American Civil Liberties Union

On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry dismissed three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, including the chairperson.

His timing was extremely suspicious, to say the least.

The commission was set to hear testimony today from an arson expert it had hired, Craig L. Beyler, who reviewed the “expert” arson testimony used in 1992 to convict Cameron Todd Willingham of killing his three children by setting their house on fire. In a detailed report (PDF), Beyler recently criticized the “expert” arson opinions used to convict Willingham as "nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation." Beyler’s conclusions, which echo the findings of eight forensic arson specialists who have looked at the case, make it abundantly clear that Willingham, executed by the State of Texas in 2004 under Gov. Perry’s watch, was almost certainly innocent.

On Monday, Ohio's execution team was unable to find a suitable vein in Romell Broom's arm so it could not inject poison into his body and put an end to his life. The failed attempts took so long that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland finally gave Broom a reprieve until next week. Ohio has not done well with lethal injections.

The Supreme Court of the United States has ordered a federal district court judge (PDF) to "receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis's] innocence." A grant of an original writ of habeas corpus has not been granted by the court in 50 years. This order essentially gives Davis the evidentiary hearing for which he had been asking.

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

As soon as the St. Louis police officers knocked on the door of the home of Vera Thomas in April 1991, a parade of horribles began which culminated with her son, Reggie Clemons, being convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The case is infected by police brutality, prosecutorial misconduct, witnesses with motivations to give false testimony, dreadful defense lawyering and blatant racism. All of this led to no justice for Reggie Clemons.

Reggie Clemons was destined to die as soon as he walked into the police station for questioning. The police asked him about the deaths of Julie and Robin Kerry, two young white women who fell to their deaths from the Chain of Rocks Bridge in Missouri. Clemons and three people he was with that night were suspected of robbing, raping and murdering the Kerry sisters and forcing their cousin, Tom Cummins, to jump off the bridge.

At the police station, Clemons was beaten until he cried. When the police began to tape the confession, Clemons invoked his right to an attorney and said that the police had beaten him. When a second tape was made, Clemons confessed to rape because the police were preparing to beat him again. He did not confess to murder.