Posts Tagged ‘Death Penalty’
Bill Introduced to Prevent Innocent from Execution
The Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act was introduced by Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) and would allow death penalty inmates to present newly discovered evidence of innocence. Current law does not grant habeas corpus for death row inmates and allows the inmates no procedural options.
Read more here.
Posted by hcdmedia
The Death Penalty: An American History
David Banner’ extensive historical account of the death penalty The Death Penalty: An American History has been widely acclaimed by journalists, historians, and people interested in the United States’ legacy of capital punishment.
In this well-researched and clear account…Banner charts how and why this country went from having one of the world’s mildest punitive systems to one of its harshest.
-Publisher’s Weekly
Buy The Death Penalty here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Ohio Execution Goes Wrong
The execution of Ohio inmate, Rommel Broom by lethal injection went wrong this week, officials stated. The execution has been rescheduled for next week. According to Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, this is the only time in United States’ history that a lethal injection failed and was rescheduled.
The ACLU of Ohio stated that the state must abolish lethal injection. “This is the third screwed-up execution in three years,” said Jeffrey M. Gamso of the ACLU of Ohio. “They keep tweaking their protocol, but it takes more than tweaks. They don’t know how to do this competently, and they need to stop.”
Read more in the New York Times article…
Posted by hcdmedia
The Crime of Being Born Black
This poem is from Ajamu M. Nassor, a death row inmate who was executed in Indiana in 1994.
They tried to kill me in the womb
because of my blackness
but they did not succeed
Nor could they kill me during the Inquisition
the invasion of Afrika the Trans-Atlantic Passage
They could not kill me along with
Nat Turner
Gabriel Prosser
Denmark Vessey
Cinque
Martin
&
Malcolm
Nor could they kill me during the
Revolutions Insurrections Rebellions & Uprisings
They could not kill me on the ghetto streets
of amerikkka
Not even with their genocide
could they kill me
As i remember my brothers & sisters
Panthers
MOVE
&
all the others who
have gone before me
With all their attempts they could not
kill me
then . .
. . . so they gave me
the death
penalty
instead.
instead.
Posted by hcdmedia
Innocent but Executed
In 2004 Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas. Until his death he claimed his innocence. Now, years later, a New Yorker article investigates Willingham’s case and finds that there is forensic proof that Willingham was indeed innocent.
Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project writes an article for the Huffington Post about the need to improve on forensic testing in the United States. Read the article here.
And read the New Yorker expose here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Robert Wayne Williams (Executed in Angola 12-14-1983) was my father
Kimberly sent in this personal story:
I was 1 when my dad got in trouble in 1979 and when he was executed in 1983 I was 5. I was the victim for so long until I realized I was the victor. What do you mean Kim? Well, society tells us if you derived from nothing that you will be nothing. That is so not true. I am a well educated female owner of a Ladies Boutique and proud Pastor’s Wife, Mother of 2, and a saved and filled woman of God. My motto is “you don’t know my story or the things that I’ve been through you can’t feel my pain what I had to go through to get here you’ll never understand my praise so don’t try and figure it out because my Worship, my Worship is for real, I’ve been through to much not to worship him”.
My father robbed a local A&P store, and the funny thing is my mother was the getaway driver. When my dad was arrested he told my mom to turn state on him so that I would at least have 1 parent. Well sorry to say I did not have that, she gave me to my grandparents. Don’t get me wrong because I am glad she did, I just never understood the way a person could look at their own seed with hate, and then I met God who told me if your mother and father forsake you there am I to take you up and hide you in the secret of my tabernacle. I am so understanding today and I know that my life would not be if it were not for my parents I also know that when you are affected by crime you have a void that cannot be filled by pressing it down and hiding it you have to face who you are to hopefully improve others.
I have several people that heard of my father and some who even knew him, but I have not met anyone that actually “KNEW” him. I am seeking someone that can tell me what his last moments were like if you know of anyone or if you are that person please feel free to contact me.
If you knew her father – Robert Wayne Williams – or have information you would like to share with her, please reply to this post.
Posted by hcdmedia
Sotomayor on Capital Punishment
Now that President Obama selected Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for Supreme Court judge, where will she stand on capital punishment? Read more about her history as a federal judge and the new issues she may face dealing with death penalty cases.
Posted by hcdmedia
Execution Debated in Missouri
A death penalty case in Missouri is being debated even as Dennis J. Skillicorn – convicted of murder - is scheduled for execution Wednesday, May 20th. In Missouri people are split over this case. According to the New York Times article his supporters
point to Mr. Skillicorn’s work in prison leading a hospice program, editing a magazine for death row inmates, and, in the view of even some prison workers, helping to create a calmer, safer atmosphere behind bars.
Others say Skillicorn may not have been the murderer and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Read the New York Times article here and contribute to the discussion about capital punishment in the United States.
Posted by hcdmedia
New Orleans DA fights for Death Penalty
New Orleans is now the murder capital of the United States and DA Leon Cannizzaro promises to fight for the death penalty.
Read the full article about the New Orleans DA’s support of capital punishment.
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