All life is worth saving

Just as in Clarence Darrow’s day, the death penalty continues to be practiced in many American states. Yet around the world, the majority of nations no longer executes their prisoners, showing increasing support for the abolition of capital punishment. Recently, in December 2014, when the United Nations General Assembly introduced a resolution calling for an international moratorium on the use of the death penalty, a record 117 countries voted in favor of abolition, while only 38 nations, including the United States, voted against it. Indeed, falling just behind China, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, the United States is recorded to have the 5th highest rate of execution worldwide. Continue reading →

In a discussion at the George Washington University School of Law, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said the death penalty creates a higher risk of error than other criminal cases and is unfair, unnecessary, and a “terrible waste” of resources.
Continue reading: Death Penalty Information Center

Executioner or Veterinarian?
Which do we kill more humanely, our pets or condemned prisoners? Click here to take the Marshall Project’s quiz.

Excerpt: “The share of women who favor the death penalty has fallen 10 points since 2011, while men’s views have shown virtually no change. Men are now 15 points more likely than women to favor the death penalty (64% vs. 49%).”
Click here for the April 18 Pew Research Center article  (including a link to the full report.)

Most death row exonerations can be traced to prosecutor misconduct. Why aren’t higher courts interested?
Continue reading: The Daily Beast

An alarming number of countries used the death penalty to tackle real or perceived threats to state security linked to terrorism, crime or internal instability in 2014, Amnesty International found in its annual review of the death penalty worldwide.                                                                   Continue reading: Amnesty International

In San Quentin prison in California just after midnight on 4 occasions warden Jeanne Woodford checked her watch before giving the final order to execute 4 men on death row. Today she is among a growing number of Americans campaigning to end the death penalty in the United States, the only Western democracy that still imposes it.

Continue reading Bette Browne’s article: The Irish Examiner
Many thanks to Rick Halperin for alerting us to this story and many others.

The United Nations General Assembly is expected on Thursday to vote once again on a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, with the United States likely to become even more isolated in its support for capital punishment.

The resolution was first adopted by the General Assembly in 2007; this is the 5th time member states will vote. On Nov. 21, 114 of the 193 U.N. member states voted “yes” on the draft resolution at a session of the Third Committee, which is responsible for social, humanitarian and cultural issues. 36 countries opposed the resolution.

The U.S. has repeatedly lodged “no” votes alongside countries with troubling human rights records – including China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the top 4 executing countries in 2013. The United States ranked 5th.      Continue reading: Al Jazeera

Yesterday, the new journalism site, The Marshall Project, along with the Washington Post, released a 2-part investigative report looking into 80 cases of capital offenses and shining a light on the issue of incompetent, unqualified, and untrained lawyers failing to submit Federal habeas appeals prior to the deadline and to the detriment of their clients. A nonprofit journalism organization focused on investigating the criminal justice system, the Marshall Project officially launched its website this past weekend, with Bill Keller, previously the executive editor at the New York Times, at the helm.                                                                                                                                Read more at the Nonprofit Quarterly

Kickstarter link

The Penalty is a forthcoming feature documentary (90-minutes) film examining the current state of America’s capital punishment system. Unravelling the tentacles of the death penalty, the film looks at the human cost of the ultimate punishment. Continue reading →