Now, not only is the U.S. Department of Justice going state-by-state and scooping up any remaining supplies of sodium thiopental (see our earlier post for details), it has informed the State of Arizona that Arizona cannot legally use its sodium thiopental supply because it is the opinion of the Justice Department that Arizona got that
May 2011
New Hampshire Expanding Death Penalty to Make It Available for Killings During Home Invasions
Posted in Death Penalty - States
Most of the states in this country today are either concerned about how they are going to execute the inmates they already have on Death Row, what with the lack of drugs for their lethal injection process, or they are debating getting rid of capital punishment if for no other reason than cost.
Then …
Univ of Miami Law Prof. Winick’s 2009 Predictions on U.S. Supreme Court and Mentally Ill Death Penalty Cases
Posted in Fact Issues - Death Penalty
In 2002, the United States Supreme Court handed down Atkins v. Virginia – that’s less than ten years ago. Hard to believe, in many ways.
In 2009, Bruce Winick, Professor of Law and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Director, Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, published an article in the…
DEA is Grabbing Up All the Sodium Thiopental? No Wonder Pentobarbital Is Popular in Executions
Posted in Execution Methods
As we discussed before, there has been a challenge to the use of drugs purchased overseas in executions undertaken by various states. (Specifically, the use of sodium thiopental purchased by Georgia from a questionable British supplier.)
However, news this week has it that in response, the federal government has been going around and…
Guest Post by Nancy Farrell of Criminal Justice Degrees: The Role of a Paralegal Serving on a Capital Defense Team
Posted in Players in a Death Penalty Case
As part of our invitation to other bloggers to guest here on the Death Penalty Blog, Terry and I are happy to publish the following article sent to us by Nancy Farrell, who writes for the career-advice website, Criminal Justice Degrees Guide. Here, without edit or change, is Nancy’s article for your consideration. Thanks, Nancy! …
Oregon Death Row’s Haugen Waives Appeals, Wants to Be Executed. Why?
Posted in On Death Row
Oregon’s Death Row only has around 35 inmates, a very small number when compared to neighboring California with its Death Row population of 719 people. We don’t hear much about the death penalty in Oregon — after all Oregon hasn’t executed anyone since 1997.
Gary Haugen is changing all that. As an Oregon Death…
Here’s One Way to Stop the Death Penalty: Have the Prosecutor Take It Off the Table
Posted in Players in a Death Penalty Case
Over in Arizona, there is a big, bad murder case moving through the system.
Seems that a man named Jonathan Edward Vandergriff, along with Staci Lynn Barbosa, his co-defendant, were facing murder charges as well as child abuse by domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15, and sexual…
California 700+ Death Row Gets Good News: 2006 Moratorium on Death Penalty Will Continue For Now
Posted in Death Penalty - States
Right now, the State of California has over 700 people living on its Death Row. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 260 are white; 255 are African American; 158 are Hispanic American; and 38 are not categorized.
You can read the complete California Death Row Inmate list here, which as of…
Update of Florida Court Overhaul: Amendment Passed That Kills the Deal
Posted in Death Penalty - States
Yesterday, the Florida Senate passed an amendment to HJR 7111 — an amendment co-sponsored by 10 Republican Senators – which served to remove by amendment the earlier bill which split the Florida Supreme Court and created a new Florida high court for criminal matters (as described in our post last week). Read the …