Current News About the Death Penalty
State needs to give serious review to death penalty
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The Olympian
January 20, 2010
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An Olympian
editorial raised a question of critical concern to the citizens of
Washington. Do we believe that the death penalty is the most effective
and just response to the most heinous crimes in our state?
The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Committee for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty has been interacting with the public for the past
20 years. I and other members of this committee have engaged in
conversations with thousands of local citizens and heard their concerns
about capital punishment.
In addition, we conducted a scientifically valid survey in order to
learn more about what Thurston County voters think about this issue.
The survey’s major finding was that voters were open to replacing the
death penalty with a reasonable and effective alternative. In
Washington state, of course, we do have that workable alternative: life
in prison without the possibility of parole.
The most troubling aspect of the death penalty for survey respondents
was the possibility of executing an innocent person. This was prior to
the headline news that Illinois — which had executed 13 persons — had
released 12 innocent persons from death row. Nationwide, 139 persons
since 1973 have been released from death row because of wrongful
convictions.
As we have talked with people at various community events, we have
found that many are surprised to learn that the death penalty actually
costs more than life in prison without possibility of parole, and that
the greatest costs associated with capital punishment occur prior to
and during the original trial, and not in appeals. Citizens are
dismayed to know that the death penalty diverts resources from programs
that would actually reduce crime.
It’s always interesting to welcome foreign visitors to our information
tables, and to hear their concern that the U.S. continues to use a
method of punishment that European and other nations have long ago
abandoned. We are reminded that the death penalty is losing support
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internationally, and that at least 139 nations have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.
Visitors to our death penalty information tables often — and
understandably — express their contempt for perpetrators of violent
crime, and they are surprised to learn that the death penalty is not
effectively targeting “the worst of the worst.”
Citizens are disturbed to learn that it’s easier to predict who will be
executed by looking at the defendant’s income level, race, geographical
location, and the race of the victim, than by considering the nature of
the crime. A minority race defendant who is poor and accused of killing
a white person is more likely to face execution than a defendant who is
white, wealthy, and accused of killing a minority race victim.
Accused persons who are prosecuted in some Washington counties are more
likely to be subjected to the death penalty than are persons accused of
similar crimes in other counties. The differences often are due to
political or budgetary pressures.
We agree with The Olympian that it’s time for a major public
examination of the death penalty. We do need to talk about it. More
than that, citizens of Washington are looking to their legislators and
the governor to provide leadership in overturning capital punishment in
our state. There’s an opportunity right now for citizens to voice their
support of House Bill 1909 and Senate Bill 5476, which would eliminate
the death penalty in favor of life in prison.
Our experience over the past 20 years is that the more people know
about the death penalty, the more troubled they are that our state
still clings to this expensive, unjust and ineffective response to
crime.
Alice M. Curtis, a member of the Olympian Board of Contributors, is a
school social worker and social justice advocate. She can be reached at
amcurtis2010@gmail.com. |
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| Death penalty cases costly; instead, seek life sentences |
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The Spokesman-Review
November 3, 2009 |
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Stevens
County is balking at accepting the death penalty case of Christopher H.
Devlin, because of the enormous costs associated with mounting such
cases. It’s a valid concern, because the county is already facing a
$1.2 million deficit.
“I have no doubt
that the defense cost of Mr. Devlin and the costs to prosecute this
case would be a serious blow to the solvency of Stevens County,” county
prosecuting attorney Tim Rasmussen told The Spokesman-Review. He noted
that a similar case cost Okanogan County $750,000.
While cost shouldn’t be the only concern in prosecutions, it’s become
clear that a death penalty charge imposes a financial burden that isn’t
worth it. That’s also true of larger counties, especially as they try
to dig themselves out of deep budgetary holes. It can mean more
pressure to reach plea agreements in other cases or employee layoffs or
cutbacks in service.
The Devlin case was investigated by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office
and the death penalty charge was brought by Spokane County, because the
body of Daniel D. Heily was found near Deer Park. But investigators
have since heard from a co-defendant who says the killing took place in
Stevens County.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque ruled last month that because the
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crimes took place in two counties, the defendant could decide where to mount a defense. Devlin chose Stevens County.
Rasmussen contends that the judge wants
Spokane County to prosecute the case with a Stevens County jury. He
says Spokane County should pick up the tab. Spokane County Deputy
Prosecutor Dale Nagy says his interpretation is that the entire case –
costs included – shifts to Stevens County.
This financial hot potato shows why it is a wiser course to seek life
sentences, with no possibility of parole, for defendants like Devlin.
Despite popular misconception, it is cheaper to imprison and feed a
“lifer” than it is seek an execution. Once such a conviction is
obtained, a series of lengthy appeals will begin. Many more death row
inmates die of natural causes than executions, but the delays are
necessary because of the irreversible nature of the punishment.
Spokane County dodged a bill of $1 million or more when it decided
against the death penalty for convicted serial killer Robert Lee Yates
Jr. The same is true with Kootenai County in the case of Joseph Duncan.
We certainly do not weep for these killers, and if Devlin is guilty, we
have no sympathy for him. But they will die in prison. Hastening that
day just isn’t worth it. |
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| Did Texas execute an innocent man? Yes. |
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The New Yorker
September 7, 2009 |
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Due
to the length of this article (19 pages of proof that an innocent man
was murdered by the State of Texas) it is note posted here. Instead, we
include a link to the PDF of the full article.
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| Should death penalty continue? Time to decide. (Editorial from The Olympian.) |
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July 10, 2009 |
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Three
inmates on Washington’s death row took another step closer to execution
recently when Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham ruled
that the state’s lethal injection procedures are constitutional.
Attorneys
for the three condemned inmates say they will appeal Judge Wickham’s
decision to the Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court, so Washington
residents are not likely to see an execution anytime soon.
But
heightened public awareness of these cases prompts a question: Isn’t it
time Washington residents be asked if they still support capital
punishment? After all, it has been 34 years since Washington voters
last had their say on this life-and-death issue.
On
the November 1975 general election ballot was Initiative 316 which
asked whether the death penalty should be mandatory for aggravated
murder in the first degree. A resounding 69.1 percent of the voters
said “yes” to capital punishment. The vote margin in Thurston County
was 19,737 in support, 8,398 opposed.
Fewer
than 1 million voters cast ballots in that election. Compare that with
last year’s presidential election when nearly 3 million votes were
cast. Clearly, the state has millions of new residents who have not
been asked their views on capital punishment. They deserve a say on
such an important social and ethical issue.
OUT OF THE NEWS
The
imposition of the death penalty has not been in the news in recent
years in Washington state. Lethal injection is the prescribed method of
death, but inmates may choose hanging. The last hanging was of Charles
Campbell in May 1994. The state’s last execution was the lethal
injection death of James Elledge in 2001.
After
that interest peaked in November 2003 when Gary Leon Ridgeway, the
“Green River Killer,” pleaded guilty to the murder of 48 women. He
entered a plea in exchange for King County prosecutors taking the death
penalty off the table. Ridgeway is serving life in prison without the
possibility of release.
Victim rights
advocates were sharply critical of prosecutors saying if ever there was
a case warranting execution it was the case of the Green River Killer.
Ridgeway
case and asked why their clients should be subjected to death when
Ridgeway was not held to the same standard for 48 murders. |
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Defense attorneys representing clients in other murder cases with far fewer victims have pointed to the
CLOSE TO DEATH
Capital
punishment was back in the headlines in March of this year when the
state Supreme Court intervened in the case of Cal Coburn Brown, who was
within hours of execution. The court stayed Brown’s execution based on
a case brought by Darold Stenson, another death row inmate who
challenged the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection
procedures. Stenson’s attorneys said the lack of training by staff and
inadequate lethal injection safeguards constituted cruel and unusual
punishment which is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
It
was the Stenson case that was before Judge Wickham. The outcome of the
case affected both the case of Brown and a third murderer, Jonathan
Gentry. Stenson shot his wife and business partner in Clallam County;
Brown tortured and killed a Burien woman; and Gentry killed a
12-year-old girl in Kitsap County.
In his
ruling, Judge Wickham said, inmates for the three men presented no
evidence that the state “intended to impose punishment that was
‘cruel.’ ” Wickham said the method of execution was constitutional
under both the state and U.S. constitutions.
“The
procedure to be used by defendants, although not fail-safe, appears to
have been designed to administer the death penalty in a way that is
humane for the inmate and the observers,” Wickham wrote. “It is an
attempt to provide some dignity to this most grave event.”
While
attorneys for the three murderers promised an appeal, Attorney General
Rob McKenna moved forward to have Brown’s stay of execution vacated.
“Our
thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of these
convicted murderers,” McKenna said. “Today’s decision clears a
significant hurdle, and brings us one step closer to carrying out the
penalties unanimously set by the juries in these cases. My office will
now ask the courts to remove the final barriers between these convicts
and their final justice.”
While the courts
continue to wrestle with the legal issues, it’s time Washington
residents be consulted on their views of capital punishment — either
through the citizen-driven initiative process or through a
constitutional amendment proposed by the Legislature.
Fifteen
states and the District of Columbia have joined Canada, the United
Kingdom, France, Australia and others without a death penalty statute.
Do Washington residents want to add this state to that list? It’s time
they were asked. |
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| Lethal-injection ruling could clear way for Cal Brown execution |
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Seattle Times
July 10, 2009 |
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Attorney
General Rob McKenna plans to ask the state Supreme Court to lift Cal
Coburn Brown's stay of execution now that a Thurston County judge ruled
today that lethal injection is not cruel and unusual punishment.
In
March, Brown was spared by the state Supreme Court less than eight
hours before he was supposed to enter the death chamber because of a
challenge to the lethal-injection. The challenge was filed on behalf of
Brown and fellow death-row inmates Darold Stenson and Jonathan Gentry.
Thurston
County Superior Court Chris Wickham today ruled that lethal injection
does not violate the state or federal constitutions by imposing a cruel
and unusual punishment. The long-awaited decision not only directly
impacts Brown, Stenson and Gentry, it also establishes a clear legal
precedent for all capitol punishment cases in Washington state, McKenna
said.
In the ruling, Wickham said that the
inmates presented no evidence that the state intended to impose
punishment that was 'cruel.'... "
"The
procedure to be used by defendants, although not fail-safe, appears to
have been designed to administer the death penalty in a way that is
humane for the inmate and the observers," Wickham wrote. "It is an
attempt to provide some dignity to this most grave event."
McKenna
said that Wickham's ruling clears up any questions over whether the
three-drug cocktail used in lethal injection violates cruel and unusual
punishment protections established by the state Constitution.
Washington's lethal injection protocols are in line with execution
methods in Kentucky, whose system was upheld last year by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
"We're very happy Judge Wickham
issued such a strong ruling," McKenna said this morning. "The question
whether lethal injection violates the state Constitution under the
prohibition of cruel punishment hadn't been heard before.
"This is an important case for the execution method as a whole," McKenna added.
Seattle
attorney Sherilyn Peterson, who is representing Stenson, said the
ruling will be automatically appealed to the state Court of Appeals.
She said the legal team for the three men will also ask the state
Supreme Court to review the decision as well. |
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"We're disappointed," Peterson said today. "We feel the judge made a number of erroneous legal rulings."
While
the case continues to wind through the courts, McKenna said he will ask
the state Supreme Court to lift a stay in Brown's case so the state
Department of Corrections can push ahead with his execution. Stenson
and Gentry have not yet exhausted all of their state and federal
appeals, McKenna added.
Brown was convicted of
the 1991 rape, torture and murder of Holly Washa, 22, in a motel near
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The
lawsuit did not seek to end the death penalty in Washington. Instead
lawyers for the three men had asked to have the three-drug cocktail
banned in favor of a single drug, sodium thiopental. The drug is the
first medication used in the fatal three-drug cocktail.
Washington
mimics many states by using the three drugs in the death chamber.
Sodium thiopental, the first drug, is a high-powered barbiturate used
for anesthesia. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the
muscles with a suffocating effect. The third, potassium chloride, stops
the heart.
Seattle attorney Scott Englehard
who is representing Gentry, argued that sodium thiopental is enough to
end a life without the combination of the two other drugs, which often
yield painful results.
The lawsuit also argued
that Washington's lethal injection procedures are sloppy and
inconsistent, so that inmates might be partially conscious when fatal
drugs flow into their veins. If that happened, the condemned person
could be subjected to suffocation and excruciating pain.
Stenson
was to have been executed Dec. 3, but his case was stayed at the
last-minute because of the lethal injection concerns and because
another inmate came forward with information about possible new
suspects. Stenson killed his wife and business partner in Clallam
County in 1993.
Gentry didn't have his
execution date scheduled when he tagged on to the lethal injection
lawsuit. He killed a 12-year-old girl in Kitsap County in 1988.
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
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| State's top prisons doctor quit over execution policy |
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Seattle Times
June 23, 2009 |
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About two years ago, Dr. Marc Stern tripped over a jarring line in Washington's death-penalty policy:
As
head doctor for the state's 16,000 prison inmates, he had to ensure the
state's lethal-injection table was in working order before each
execution.
"This is ludicrous," Stern, then
medical director for the Department of Corrections (DOC), remembers
telling his boss. "I can't do this. I won't do this. I'm not allowed to
do this."
That was the beginning of Stern's
unlikely evolution into a hero of the anti-death-penalty movement. He
quit the DOC late last year on the eve of a scheduled execution,
formally accused the DOC of illegally obtaining the lethal-injection
drugs and, last month, was a star witness for death-row inmates
challenging their executions in court. He is heralded on blogs and
recently received a letter from Denmark's Amnesty International
praising his "brave, difficult and recommendable act" of quitting.
Stern
says he opposes the death penalty but insists he is no zealot for the
condemned. Instead, he felt he had to quit when he found out some of
his 700 health-care staffers had become involved in preparations for an
execution.
To Stern, medical-ethics policies
as far back as the 4th century B.C. — Hippocrates' admonition to do no
harm — apply to his actions and to his supervision. If he couldn't play
a role, neither could his staff. And he wasn't willing to suggest
alternatives, because that would, indirectly, assist in the execution.
But
little did Stern know at the time, his staff was far more involved than
he imagined, according to depositions taken as part of a pending
lawsuit filed by two condemned inmates challenging the
constitutionality of the lethal-injection procedure.
And with three potential executions within the next year, the question of medical ethics and executions is likely to grow.
States are "in a bind"
Stern,
a trim 55-year-old, gravitated to prison health care after studying at
medical schools in Belgium and New York and working at clinics for
veterans and the poor.
It may seem naive, he
now admits, but he did not ask about the death penalty when he was
recruited from New York's prison system in 2002 to overhaul
Washington's prison health-care system.
"It simply wasn't on my radar," Stern said. "There were a lot more important issues on my doorstep."
Washington
last executed an inmate in 2001, using a three-drug lethal-injection
cocktail used by about 30 states. Eight men currently are on death row
in the state.
Stern, who earned $173,000 a
year, soon was handed a $125 million-a-year budget and hire-and-fire
authority. He became a nationally known expert, giving ethics lectures
to peers.
The death penalty was a distant
issue for Stern until 2007, when he saw a draft of the lethal-injection
policy requiring him to inspect the execution table.
The
American Medical Association (AMA), like other medical groups,
admonishes physicians from any direct role with lethal injections,
including "an action which would assist, supervise, or contribute to
the ability of another individual to directly cause the death of the
condemned."
Richard Deiter, executive director
of the Death Penalty Information Center, said he knows of a handful of
physicians willing to act as roving consultants for lethal injections,
but relatively little is known about the involvement of medical staff
because of secrecy surrounding executions.
"States
are in a bind because they are bound to avoid cruel or unnecessarily
painful punishment, and this is a medical procedure, so doing all you
can means usually having a doctor involved," Deiter said. "The best
course of action is one that is ethically compromised or questionable
[for physicians]."
For Stern, the AMA's code
was clear. All medical procedures in a prison — including insertion of
an IV for lethal injection — ultimately fell on his shoulders as head
of medical training. "If a nurse put in an IV and missed, and it turned
out the chain of training was bad, that's my responsibility," Stern
said.
After explaining to his supervisors
about the strength of his objections, Stern felt reassured. "I thought
we'd fixed the problem," he said last week.
Crossing "the line"
But
last fall in Walla Walla, as the state prepared for its first execution
in eight years, prison medical staff were busy helping with the plans,
according to the depositions.
A physician
assistant checked the veins of the condemned, Darold Stenson, marking a
chart with red pen where an IV could be inserted. A pharmacist ordered
the lethal cocktail and gave the drugs to the prison superintendent to
store in his office refrigerator.
The prison's
medical director, a nurse, attended at least eight practice sessions
with the four-member lethal-injection team, including some held on the
kitchen countertop at a team member's home. One member was recruited
out of retirement for $3,500. It is unclear whether any of the four
members worked for Stern because their identities are secret, but
Sherilyn Peterson, a Seattle attorney presenting Stenson, believes some
must have. "I'd think they have to have been because the DOC policy
requires a minimum [medical] qualification," she said.
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Washington State's death chamber
It
is clear non-DOC health-care staff were involved. A former Washington
state toxicologist consulted on appropriate dosages. An Oregon doctor
has certified the death — a job the AMA specifically bans — for the
past four Washington executions, dating to 1993, according to the
depositions.
Stern said he knew none of this
until recently but does not believe his staff intentionally ignored his
orders. "I think [DOC's Olympia headquarters] believed the health-care
staff were following the line in the sand I laid out," he said. He now
believes prison administrators in Walla Walla, who were enlisting the
health-care staff, never heard of his objections.
But
Scott Blonien, a DOC administrator involved in the planning, said he
didn't know of Stern's line in the sand. Nor was such a rule
appropriate, Blonien said.
"It would have been
just as inappropriate as putting in the policy, 'You shall
participate,' " Blonien said. "What [Stern] was trying to do was inject
his own personal beliefs on the persons below him in the chain of
command."
"What else is going on?"
A
few weeks before Stenson's scheduled Dec. 3, 2008, execution, Stern
asked DOC Secretary Eldon Vail if he could send a memo to penitentiary
staff reaffirming his "line in the sand," and instructing them to
continue treating Stenson as a typical inmate. No need to send a memo
about his ethical objections, Stern remembers Vail saying.
About
a week later, Stern first learned staff had crossed his line. A
pharmacy staffer asked Stern how to account for unusual drug
requisitions from Walla Walla. Stern recognized the lethal-injection
cocktail instantly.
Stern first wanted the
drugs returned, and then wanted to investigate for other involvement.
The drug requisition, he believed, may have been illegal under state
and federal laws because they had not been ordered from prescription
and had been stored improperly.
"I thought, 'My God, what else is going on? What nurse may have been asked to look at veins?' "
Stern
went to his Tumwater home over the weekend before Thanksgiving, hoping
the problem still could be fixed. But when he got back to work, he was
told the drugs would not be returned. His other objections were moot.
After
he quit, he filed complaints to the state Department of Health and the
Drug Enforcement Administration about the drugs. Both complaints were
closed without any consequences.
"A moral-code issue"
In
the days before he resigned in November, Stern consulted with Dr.
Robert Greifinger, former medical director of New York's prison system
who quit in 1995 after being ordered to be involved in an execution.
"It is a moral-code issue," Greifinger said. "It has nothing to do with
execution as a means of punishment. It's the physician role."
Since
he quit, Stern has taught at the University of Washington and worked as
a consultant on a project to improve medical-records access in the
state's jails.
Stenson's execution — and two
others scheduled for last March — were all stayed, pending various
further court actions. In March, the four-member execution team quit
for fear their identities would be disclosed in a pending lawsuit.
Blonien,
the DOC administrator, said it is possible medical staff from outside
DOC would be hired for lethal injections, but, with no executions
imminent, that decision has not been made.
But
the issue that made Stern quit remains. A doctor who assumed some of
his duties has lodged similar objections about involvement of DOC
staff. No changes have been made to the state execution policy, but
Vail, the DOC secretary, took the issue "under advisement," according
to a spokeswoman.
Stern said he is willing to discuss his resignation with medical-ethics groups, but he has avoided anti-death-penalty groups.
"You
only have a limited amount of yourself to go around and to devote
yourself to," he said. "For me, I don't think that's in the death
penalty."
Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com |
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| Washington State's Execution Team
Resigns |
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April 4,2009 |
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The
members of Washington state's execution team have resigned. The members
stepped down because they feared their anonymity was at risk.
The
state's execution team consists of four people. They're responsible for
inserting IV lines and administering drugs during a lethal injection.
The state requires that they have experience drawing blood or providing
emergency medical care. But attorneys for three death row inmates say
the procedure is too nuanced to be performed humanely under the state's
guidelines. They want information about the team member's
qualifications to perform this job. But rather than turn that
information over the team members resigned.
Dick
Morgan is a director with the State Department of Corrections. He says
the superintendent is the only one who knows the identities of the team
members. Morgan says once that information leaves the superintendents
office, there are no guarantees it will remain confidential.Morgan:
"The department from that point on could no longer have any control
over the legal process and whether or not those documents would remain
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confidential with that judge. They could for example wind up being a part of some further legal process."
Attorney
Sherilyn Peterson represents death row inmate Darold Stenson. His
December execution was halted in part because of this specific lethal
injection challenge. Peterson says she's only interested in the teams
qualifications, not their identities. Peterson: "Disclosure of
identities even to the court wasn't going to happen.
The
disclosure information based on the qualifications training and
experience was only going to go to the court and that information was
going to be returned to the attorney generals office for safe keeping
after that. So there was no risk that any identities would be
disclosed. It makes you really wonder, if in fact what the problem is,
if there was information that they realized was going to make it clear
that they are not capable."
The legal issues
around the state's guidelines for lethal injection have yet to be
resolved. Peterson says until they are resolved it's unlikely any
executions will go forward.
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| NM House votes to abolish the death penalty |
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Associated Press
February 12, 2009
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SANTA
FE — The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to abolish New
Mexico’s death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life in prison
without parole.
The legislation passed on a vote of 40-28, and headed to the Senate.
Twice before, in 2005 and 2007, the House approved a death penalty
repeal only to have it fail in the Senate.
This year, repeal supporters are banking on a different outcome because there are new members in that chamber.
“If everyone who told us they would vote with us stays, we will pass
the Senate,” predicted Viki Elkey, executive director of the New Mexico
Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty.
A final hurdle would be Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, who has been a
supporter of capital punishment in the past.
Asked about it this week, he said only, “I’ll take a look at it.”
There are two men on death row, Robert Fry of Farmington and Timothy
Allen of Bloomfield, whose executions would not be prevented by the
passage of the bill.
New Mexico has executed one prisoner since 1960, child killer Terry
Clark in 2001. The state uses lethal injection.
Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, who has sponsored similar legislation
for the past decade, called repeal a “thoughtful and practical step.”
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“We no longer need the death penalty. Its costs far outweigh its benefits,” she said.
Chasey contended capital punishment is expensive, doesn’t deter violent
crime and is imposed in a discriminatory manner.
And
the state has come close to executing innocent people, she said. She
cited a case from the 1970s in which four California bikers were on
death row for the murder of a University of New Mexico student until
the real killer came forward.
Supporters of repeal say the resources the state puts into capital
punishment could better be spent helping murder victims’ families.
State law limits the death penalty to certain murder cases, including
those involving kidnapping, rape, the murder of police officers, prison
guards or inmates, and murder for hire and murder of a witness.
Opponents of the bill said such victims’ families deserve to keep the
option of urging prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
“I don’t want to take that away from the victims’ families,” said Rep.
William Rehm, R-Albuquerque.
And opponents argued that murderers in prison for life — with nothing
else left to lose — would be a danger to prison guards and to other
inmates, and could escape and kill again.
Rendering such killers harmless is “a false hope,” said Rep. Dennis
Kintigh, a Roswell Republican. |
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| Investigating
the Source of Lethal Injection Drug in Stayed Stenson Case |
KUOW Radio
January 9, 2009 |
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The
State Department of Health is investigating the way the State
Department of Corrections obtained the lethal injection drugs for the
currently stayed execution of double murderer Darold Stenson. KUOW's
Patricia Murphy reports.
UNTIL RECENTLY, DR MARC
STERN WAS THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH SERVICES AT THE DEPARTMENT
OF CORRECTIONS. HE RESIGNED LAST MONTH OVER ISSUES SURROUNDING THE
EXECUTION OF DAROLD STENSON. ONE OF THE ISSUES PROMPTED STERN TO NOTIFY
THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION. QUITE
BY ACCIDENT STERN DISCOVERED THAT ONE OF THE PHARMACISTS AT THE STATE
PENITENTIARY WAS ASKED TO PROVIDE THE DRUGS NEEDED FOR THE LETHAL
INJECTION.
STERN: "There was no prescription provided written by a physician or a
licensed practitioner in the state of Washington. The medications were
provided; I believe to a non–healthcare person I am not sure if they
were labeled appropriately for dispensing."
THE ETHICAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT'S ALLEGED ACTIONS
TROUBLED STERN. EVERY MAJOR MEDICAL ORGANIZATION EXPLICITLY PROHIBITS
HEATH CARE WORKERS AND PHYSICIANS FROM PARTICIPATING IN AN EXECUTION.
STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT A LEGAL PRESCRIPTION BE WRITTEN FOR MEDICATIONS
DISPENSED FROM A PHARMACY. FURTHER ONE OF THE DRUGS USED DURING A
LETHAL INJECTION, SODIUM THIOPENTAL, IS REGULATED BY THE
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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UNDER THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.
STERN: "I did ask them to
return the medications and find the medications some other way.
Initially they said they would try to do that then they told me they
would not."
SCOTT BLONIEN IS THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.
BLONIEN: "It is the departments position that the state legislature in
enacting a bill that provided for lethal injection inherently gave the
department the authority to acquire the drugs to accomplish that
execution."
STERN'S ACTIONS HIGHLIGHT AN INTERESTING ASPECT OF THE LETHAL INJECTION
PROCESS. STATE LAW SEEMS TO PROVIDE THE SUPERINTENDENT THE LEGAL MEANS
TO POSSES THE DRUGS BUT PROVIDES NO MECHANISM FOR THE ACQUISITION OF
THOSE DRUGS.
THE DEA WOULD NOT CONFIRM OR DENY WHETHER THERE IT'S INVESTIGATING
STERN'S COMPLAINT. A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DONN MOYER
CONFIRMED THAT A PHARMACY BOARD PANEL DEEMED THAT AN INVESTIGATION
SHOULD BE CONDUCTED.
MOYER SAYS IT COULD BE A WHILE BEFORE THE PHARMACY BOARD MAKES A
DETERMINATION IN THE CASE. PATRICIA MURPHY KUOW NEWS. |
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| High Court stay's Brown's execution |
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Seattle P-I
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by Levi Pulkkin
The Washington Supreme Court has stayed the
execution of condemned killer Cal Coburn Brown, issuing a split
decision less than eight hours before Brown was due to die.
In the 5-4 ruling issued Thursday afternoon,
the court rejected a lower court decision issued Wednesday and ordered
that Brown, who was sentenced to death nearly 16 years ago, be allowed
to join a lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection protocols.
The high court's decision will, at the very least, delay Brown's execution until August.
Brown,
50, was sentenced to death in the 1991 torture killing of Holly Washa,
a 22-year-old hotel worker Brown abducted near a SeaTac hotel.
According
to court documents, Brown told investigators he tortured and raped
Washa during a two-day period before slashing her throat and leaving
her body in the trunk of her car near Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport.
An autopsy later revealed that Brown
had inflicted 42 distinct injuries on Washa, including electric burns
caused when Brown repeatedly shocked her with an extension cord.
Police
in Palm Springs, Calif., arrested Brown days later when he attempted a
similar assault on a woman there. He was convicted of both attacks and
sentenced to death in 1993 by a King County jury.
Hours
before the court's decision Thursday, Washa's family asked the state
clemency board to clear the way for Brown's execution.
"We are looking for closure," said Becky Washa, the victim's youngest sister.
In
a statement, state Attorney General Rob McKenna offered condolences to
Washa's family and friends, several of whom drove from her Nebraska
hometown to witness the execution. McKenna said he remains optimistic
that Brown's sentence will ultimately be carried out.
"This
ruling merely delays the execution of Cal Coburn Brown," McKenna said.
"We believe the trial court will rule the state's lethal injection
protocol is constitutional."
Gil Levy, a defense attorney for Brown, said his client was "just elated" by the court's decision.
"He did a terrible, terrible thing," Levy said. "But he's somebody who wants to live."
Brown had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection shortly after midnight at the Washington State Penitentiary near Walla Walla. But, due to the Supreme
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Court decision, his sentence has been stayed until the outcome of death row inmate Darold Stenson's lawsuit.
The
five justices moving to grant the stay offered little insight into the
reasoning behind their decision, issuing only a two-page order just
after 4:30 p.m. Thursday. No written opinion is expected, a spokeswoman
for the court said; the four dissenting judges indicated they would
write a substantive rebuttal.
In writing for
the majority, Associate Chief Justice Charles Johnson was joined by
justices Barbara Madsen, Richard Sanders, Tom Chambers and Debra
Stephens. Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and justices Susan Owens, Mary
Fairhurst and James M. Johnson dissented.
Gov.
Chris Gregoire was cagey in her response to the high court's decision,
saying in a statement only that she "respect(s) the decision of the
court in this deliberative process."
Minutes
before the ruling, the state Clemency and Pardons Board issued a 2-2
split decision on the case that would have forced Gregoire to decide
whether Brown received a reprieve. Addressing the clemency board
Thursday, Brown took responsibility for killing Washa and apologized
for his crimes.
"I cannot begin to tell you
how sorry and ashamed I am for what I've done," Brown told the board.
"She haunts me. She haunts me to this day, every day."
In
his appeal to Thurston County Superior Court, Stenson alleges that the
state's lethal injection protocol can cause undue pain and suffering.
As
in similar lawsuits around the country, attorneys for Stenson and Brown
argue that second and third of the three drugs administered during
execution -- a paralyzing agent and a drug that stops the heart -- can
cause extreme pain if the initial sedative is improperly administered.
Prosecutors
with the state Attorney General's Office have disputed the merits of
Brown's claim and argued that the statute of limitations precludes him
from making the last-ditch appeal.
A jury
trial on the matter is scheduled to begin in May in Thurston County. If
his appeal fails, Brown's execution would be rescheduled 45 days after
the jury returns a verdict.
If executed, Brown
would become the fifth defendant put to death since the state resumed
executions in 1993, and the first from King County killed under the
existing law. Seven other men are on death row
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/403482_brown13.html
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| Washington State must abandon the death penalty |
By Robert F. Utter, Special to the Seattle Times |
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THE
impending execution of a man in Washington State faces us with the
question of whether the death penalty serves the state and its citizens
well and whether it fulfills the reasons for which it was initially
passed.
Since my resignation from the
Washington State Supreme Court in 1995 to protest the death penalty,
many things have changed. Public support for the death penalty has
fallen dramatically over the past 14 years. Since 1995, death sentences
in America have declined more than 60 percent, reversing a
generation-long trend toward greater acceptance of capital punishment.
Friday's
planned execution of Cal Coburn Brown for the 1991 torture and slaying
of Holly Washa, 22, would be the first Washington state execution since
2001. The Supreme Court this week declined to stay the execution.
Most
Americans continue to support the death penalty for the truly guilty.
However, the discovery of innocence in more than 130 cases where people
have been sentenced to death, exonerated and released is one more
reason to question the need for retention of the death penalty. DNA
testing is a partial answer, but even that is available in less than 10
percent of all homicides and is no guarantee we will not execute
innocent people.
As for punishment and
protection, life in prison without the possibility of parole is
available in 48 states, including Washington, and prevents criminals
from reoffending. It means what it says — 23 of 24 hours a day locked
in a tiny cell is not coddling. Traditional objections — such as cost,
delay and questionable deterrence given uncertainty and randomness of
application — still exist. As does rejection of the death penalty by
most civilized societies, including the more than 50 members of the
Council of Europe.
My original reasons for
resignation still apply. I then stated: "I believe society has a right
to protect itself by imposing life sentences without the possibility of
parole.However, it became obvious that there were certain inherent
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contradictions
that made unfairness and discrimination not merely uncontrollable
accessories of the punishment of death, but its very essence."
One
of the reasons for my resignation was the failure of the court to
conduct meaningful proportionality reviews as required by Washington
law. In 2006, the court came within one vote of finding the death
penalty had been applied in an arbitrary and irrational manner. The
dissent noted: "The death penalty is like lightening, randomly striking
some defendants and not others."
The death
penalty was not imposed on Green River killer Gary Ridgway or on
Benjamin Ng and Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, who gunned down 14 people in the
1983 Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle. Where the death penalty is not
imposed on those who committed the worst mass murders in Washington's
history, on what basis do we determine on whom it is imposed?
In
addition, many states are now examining the question of cost and have
pointed out that capital cases cost three times as much as homicide
cases in which the death penalty is not sought. They have done this
reasoning that there are better and cheaper ways to reduce crime.
Lawmakers
in Maryland, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and New Mexico are
currently examining the merits of this argument. Gov. Bill Richardson
of New Mexico, a longtime supporter of the death penalty with growing
concerns about miscarriages of justice and the current era of austerity
and tight budgets, is saying he may sign a bill repealing capital
punishment.
Retaining the death penalty fails to serve either justice, public safety or the public purse.
[Robert
F. Utter served on the Washington state Supreme Court from 1971 until
his 1995 resignation protesting the death penalty. ] |
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| Washington prison doctor
quits over death penalty |
By
Adam Wilson The Olympian, 12/24/08 |
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The state Department of Corrections' top
medical officer has resigned, saying that the use of agency staff members
to prepare for an execution is unethical.
Dr. Marc Stern, who
lives in Olympia, said the American Medical Association and Society of
Correctional Physicians oppose physician involvement in executions, "and
they say physicians should not supervise somebody who is involved in
executions."
"The only way out we found was for me to recuse
myself, and the only way I could recuse myself was to resign," he said.
The agency had been set to execute Darold Ray Stenson, convicted of
murder, this month. The execution has been postponed.
Stern
said he supervised about 700 people in prisons and other corrections
facilities statewide. He said at least one of the people he supervised had
been involved in execution preparations at Walla Walla State Penitentiary.
He told his superiors that he objected to his division's involvement,
but no solution was found, he said.
Scott Blonien, assistant secretary
of the department, characterized Stern's objections as more individual
than professional.
"It's clear to us that Marc had a personal,
ethical conflict, and we respect that. There's nothing we would want to do
in the department to cause someone to commit a violation of their personal
ethics," he said.
Taking part in an execution is voluntary for all
department employees — a policy found in other states and the federal
prison system, Blonien said. That policy was in place in 2001, the last
time an execution was held in Washington, he said.
The American Medical
Association says physicians
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shouldn't take part in "an action which would
assist, supervise, or contribute to the ability of another individual to
directly cause the death of the condemned."
Stern declined to say
what action by his subordinates concerned him.
Blonien said Stern
had expressed concern that the department did not have authority to get
the drugs used for a lethal injection. Blonien added the agency checked
with the Attorney General's Office and thinks it has authority to acquire
and use the drugs under the law that authorizes injection as a form of
execution.
No other department worker has resigned or complained
about the pending execution, although outside groups have protested it,
Blonien said.
"The department understands that some people have
some strong personal, philosophical issues with regards to the death
penalty," he said. "Folks have the option of opting out."
Stern
stressed that he was not angry with agency executives, but he felt
involving any of his staff members was wrong.
He wasn't with the agency
last time an execution was conducted in Washington, and his position
expanded three years ago to include administrative authority over health
workers, he said. In previous executions, penitentiary medical staff would
report to the prison superintendent.
Stern said the ethical
conflict isn't personal.
"This has nothing to do with my personal
opinion of the death penalty. It has strictly to do with the recognized
professional ethics," he said. |
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