“Recommended this week” features highlights from the past week in news about the death penalty, crime survivors, and trauma-informed responses to crime.
Supreme Court To Hear Cases Challenging Two Texas Death Sentences, Buzzfeed
The high court agrees to hear the death penalty cases of Duane Buck and Bobby James Moore.
After nearly 40 years, murder charges dropped against Kerry Max Cook in East Texas case, The Dallas Morning News
Kerry Max Cook spent 20 years on death row. This week the murder charges against him were dropped. One of the subjects of “The Exonerated” is finally exonerated.
Supreme Court: Judge can’t rule on a case he helped prosecute, USA Today
In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice should have recused himself in the case of Terrance Williams. The judge in question, Justice Ronald Castille had been the District Attorney of Philadelphia and had participated in Williams’ original death penalty original death penalty trial.
A Major Latino Coalition Just Called For An End To The Death Penalty, ThinkProgress
The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 40 prominent Latino organizations, this week joined the growing, bipartisan list of groups calling for the end of the death penalty, noting that Latinos are “directly affected by its injustices.”
Condemned to Die Because He’s Black, The New York Times
Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree Jr. reacts to the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case of Duane Buck. “Fixing the problem of racism in our criminal justice system is complicated. Fixing Duane Buck’s case is not.”
