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The only legal organization that provided any colorable, intellectual support of the death penalty has abandoned its own cause, because the capital punishment system in the United States is so thoroughly broken that it is beyond salvaging.

The institute’s recent decision to abandon the field was a compromise. Some members had asked the institute to take a stand against the death penalty as such. That effort failed.

Instead, the institute voted in October to disavow the structure it had created “in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment.”

That last sentence contains some pretty dense lawyer talk, but it can be untangled. What the institute was saying is that the capital justice system in the United States is irretrievably broken.

A study commissioned by the institute said that decades of experience have proved that the system cannot reconcile the twin goals of individualized decisions about who should be executed and systemic fairness. It added that capital punishment is plagued by racial disparities; is enormously expensive even as many defense lawyers are underpaid and some are incompetent; risks executing innocent people; and is undermined by the politics that come with judicial elections.

When the one group who tried to make an intellectual argument for the dealth penalty admits defeat, we are headed in the right direction. Of course, a lot of death penalty supporters don’t premise their arguments on anything rational or analytical, and don’t care to; the United States is very culturally invested in the death penalty, and we see it as a cornerstone of a retributive criminal justice system. I sadly don’t see it going away any time soon, even if we are one of the only countries in the world that still kills convicted criminals. But at least now we’ve removed any veneer of intellectualism from the pro-death-penalty side.

Tonight, my tax dollars — and yours, if you’re in the United States — are paying to kill John Allen Muhammad. Maybe I’m missing it, but I haven’t seen any outrage from pro-life organizations, have you?

Last week I reported that Scott Roeder, the man accused of killing Dr. George Tiller, could possibly use a “justifiable homicide” defense when he goes to trial later this month. Roeder has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in state court. Under Kansas law, murder is not a capital case unless the murder is committed in the process of committing another crime, or if the victim is a law enforcement office. Roeder is not going to face the death penalty when he goes to trial, which has angered some pro-choice activists. However, the question of whether or not he should be eligible for capital punishment is worth considering anyway.

Paul Hill, an anti-abortion wing nut who murdered Dr. Bayard Britton, an abortion provider in Florida, was executed by lethal injection in 1994. His execution, and the precedent that it sets for Scott Roeder, brings up a very important question for pro-choice advocates. Should people who are convicted of killing abortion providers face the death penalty?

I am personally opposed to the death penalty. I don’t think the state should be in the business of killing people, whether its in the form of military violence, police brutality, or executions. From a purely ethical standpoint, how can you punish someone for killing another person by killing them? It’s a moral contradiction. From a monetary standpoint, it costs lest to incarcerate a person for life than it does to kill them. So if you want to break it down to pure dollars and cents, go for the lifetime sentence.

Opposition to the death penalty provides an opportunity for coalition building for the pro-choice movement. For one thing, it gives us common ground with Catholics, many of whom are also opposed to the death penalty. It also allows us to reach out to people who are opposed to the prison industrial complex. We can oppose the State’s control over human life in both the areas of the death penalty and in the area of reproductive freedom. And let’s face it, no one’s so rich as to throw away a friend. We need to constantly work on strengthening our ties with progressive organizations so that we always have the support we need when the poop really hits the fan.

I’d love to hear your take on the subject, though. Do you think that Scott Roeder should face the death penalty? Or is another punishment more appropriate?

For more info about capital punishment in the United States, check out this article from Wikipedia. I also recommend The Innocent Man, by John Grisham. It’s his only nonfiction book, and it presents a very clear case against the death penalty because of the risk of executing innocent people.

Good, and frankly rather surprising and unexpected, news on the case of Troy Davis has emerged. The Supreme Court has just ordered a new look at his case:

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a federal trial court in Georgia to have a fresh look at the case of Troy Davis, who is on death row in state prison there for the 1989 murder of an off-duty police officer. The case has attracted international attention, and 27 former prosecutors and judges filed a brief supporting Mr. Davis.

Seven of the witnesses against Mr. Davis have recanted their testimony, and several people have implicated the prosecution’s main witness as the actual killer of the officer, Mark MacPhail.

The Supreme Court’s decision was unsigned and only a paragraph long, but was nonetheless highly unusual. It instructed the trial court to “receive testimony and make findings of fact” about whether new evidence clearly establishes Mr. Davis’s innocence.

Unfortunately Scalia basically used this as an opportunity to argue that innocent death row inmates have no actual right to not be put to death. Thankfully, Justices Stevens, Ginsburg and Breyer disagree with that ludicrous and terrifying assertion.

That said, presenting evidence which clearly establishes innocence is a much more difficult threshold to meet than presenting evidence that introduces reasonable doubt. Innocence can be very, very hard to prove, even when you are actually innocent. So, I’m glad that the court has given Troy Davis some kind of opportunity here. I also feel that it’s still unlikely to end well for him, despite the reasonable doubt that seems very likely to be present. And, of course, I can’t help but note my feeling that we wouldn’t be at risk of putting an innocent man to death at all if the government was not in the business of murdering convicts in the first place.

What do you think about the latest development? Can anyone who knows a lot more about the law than I do better explain what exactly this means for Troy and his case?

Tentatively good news in the case of Troy Davis, the man on death row for the murder of a police officer despite his maintained innocence, no physical evidence tying him to the crime, and seven out of nine witnesses having recanted.  The US Supreme Court has put off their decision regarding whether or not to take up his case until they reconvene in September.  What that means is firstly that there can be no execution date set in the mean time, and secondly that they may be giving his case more careful consideration than they had previously.  It seems like both Amnesty International and the NAACP, two of Troy’s biggest champions, are hoping that the latter is true.

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, however, realistically notes in an NPR opinion piece that you really ought to check out, that the last time the Supreme Court granted a motion similar to Troy Davis’ was in 1925.  That means that while it’s an outside possibility, and while it’s undoubtedly good news that an execution date will definitely not be set for at least a couple of months, other avenues have to continue being pursued.

Amnesty International is still urging you to contact Chatham County’s new DA Larry Chisolm, asking him to reopen Troy Davis’ case. I put out this same alert a while back, but if you didn’t at the time, it’s imperative that you do it now.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many things lately, I am behind on these two latest action alerts regarding the case of Troy Davis, the man on death row for the murder of a police officer despite the fact that there was no physical evidence tying him the crime, and the additional fact that almost all of the witnesses who testified against him have recanted.  But while I’m significantly behind on them, I’ve heard of no changes since they were sent out — meaning that as far as I can tell, they’re still relevant.  So I hope you’ll act.

First up, from the NAACP:

A few hours ago, I met with Troy Davis on death row.

As you know, he is facing the death penalty in Georgia for killing a police officer — but since his trial, seven out of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony. And with no physical evidence to link him to the crime, it is likely he is innocent.

Besides the fact that Troy is facing execution for a crime that he may not have committed, he also told me that he is being denied the right to speak out on his own behalf despite the fact that others in his position are allowed to do so.

Please contact Commissioner Brian Owens of the Georgia Department of Corrections to demand that he remove the gag order on Troy Davis.

In my meeting with Troy, I discovered that 60 Minutes, Dateline, and the Associated Press have all been denied media access to Troy. When Georgia won’t let the media talk to the accused man, it is a flagrant abuse of his First Amendment rights.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of guess work to assume that Georgia is likely refusing media contact to Davis due to the fact that they don’t want his story to get widespread, mainstream coverage.  After all, if it did, there might be significant public outrage that could force them into acting.  Which is, aside from the obvious need to protect First Amendment rights, precisely why this has to be stopped.  Click here to tell the Georgia Department of Corrections to remove the gag order on Troy Davis.

Next up, Amnesty International:

The Supreme Court will soon look at Troy Davis’ petition for a new trial. While we will be disappointed if the courts once again fail to intervene in a case that is so overwhelmed with doubt and a lack of evidence, Troy needs us to keep knocking on doors until one finally opens up.

Savannah’s new District Attorney, Larry Chisolm, elected in 2008 on similar principles as President Obama, could be that opportunity. During Chisolm’s bid for District Attorney, he laudably pledged to “increase the sense of fairness and transparency in the prosecution function.” If there ever was a case that required both fairness and transparency, then this is it. Urge District Attorney Chisolm to make good on his pledge by re-opening Troy’s case.

At the heart of this case is a brutal murder of a police officer that could go unpunished if an innocent man is put to death. The District Attorney has the power to re-open the investigation into this crime for which Troy was convicted. Only once we have all the facts on the table, can the courts truly begin to assess the fate of Troy Davis.

Click on through to contact Larry Chisolm — a man who seemingly has the ability to take meaningful, concrete action towards justice for Troy Davis.  Because as we’ve already sadly learned, we surely can’t trust the courts to do the right thing here on their own.

You may have already read about Samantha Orobator, a British woman who was arrested on charges of smuggling heroin into Laos last August. If convicted, the sentence for her alleged crime is death by firing squad. On top of all of this, she is five months pregnant — which means that she became pregnant while incarcerated, in what is reportedly “one of Asia’s most squalid jails.” Her mother has stated that she’s worried her daughter may have been raped, but also has not been allowed contact with her daughter.

Obviously, Orobator’s mother’s concerns make a whole lot of sense — indeed, I have to wonder how she could have not been raped. She was in jail. The only males she is supposed to have contact with are the guards. And anyone who thinks that a person can give meaningful consent to someone who effectively acts as their captor seriously needs a remedial lesson in what exactly “meaningful consent” means.

Anyway, we last week we got the news that Orobator will not be executed due to the fact that she is pregnant.  Obviously the fetus’ life is more important than the grown woman’s, as the fetus is “innocent” and the woman may or may not be guilty of committing a crime.  There was also word of a possibility that she would be transferred to jail in the UK if convicted.

But now, outrageously, we get this:

A PREGNANT British woman arrested for heroin smuggling in Laos has been told she must testify she was not raped in prison in order to escape the firing squad.

Samantha Orobator, who is five months pregnant, was arrested last August at Wattay airport in the capital Vientiane for trying to smuggle 680g of heroin.

The Londoner was not pregnant at the time of her arrest.

The 20-year-old goes on trial this week and will be asked to declare publicly that she was not raped in Phonthong prison, one of Asia’s most squalid jails.

If Orobator co-operates, she will be transferred from Laos to a UK prison under a new treaty signed between the two countries on Thursday. If not, her trial will be postponed and she will return to jail in Laos.

If she faces trial again after the birth of her child, she will not have the immunity from execution that pregnancy gives her under the Laos penal code.

A Laotian Government spokesman, Kenthong Nuanthasing, said: “She will tell the court, otherwise she will stay here. Nobody can guarantee that she will not face the firing squad.”

So she can either deny that she was raped or be killed.  And the Laotian government seems to have no issue whatsoever with being public with such information.

It is worth noting that Orobator has reportedly written a letter denying having been raped.  We don’t know what might have coerced her into such a statement, and again I have huge difficulties imagining a scenario of consensual sex in her position — after all, the letter also reportedly said that she had not had sex.  So barring access to artificial insemination in the jail, one of those two statements must be a lie.

But, let’s assume for one moment, for the sake of argument, that she told the truth on the count of rape.  It’s hardly the point.  The point, those who would wish to make it something else, is that when asked the question of whether or not she was raped, a woman should be able to give an honest answer, whatever it is.  She shouldn’t be explicitly told that the price for just answering “yes” to that question is her life.

Then, even more ludicrously, there is this:

“We don’t want the world to blame us,” Mr Nuanthasing said.

Asked who fathered the baby, Mr Nuanthasing said: “It is a mystery - maybe it is a baby from the sky.”

Is that, like, supposed to be fucking cute or something?  Whatever the meaning behind such a statement, it’s outrageous and shows what kind of ridiculously self-serving and misogynistic apologism/denialism Orobator is up against.

I wish her the best and hope that she does whatever she has to do to save her life.  And I hope that no women is ever put in such a horrific position ever again.

via Hoyden About Town

Yesterday, I got an email from Amnesty International calling for strong and visible action in support of Troy Davis‘ plea to not be executed without a fair trial.  I’m just going to go ahead and repost the whole thing below:

The 30-day stay issued by the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals expires on May 15th.

So now is the time for us to organize to save the life of Troy Anthony Davis. We’re asking everybody to come out strong on May 19th – a day marked in human rights calendars across the world as the Global Day of Action for Troy Davis.

Whether you’re holding a “Text TROY to 90999″ sign on a busy street or organizing your local Amnesty chapter to hold a public demonstration or vigil, we need everybody to contribute their time on May 19th to make sure that the state of Georgia does not kill a man who may well be innocent. Register your Global Day of Action for Troy Davis activity or event now.

We know that time is short for organizing public events, but an execution date could be set as early as late May, so it is essential that action be taken soon. It’s also really important that we get an accurate count of how many events and activities are taking place on May 19th, so we can share this information with officials in Georgia. Our emails and phone calls have gone a long way in buying Troy some much-needed time, but now we’ve got to take our action to the streets.

We appreciate the tens of thousands of you who have stood in Troy’s corner while heart-stopping scenes have unfolded. On three separate occasions, Troy has been scheduled for execution. And on three separate occasions, his life was saved within a short period of time, even minutes, of his scheduled execution date.

Each time, those last minute stays came after people like you turned out by the thousands to rally in his defense. It was no coincidence. Troy’s sister and long-time Amnesty activist, Martina Correia, has acknowledged Amnesty’s powerful role in saving her brother’s life each of those times.

Now here we are again with the clock winding down. While we can see little opportunity for legal recourse or second chances, we know that your advocacy has a strong record of making amazing things happen.

When we first introduced you to Troy Davis in early 2007, few people outside of Georgia knew about the injustice taking place. In the past two years, countless people have come to see Troy’s case as a prime example of why the death penalty must be abolished – the risk of executing someone for a crime they did not commit is just too high.

We are serious when we say that we need everyone to support Troy Davis on May 19th by organizing their own event or awareness-raising activity.

After all, if you had 30 days left to fight for your life, wouldn’t you want to know that you had thousands standing in your corner?

A PDF file available on Amnesty’s website provides some ideas for events and actions:

Here are some ideas for solidarity events. Remember, you don’t have to do anything fancy or elaborate. Just do something visible! And take lots of pictures and video! (And if you haven’t already, please go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.do?id=1011672 to register your event.)

• Organize an information table with literature on the death penalty. Hand out Troy Davis fact sheets. Let everyone know about the text action.
• Hold a candlelight vigil. Hand out Troy Davis fact sheets. Bring a bullhorn and encourage people to speak out! Let everyone know about the text action.
• Organize a letter-writing event. Let everyone know about the text action.
• Organize a teach-in or panel discussion on the death penalty. Hand out Troy Davis fact sheets. Let everyone know about the text action.
• Organize a public demonstration calling for clemency for Troy Davis. Such an event could include speakers), banners, candles, or even music. Hand out Troy Davis fact sheets. Let everyone know about the text action.

I hope that everyone will do what they can and spread the word.

Over time, Jack and I have put up quite a few posts about Troy Davis, a Georgia man on death row despite serious questions about his conviction, no physical evidence tying him to the crime, and claims that another man actually committed the crime in question.  So it only seemed appropriate to post an update with the latest news.  And sadly, it’s bad news.

On Thursday the 16th, the 11th Circuit Court denied Troy Davis’ appeal for a new trial, and granted him a 30-day stay so that he can file another petition with the Supreme Court (which has already refused to hear his case).

The decision came down two to one, with dissenting Judge Rosemary Barkett writing the following:

In the affidavits, seven of nine key trial witnesses recanted their testimony which pointed to Davis as Officer MacPhail’s murderer. The two remaining non-recanting witnesses were Sylvester “Red” Coles, who was himself alleged to have been the shooter in affidavits, and Steve Sanders, who identified Davis at trial two years after the incident, despite admitting to police immediately following the shooting that he would not be able to recognize the shooter.

The majority of the affidavits support the defense’s theory that, after Coles raced to the police station to implicate Davis, the police directed all of their energy towards building a case against Davis, failing to investigate the possibility that Coles himself was the actual murderer. For example, none of the photospreads shown to eyewitnesses even included a picture of Coles. Additionally, three affiants now state that Coles confessed to the killing.

To execute Davis, in the face of a significant amount of proffered evidence that may establish his actual innocence, is unconscionable and unconstitutional.

As Amnesty International said:

If Troy Davis’ request had been granted by the Court, he would have had the opportunity to ask for an evidentiary hearing.  An evidentiary hearing would allow the witnesses to be heard and examined in a court of law – which is what Davis has asked for all along.

So, now we wait again.  A new petition will be filed.  A new execution date might be set.  And all a man is asking for is a proper fucking trial.

In the meantime, you can send yet another letter to the governor of Georgia, asking him to support clemency for Troy Davis.  I couldn’t more strongly encourage you to do so.