“Recommended this week” features highlights from the past week in news about the death penalty, crime survivors, and trauma-informed responses to crime.
Restorative Justice: Why Do We Need it?, Brave New Films
EJUSA believes restorative justice can transform our justice system. Now a new film by Brave New Films explains why.
The Death Penalty Is Finally Dying. Here’s Why., Sojourners
Another piece by the incomparable Shane Claiborne with a powerful call to action: “Let’s all find a way to get in the way of death — and put our voice, our vote, our bodies in the way of the machinery of death until we make the death penalty history, once and for all.”
My mom is in prison for murdering my grandma, but she doesn’t deserve the death penalty, Fusion
The death penalty has split families apart, forcing relatives with different views on the issue to engage in a polarizing debate at the time when they need each other most. When the defendant and victim are related, like in this case, families are even further torn apart.
In this case, a teenager must cope with the murder of a grandparent while also suffering the new layer of trauma and grief of a parent being on trial for her life.
How much does the death penalty cost Nebraska? Economist stands by his $14.6 million-per-year figure, despite criticism, Omaha World Herald
After 4 weeks of exhaustive review, the Omaha World-Herald affirmed the conclusion by a Nebraska economist that the death penalty is costing Nebraskans millions of dollars each year above the cost of life imprisonment.
“The greater weight of the evidence suggests the death penalty costs more than life in prison without parole. Beyond a reasonable doubt, death penalty cases involve more lawyers, they generate more appeals and they demand significantly more court time to resolve than other serious felonies.”
The Long Defense of the Alabama Death-Row Prisoner Doyle Lee Hamm, The New Yorker
This Alabama death row inmate is alive today mostly because of the dogged work of his attorney, Bernard Harcourt, who has helped him through decades of court filings and investigations into his troubled past. In two weeks, the Supreme Court is scheduled to take up what could be Hamm’s final round of appeals, to evaluate a conviction and capital sentence that have been dubious from the start.
‘Think Twice’ Group Opposes Codifying Death Penalty Into OK Constitution, Oklahoma’s Own News on 6
Supporters and opponents of the death penalty are joining together to work against this ballot measure in Oklahoma, saying it is unnecessary and is an attack on the separation of powers of the three branches of government.
Why the Death Penalty is Dying in Texas, KUT 90.5 Austin
Could Texas be the next state to rethink its death penalty?
