Social Justice Magazine
Troy Davis was executed in Georgia despite substantial questions about whether he committed the murder that put him on death row. Hank Skinner has just received a stay only two days before his scheduled execution in Texas, which incomprehensibly continues to fight DNA testing of key evidence that could prove Skinner's innocence -- or reaffirm his guilt.Given how unwilling the courts and … [Read more...]
If I believed in the death penalty I would need to feel sure, at the very minimum, that the legal system could reliability assess guilt and innocence. This would require trained, experienced and un-conflicted trial counsel, principled prosecutors who prioritized justice over winning, and a meaningful appellate process in which the trial proceedings were carefully reviewed and all available … [Read more...]
Condoleeza Rice, George W. Bush's former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State, has a disturbing habit of engaging in fantasy. For example, her unsubstantiated assertion of Iraq's nuclear capability, culminating in her famous remark that "we don't want the smoking gun to be amushroom cloud." Of course, there was neither a smoking gun nor a mushroom cloud.Then there was her … [Read more...]
California's death penalty needs to be abolished. Putting aside the philosophical and spiritual questions about the immorality of the death penalty, it is costly, arbitrary, discriminatory, and unworkable. It serves no useful purpose while diverting needed resources from true public safety programs. (See, e.g., Death Rattle For California, California's Unusually Cruel Death … [Read more...]
On October 20, 2011, Alabama executed Christopher Johnson, who was convicted of killing his infant son in 2005. Despite Johnson's substantial history of mental illness, the trial judge granted his request to represent himself, and removed his attorneys, who were pursuing a not guilty by reason of insanity defense.Christopher Johnson, as detailed by Equal Justice Initiative, had been in … [Read more...]
As Republicans stymie President Obama's judicial nominees at an unprecedented rate, they are fond of arguing that the Democrats did it too. They cite the admittedly contentious confirmation hearings of Robert Bork, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was defeated in 1987. Bork, however, in contrast to the relatively moderate, uncontroversial nominees put forward by Obama, was a radical … [Read more...]
As I have previously written, "evolving standards of decency" is a phrase used in Eighth Amendment jurisprudence to analyze whether a given practice is cruel and unusual. To date the Supreme Court has refused to find that capital punishment offends "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society."Nevertheless, that our "standards of decency" are considered to be … [Read more...]
We met at a gay wedding. I’ll call him David. His wife was the matron of honor for one bride, my wife the matron of honor for the other. We were at the rehearsal dinner ordering margaritas at the bar when we were introduced:“Andy meet David. Andy represents people on death row. David is a cop.”David seemed like a good guy. I don’t think I had ever made small talk with a … [Read more...]
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