Five More Innocent Prisoners Freed From Death Row

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) reports on the fourth and fifth exonerations of 2009. The word "exoneration" is a term of art that indicates that the State itself has decided that the prisoner in question did not, in fact, commit the homicide -- in other words, that an innocent man or woman has been held on death row.

DPIC's article gives the details on these exonerations:

The risk that innocent people could be executed remains high, as illustrated by the two most recent exonerations from death row. Ronald Kitchen was freed from prison Illinois after the state dismissed all charges against him on July 7. He had spent 13 years on death row and a total of 21 years in prison. Governor George Ryan had commuted his sentence to life in 2003, along with all other death row inmates.

Kitchen's original conviction was derived largely from a coerced confession, having been subjected to a torturous interrogation under the supervision of the notorious police Commander Jon Burge. Herman Lindsey was freed from Florida's death row on July 9 after the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled for his acquittal.

The court noted: "[T]he State failed to produce any evidence in this case placing Lindsey at the scene of the crime at the time of the murder. Indeed, we find that the evidence here is equally consistent with a reasonable hypothesis of innocence." Lindsey was convicted in 2006, clearly indicating that wrongful convictions continue to occur in capital cases.

There have now been 5 exonerations in 2009, the other three being Nathson Fields in Illinois, Paul House in Tennessee, and Daniel Moore in Alabama. Exonerations have occurred in 26 states. Since the start of 2000, there have been 51 exonerations. During that same time, there have 572 executions, indicating a disturbing error ratio. There were 4 exonerations in 2008.

The Beginning of the End of Capital Punishment?

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting today that in Jefferson Parish, which has sent 28 prisoners to Louisiana's death row, prosecutors and juries are slowing down the pace of capital prosecutions and sentences.

The story points out that:

"It has been five years since a Jefferson Parish jury recommended a death sentence and four years since prosecutors tried a capital case. While suspects have been indicted on capital murder charges in some high-profile homicides, prosecutors later reduced the charges to second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence. Now, one person is charged with capital murder in Jefferson Parish.

* * * *
But observers say Jefferson Parish is in line with a national trend away from capital prosecutions, which have declined 65 percent since 1999, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization in Washington.

'This is certainly not a unique response by [Jefferson Parish District Attorney] Paul Connick,' said capital punishment opponent Nick Trenticosta of the Center for Equal Justice in New Orleans, which steers death sentence appeals. 'It's a response all across America. Offices all over the country are cutting back on the death penalty.'

'Executions are down, death sentences are down, capital prosecutions are down,' said lawyer Denny Leboeuf of New Orleans, a death penalty opponent who directs the ACLU's John Adams Project in New York."

This is true in Mississippi, also. According to the website of the Mississippi State Office of Capital Defense Counsel, the last death sentence imposed in Mississippi was in November of 2007 -- twenty months ago.

Could it be that the juries of America -- even in the Deep South -- have decided that the death penalty just doesn't work, and that life imprisonment without parole is sufficient to protect the community and punish the offender, without involving the community in the death of another human being? Time will tell.

Conservative Icon Calls For Abolition of Capital Punishment

Richard Viguerie is not a household name. But he is one of the elite strategists who brought Ronald Reagan and (later) Newt Gingrich to power. As early as 1961 he became executive secretary of Young Americans for Freedom. In 1975 he founded Conservative Digest. He pioneered the use of electronically-targeted direct mail, which maintained the conservative movement and raised millions upon millions of dollars for conservative politicians.

Mr. Viguerie is not the brand of political thinker I would choose. But you should read the opinion piece he has written: When Governments Kill: A conservative argues for abolishing the death penalty," published in the July 2009 Sojourners magazine.

He writes:

"The fact is, I don’t understand why more conservatives don’t oppose the death penalty. It is, after all, a system set up under laws established by politicians (too many of whom lack principles); enforced by prosecutors (many of whom want to become politicians—perhaps a character flaw?—and who prefer wins over justice); and adjudicated by judges (too many of whom administer personal preference rather than the law).

Conservatives have every reason to believe the death penalty system is no different from any politicized, costly, inefficient, bureaucratic, government-run operation, which we conservatives know are rife with injustice. But here the end result is the end of someone’s life. In other words, it’s a government system that kills people.

* * * *
This is why I am joining my friend Jim Wallis in a coalition of liberals and conservatives calling for a national moratorium and conversation about the death penalty, so people can study, learn, think, pray if they wish, about whether or how the various state death-penalty systems should be changed. I hope you’ll join us."

I applaud Mr. Viguerie's courage and candor. Perhaps more conservatives will join after hearing his call to apply their principles to this barbaric practice of injustice.

NYT Certifies: She's The Real Thing

Today's New York Times has an interesting article on Circuit Judge Sonya Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. It answers a lot of questions I have heard from my friends on the Left since her nomination. Given that the President has a penchant for Establishment appointees like Treasury Secretary Geithner, and given that Judge Sotomayor was a prosecutor before she was appointed as Federal District Judge by President George HW (Daddy) Bush, these friends ask: is the President making the most of his opportunity to re-shape the debate in the Supreme Court?

The answer, happily, is a resounding "yes." According to the Times, in the 1980's Judge Sotomayor was on the board of directors of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), a civil rights advocacy group in New York. The Times reports:

Ms. Sotomayor joined its board in 1980 when she was a young prosecutor in Manhattan and fresh out of Yale Law School. It was full of young, idealistic Latino lawyers like her who were eager to make a mark.

“She just believed in the mission,” Luis Alvarez, a former chairman of its board, said of Ms. Sotomayor. “This was a highly refined group of individuals who came from the premier academic institutions. It was almost like Camelot. It was a wonderful growth period.”

But Ms. Sotomayor stood out, frequently meeting with the legal staff to review the status of cases, several former members said. And so across her 12 years on the board — she left when she was appointed a federal judge in 1992 — she played an active role as the defense fund staked out aggressive stances on issues like police brutality, the death penalty and voting rights.

Among Judge Sotomayor's interests in those advocacy days was capital punishment. As the Times explains:

Ms. Sotomayor was part of a three-person committee of the board that recommended in 1981 that the fund oppose the reinstitution of the death penalty in New York State, according to board minutes from that time.

“Capital punishment is associated with evident racism in our society,” the panel wrote. “It creates inhuman psychological burdens for the offender and his/her family.”

I'm sure this aggravates the hell out of the Right, and it probably scares some on the Left who would prefer a "stealth" nominee -- one who has a hidden philosophy that is only disclosed after confirmation (you can put current Chief Justice Roberts in the category). But this President doesn't shirk the fight. The old politics of trying to "put a fast one" by the electorate by appointing people with no public record is OVER.

Let the debate begin.

PS: For the record, I like Secretary Geithner too.

Dr. West Bites Back

When we last visited, I was astonished by the chutzpah of Dr. Stephen Hayne and Dr. Michael West, the Fabulous Forensic Fabricators who videotaped autopsies that, according to recognized experts in the field, committed "forensic fraud" by, among other things, pressing a defendant's bite mold into a deceased child's chin so as to make "bite marks."

You can see the video for yourself at:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/131527.html

And my previous post is:

http://jimcraigsworld.blogspot.com/2009/02/quacks-with-bite-forensic-fabrications.html

Now Dr. West has surpassed himself. Dr. West gave a whining screed of an interview with the Clarion-Ledger's Jerry Mitchell published here:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902280349

Give the poor guy a shoulder to cry on, and who knows what you might learn:

I've exonerated three or four times as many people as I've convicted," he said. "I'm a little old dentist from Hattiesburg, and I've got the top lawyers in the country coming after me. The New York Times wrote an editorial on me. Why? They can't stand the evidence."

Yep, that's it. The Gray Lady bothered to write an article about a Hattiesburg dentist because they "couldn't stand the evidence." I'm sure the editors in Manhattan spend all day worrying about Mississippi defendants.

But in any event, which exonerations would you be talking about, Dr. West? Not Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks. After spending more than 15 years each in prison for crimes that they didn't commit, Mr. Brewer and Mr. Brooks were set free in hearings. The District Attorney personally apologized to them.

But Dr. West not only didn't exonerate them -- he still thinks they were involved in the crimes! Jerry Mitchell reports:

In each case, West testified he found those men's bite marks on the victims.

More than a year ago, DNA identified the real culprit, who told authorities he strangled, sexually assaulted and killed two, 3-year-old girls. He said he never bit them.

West - who said he hasn't practiced forensic dentistry in three years - stands by his testimony he gave in those trials, saying the two men must have bitten the girls before they were killed.

Oh, well. I guess we'll find those exonerated prisoners some other time. Or maybe we need to use Dr. West's famous blue light to find them. You know, the one he uses to see evidence nobody else can see. (Yes, he really says that).

But the most interesting thing about the West interview is that he revealed this stunning secret:

He said, "I'm personally opposed to the death penalty."

Shut my mouth. All this time the Periodontal Prevaricator has been sending prisoners to death row for crimes they didn't commit, he was really against capital punishment deep in his heart.

What's next? Dick Cheney is "personally opposed" to gun control? Rush Limbaugh is "personally opposed" to prescription drug abuse?

In the world where Michael West's blue light shines, anything is possible.

An Idea That Has Run Its Course -- Prison Population Explosion

Federal judges in California have ruled that the state must cut its prison population by 40 percent, possibly requiring the early release of 58,000 prisoners. CNN's story is here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/10/california.prisons/index.html

The court says that the prison population explosion has resulted in unsafe and unsanitary conditions that threaten the health and lives of prisoners and corrections personnel.

At the same time, California's budget crisis have led many to wonder if capital punishment is worth the cost. The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, a bipartisan group created by the State Senate, reported last summer that the death penalty process is "dysfunctional." At that time, the Los Angeles Times reported:

Although commissioners strongly disagreed on some issues, they were unanimous in concluding that the current death penalty system was failing and in agreeing that a large amount of money was needed for significant change. The report offers alternative proposals for reform.

The commission did not advocate abolishing the death penalty but did note that California could save $100 million a year if the state replaced the punishment with sentences of life in prison without possibility of parole. Death row prisoners cost more to confine, are granted more resources for appeals, have more expensive trials and usually die in prison anyway, the commission said in its 117-page report.

The full story is here: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/01/local/me-death1

The costs have become so staggering that even in Marin County, which stands to gain from the proposed construction of a new death row facility at San Quintin, the local paper advocates abolishing capital punishment on cost grounds:

In these times of unprecedented budget shortfalls and financial crisis, it's important to understand how the state is spending that $250 million on the death penalty:

- $117 million is for the extra costs of death row housing, attorneys for the prosecution and defense, and court costs. These are the extra expenses we pay every year to have the death penalty in California-expenses that would disappear if we replaced the death penalty with permanent imprisonment (which has no opportunity for parole), but expenses that are required as long as we have a death penalty.

- $136 million is to begin construction of a new death row facility. We are forced to build a new death row because our current facility is overcrowded and broken down. The total estimated cost for completing the project is now $400 million and the costs for running the facility are estimated at $1 billion for the first 20 years.

The full Marin Independent Journal editorial is here: http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_11441239

This is not just a California phenomenon. The criminal justice system in the United States is based upon the application of two ideas -- mass incarceration and capital punishment -- that have repeatedly failed to achieve the goals of rehabilitation or deterrence.

It's time for a fresh, no-holds-barred analysis of what we CAN do, after a person is proved to have broken the law, to keep our communities safe, restore the offender to a society, and heal their victims.

New ideas, anyone?

Holding Prosecutors Accountable -- Could It Happen Here?

From the Death Penalty Information Center (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/), an interesting news item:

Death Penalty Misconduct May Force District Attorney's Office into Bankruptcy

The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office in Louisiana may file for bankruptcy because of a multi-million dollar law-suit award stemming from the office’s misconduct in a death penalty case. John Thompson, a former death row inmate, was awarded $14 million after he was exonerated due to the withholding of evidence by the former District Attorney. Thompson spent 18 years in prison, including 14 years on death row in Angola. The jury award was recently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The District Attorney’s office said it can’t pay this and other settlements and will resort to bankruptcy in an effort to stay open. “If those funds aren’t there, those people can’t afford to work for free,” said Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission. “That means it shuts down the district attorney’s office, but it also shuts down the entire criminal justice system.”

The District Attorney’s office was already financially troubled, recently asking the City Council for $2.5 million to avoid laying off 20 workers. “It’s been hard so far – very hard,” said District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro. If the office goes bankrupt, the state's attorney general would have to assume prosecution of cases, but that would take months of preparation and expense since that office does not ordinarily perform this function. ("Orleans Parish DA's Office Faces Bankruptcy," MSNBC.com, January 8, 2009).

My Question:

Do the Federal and State Courts in Mississippi have the political courage to hold prosecutors and other law enforcement officials accountable for misdeeds and constitutional violations? The recent lawsuits against Dr. Stephen Hayne and Dr. Michael West may start a new trend here -- unless our judges turn a blind eye to injustice . . .

2009 Legislation on Capital Punishment Issues

From Mississippians Educating for Smart Justice (http://www.mesj.info/):

2009 Legislative Update: Capital Punishment

The United States Supreme Court has said that any criminal punishment, including the death penalty should reflect the “conscience of the community,” and its application should be measured against society’s “evolving standards of decency.” Events in our state in 2008 should trouble the consciences of Mississippians. In the past year, we have seen:

· the exoneration of Kennedy Brewer, an innocent man who spent 13 years on death row;

· the exoneration of Levon Brooks, another innocent man who was convicted of murder and imprisoned for 16 years;

· the execution of Earl Berry, a mentally retarded man;

· the execution of Dale Bishop, a mentally ill man who was merely present during a killing while the actual murderer received a life sentence; and

· the forced resignation of Dr. Stephen Hayne, the de facto State medical examiner whose testimony has been crucial in condemning many of the prisoners on Mississippi’s death row.

Thoughtful Mississippi must contemplate the absurdity of continuing a system that has delivered such horrific injustices. Proposals expected to be introduced in the 2009 Legislative Session address these issues.

Compensate the Innocent. More than 120 people have been freed from death row since 1973, after their innocence was vindicated by DNA analysis and other proof. Polls show that the American public is deeply concerned by the prospect of sending more innocent men and women to their deaths. Many are skeptical of such claims, but in the wake of the State’s admission that Kennedy Brewer was innocent of the charges that held him on Death Row for 13 years, we are faced with the likelihood that there are others like him in Parchman.

State Representative Willie Perkins has introduced House Bill 189 and House Bill 200. These bills would compensate people wrongly convicted of crimes. Mississippi is one of the few states without such a system; we send wrongly incarcerated people home with only an apology. To be certain, compensation will never fully redress the wrong inflicted on innocent prisoners and their families, but it will reflect a measure of repentance for that wrong. It may also serve to hold the State’s agents – whether prosecutors, law enforcement officers, or appointed defense counsel – accountable for their misconduct.

Both of Rep. Perkins’ bills have been referred to the House Corrections and Appropriations Committees. They can be followed at:

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2009/pdf/history/HB/HB0189.xml

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2009/pdf/history/HB/HB0200.xml

Stop the Executions of Those Who Do Not Kill. The bipartisan outcry against the unfairness of executing Dale Bishop, a mere accomplice, while the actual killer in the case was sentenced to life, proves that Mississippians do not support the arbitrary application of the death penalty. Of the over 1,100 prisoners executed in the United States Since 1976, Bishop was only the eighth person to be executed who was not either the actual killer or the payor in a murder-for-hire.

As the Clarion-Ledger reported in July 2008, neighboring States such as Louisiana or Alabama would not permit a mere accomplice to be executed. Representative John Mayo has introduced House Bill 29, which would adopt this rule in Mississippi. It has been referred to the House Judiciary En Banc Committee. It can be followed at:

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2009/pdf/history/HB/HB0029.xml

Moratorium. These two proposals, of course, are merely the beginning of a moral response to capital punishment in Mississippi. Those who work with Death Row prisoners know that capital punishment does not deter crime; most persons who commit murder are seriously mentally ill, high on drugs or alcohol, or desperately impoverished. They do not undertake a “cost-benefit” analysis before killing their victim.

The death penalty is not needed to prevent repeat murders. Society is more than adequately protected by incarcerating murderers for life without parole. In that event, if later proof shows the prisoner is actually innocent, he would be alive and could be released and compensated. That is certainly not the case today. And the families of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment can continue to visit their loved ones; when a prisoner is executed, his or her family suffers as well.

If deterrence and the protection of society are insufficient to justify the death penalty, why keep it? Some argue that the families of victims deserve retribution. This is doubtful both factually and morally. Although the cost per execution varies from state to state, the fact that prosecuting, appealing and inevitably executing those sentenced to death costs much more per case than that of those given a life without parole sentence is indisputable. With 64 death row prisoners in our state, can we afford to continue such a costly and fallible practice?

Spending that same money on assisting the families of murder victims, such as college funds established for minor children of murder victims, low interest mortgage loans, retribution payments, would be a far more Christian response than fostering revenge.

The fact is that more study of these issues is desperately needed. Representative Mayo has sponsored House Bill 145, imposing a moratorium on executions pending such a study. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary En Banc Committee and can be followed at:

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2009/pdf/history/HB/HB0145.xml

Conclusion. These bills should be important to Mississippians who seek to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before [their] God.” Micah 6:8. They are commended to your further study and support.