I've always been a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, not so much on the political side of things as opposed the silver screen, but my opinion of him is dropping rapidly.
It began in Sacramento on Wednesday when the California Governor announced that he planned to 'borrow' an eye-watering $64 millions from the already almost-broke General Fund. Why? Well, to build a new death row facility at San Quentin of course!
It gets worse. $64 million is nothing - the new facility is expected to cost upwards of $400 million in total.
California doesn't need more debts. Even if you're in favour of the death penalty, I bet you can't look me in the eyes and say that this will be $400 million well spent.
California already has the largest and most expensive death row in America - by FAR. There are over 700 death row inmates in California. Los Angeles County alone sends more people to death row than the entire state of Texas. And yet, nearly all of California's death row might as well be sentenced to life without parole - they nearly all die of natural causes as opposed to state-sponsored murder.
And each of those pointless death sentences is costing the state a small fortune. The state could save at least $1.1 million in each trial if it was seeking permanent imprisonment instead of the death penalty. That's just the trial. The annual cost of California's death penalty is $126 million. Per year.
So take that $400 million figure and make it more like $1 billion in five years.
To summarise, Governor Schwarzenegger could save the California taxpayers a heck of a lot of money if he would only chuck the death penalty out of the window and commute all the current death sentences to life imprisonment. No imate gets of lightly. Justice is still served - and quickly - for murder victims and their families; no decades of waiting and having the ordeal dredged up with every new appeal and clemency hearing and execution date set and reset. It is basically a cheaper, quicker and less painful way of doing things for everyone involved.
Thank you to James Clark, Death Penalty Field Organiser of ACLU California, who wrote the report this post is based on.
If you have any ideas how that $64 million could be better spent, why not Tweet Governor Schwarzenegger and let him know. Tweet @Schwarzenegger Say No to Death Row! Spend #64million on [insert your preferred state program] #cabudget.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Alabama executes Michael Jeffrey Land
Michael Jeffrey Land (41) was put to death on Saturday August 14th by the state of Alabama.
Land was convicted of the 1992 murder of Candace Brown, a 30 year old mother who was kidnapped from her home and later found dead on Ruffner Mountain. She had been shot in the head.
When asked if he had any final statements, Land said: "No. Thank you though."
Chris Summers, the Chaplain of Holman Correctional Facility, then got on one knee and held Land's hand. He prayed with him until Land became unconscious.
Land was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m. at Holman Prison, Atmore. He had been on Alabama's death row for 17 years. He is the third inmate to be put to death in Alabama this year, the 47th overall since Alabama resumed the death penalty in 1983, and the 1223rd in the USA since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
Land was convicted of the 1992 murder of Candace Brown, a 30 year old mother who was kidnapped from her home and later found dead on Ruffner Mountain. She had been shot in the head.
When asked if he had any final statements, Land said: "No. Thank you though."
Chris Summers, the Chaplain of Holman Correctional Facility, then got on one knee and held Land's hand. He prayed with him until Land became unconscious.
Land was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m. at Holman Prison, Atmore. He had been on Alabama's death row for 17 years. He is the third inmate to be put to death in Alabama this year, the 47th overall since Alabama resumed the death penalty in 1983, and the 1223rd in the USA since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Ohio executes Roderick Davie
Roderick Davie (38) was executed by lethal injection in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility on Tuesday morning.
Family of Davie's two victims sat quietly together as the execution proceded.
Davie was convicted of the 1991 murder of a man and a woman at his former workplace in Trunbull County. In the attack he also shot a man three times who lived to attend the execution.
After making a final statement in which he apologized to the family members of his victims and the survivor of his attack, as well as thanking his own family for their love and support, the lethal cocktail was administered. The warden pronounced him dead at 10:31a.m.
Davie is the seventh death row inmate to be executed by Ohio this year, and the 40th since 1999.
Family of Davie's two victims sat quietly together as the execution proceded.
Davie was convicted of the 1991 murder of a man and a woman at his former workplace in Trunbull County. In the attack he also shot a man three times who lived to attend the execution.
After making a final statement in which he apologized to the family members of his victims and the survivor of his attack, as well as thanking his own family for their love and support, the lethal cocktail was administered. The warden pronounced him dead at 10:31a.m.
Davie is the seventh death row inmate to be executed by Ohio this year, and the 40th since 1999.
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Taliban flogs and executes pregnant woman
35 year old pregnant widow Bibi Sanubar was publicly flogged and then executed by the Taliban in Afghanistan on Sunday.
The Afghan woman was accused of having had an "illicit affair" which left her pregnant. She was kept in captivity for three days, punished with 200 lashes in public, and was then shot three times in the head.
Taliban commander Mohammad Yousuf is said to have carried out the execution before the woman's body was dumped in an area under government control.
A Taliban spokesman on Monday denied that the militia was responsible for Sanubar's death:
"We have not done anything like that in Badghis or any other province" said Qari Yosuf Ahmadi. He called the report "propaganda" by foreigners and the Western-backed Afghan government.
The execution has been confirmed by Mohammad Nasir Nazaari, head of Badghis provincial council. He said the Qadis district, where the execution was carried out, was entirely under Taliban control.
Since their ouster in 2001, hardline Taliban militants have executed many people accused of spying for foreign forces, including children as young as 7 or 8, and another woman, a mother of five, whose death has been watched by millions after secret film of her publicly being dragged out, forced to kneel and shot in the head was leaked.
Abdul Qadir Rahimi, head of the Afgan Independant Human Rights Commission in western Afghanistan, condemned Sunday's killing:
"Any such trial is unacceptable and is a violation of human rights. All trials must take place in an authorised court observing every single measure of justice."
Any execution is a violation of human rights, I believe. But this... If this is what the world has come to, we ought to hang our heads in shame.
The Afghan woman was accused of having had an "illicit affair" which left her pregnant. She was kept in captivity for three days, punished with 200 lashes in public, and was then shot three times in the head.
Taliban commander Mohammad Yousuf is said to have carried out the execution before the woman's body was dumped in an area under government control.
A Taliban spokesman on Monday denied that the militia was responsible for Sanubar's death:
"We have not done anything like that in Badghis or any other province" said Qari Yosuf Ahmadi. He called the report "propaganda" by foreigners and the Western-backed Afghan government.
The execution has been confirmed by Mohammad Nasir Nazaari, head of Badghis provincial council. He said the Qadis district, where the execution was carried out, was entirely under Taliban control.
Since their ouster in 2001, hardline Taliban militants have executed many people accused of spying for foreign forces, including children as young as 7 or 8, and another woman, a mother of five, whose death has been watched by millions after secret film of her publicly being dragged out, forced to kneel and shot in the head was leaked.
Abdul Qadir Rahimi, head of the Afgan Independant Human Rights Commission in western Afghanistan, condemned Sunday's killing:
"Any such trial is unacceptable and is a violation of human rights. All trials must take place in an authorised court observing every single measure of justice."
Any execution is a violation of human rights, I believe. But this... If this is what the world has come to, we ought to hang our heads in shame.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
DNA clears innocent man in Houston... after 27 YEARS behind bars
In 1983, Green was sentenced to 75 years in prison for the rape of a Houston woman. His conviction was based on faulty eyewitness identifation, says his attorney, Bob Wicoff.
27 years in prison is the longest time that any innocent Texan has spent in prison before being exonerated. If he is freed, Green will become the second innocent man from Harris County to be released from prison THIS WEEK. Last Friday, Allen Wayne Porter was also released based on new DNA testing after serving 19 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit.
In this case, justice prevailed. Hallelujah. It's terrible that an innocent man spent such a large portion of his life jailed for someone else's crime, but at least this story has a happy ending. If this had been a death penalty case, the reality is he probably would have been executed 20 years ago. This is Harris County's second exoneration in a week. How many more innocent men are sitting in unjustified prison cells? I wonder. How many are on death row right now? If we want to see justice prevailing like this and innocent men being handed their lives back, we must have a moratorium on the death penalty. The next innocent man might not be so lucky.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Ohio executes William L Garner
Ohio executed William L Garner (37) at 10:38 this morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
Garner died by lethal injection for the 1992 arson in Cincinnati which resulted in the deaths of 5 children. The lone survivor of the crime, Rod Mack, who was just 13 at the time, was amongst the witnesses at Garner's execution.
Garner is the 6th man to be executed in Ohio this year, and the 31st to be put to death so far this year in the US.
Garner died by lethal injection for the 1992 arson in Cincinnati which resulted in the deaths of 5 children. The lone survivor of the crime, Rod Mack, who was just 13 at the time, was amongst the witnesses at Garner's execution.
Garner is the 6th man to be executed in Ohio this year, and the 31st to be put to death so far this year in the US.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
URGENT APPEAL FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Kevin Keith is a 46 year old African American male who is scheduled to be executed in the state of Ohio on September 15th for 3 murders he has always claimed he did not commit.
On February 13th 1994, someone fatally shot Marichell Chatman, her 7 year old daughter, and her aunt, as well as injuring her two young cousins and her boyfriend. Keith, an occasional babysitter, was arrested on the 15th of February. Three days later, one of the two cousins who survived the shooting told the police that the gunman was her "daddy's friend, Bruce", and when shown Keith's photo, she said he was not the shooter. But less than 4 months later, Kevin Keith was sitting on death row awaiting execution for the murders.
The prosecution claimed that, whilst in hospital, one of the victim's, Richard Warren, named Kevin Keith as the shooter. A police officer testified that he first heard the name 'Kevin' from Warren's nurse, Amy Gimmets. Amy Gimmets was not called as a witness during trial. In 2007, Keith's lawyers discovered why. No one by that name had ever been employed at the hospital. The victim's attending nurse was a woman named Amy Whisman, who later signed a statement saying that, although she had called the police when Warren woke up after surgery, she had neither asked him nor been told by him who the gunman was.
Keith's attorneys argue that it was the police who suggested the name Kevin to the victim not the other way round, and that immediately after the shooting Warren told four different people that he didn't know who the gunman was. The day after the crime, however, the police called Warren and offered him the names of four 'Kevins', including Kevin Keith, and that Warren then selected 'Keith' as the surname. That phone call was not reported, and so we can't know if it really happened. But when videotaped later that evening, Warren said he did not know 'Kevin's' last name. He was shown photographs of six men including Kevin Keith, and the photo of Keith was the only one providing a facial close-up (a hint-hint, in other words). Warren chose the photo of Keith.
13 US experts in eyewitness identification note that "fault eyewitness identification is the single most likely factor to result in wrongfrul conviction". They concluded that Warren's identification of Keith was "tainted by many factors". The police used suggestive techniques. They hinted at Keith so much that, in his shocked and likely fragile condition, Warren was inclined to start questioning his own uncertainties about the gunman and choose Keith.
Furthermore, how reliable is the testimony of another eyewitness who caught a brief glimpse of the fleeing gunman, initially couldn't identify him, and then only identified him as Keith after Keith appeared on television news???
In light of all this newly discovered evidence that the state withheld evidence favorable to Keith, his lawyers are seeking a new trial and executive clemency.
There is a LOT more evidence which sheds doubt on Keith's guilt, but I'd be here all day writing it down. If you want to find out more, email me and I can send you some stuff. But I personally believe Kevin Keith is about as guilty of those murders as I am (and I was no where near Ohio in 1994, trust me). Amnesty International doesn't know if he's guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced to death, but in any event unconditionally opposes any use of the death penalty anywhere, as I do. That's why I'm doing what I can to spare him from the lethal injection. If you have even the smallest doubt about his guilt, please help.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send appeals as soon as possible to:
Ohio Parole Board
770 West Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43222, USA
Fax: 1 614 752 0600
Email: drc.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us
In your letter, you should:
- Note the serious doubts that have been raised about Kevin Keith's guilt (so if you want to know more, please do get in touch to us at deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk - we're always happy to provide anyone information they require)
- Explain that you do not seek to excuse the murders in this case or to downplay that suffering cause (the pro-death penalty folk are so keen to think of us as sympathisers of murderers...)
-Call on the Ohio Parole Board to recomment that Governor Ted Strickland commute this death sentence.
- And you should start with 'Dear Board members'
There is also a petition you can sign which will be presented to the Board at the hearing on August 11th.
http://criminaljustice.change.org/petitions/view/relief_urgently_needed_for_innocent_man_on_ohios_death_row
The link to the petition is also at the right hand side of the blog.
If you have even the slightest hint of doubt about Kevin Keith's guilt, please try to help. It is wrong to risk innocent lives at any time, but when there is blatant doubt about guilt it is even worse. It will only take a few minutes to send an email, write a letter, or sign the petition. An innocent life could be at stake here.
On February 13th 1994, someone fatally shot Marichell Chatman, her 7 year old daughter, and her aunt, as well as injuring her two young cousins and her boyfriend. Keith, an occasional babysitter, was arrested on the 15th of February. Three days later, one of the two cousins who survived the shooting told the police that the gunman was her "daddy's friend, Bruce", and when shown Keith's photo, she said he was not the shooter. But less than 4 months later, Kevin Keith was sitting on death row awaiting execution for the murders.
The prosecution claimed that, whilst in hospital, one of the victim's, Richard Warren, named Kevin Keith as the shooter. A police officer testified that he first heard the name 'Kevin' from Warren's nurse, Amy Gimmets. Amy Gimmets was not called as a witness during trial. In 2007, Keith's lawyers discovered why. No one by that name had ever been employed at the hospital. The victim's attending nurse was a woman named Amy Whisman, who later signed a statement saying that, although she had called the police when Warren woke up after surgery, she had neither asked him nor been told by him who the gunman was.
Keith's attorneys argue that it was the police who suggested the name Kevin to the victim not the other way round, and that immediately after the shooting Warren told four different people that he didn't know who the gunman was. The day after the crime, however, the police called Warren and offered him the names of four 'Kevins', including Kevin Keith, and that Warren then selected 'Keith' as the surname. That phone call was not reported, and so we can't know if it really happened. But when videotaped later that evening, Warren said he did not know 'Kevin's' last name. He was shown photographs of six men including Kevin Keith, and the photo of Keith was the only one providing a facial close-up (a hint-hint, in other words). Warren chose the photo of Keith.
13 US experts in eyewitness identification note that "fault eyewitness identification is the single most likely factor to result in wrongfrul conviction". They concluded that Warren's identification of Keith was "tainted by many factors". The police used suggestive techniques. They hinted at Keith so much that, in his shocked and likely fragile condition, Warren was inclined to start questioning his own uncertainties about the gunman and choose Keith.
Furthermore, how reliable is the testimony of another eyewitness who caught a brief glimpse of the fleeing gunman, initially couldn't identify him, and then only identified him as Keith after Keith appeared on television news???
In light of all this newly discovered evidence that the state withheld evidence favorable to Keith, his lawyers are seeking a new trial and executive clemency.
There is a LOT more evidence which sheds doubt on Keith's guilt, but I'd be here all day writing it down. If you want to find out more, email me and I can send you some stuff. But I personally believe Kevin Keith is about as guilty of those murders as I am (and I was no where near Ohio in 1994, trust me). Amnesty International doesn't know if he's guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced to death, but in any event unconditionally opposes any use of the death penalty anywhere, as I do. That's why I'm doing what I can to spare him from the lethal injection. If you have even the smallest doubt about his guilt, please help.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send appeals as soon as possible to:
Ohio Parole Board
770 West Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43222, USA
Fax: 1 614 752 0600
Email: drc.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us
In your letter, you should:
- Note the serious doubts that have been raised about Kevin Keith's guilt (so if you want to know more, please do get in touch to us at deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk - we're always happy to provide anyone information they require)
- Explain that you do not seek to excuse the murders in this case or to downplay that suffering cause (the pro-death penalty folk are so keen to think of us as sympathisers of murderers...)
-Call on the Ohio Parole Board to recomment that Governor Ted Strickland commute this death sentence.
- And you should start with 'Dear Board members'
There is also a petition you can sign which will be presented to the Board at the hearing on August 11th.
http://criminaljustice.change.org/petitions/view/relief_urgently_needed_for_innocent_man_on_ohios_death_row
The link to the petition is also at the right hand side of the blog.
If you have even the slightest hint of doubt about Kevin Keith's guilt, please try to help. It is wrong to risk innocent lives at any time, but when there is blatant doubt about guilt it is even worse. It will only take a few minutes to send an email, write a letter, or sign the petition. An innocent life could be at stake here.
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