Capital Punishment Blog Posts

Capital Punishment Project Staff Highlighted in Law Review Article

suzanne_ito — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:50:00 -0500

A recent article in the Tennessee Law Review (subscription required) highlights the work done by the ACLU Capital Punishment Project in their representation of Richard Taylor, a severely mentally illness death-row inmate in Tennessee. The article, "Effective Capital Defense Representation And The Difficult Client," was written by Bradley McClean, who once represented Taylor. McClean writes:

Race and Death Penalty Links Run Deep and Wide

suzanne_ito — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:12:00 -0400

(Also posted on Daily Kos.)

World Day Against the Death Penalty

suzanne_ito — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:42:00 -0400

Tomorrow marks World Day Against the Death Penalty, and it is only fitting that a global call was issued to abolish the practice. We join the ambassadors of the European Union (EU) who gathered today to call on all nations to abolish the cruel practice.

Suspicious Shakeup in Texas

suzanne_ito — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:49:00 -0400

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.

ACLU Highlights Flaws in American Capital Punishment

suzanne_ito — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:39:00 -0400

In his continuing effort to bring to light human rights issues in the United States before an international stage, Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU Human Rights Program, made a statement about the capital punishment system at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, Poland.

Executing the Innocent

suzanne_ito — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:18:00 -0400

On Friday, the Houston Chronicle ran an op-ed by John Holdridge and Chris Hill of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project.

After Three Strikes, Ohio's Death Penalty Should be Out

Michael Brickner — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:08:00 -0400

Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, I was experiencing a terrible case of déjà vu. For the third time in as many years, I saw news reports that Ohio had botched an execution because of problems locating viable veins in the victim.

No Suitable Vein

suzanne_ito — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:56:00 -0400

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.

Willingham Case Highlights Fears of Executing Innocent People

suzanne_ito — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:22:00 -0400

Cameron Todd Willingham's last words were: "I have been persecuted 12 years for something I didn't do." And now, five years after he was executed by the state of Texas, Willingham is probably as close to an exoneration as he'll ever get. The blogs and news media have been filled with commentary about the revelation that Willingham was most likely innocent when he was executed, and it's renewing calls for an examination of the death penalty in this country.

Shouting From the Rooftops

suzanne_ito — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:17:00 -0400

As Chris wrote last week, an investigation into the 1991 fire that killed the three children of Cameron Willingham found that it was not intentionally set, and that Willingham, who was charged with arson and subsequently executed in 2004 for the crime, may very well have been innocent. Two notable pieces followed last week's news.