Blog of Rights
James
Clark
James Clark is the Death Penalty Repeal Organizer for the ACLU of Southern California and served as the Southern California Coordinator of the YES on Prop 34 Campaign, the ballot initiative to replace California's death penalty. James previously worked as the Coordinator of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, a nonprofit organization working to end capital punishment in Georgia, where he was a leader in the movement to stop the execution of Troy Davis. James graduated from UCLA with a degree in the Study of Religion before earning a Master's of Divinity at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.
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09/22/2011

Troy Anthony Davis: Victim of American Injustice

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 3:04pm

Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia last night at 11:08 PM, despite a worldwide movement over 1 million strong that drew attention to the glaring doubts of his guilt. With no physical evidence and a host of witness recantations, all indications are that the state of Georgia killed an innocent man.

Outside the death row facility in Jackson, Georgia, I joined Troy's friends, family, and supporters in vigil. About 200 people arrived early enough to be allowed on the prison grounds in the highly controlled roped-off area reserved for execution opponents. Hundreds, maybe thousands more people were looking on from across the street. After visiting with Troy for the final time, his family attended a service at the Towaliga County Line Baptist Church across the street before joining the protestors on the prison grounds.

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09/20/2011

Clemency Denied for Troy Davis — Urgent Action Needed!

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 12:41pm

After a day-long hearing yesterday in Atlanta, the Georgia State Board of Pardons of Paroles today denied clemency to Troy Anthony Davis, in the face of a million cries of #TooMuchDoubt. Troy is scheduled to be executed Wednesday September 21, at 7 p.m.

Kim Davis, Troy's sister, speaking on his behalf.
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09/16/2011

Standing in Solidarity with Troy Davis

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 7:00pm

Next week, the state of Georgia plans to execute Troy Davis despite lingering doubts about his guilt. Today is a Global Day of Solidarity when people all over the world stand together to proclaim that there is too much doubt to execute Troy Davis. Davis finds himself facing death for the fourth time on Wednesday, September 21.

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06/22/2011
California

$4 Billion Since 1978 — Time to Cut California's Death Penalty

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 5:39pm

The Los Angeles Times reports new data in a study to be released next week on California’s death penalty has revealed that the price tag for death is even higher than we thought: $4 billion since 1978. Put another way, we spend $184 million more per year for death penalty inmates than we do on those sentenced to life without the chance of parole. All told, California is on track to spend $1 billion on the death penalty over the next five years.

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05/10/2011

The Tide is Turning on California's Death Penalty

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 6:56pm

The ongoing debacle of California’s death penalty took a few dramatic turns last week: a new poll showed a dramatic shift in public opinion in favor of ending the death penalty; Gov. Jerry Brown took a step in the right direction by cutting plans for a new death row; and the Department of Corrections announced that the state’s hold on executions will last at least through this year, if not longer. At the same time, the California Democratic Party pushed even further in their advocacy against the death penalty. All told, it’s got people asking if California is finally ready to “cut” the death penalty.

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04/05/2011

Illinois Proves (Again) That Ending the Death Penalty Saves Money

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 11:45am

(Originally posted on Change.org)

Thanks to Illinois, we now have more proof: ending the death penalty saves money — a lot of money — and quickly.

So what is California waiting for?

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02/10/2011

Add Water and Kill?

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 1:14pm

Just in: another round of documents from The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response the ACLU of Northern California’s investigation of the state’s desperate, global search for lethal injection drugs.

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01/14/2011

California Ignores Obvious Budget Solution: Cut the Death Penalty

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 12:54pm

California's new governor Jerry Brown confronted the state's dire budget crisis this week when he released his budget proposal. True to his word, the proposal contains hard cuts to social services across the board, ensuring that California's most vulnerable will have an even tougher time staying healthy and making ends meet.

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11/23/2010

States Refuse to Give Up Lethal Injection Drug Dealer

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 3:47pm

Prison officials around the country are doing everything possible to hide the source of their execution drugs and protect their dealers. Why?

You may have followed the ongoing news stories about lethal injection drug shortages — and the ensuing fiascos — in California, Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma and, well, just about any other state that executes people. All of them are struggling to deal with a national shortage of the key execution drug, sodium thiopental. While some states like Oklahoma are desperately trying to come up with “creative” (read: ridiculous) workarounds, states that have the drug — California, Arizona, Texas — won’t say where or how they got it.

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09/29/2010

California's $4 Million Rollercoaster Ride

By James Clark, ACLU of Southern California at 7:36pm

California’s death penalty has always been a bit of a head-scratcher, but the news over the last two weeks may have the record for furrowed brows and rolled eyes. The legal drama that has unfolded as the state tries to execute Albert Brown has shocked legal experts, but just confused everyone else.

There’s a reason for that. Five years ago, when executions were put on hold, it was because of myriad problems with the process of putting people to death. Execution teams were poorly trained, didn’t understand the deadly substances they were handling, and were working in dark, cramped conditions. That’s a recipe for botched executions, which has happened too often in California. When Judge Jeremy Fogel, a federal judge, heard that evidence, he told the state they had to fix the procedure.

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