MetaFilter posts tagged with CapitalPunishment and deathpenalty

Executed Today

Knappster — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:04:46 -0800

Executed Today offers "each day the story of an historical execution that took place on this date, and the story behind it."

Iranian man stoned to death for adultery after serving 11-year prison sentence

shivohum — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:19:43 -0800

Iranian man stoned to death for adultery after serving 11-year prison sentence. Unsuccessful, unofficial investigation here. Amnesty International pleads for life of his partner.

Dark days for the death penalty

snortlebort — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 08:44:29 -0800

This year, Maryland has been on a path to become the first state to abolish capital punishment, and a bill to repeal the death penalty will be voted on in committee within days. Exonerated death row inmates have been campaigning fervently in support of the bill (including Kirk Bloodsworth, a Marylander who was the first death row inmate ever to be proven innocent by DNA)--and the exonerated are joined by a gamut of other voices that one might not normally expect in the debate. Murder victim family members are vocally supporting abolition. Law enforcement officials, including prosecutors, wardens and police chiefs, are vocally supporting abolition. The Baltimore city council – which presides over the lion’s share of Maryland’s violent crime -- is unanimously in support of abolition. Even Maryland's governor, Martin O’Malley, has taken a bold stance in support of abolishing executions, going so far as to publish an op-ed, "Why I Oppose the Death Penalty," in the Washington Post on the day of the abolition bill’s hearings in Annapolis. And, last but not least, the public is more than 60% in support of replacing the death penalty with life without parole.

So why are so many legislators still supporting death penalty?
Even if the bill doesn’t pass in this session, it seems like Governor O’Malley has nothing to worry about for having come out ahead of the legislature on this issue. It’s the legislatures—in Maryland and elsewhere—that are falling behind, as the entire country backs steadily away from capital punishment.

Singapore sling

wilful — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 16:28:54 -0800

At dawn on Friday Singapore time, young Australian Nguyen Tuong Van will be hanged by the State executioner, Darshan Singh. His sentencing has raised an extensive debate in Australia on the death penalty, on our regional relationships and the compassion of our fearless Rodent. Like virtually all advanced nations, Australia has generally held a principled stance against the death penalty, though filtered by realpolitik. Yet again, New Zealand is a bit more principled than us, of course. We would of course never protest to the US about its extensive use of the ultimate State sanction.

Man on death row wants to donate liver to dying sister

MrMulan — Mon, 16 May 2005 14:27:17 -0800

Man on death row wants to donate liver to dying sister. I think this opens up many questions and mucks up the waters if you are both pro life(viva Terri), and also support the death penalty. (first fpp)

Cruel and unusual?

magullo — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 04:11:52 -0800

The Lancet publishes a research letter that finds inadequate anaesthesia is used in executions by lethal injection

[Followup] Cooper granted stay of execution.

Dipsomaniac — Mon, 09 Feb 2004 20:53:29 -0800

Convicted killer wins stay. The 9th Circuit Court feels that justice would be better served by being more sure that Cooper is actually guilty of the 4 murders he was sentenced to die for (followed from here). Considering the amount of controversy over evidence handling in this case, I think that they're right.

You have the right to die

magullo — Mon, 14 Jul 2003 06:35:21 -0800

(NYT) The death row trifecta: juvenile, retarded and ... proved innocent by DNA testing
But unlike other trifectas, this one will not necessarily get you off the hook. Never mind that the real perpetrator has been identified (due to his prison yard bragging initially and through a DNA perfect match later). One of the great problems of the American criminal justice system is that once an innocent person is trapped in the system, it's extremely difficult to get him — or her — extricated.

The Exonerated

nofundy — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 09:09:50 -0800

The Exonerated
Want to see some great theater and learn a bit about our great system of justice and capital punishment? Then The Exonerated may be the show for you.

The other night I went to see The Exonerated, which has been playing Off Broadway since last fall and is also appearing in theaters around the country this year. Composed wholly from court records and interviews by playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, this documentary drama recounts true tales of horror from the American criminal-justice system. The actors sit downstage and read their parts as the stories of six innocent citizens condemned to death row unfold. If this sounds like a worthy endeavor, it is; if it sounds dull or didactic, it isn’t.

the plot sickens

donkeyschlong — Tue, 11 Mar 2003 09:18:49 -0800

"Mr. Banks, a man with no prior criminal record, is most likely innocent of the charge that put him on death row. Fearing a tragic miscarriage of justice, three former federal judges (including William Sessions, a former director of the F.B.I.) have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block Wednesday's execution.

"So far, no one seems to be listening." [via atrios]

Affirmative Action applied to the Death Penalty?

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 07 Jan 2003 16:27:25 -0800

A report commissioned by outgoing Maryland governor Parris Glendening has found interesting racial disparities in the death penalty: although it appears the race of the defendant is irrelevant individually in the application of capital punishment, such is is not the case when one weighs in the race of the victim of a crime, in which the killing of a white person by a black person nearly doubles the likelihood of the defendant receiving the death penalty, "primarily because they are substantially more likely to be charged by the state's attorney with a capital offense."

XQUZYPHYR — Fri, 30 Aug 2002 09:05:55 -0800

Three Supreme Court Justices publicy oppose executing teenage criminals. In a rare move, Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Stevens made a public statement in a delay request to state their opposition to executing someone who committed murder before the age of 18. With the Court already banning the execution of the mentally retarded this year, is this another sign of a soon-to-be next step in the abolishment of the death penalty? Or does the average American still believe that regardless of what time, when you do the crime you walk the line?

gimonca — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 09:18:47 -0800

A U.S. District Court judge rules that the federal death penalty is unconstitutional. In related news, the Washington Post reports that everyone's favorite cabinet member, Mr. Ashcroft, has been pushing for the death penalty in federal cases and "frequently overruling his own prosecutors in the process". Here we go...

Ty Webb — Wed, 12 Jun 2002 09:49:15 -0800

God's Justice and Ours. Justice Antonin Scalia writes on capital punishment in First Things: "In my view, the major impetus behind modern aversion to the death penalty is the equation of private morality with governmental morality. This is a predictable (though I believe erroneous and regrettable) reaction to modern, democratic self–government."

magullo — Fri, 24 May 2002 02:55:47 -0800

Even if it works, using the detah penalty as deterrent is morally flawed The mere fact that an orthodontist in Cleveland feels more anxious about crime shouldn't make the state more "right" to take a life. And, if you are in favor of the death penalty, the mere fact that the same orthodontist feels comfortable leaving his door unlocked shouldn't mean that a murderer should pay less of a price for killing a child.

fold_and_mutilate — Mon, 20 May 2002 13:16:02 -0800

"The Texas conveyor belt of death rolls on. Against international law, three Texas inmates face imminent execution for murders committed when they were children. Since 1998, Texas has killed five child offenders - people who were under 18 at the time of the crimes. If Napoleon Beazley, TJ Jones and Toronto Patterson are put to death on 28 May, 8 August, and 28 August respectively, Texas will have executed as many child offenders in a four-month period as Iran, the next worst perpetrator outside the USA, has carried out in the whole of the past decade."

Ha! Yet another area where them loser Axis of Evil® fellas ain't up to the standards of the good ol' U.$. of A.

owillis — Mon, 10 Sep 2001 23:23:28 -0800

England vs. USA Over the death penalty. Initially I felt like saying "butt out" but America tends to get involved in other countries when our citizens are in trouble (like that kid in Singapore way back).

fpatrick — Thu, 06 Sep 2001 04:00:54 -0800

Drop in US Executions -- I wonder if Dubya's distraction last year (the campaign) and his subsequent move to the White House has had anything to do with this. Then again, some of it may be attributable to DNA evidence.

harmful — Tue, 19 Jun 2001 07:39:16 -0800

Policy or Parody? A group calling itself "Citizens for Capital Punishment" ran an ad in the Terre Haute paper (both the NYT and the WP rejected it) showing a family watching the McVeigh execution on television and cheering. This seems too far over the top to be a real pro-death-penalty piece, but if it's satire, the creators are playing it straight. [via Media News]

bwg — Sun, 13 May 2001 10:16:53 -0800

botched executions:
warning: gruesome descriptions of bungled executions ahead.

also: the execution tapes - audio recordings in real player format.

whether for or against the death penalty, take a look.

jeannepickering — Mon, 07 May 2001 03:35:22 -0800

"..this vengeance, this rage, isn't helping us one bit." The father of one of the victims of the Oklahoma bombing speaks out about why he's forgiven Tim McVeigh. The article also talks about the social pressure on Oklahomans who are against the death penalty and a Colorado politician who's upset because the killer of his aunt failed to apologize before his execution.

aaron — Wed, 11 Apr 2001 15:06:11 -0800

Execution for Dummies, special McVeigh edition. The Bureau of Prisons has thoughtfully printed up a 56-page how-to guide for those in charge of putting Tim McVeigh to death. Now you can follow along in the comfort of your own home!

jasonshellen — Mon, 26 Mar 2001 08:47:49 -0800

U.S. Supreme Court to review death penalty for retarded. Regardless of what you think of the death penalty for people of normal(?) mental capacity, can you believe that they are just starting to reconsider this now?

thirteen — Fri, 29 Dec 2000 12:51:32 -0800

Judge oks McVeigh execution request
I understand the ACLU is fighting to keep him alive, but I cannot find a link.

Mocata — Mon, 02 Oct 2000 10:38:05 -0800

Long, closely-argued explanation of how America went back to the death penalty.