New Jersey Abolishes Death Penalty
TRENTON, N.J., Dec. 17, 2007 (CBS/AP)

New Jersey on Monday became the first state in four decades to abolish the death penalty under a bill signed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a move being hailed across the world as a historic victory against capital punishment. Corzine signed the bill at a Statehouse ceremony.

"We have seized the moment and are poised to join the ranks of other states and countries that view the death penalty as discriminatory, immoral and barbaric," said state Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, D- Essex. The bill, approved last week by the state's Assembly and Senate, will replace the death sentence with life in prison without parole.

A special state commission found in January that the death penalty was a more expensive sentence than life in prison, hasn't deterred murder and risks killing an innocent person. "The state is taking a painful but necessary step," said Corzine, a Democrat.

Among the eight spared is Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994. The case inspired Megan's Law, which requires law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living in their communities.

MISSISSIPPI----execution stayed Justices Stay Execution, a Signal to Lower Courts

Moments before a Mississippi prisoner was scheduled to die by lethalinjection, the Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution on Tuesdayevening and thus gave a nearly indisputable indication that a majority intends to block all executions until the court decides a lethal injectioncase from Kentucky next spring.

There were 2 dissenters, Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel A. Alito Jr.,but neither they nor the majority gave reasons for their positions. Because only five votes are required for a stay of execution, it is notclear whether all the remaining seven justices supported it.

The stay will remain in effect until the full court reviews an appeal filed Monday by lawyers for the inmate, Earl W. Berry, who is on death row for killing a woman 20 years ago. While there is no schedule for that review, it will almost surely not take place until the court decides the Kentucky case, Baze v. Rees, which will be argued in January.

Courtesy of Karl Keys:

Several of the concerns of the ABA’s report leaped out of me as having been a consistent problem in Pennsylvania since the Weekly was launched ten years ago:

“Inadequate Procedures to Protect the Innocent. … Since the death penalty’s reinstatement, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has exonerated at least death-row inmates, including Nicholas Yarris, Neil Ferber, William Nieves, Thomas Kimbell, Jr., and Harold Wilson. Despite these exonerations, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has not implemented any policies or procedures that would render the conviction of an innocent. This report is not intended to cover all aspects of Pennsylvania’s capital punishment system and, as a result, it does not address a number of important issues, including for example, cost and deterrence. Although some counties may be in compliance with some or even many of the recommendations contained in this report, the report focused on assessing laws and practices on a statewide basis. Consequently, while the report may highlight county rules and practices, and while individual counties may comply with various recommendations, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as a state, may be in partial compliance or fail to comply with those recommendations. Furthermore, some of the “Areas for Reform” and “Recommendations” found in the Executive Summary may not be pertinent to certain counties.”

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Anyone interested in lobbying against U.S.-sponsored torture and for the restoration of the civil liberties and protections abandoned by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is invited to join in a discussion of lobbying strategies.

Jay O'Hara of Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) will be discussing lobbying against torture and other post-9/11 civil liberties violations.

Monday, March 5th at 7:00pm
Goshen Monthly Meeting
814 North Chester Road (southeast corner of Paoli Pike and Rt. 352)
West Chester, PA

From the Wilmington News-Journal:

All Delaware executions put on hold

All executions in Delaware are now officially on hold.

Today, a federal judge granted class action status to a lawsuit charging the state's method of lethal injection amounts to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

This means a May 2006 stay, which blocked convicted ax murderer Robert Jackson's execution, now applies to the other 15 inmates on Delawares death row.

"It [the judge's order] has formally included these other inmates and based on this today, there will be a formal stay on executions until this case is resolved," said Andy Amsler, spokesperson of Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.

The state had opposed class action status, arguing that it was possible for attorneys to contact each death row inmate to get them to sign onto the lawsuit.

At a hearing earlier this month, Deputy Attorney General Gregory Smith also argued that class action status might deprive any inmate of the right to "volunteer" for execution.

January 8, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HARRISBURG- A poll released today establishes that more Pennsylvanians prefer long sentences of incarceration rather than the death penalty as the punishment for even the worst murders. The new data comes on the heels of last week's report from a study commission in New Jersey that recommended abolition of capital punishment.

In its annual Penn State Poll, the Center for Survey Research at Penn State Harrisburg asked participants, "What do you think should be the penalty for persons convicted of murder?" Only 42.9% of respondents supported the death penalty when presented with alternative sentences. 45.1% of those surveyed supported either life without parole (35.5%) or life with parole (9.6%).

"The death penalty is failed public policy," said Karl Keys, spokesperson for Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which commissioned the poll with four other groups. "More and more Pennsylvanians are realizing that capital punishment in our state is an antiquated, malfunctioning institution.

On October 7, 2006, buses will be leaving from communities throughout Pennsylvania to converge in Harrisburg for a rally calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania. The event will take place on the steps of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and will feature speakers from murder victim family members, community organizations and more.

The death penalty is an unfair system that claims innocent lives. Over 120 people have been released from death row due to wrongful convictions and over 95% of death row inmates were unable to afford their own attorney. It is time for a humane justice system in Pennsylvania!

Visit this link for more information on how to Get on the Bus and make your voice heard.

On April 11, Amnesty International USA announced that Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev, prisoner of conscience from Turkmenistan, was freed. He had been forcibly confined to a psychiatric hospital since February 2004 for expressing his political views.

Amnesty International USA Press Release

In light of this wonderful news, the action on Durdykuliev has been removed. Thanks to those who participated in the action either at our meetings or through this website.