
Njoy, Oly
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100618/ap_on_re_us/us_utah_firing_squadDid they just announce a firing squad was used to kill an inmate on deathrow?
Is... more
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Barring a last-minute stay of execution, five anonymous marksmen bearing rifles will take their places late on Thursday in a prison room to carry out the request of death-row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner: execution by firing squad.
Gardner won't see the law enforcement officers who have volunteered to carry out the death sentence. He will be bathed in light, they will be hidden in darkness some 20 feet away, probably behind a screen containing narrow slots for the guns.
A target will be placed over his heart, a hood over his head. And the men, who are likely to have practised together for accuracy, will respond to the command: "Ready, aim..."
None, however, will ever be certain whether they fired a lethal shot. One gun will have been loaded with a dummy - probably wax - bullet, which is said to deliver the same recoil as a live round.
Gardner, 49, was sentenced to death in 1985, after fatally shooting lawyer Michael Burdell and severely wounding a bailiff Nick Kirk in an escape attempt from court. At the time, he was facing a murder charge in the case of the shooting of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10254279.stmBarring a last-minute stay of execution, five anonymous marksmen bearing rifles will... more
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“Death To The Death Penalty” is a very moving animated short film directed by Pleix for Amnesty International. Waxing poetic while drawing inspiration from the Amnesty logo, a lit candle, its technique uses a computer graphics simulation of wax. The film provides a beautiful and moving message against the death penalty.
This piece includes colorful illustrations and the inspiring animated short film.
http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/waxing-poetic-death-to-the-death-penalty/“Death To The Death Penalty” is a very moving animated short film directed... more
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Death by firing squad may sound outdated, but it could happen to Ronnie Lee Gardner in the United States next week.
Gardner is a death row inmate in the US state of Utah, where, the use of a firing squad is still used to carry out the death penalty. Gardner himself picked the method over the alternative of lethal injection.
Utah, Idaho, and Oklahoma are the only three US states that have maintained the use of a firing squad to carry out the death penalty.
Anti-death penalty activist Rachel Moshman said there is no humane way to kill someone, and that the death penalty is both cruel and inhuman.
“It [death penalty] is racist, it targets the poor, it’s not a deterrent to crime and it kills innocent people” said Moshman.
At least 35 US states still maintain the use of the death penalty as a punishment for criminals of certain offences.
Historically, firing squads were used to kill soldiers as an honorable way to die.
“They say that the criminal inmates may use this as a way to go out as one last shout to the world before they go,” said Moshman.
Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, 123 people were found to be innocent after they were placed on death row, proving the criminal justice system is an imperfect system.
Moshman argues that the system in place is also racist, and that it targets poorer communities most. African Americans represent 14% of the US population, but they represent 40% of the US death row population.
What’s the solution? “Abolishing the death penalty,” said Moshman.
Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center argues that the use of a firing squad is outdated and that the death penalty in general disproportionally targets the poor communities and African American community.
“Race plays a factor because race plays a factor in all of our social interactions. It’s part of our history and it intersects with economics. If you can’t afford a good lawyer, you’re in deep trouble,” said Dieter.
Dieter says the system makes mistakes. It is a human system and innocent people do end up on death row when they have committed no crime.
The system is in need of reform, likely the elimination of the death penalty to solve the problem or the acceptance by American society that innocent people may simply be “collateral damage” in a flawed system, said Dieter.
“It’s unfair towards minorities, it’s costly, it’s time consuming, and the rest of the world is turning way from the death penalty. All of these things are like burdens on the death penalty which are moving it away from its use in the US. I think it will be abolished in the US,” said Dieter .
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-06-11/inmate-killed-firing-squad.htmlDeath by firing squad may sound outdated, but it could happen to Ronnie Lee Gardner in... more
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Correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Uganda, where many question whether the growing influence of American religious groups has led to a movement to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. As an anti-gay movement spreads across the continent, gay Africans and their families face an increasingly uncertain future of isolation, imprisonment or even execution.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Uganda, where many question whether the... more
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Hmmm. Another Black Guy. Innocent. Didn't do it. TWENTY NINE YEARS. Forget about pizza, how about love ? Sex ? Family ? Conversation ? Barbecues ? Birthdays ? Christmases ? Sitting on his couch having a beer ? Friends ?
We stole his life. We, Americans, have stolen ANOTHER life.
We will go down in history as a horrid Nation. Just look at what we did to the Indians, Japanese, Blacks, and now Hispanic.
If I was walking down the street and some random black person were to just shove a sword clear through my chest, I would understand completely. I would hope he'd understand we aren't all Klansmen and that I wish him the best but how would he ever know that from our feeble gestures of justice ?
Have we no shame ?Hmmm. Another Black Guy. Innocent. Didn't do it. TWENTY NINE YEARS. Forget... more
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Raven6
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added this
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2 years ago
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Update on Army Psychiatrist
Apr 29th, 2010 | By admin | Category: Lead Article
Army Psychiatrist Nadal Hasan
St. Petersburg Times
Military to seek death penalty in shooting
Military prosecutors sent a notice Wednesday indicating they plan to seek the death penalty against the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, a defense attorney said.
Maj. Nadal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting. Premeditated murder carries the death penalty. But if military jurors convict Hasan, they can only sentence him to death if they determine there is an aggravating factor in the case, according to military law.
Defense attorney John Galligan said the notice he received from prosecutors outlines as an aggravating factor that more than one person was killed in the same incident.
http://www.psychsearch.net/psych_news/?p=198Update on Army Psychiatrist
Apr 29th, 2010 | By admin | Category: Lead Article... more
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A Utah judge signed a death warrant Friday allowing the state to execute Ronnie Lee Gardner using a five-man firing squad, a spokeswoman for the Utah's state court system told CNN.
Before signing the death warrant, Third District Judge Robin Reese asked Gardner if he wanted to be executed by the method he had chosen previously, spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said.
"I would like the firing squad, please," Gardner replied.
It would be the state's first use of the firing squad since 1996, when John Albert Taylor was executed for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. Taylor said he chose the method to embarrass Utah, which at the time was the only state that offered the firing squad as an option.
Gardner's execution date was set for June 18, 2010. However, Gardner's lawyer said he planned to file an appeal, which could change the date, Volmer said. Gardner was convicted of murder in the 1985 killing of an attorney during a courthouse escape attempt.
A change in Utah's law took the firing squad away as an execution option. But inmates, like Gardner, who have already chosen the firing squad can still be executed that way, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Oklahoma offers the firing squad as an option - but only if lethal injection and electrocution are later found to be unconstitutional, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The country's most famous execution by firing squad was when Gary Gilmore was killed using a firing squad in 1977. Asked for any last words before guns were fired, Gilmore replied: "Let's do it!"
His execution was also the inspiration for Norman Mailer's book "The Executioner's Song."
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/23/utah-man-chooses-firing-squad-for-execution/?hpt=T1A Utah judge signed a death warrant Friday allowing the state to execute Ronnie Lee... more
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"(CNN) -- A Lebanese man condemned to death for sorcery by a court in Saudi Arabia won't face beheading Friday, his lawyer said Thursday.
May El Khansa told CNN she received assurances from Lebanon's justice minister that Ali Hussain Sibat will not be executed Friday. But there was no indication that Sibat's death sentence would be commuted or that he would be released, she said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the report from Lebanon's Justice Ministry, and Saudi authorities have not responded to requests for comment on Sibat's case. Sibat's wife made an emotional plea for mercy during a CNN interview Thursday, asking the kingdom's rulers to let him come back to his country and his family."
"All I ask is for the Saudi king and the Saudi government to show him mercy -- let him come back to his country and his family," Samira Rahmoon said.
Sibat used to offer predictions and advice to callers on a Lebanese television network.
Sibat was arrested by Saudi Arabia's religious police and charged with sorcery while visiting the country for an Islamic pilgrimage in May 2008, according to May El Khansa, his attorney in Lebanon. Saudi authorities have not disclosed details of the charge for which Sibat has been condemned and have not responded to requests for comment on the case.
"We can't understand how they could arrest him and charge him and sentence him to death," Rahmoon said. "It doesn't make any sense."
El Khansa said Wednesday that she had been told about the upcoming execution by a Saudi source with knowledge of the case and the proceedings. Lebanon's government says it has no confirmation that his execution has been set. But Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said he had asked the Saudis to halt any scheduled execution and release Sibat, calling the punishment "disproportionate."
"I have asked them not to implement any execution in this case," he said. "As far as I know, such an act doesn't deserve such a punishment, unless there is something else -- something that I have not had the possibility to study or to examine myself."
Rahmoon said the family has been unable to contact Sibat "for a long time."
A law against witchcraft remains on the books in Lebanon, but is the equivalent of a misdemeanor, Najjar said."
Read full article in the link below:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/01/saudi.arabia.sorcery/index.html?hpt=T1"(CNN) -- A Lebanese man condemned to death for sorcery by a court in Saudi... more
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On Tuesday, China executed a British national accused of smuggling heroin. Akhmal Shaikh was a 53-year-old father whom relatives have said was mentally ill. Britain diplomatically protested the execution right up to the end, but the man's relatives say the government didn't do enough.
...[I]n a letter to the Guardian newspaper, his cousins Amina and Ridwan Shaikh lamented the lack of real British influence in the case.
"Did the British government pull out its diplomats in protest? Did it have a hard-hitting strategy to persuade the Chinese authorities to change their decision?" they wrote.
"This is an example of Britain's powerlessness in the world. Their strategy of being shoulder to shoulder with the US in the 'war on terror' has not given them the status they so desperately desire."
The cousins noted that "one of the justifications we are told for invading countries like Afghanistan is 'human rights violations'."
"If it is accepted by all that there are gross violations taking place in China, why aren't they, too, invaded? This is purely to do with the fact that China is a powerful country economically.
"Britain's economic dependence far outweighs these 'individual cases'."
China contends that it was a criminal case, independent of diplomacy, in which a drug smuggler was convicted with 4 kg of heroin.
This video has a statement from the Chinese government and some reactions from Chinese citizens.
British Citizen Executed in China: Raw Video
If Shaikh was mentally ill, arguably in the West he would have been granted some sort of different treatment. Additionally, he would not have been sentenced to death even if found guilty. There would also have been more transparency to his trial. But, this was in China. Regardless of his guilt or innocence, Shaikh's relatives raise a good point. Britain, still considered a diplomatic powerhouse on the world stage, does need to bend significantly to China's economic might. And with views to human rights (and subsequently criminal trials) markedly different between the PRC and the West, this sort of incident could easily crop up again.
Recently on the Current News Blog:
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- Mexico City legalizes gay marriageOn Tuesday, China executed a British national accused of smuggling heroin. Akhmal... more
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What is happening in Uganda this week? Lots of news-making legislation apparently. The big news all week has been the Parliament's consideration of an anti-homosexuality law that up until Wednesday would have made "aggravated homosexuality" a capital offense. Now before we cheer the Ugandan Parliament for removing the threat of death from the bill, let's consider that Uganda is still talking about making being gay illegal. Controversy has swirled through headlines throughout the week and then today Uganda was back in the news: banning female genital mutilation (or female circumcision).
Let's go back to the anti-gay bill first. It's been big news here in the States because many see connections to conservative Christians here who have allied themselves with Uganda. Evangelical pastor Rick Warren has been a strong supporter of the Uganda, calling it a "purpose-driven nation". The country's lawmakers seem to be inspired by the efforts of US Christians who believe that homosexuality can be cured and gays can become "ex-gays".
Ex-Gay (Video) - A personal journey through an ex-gay program.
Warren this week finally distanced himself from the anti-gay bill, condemning it in a statement Thursday. But despite Warren's rejection of it and the reported removal of the death penalty, human rights activists still fear Uganda will pass the bill soon. So the timing is strange then that gender rights activists now have something to celebrate in the passage of the bill banning female genital mutilation (FGM). An effort to try to distract the international human rights community with some good news to mask all this week's bad press? Whatever their reasons - the ban is welcomed. This video will give you a sense of the struggle against FGM in Africa.
FGM in Sierra Leone (Video)
Recently on the Current News Blog:
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- Who will pay for climate change? - CopenhagenWhat is happening in Uganda this week? Lots of news-making legislation apparently. The... more
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Unless Virginia Governor Tim Kaine steps in, the state will execute John Allen Muhammad the "Beltway sniper" tonight at 9pm. Yesterday the Supreme Court declined to hear Muhammad's appeal (clipped by LadybugLady). UPDATE: Gov. Kaine has denied Muhammad's clemency appeal.
Muhammad, along with his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, was responsible for a 2002 killing spree in the DC area that left 10 people dead. The shootings targeted everyday people in everyday locations like gas stations. They were all the more frightening because they were unpredictable and without motive. It had just been a year since the September 11th attacks and for the period while the shootings were taking place, it was a a new wave of terror for Washington-area residents.
Muhammad has maintained his innocence. His accomplice, Malvo, is serving life in prison without parole. (Ironically, a case that the Supreme Court did hear yesterday was on whether life without parole was cruel and unusual punishment for teenagers.)
We've been looking at the death penalty a lot in the last few weeks, mostly because of the case of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas - where the state may have executed an innocent man. With a case like that, opposition to the death penalty seems practical: let's prevent mistakes from occurring. The Muhammad case is a bit different. It falls along the line of retribution - why Obama says he's supports the death penalty, despite doubts about its efficacy: "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage."
What do you think? Is the community justified in this instance? In any instance?
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Trust me there was plenty that happened this week that happened that was not MLB championship games or Sarah Palin's book. Here's a look at seven of those stories that fell through the news-cracks this week.
Seriously, how much angrier can we get at Goldman Sachs? Most of the country is still feeling the pinch as we head into what's being called a 'jobless' recovery but Goldman's employees have $16.7 billion in bonuses coming their way. And to top it off, this guy: Brian Griffiths, an adviser for the firm said, “We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all.” Yeah, I bet you're 'tolerating' it just fine on your pile of cash, buddy. From Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs’s Griffiths Says Inequality Helps All
America's bodyguards have too much on their plates. According to a Congressional report the Secret Service is very, very busy this year what with all the threats on the new President's life. The agency is also responsible for protecting past Presidents and Vice Presidents as well as fighting counterfeiting, but with the crazies out in force, it's been difficult to take care of everything this year. From The Boston Globe: Secret Service strained as leaders face more threats
In Tblisi, Georgia, Hollywood filmmakers are busy recreating the Georgian side of last year's brief war between Georgia and Russia. Andy Garcia is playing Mikhail Saakashvili. Thy say he sounds like he's reprising his role from Godfather III. From Wired's Danger Room: One Year Later, Hollywood Re-Fights Georgia-Russia War
Obama is supposed to go visit Japan's new government in a few weeks, but the new ministers want to seem independent from Washington's demands. They spent this week 'dithering' over the US military base on Okinawa, but at the end of the week Japan's foreign minister said they would keep it there. From the Washington Post: Japan FM: U.S. base should stay on Okinawa
Are you a state government running out of money? Maybe you should end the death penalty. That's what a new study released this week suggests, pointing out that many states are spending millions of dollars on what experts say is not even an effective deterrent. In California, which is desperately trying to save money every which way it can, the death penalty costs $137 million a year. From Mother Jones: The Death Penalty's Big Tab
Since things just can't get any worse in Iraq: thousands of schools have been closed in what some are calling panic over the swine flu. I loved this quote: "“It’s one of the side effects of democracy,” said Dr. Jaleel Al Shimari, general manager of the Baghdad Health Directorate for the Karkh section, who described most of the school closings as unauthorized." From the NY Times: Fear Over Swine Flu Closes Schools in Iraq
And because Ethiopia can never seem to catch a break: the African country is asking for emergency food aid for 6.2 million people. It's been 25 years since Ethiopia's massive famine, but they're facing major food shortages in the coming months. From BBC News: Ethiopia asks for urgent food aid
Anything we missed this week? Let us know!
Other stories from the Current News Blog this week:
- Rage Against Guantanamo - Rage Against the Machine, REM, Pearl Jam and more call for Gitmo closure
- US police make massive Mexican drug cartel bust
- Defining 'dithering' - Dick Cheney accuses President Obama of wasting time
- North American Union conspiracy hits the big time
- Captured by Somali pirates - A journalist's first hand story
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After a failed execution attempt in September, Ohio is reconsidering its execution procedures. While the state figures things out, its governor Ted Strickland, has issued reprieves for inmates facing impending executions.
The inmate in the failed September attempt, Romell Broom, was convicted in the abduction, rape and murder of a 14 year old girl, though he maintains his innocence. A court has blocked any further attempts to execute him until further notice. His experience is described in the Guardian:
Three guards stood around him as two nurses tried to insert needles into his arms. "The female nurse tried three separate times to access veins in the middle of my left arm. The male nurse tried three separate times to access veins ... in the middle of my right arm," Broom said in the affidavit. The nurses worked for 30 minutes without success and then took a break. "After the break, the female nurse tried twice to access veins in my left arm. She must have hit a muscle because the pain made me scream out loud," Broom said. "The first time the male nurse successfully accessed a vein in my right arm. He attempted to insert the IV, but he lost it and blood started to run down my arm."
Eventually the female nurse decided she could not go on and walked out of the room. A second break was called.
When the attempt to execute him resumed Broom said he was in such pain: "I tried to assist them by helping to tie my own arm." The male nurse massaged Broom's left arm and laid hot towels across it in an attempt to make a vein stand out, but it proved futile and a third break was called.
"At that point I became very upset. I began to cry because I was in pain and my arms were swelling," said Broom. "I requested that they stop the process and I requested to speak with my attorney."
But the attempt to kill him did not stop. A third nurse entered the room and hunted for a vein in Broom's right ankle. The needle hit the bone and he screamed.
After two hours the prison director, Terry Collins, contacted Strickland who called off the execution.
Death penalty opponents are hopeful that Ohio's reconsideration of their execution procedures may turn into a reconsideration of whether or not to execute at all.
What do you think? Does the Broom case make a good point against the death penalty, or is this just an aberration? Leave your opinion on Current News.
The Death Penalty on Current News
- Is Texas' Governor trying to cover up a wrongful execution?- Current News Blog
- Did Texas execute an innocent man? - The New Yorker article "Trial by Fire" on the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham
- Death Penalty - A Current.com group to keep you updated on this controversial issueAfter a failed execution attempt in September, Ohio is reconsidering its execution... more
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Over on Current News, user Future_America pointed us to this story from the Star-Telegram: Three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission have said that their abrupt removal from their positions may be Governor Rick Perry's way of trying to cover up a wrongful execution.
Perry removed Chairman Sam Bassett and commission members Alan Levy and Aliece Watts on Wednesday, two days before the obscure panel was scheduled to discuss a forensic report challenging the arson findings that that led to Cameron Todd Willingham’s execution in 2004.
Willingham, of Corsicana, was found guilty in the deaths of his three daughters in a 1991 fire. Willingham said that he was asleep in his house when the fire started and denied that he deliberately killed his daughters.
Willingham was the subject of an extremely powerful New Yorker piece: Trail by Fire which asked the question: "Did Texas execute an innocent man?" If the Forensic Science Commission finds that they did, it would be the first time in the state's history and could spark a reevaluation of the death penalty.Over on Current News, user Future_America pointed us to this story from the... more
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