Sidebar With an Expert Capital Litigator
In yesterday’s New York Times, Professor Linda Greenhouse gives us a thought-provoking analysis of the “selective empathy” of the current U.S. Supreme Court as she compares the recent decisions in Porter v. McCollum (Porter lives) and Bobby v. Van Hook (VanHook dies). After discussing in detail both opinions, Greenhouse concludes:
Setting the Porter and the
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Perhaps discussion of the November 30, 2009, opinion by the United States Supreme Court in Porter v. McCollum (08-10537) is best begun by reading the first paragraph of the opinion itself:
Petititioner George Porter is a veteran who was both wounded and decorated for his active participation in two major engagements during the Korean
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On Monday, over 1000 cities around the world will participate in “World Day of Cities for Life,” which honors the first time that the death penalty was abolished by a government — on November 30, 1786, by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Organized by the Catholic Community of Sant’Egidio of Rome, participation is growing steadily: in 2005, only 300 cities worldwide were participants and now, four years later, the total exceeds 1150.
Cities for Life Day involves each community flooding lights upon a local monument that in some way symbolizes the effort to abolish the death penalty. For example, in Rome the Colosseum is illuminated; in Barcelona they are lighting up the Cathedral Square.
Continue Reading November 30 is World Day of Cities for Life – is Your City Participating?
Today, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a ruling that no one is going to be executed in the State of Kentucky until things are done by the book regarding the lethal injection killing method. The high court set no deadline on when capital punishment might resume in Kentucky, either. Its formal opinion is already published…
Last week, the State of Ohio announced that it was changing its method of execution from a lethal injection involving three drugs (sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride) to a single injection of the drug sodium thiopental.
Ohio changes to a single-drug form of execution after its failed execution…
People wonder why I am so adamently opposed to the death penalty, and then stories like this appear in the media and I, in turn, wonder how anyone can support capital punishment.
Sam Milsap’s Mea Culpa
Sam Milsap is a seasoned criminal lawyer with over 30 years experience, and for a long while he served…
Right before Halloween, we posted about the new Death Penalty Information Center revelation that focusing solely on a state’s budget bottom line, capital punishment should be outlawed because it just costs too much — and how Billy Joe Johnson’s request to be sentenced to death in California only added fuel to that fire. (Billy Joe…
Virginia executes more people in this country than any other state than Texas, so the statistics seem to sway us toward a prediction that Governor Tim Kaine will allow the upcoming execution of John Muhammad, the DC Sniper.
And Kaine is the only barrier betweeen John Muhammad and death.
That’s because the United States Supreme…
This past week, the film Capote (2005) was shown on television — and while the name suggests that the movie covers the life of famed author Truman Capote, that’s not the case. What the movie focuses upon is Capote’s involvement with two men who were executed by the State of Kansas for the killings…
Supplying the International Demand for Human Transplant Organs is Big Business in China
The demand for transplantable organs is the main reason why organ procurement is so pervasive in China. [204] It is common knowledge that high-paying customers will receive a prompt organ transplant in China. [205]Former transplant patients have reported that they were expected to hand out “red envelopes” filled with money to every doctor they saw.[206]
The money is shared with both prison and court officials. [207]It has been reported that foreign nationals pay upwards of $200,000 for an organ transplant performed in China, using Chinese donors. [208] Sadly, there is also a reported case where a transplant recipient died because the essential post-operation care and treatment ceased because the patient ran out of money.[209]
Due to the high demand for organs, the large number of death-row prisoners, the improved medical technology, and the huge profits, selling organs from executed prisoners in China will continue. [210] The situation is exacerbated because many of the people who are key participants in the harvesting of the organs are poorly paid prison and hospital administrators.[211]
Executions for Profit Have Extra Benefit — Intimidation and Control of the Citizenry
China’s organ procurement from the bodies of executed prisoners is not only a lucrative money-maker, it is also a method to coerce and intimate the general population into submission of government control. [212] Actually, since the discovery of the lucrative organ transplant market, the number of crimes punishable by death has increased.[213]
Chinese web bulletins boards have reported information discussing the sale and corruption of the “organ business.” [214] Chinese websites advertising organ transplants openly admit to obtaining their organs from executed prisoners. [215] One website specifically targeting foreigners announced on the front page that viscera or soft interior organs including brain, lungs, and heart could be found immediately. [216] This website also thanked the support of the Chinese government, specifically naming the Supreme Demotic Court. [217]
Secrecy in the Chinese government
China has maintained an air of secrecy concerning the sale of organs harvested from executed prisoners, concealing the transfer of profits. [218] China strove to keep the 1984 order on the use of prisoner cadavers confidential in order to avoid international backlash. [219] Even official figures regarding death sentences and executions in China are kept secret from the public and foreigners. [220] Additionally, international human rights organizations are not permitted to visit prisoners in China. [221] Until recently, the Chinese government emphatically denied the legal procurement of organs from Chinese prisoners condemned to death.[222]
The only people that would be present at the scene of an organ harvesting are the victim and the perpetrators. [223] No bystanders would be allowed to witness the event. [224] Afterward, no body would be found, and no autopsy would be conducted. [225] The body would be cremated, and the evidence vanished. [226] The operating room would be left like any other empty operating room. [227] Cremation of the body prevents any evidence from surfacing regarding the harvesting of organs. [228] In addition, any wills created by condemned prisoners are subject to official censorship by the government.[229]
The Supreme People’s Court issued a secret regulation concerning a prisoner’s last will and testament that states, “Those parts which are slanderous in nature or which make reactionary statements are not to be handed over to the person’s family . . . sections complaining about grievances or alleged injustices are not to be passed on to the person’s family.” [230] When one executed prisoner’s brother asked to see the documentation of his brother’s consent to donate his organs, the Chinese officials would not give him the information. [231] Furthermore, the government warned the brother that if he did not keep silent, he and his family would face retaliation.[232]
Continue Reading In Depth Look at the Law: Secrecy in China – Successfully Hiding the Truth About Executions for Profit from the World