Special Announcement

We want to continue to build the list of people receiving this bi-weekly Death Penalty Update, an excellent overview of death penalty news stories, scheduled executions, and new resources.  Please take a minute to let your colleagues, friends, and members know that they can now subscribe simply by sending an email to Josh Noble, at jnoble@dcaclu.org, and typing ""Death Penalty Update"" in the subject line.  

News

Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Banks v. Dretke
(December 8, 2003) 

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Delma Banks Jr. today, which broaches the issue of incompetent counsel.  Banks was charged in the 1980 murder of Richard Whitehead of Texas.  The only evidence against Banks was the testimony of an informant who in exchange for his testimony received $200 and the dismissal of an arson charge that could have resulted in his life sentence as a habitual offender.  Banks' lawyer did not vigorously cross-examine the informant or properly investigate the case, and there are claims of prosecutorial misconduct. Banks received such poor representation that former FBI director and United States District Court Judge William Sessions was one of the many that intervened and asked the Supreme Court to temporarily stay his execution. On April 21, 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court accepted Banks' case for review.  (Banks v. Dretke)

More Information At The Death Penalty Information Center

Public Support For the Death Penalty Drops To A 25-Year Low
(December 4, 2003) 

According to the latest October 2003 Gallup Poll, support for the death penalty has dropped to 64 percent, its lowest since 1987.  According to the poll, 32 percent of Americans oppose the death penalty, which represents the most opposition since 1972.  A May 2003 Gallup Poll showed support 10 percentage points higher: 74 percent of Americans support the death penalty when asked, "Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?" The highest support level for the death penalty came in 1994 when 80% of Americans were in favor of capital punishment.  However, when life without parole was offered as an alternative sentence, support dropped significantly to 53 percent.  44 percent of those polled in May supported life without the possibility of parole and 3 percent remained undecided.  These findings are particularly significant given the extensive media coverage of the trials of John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo in Virginia.     

Read the Death Penalty Information Center's Summary Of The Gallup Poll 

Number Of Executions Remain Consistent In 2003
(December 3, 2003) 

With 8 executions scheduled for the month of December, the total number of executions in 2003 will likely be 70, one less execution than last year.  U.S. executions have been somewhat on the decline since 1998, which was at a height of 98.  2000 ended with 85 executions, 2001 ended with 66 executions, and 2002 ended with 71 executions.  As of this writing, 882 death row inmates have been executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.  Although the number of executions remains relatively constant, according to recent statistics, the number of new death penalty sentences being imposed each year has dropped dramatically, by nearly half.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, from 1994 to 2000, an average of 296 people were given death sentences each year.  In 2000, the number was well below the average at 226, which marked the beginning of this current decline.  In 2001, the number fell significantly to 155, which was the lowest recorded number since 1973.  For 2002, the numbers were slightly higher, with 159 death sentences being handed down.  

Visit the Death Penalty Information Center To Learn More About US Executions  
Department of Justice Statistics for 2002

Supreme Court To Hear Two Death Penalty Cases
(December 1, 2003) 

The Supreme Court has decided to clarify the 2002 Ring v. Arizona decision in which it found that juries, not judges, must render death sentences.  The Supreme Court left unclear whether the decision should apply retroactively to inmates awaiting execution.  In September 2003, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the sentences of more than a hundred death row inmates in three states.   The 8-3 vote issued by the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Ring decision does apply retroactively.   The ruling applies only to three states - Arizona, Idaho, and Montana - in the Circuit that has allowed judges to make critical decisions when determining death sentences.  The case should be decided sometime next summer.  If upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, this decision could bring about the largest reduction in the U.S. death row population since former Illinois Governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates to life imprisonment in January 2003. 

Separately, the court agreed to hear an appeal from an Alabama death row inmate who claims execution by lethal injection would be unconstitutionally cruel because of his medical condition. He is on death row for a 1978 murder.

Read An Article From The Washington Post 

100^th Local Government Calls For Moratorium On Executions
(December 1, 2003) 

Eutaw, Alabama has become the 100^th local government in the United States to call for a moratorium on executions.  Councilman David Spencer made the motion to pass the resolution, which was Alabama's 14th to pass this year according to the Alabama group, Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, which has been coordinating the state's resolution drive. The movement to declare a nationwide moratorium on executions is growing fast.  Earlier this year, the Travis County Commissioners' Court passed a moratorium resolution in Austin, Texas.  The resolution was approved on April 29.  Seven major cities - Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Haven, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and New York City - have already passed moratorium resolutions.  Over 3,300 groups, from congregations to labor unions, have officially joined the call.  Alabama's resolutions, and those across the country, have highlighted issues such as racial bias, inadequate defense counsel, and the 111 inmates nationwide that have been exonerated and released from death row as important issues that highlight the need for a moratorium.   

View A List Of Other Communities That Have Passed Resolutions
Get Your Local Government To Pass A Resolution 

Governor Patton Commutes Kevin Stanford's Death Sentence
(November 26, 2003) 

Kentucky Governor Paul Patton has fulfilled his promise to commute the death sentence of Kevin Stanford to life without parole.  In June 2003, Governor Paul Patton announced that he would commute the death sentence of juvenile offender Kevin Stanford prior to leaving office in January in order to ""correct an injustice.""  At a press conference, Governor Patton said that he believes the death penalty is excessive for crimes committed by juveniles.  Kevin's case exemplifies why the death penalty, especially for juveniles, is not an appropriate punishment.  Kevin was only 17 years old at the time of his crime received poor representation and was the only one of four co-defendants sentenced to death.  In the 23 years he has been imprisoned, Kevin has grown into a mature adult.  He has gained his GED and two associate degrees and been an active counselor to youth offenders. Kevin Stanford no longer poses a threat to the community and he has sufficiently paid for his crime.  The ACLU had encouraged the governor to commute Kevin's sentence to a term of years.  

Read An Article From Kentucky's Courier-Journal 

Malvo Case Stirs Debate Over Juvenile Death Penalty
(November 23, 2003) 

After the jury's decision earlier this week to sentence John Allen Muhammad to death, the potential conviction and possible death sentence for Lee Boyd Malvo has stirred debate over the juvenile death penalty.  The United States is one of 123 countries that currently utilize the death penalty as a form of punishment.  The United States and Iran are the only two countries that currently execute juvenile offenders.  Since 1973, 21 juvenile offenders have been executed in the United States, a total of 226 juvenile death sentences have been handed down, and 78 juveniles are presently on death row.  Only 28 states and the federal government prohibit the execution of persons who committed crimes as juveniles.  Of the 22 states that have retained the right to execute juvenile offenders, 17 states permit 16 year olds to be executed, and the remaining 5 permit the execution of 17 year olds.  Public opinion in the United States increasingly opposes the death penalty for juvenile offenders.  According to a 2002 Gallup Poll, 69 percent of the people polled opposed the death penalty for juveniles; only 26 percent supported the execution of juvenile offenders, and 5 percent offered no opinion.  A recent medical study by the Harvard Medical School demonstrated that parts of the brain responsible for impulse control and judgment are not fully developed by the age of 18.  In a society where laws prohibit juveniles from voting, serving in the military and on juries, marrying, entering into contracts, making medical decision, and purchasing tobacco products, the existence of the juvenile death penalty is an anomaly.      

Learn More About Juveniles and the Death Penalty 

Illinois Death Penalty Reform Bill Becomes Law
(November 20, 2003)

A major piece of death penalty reform legislation was signed into law after the Illinois State Legislature unanimously voted to override a partial veto administered by the governor earlier this year.   Senate Bill 472, provides sweeping safeguards designed to prevent errors in death penalty cases. Among the key provisions, the death penalty legislation: allows judges who disagree with juries who impose the death sentence to write dissents that can be considered during appeals; allows the Supreme Court to overturn death sentences it deems "fundamentally unjust;" allows judges to reject the state's intention to seek the death penalty if its evidence rests solely on the testimony of a single eyewitness, accomplice, or police informant; guarantees that defendants get copies of all evidence investigators turn up that is favorable to them; requires juries to consider whether a defendant was  previously emotionally or physically abused; prohibits the execution of the  mentally retarded; and makes it easier for defendants to get a hearing after they are convicted, if new evidence is discovered.  Death Penalty advocates hail the legislation as an important step forward, but note that these provisions alone will not ensure innocent people are not put to death.  A commission established by former Governor George Ryan, who earlier this year commuted all death sentences in Illinois and cleared out death row, recommended many of the reforms.  Illinois has exonerated 17 death row inmates who were wrongfully convicted, and executed 12 people since reinstatement of the death penalty.  

Read More About The Illinois Reform Legislation   

Upcoming Executions 

Action Alerts

Action Alerts From the ACLU
Action Alerts From Amnesty International
Execution Alerts from NCADP
Action Alerts From the NCADP Legislative Action Center

Legislative Update

Federal Legislation

Innocence Projection Act

On Wednesday, October 1, bipartisan members of both the House and Senate introduced an Omnibus Bill called ""the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act"".  Title III of the bill contains a revised version of the Innocence Protection Act that was introduced in the 107^th Congress. This version of the IPA would, among other things, set up a process for federal prisoners who meet the standards in the bill to obtain access to DNA testing and obtain relief if exonerated by the DNA results. Title III would also encourage states to set up similar mechanisms and provide funding to local prosecutors and defense lawyers to improve the quality of representation in death penalty cases. 

Other provisions of the Omnibus bill would however, greatly expand the categories of individuals at the federal and state level whose DNA information could be stored in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Current law permits DNA information for those convicted of violent federal crimes and those convicted of state felonies to be stored. This new measure would extend the reach of CODIS to include all information from state DNA databases, whether it meets previous federal standards.  This means that states such as Louisiana that allow DNA to be collected from arrestees, would be included in the national database.  

Another provision indefinitely tolls the statute of limitations for federal felonies (excluding crimes of sexual assault) so that it does not begin to run until the government implicates the individual by means of DNA testing. This provision raises a number of serious due process concerns stemming from the possibility of indictments being handed down decades after a crime occurred.   

The House of Representatives has already passed the Advancing Justice Through DNA Testing Act. The Senate is expected to consider the measure shortly.

Support the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act

On June 24, 2003, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced HR 2574, the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003. This legislation, which is a companion bill to Senate legislation introduced by Senator Feingold (D-WI), will put an immediate halt to executions and forbid the imposition of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of federal law. Please contact your U.S. Representative today to urge him/her to co-sponsor and support this important legislation! Note: If your Congressional Representative is an original co-sponsor, send them a thank you note instead!

State Legislation

NJ:  (From NJ Advocates)

URGENT ACTION ALERT - WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW!

New Jersey Leads the Nation Towards Justice!

Imagine that headline the day after the death penalty study bill is signed into law - launching the most comprehensive study of any state's death penalty in our nation's history.  Its not just a dream - together, we can make it happen - and we are nearly there.

The death penalty study bill overwhelmingly passed the Assembly in January!  That victory is a direct result of your calls, letters, emails, and faxes.  We need your help once again as our effort to reexamine New Jersey's death penalty moves to the Senate.  

Senate bill S-1112 must pass the Senate this month or it will die for good, paving the way for executions to resume in New Jersey for the first time in 40 years.  The Senate Co-Presidents and your Senator must hear from you now.  These three calls or letters will take very little time but will speak volumes for justice.  

Here's what to do:

Contact: The Senate Co-Presidents

Tell them: ""The Death Penalty study bill, A-1913, passed the Assembly by a vote of 56-10.  I understand that Senate bill S-1112 will be revised in committee to match that version.  Please support S-1112 and help move it to action by the full Senate this fall.""

Reach them at: Senator John O. Bennett: (732) 863-1644 or SenBennett@njleg.org

Senator Richard J. Codey: (973) 731-6770 or SenCodey@njleg.org

ALSO?

Contact: Your State Senator

Tell them: ""The Death Penalty study bill, A-1913, passed the Assembly by a vote of 56-10.  I understand that Senate bill S-1112 will be revised in committee to match that version.  I reside in your district and ask that you vote for the death penalty study bill and help it see action by the full Senate this fall.""

Find your Senator at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp 

You can also send a free fax by going to the ACLU's website at http://www.aclu.org/DeathPenalty/DeathPenaltyMain.cfm?ContentStyle=2. 

NOTE: Speak from your heart if asked why you support a study.  Areas of concern include accuracy and fairness in death sentencing, the high cost of the capital system and whether those funds might be more effectively spent on crime prevention or victim assistance programs, and effects on family members of murder victims and society at large.  If you want to read more about the death penalty in New Jersey, contact:

New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
22 Oliver Street, Chatham, New Jersey 07928
973-635-6396 * paxcf@aol.com 
www.njadp.org

PA:  (From PA Advocates)

Many new developments have impacted the death penalty in Pennsylvania.  In March, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed committee released a report calling for an immediate moratorium on executions, citing "strong indications that Pennsylvania's capital justice system does not operate in an even-handed manner."  The Committee made a total of 23 recommendations, including a halt on all executions until policies and procedures are implemented to ensure that the death penalty is administered fairly and im