WBNS-TV in Ohio is reporting this week on a topic that we periodically delve into: the reality of the death penalty appeals process, and how expensive this is in both time and money. Good. The fact that not enough money exists for effective death penalty defense at the trial level, and how this directly correlates to
John Grisham’s The Confession: New Grisham Novel Continues His Campaign Against the Death Penalty
The latest John Grisham novel has just been published. Entitled The Confession, it is Grisham’s second work that fights against the death penalty – Grisham already became a vital and vocal opponent of capital punishment with his non-fiction best seller, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.
The Innocent Man came
New Florida Innocence Commission Gets Its First Executive Director Today: Lester Garringer Jr. Appointed
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady, 56, began his two-year term on July 1, 2010, and his first order of business was to create the Florida Innocence Commission, which will "conduct a comprehensive study of the causes of wrongful conviction and of measures to prevent such convictions." (For the complete enacting language, read the
James Alan Fox Visits Florida Death Row This Weekend In Prep For Series of Articles on Capital Punishment
James Alan Fox gave everyone a head’s up in his Boston Globe piece today: he’ll be in Florida this weekend, visiting Florida’s Death Row.
Who the heck is James Alan Fox?
To many, he’s known as the "Dean of Death," because of his extensive work in the study of mass murder in this country. To
Growing Trend for States to Stop Death Penalty as a Budget Cut – Let’s Watch California
This week, FoxNews provided detailed coverage on exactly how the current economic crisis is pushing the 35 states that still have the death penalty on their books to consider its repeal. And yes, it’s all about the money.
New Reaction to an Well-Known Fact – Death Penalty Is Very Expensive on the State
Quoting Richard Dieter
Johnny Depp on 48 Hours Today Fighting 4 West Memphis 3, Will He Help the Dubose Brothers?
Johnny Depp will appear this evening on CBS-TV’s 48 Hours, bringing attention to the West Memphis 3, fighting against the execution of Damion Echols.
Please watch – it’s a major event for Mr. Depp to bring his celebrity power to this Death Penalty case, especially when everyone would expect Johnny Depp to be
Annual NCADP Conference Starts Today (Jan 14 – 17)
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is the only fully-staffed national organization working to abolish capital punishment in the United States. Its annual conference starts today and runs through the weekend. Sister Helen Prejean is the keynote speaker this year, she’s always wonderful — and if I didn’t have courtroom commitments, I would
Charlotte Observer Calls for Abolishing North Carolina Death Penalty
This Sunday, an interesting twist to the recent American Law Institute’s divorce from its prior recommendations regarding the death penalty occurred: The Charlotte Observer published an editorial calling for abolishing capital punishment in North Carolina, based on the ALI’s recent determination.
As added incentive, the Charlotte Observer did point to a Duke University study and
DPIC Releases Its Annual Report — Fewer Executions This Year than Any Year Since 1976
The Death Penalty Information Center has tallied its numbers and released its annual report on the state of Capital Punishment in America this week. Its eight (8) page report can be downloaded and printed in a pdf format from the DPIC site at no charge.
There’s some good news here.
When you’re against the death
November 30 is World Day of Cities for Life – is Your City Participating?
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?