Category: Ready for launch

Re-imagining What’s Possible

You might notice some differences in this issue of our newsletter. For starters, the name. Not to mention our logo,
tagline, and overall look. The fact is, EJUSA has been changing and growing for a long time. Now, our outside is catching up to our insides.

Where we were: Moratorium Now!

The 1980s and ‘90s saw an avalanche of exonerations from death row. They provided a window into all the things that can go wrong in a criminal case. The death penalty was suddenly under a national spotlight, its fairness and accuracy called into question.

In 1997, the American Bar Association called to suspend all executions until these issues were studied and addressed.

EJUSA and other organizations seized the moment to launch a grassroots campaign for a moratorium. We called it Moratorium Now!

Three years later, Illinois Republican Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions. Maryland quickly became the second state to impose a moratorium. And just one year later, North Carolina’s State Senate voted ‘yes’ on moratorium.

These “ceasefires” provided an opportunity for an objective and reasoned analysis of the death penalty’s flaws. Studies and investigations in a variety of states revealed a system that was hopelessly broken. The political inertia that once characterized the movement to end the death penalty was forever shattered.

From Moratorium to Repeal

The era of moratoria changed America’s conversation about the death penalty. Death penalty supporters came to believe that it was a failed system and couldn’t be fixed. National repeal organizations grew – groups like the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, and of course, EJUSA.

New York and New Jersey became the first two states to end the death penalty completely, in 2007. New Mexico repealed its death penalty in 2009, Illinois in 2010, and Connecticut in 2011. Many more states have come close to repeal. California,Kansas, Maryland, and Montana all appear to be on track to repeal their death penalties within the next few years. The era of repeal is here.

Setting our sights higher

We always knew that the death penalty’s failures were just a microcosm of what was wrong with the entire criminal justice system. Getting rid of it wouldn’t magically transform our system into one that worked. But it would remove one major obstacle to that broader vision. As we worked hand in hand with families of murder victims on repeal campaigns, however, we learned that the needs were too urgent to wait until the death penalty was gone.

Victims’ family members taught us that services like counseling to cope with trauma, financial assistance for lost wages, funeral expenses, help navigating the legal process, and time off from work are sorely lacking. This neglect is especially pronounced in communities of color, where people are most likely to be victimized by crime.

The consequences are disastrous. Crime survivors are more likely to experience lifelong mental health issues, which can lead to unemployment, divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, and more – some of the same factors that fuel continued violence

Yet the criminal justice system – often in the name of crime victims – ignores many of those needs and focuses only on what we do to the offender after the fact. This reactive approach is failing all of us.

Our makeover is more than a paint job. It is our effort to articulate a new vision of justice that works for everyone – one that prevents violence before it occurs, helps crime victims rebuild their lives, and creates opportunities for former offenders so they won’t repeat the harm.

Ending the death penalty will remain our primary work. Now we will round it out with a new program to help crime survivors in underserved communities to advocate for their needs. And we will continue to build bridges to find common ground solutions that keep us all safer.

We look forward to working with you to realize our renewed vision.

Filed under: Ready for launch

Botched Executions: A Regular Occurance

A new study finds that 3 percent of executions in the United States were “botched.” What the study doesn’t tell you is the ripple affects of harm these botched executions can take. Every execution requires a team of corrections officers who watch the inmate in his or her final days, who strap the inmate to the gurney, who insert and reinsert the needles, and who remove the inmate from the gurney following the execution. They are the ones who deal with grisly reality of botched executions. Some corrections officers, haunted by the experience of putting people to death, have committed suicide, turned to alcohol, or suffered mental and physical health problems. Botched executions, botched system.

Filed under: Ready for launch

The Wrong Carlos: More Evidence That Texas Executed an Innocent Man

In 2006, the Chicago Tribune published a three-part investigative report that revealed the execution of Carlos DeLuna in Texas in 1989 may have been a case of mistaken identity. Today The Columbia Human Rights Law Review published The Wrong Carlos – a book-length study of the case that chronicles in shocking detail the massive series of errors that led to DeLuna’s execution.

“Carlos DeLuna’s execution passed with little notice. No one cared enough about the defendant or the victim to make sure they caught the right guy. Everything that could go wrong in a death penalty case did go wrong for DeLuna,” said Columbia Law School Professor James Liebman, the lead author of the book. “Sadly, DeLuna’s story is not unique. The very same factors that sent DeLuna to his death – faulty eyewitness testimony, shoddy legal representation, and prosecutorial misfeasance – continue to put innocent people at risk of execution today.”

Liebman’s study documents how DeLuna was convicted on the basis of one nighttime eyewitness and no forensic evidence. DeLuna maintained that another man, Carlos Hernandez, committed the crime. But his defense was derided as “some other dude named Carlos” and not taken seriously. The lead prosecutor went so far as to tell the jury that the other Carlos was a “phantom” of DeLuna’s imagination.

But Carlos Hernandez did exist and, according to the study, he was well-known to police and prosecutors for committing violent crimes similar to the murder of Wanda Lopez – the crime that sent DeLuna to death. Hernandez was even arrested for another murder using a similar weapon while DeLuna was on death row.

The study is available at http://thewrongcarlos.net, along with police photos, court records, audiotape of the police hunt that led to DeLuna’s arrest, news clips, video interviews, and more. You can also read today’s coverage of the new study by The Atlantic and The Guardian.

Filed under: Ready for launch

Judge finds evidence of racial bias in North Carolina death sentence

In the first case heard under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), a judge found that racial bias played a significant role in the death sentence given to Marcus Reymond Robinson 18 years ago. Robinson’s sentence was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The RJA, passed in 2009, allows death row inmates in North Carolina to challenge their death sentences if they can prove that race was a factor in their sentencing.

An editorial in the Winston-Salem Journal hailed the Robinson ruling and the RJA itself, “The RJA addresses racial bias in the pursuit and imposition of the death penalty. The evidence of that should be obvious to anyone who has been awake in this state in the last 30 years… in the Cumberland County case, justice prevailed.”

Other members of the media said the RJA doesn’t take North Carolina far enough. The News & Record editorial board wrote, “Doing away with the death penalty and converting all death sentences to life in prison will save time and money. Those are practical reasons for ending capital punishment. There are more profound considerations: the chance of executing an innocent person; the unequal distribution of justice, when some murderers die and others live; and the changing attitudes of society.”

A New York Times editorial added, “The Supreme Court, 25 years ago, said it was the duty of the states to address racial prejudice in the administration of the death penalty. Only a small number have actually done so. The Racial Justice Act is a laudable effort and the ruling in this case corrects a gross injustice. But the persistence of racial bias in far too many states is a powerful reason that the death penalty should be abolished in North Carolina and throughout the country.”

Filed under: Ready for launch

25th Anniversary of McCleskey v. Kemp

April 22nd marks the 25th anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in McCleskey v. Kemp. In this controversial decision the court ruled that it was “inevitable” that minorities would be treated worse by the criminal justice system and that the Constitution is only violated where it is proven that a specific person in a specific case intentionally discriminates against the defendant because of his or her race.

The Supreme Court’s decision protects criminal justice laws and policies from being challenged on the basis that they have a racially disparate impact. The decision set the stage for more than two decades of increased racial disparities within the criminal justice system by codifying the racial imbalance that has come to define criminal justice in America.

In recognition of the upcoming anniversary we invite you to learn more about the decision and it ongoing impact on the criminal justice system:

Filed under: Ready for launch

Victims’ Family Members Call for Repeal in Connecticut

Last week, two dozen family members who lost loved ones to murder gathered at the Connecticut state capitol to highlight the death penalty’s harmful impact on victims’ families.

“The death penalty is not given out equally,” said Khalilah Brown-Dean, whose cousin was murdered. “It’s about saying certain cases are more important than others, certain crimes are more heinous than others. We see that there’s bias in terms of class, social class, and gender and for families it’s really a slap in our face.”

The speakers also released a letter signed by 179 Connecticut residents who all lost loved ones to murder. The letter called on the legislature to immediately repeal the death penalty. The coalition of victims’ families calling for repeal has more than doubled since last year, when their letter had 76 family members signed on.

In 2009 Connecticut passed a bill that would have repealed the death penalty, but it was vetoed by then Governor Rell. In 2011 repeal seemed like a done deal until two pro-repeal senators decided to delay their votes until 2012. Ever determined, supporters of repeal are back again this year with bills under consideration in both legislative houses.

Victims’ families have also launched a blog to provide an ongoing space for their voices to be heard. You can read their powerful testimonials at www.ctvictimvoices.org.

EJUSA’s Colleen was on the ground in Hartford during last week’s press event. “These tenacious family members won’t stop until the people making decisions on their behalf begin to understand the real needs of victims. It is an honor to learn from these incredible individuals about how the system fails them over and over again, and to work with them for policies that will do better.”

This year promises a lot of action and opportunity for repeal advocates, and we need your help. If you’re a Nutmegger, please take action at www.ejusa.org/act/CT. And if you aren’t a Connecticut resident, please share the link with those you know who are!

Filed under: Ready for launch

Troy Davis was executed. September 21st, 11:08 EST.

Right now I am mourning. I am sad, outraged, and angry. I am full of emotions I can’t even name. I know many people like you feel the same way right now.

Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia tonight, at 11:08pm EST after an awful, 4-hour roller coaster in which the Supreme Court delayed the execution but then refused to issue a stay.

The case against Davis fell apart years ago. Now he is gone but the heavy cloud of doubt about his guilt still hangs over all of us.

We have been grieving the loss of Officer MacPhail and wishing for peace for his family. Tonight another family begins their mourning.

If you would like to send along a note of condolence to the Davis family, EJUSA is collecting messages and will deliver them later this week.

Thank you to everyone who tried to prevent this terrible moment from happening.

Davis’ case inspired faith leaders from across the globe, political leaders from across the ideological spectrum, and hundreds of thousands of citizens to speak out for justice. We demonstrated a powerful show of unity and strength that we will carry forward.

You can help channel this outcry towards an end to the death penalty once and for all. Support EJUSA and become a partner in our work for justice. Then post this link on Facebook, Twitter, and other blogs and social media sites. Grieve and mourn with the world – and tell everyone to get involved.

Today is a painful one. But tomorrow is a new day. And we must keep fighting.

Filed under: Georgia, Ready for launch

Californians Changing Their Minds on the DP / Interactive Map of the DP Worldwide

  • Donald A. McCartin was known as the “hanging judge” because of his record of sentencing nearly a dozen men to death in Orange County, California. But now he’s changed his mind and thinks California should get rid of the death penalty entirely. Find out why in this amazing op-ed in the LA Times.
  • When Gil Carcetti was Los Angeles County district attorney, he sought the death penalty in dozens of cases. Like McCartin, Carcetti also shares in a recent op-ed why he believes the California death penalty does not, and cannot, work.
  • Interested in how many nations have evolved on the death penalty over the last 50 years? This cool map by Amnesty International allows you to scroll through time and see how far we’ve come.
Filed under: Ready for launch

The biggest year yet for Maryland?

Maryland lawmakers are practically clamoring to show their support for a new bill that would end Maryland’s death penalty. At a press conference yesterday it was unveiled that the bill has received a record number of co-sponsors: 21 Senate co-sponsors (24 are needed for passage) and 61 House co-sponsors (71 are needed for passage).

Maryland has a long history of ambivalence towards capital punishment. In 2003 it became the second state ever to impose a moratorium on executions. In 2007 and 2009, bills to end the death penalty gathered tremendous momentum and gained support from members of law enforcement, murder victims’ family members, and Governor Martin O’Malley himself. In 2008 a statewide commission called for repeal of the death penalty after six months of study.

In 2009, legislature actually passed a reform that made Maryland’s death penalty the narrowest in the nation. This helped reduce the risk of executing an innocent person, but it did not eliminate the risk, nor did it address any of the many other flaws with the system.

And the new procedures have made the trial process far more complicated. Juries now have to deliberate in three separate phases instead of two, driving up costs while dragging victims’ families through an agonizingly extended trial process.

Maryland has learned the critical lesson that the more you try to fix the system, the worse it gets. They have come close before, and every year brings justice a step closer.

If you live in Maryland, now is a great time to get involved. Contact your representatives today and tell them that ending the death penalty is the only real solution.

Filed under: Ready for launch

New poll shows views on the death penalty are changing

A new nationwide poll shows that the majority of Americans now support alternatives, such as life without parole and restitution for victims, over the death penalty. It also shows that the death penalty is simply not the hot button issue people used to think it was. Most poll respondents said that if their representatives supported repeal of the death penalty, it would either make them more likely to vote for them or would make no difference.

Read more of the poll results here.

Filed under: Ready for launch