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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, family 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

Massachusetts Governor Pushes To Reinstate Death Penalty  (May 3, 2004)

Governor Romney continued his push to reinstate capital punishment in Massachusetts by unveiling a report from his death penalty commission that was charged with making recommendations for a ""flawless capital punishment system"". Conceding the risk of executing the innocent, the report proposed reforms which included requiring a finding of ""no doubt about guilt"" in the sentencing process. The panel, comprised of legal and forensic experts, has been asked to draft a bill that would confront many of the systemic flaws that permeate the country's capital punishment system, including mistakes that have led to wrongful convictions.

The Governor's death penalty initiative is likely to face an uphill battle. Over the past twelve years, republican governors in Massachusetts have consistently sought to pass legislation that would reinstate the death penalty. However, all endeavors have proven unsuccessful. A bill reinstating the death penalty was almost passed in 1997 after the rape and murder of a ten-year-old boy caused citizens to become outraged, but the bill was ultimately defeated after a tie vote in the State House of Representatives. Since then, public opinion against capital punishment in Massachusetts, and around the nation, has grown. At a time when more than 100 death row inmates have been exonerated, many states around the nation have curtailed use of the death penalty. In addition, jurors in state and federal cases have become increasingly reluctant to impose death sentences. Governor Romney's relentless attempt to restore the death penalty seems at strong odds with this growing national consensus.  Massachusetts has not had the death penalty since 1984 and has not executed anyone since 1947.  Nevertheless, death penalty opponents in the state are taking this threat very seriously and the Governor has been met with widespread criticism by legislators, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, the press and citizens.

Read An Article From the Boston Globe 

For more info and to get involved: http://www.mcadp.org/ 

New Haven Calls For Abolition of the Death Penalty(May 3, 2004) 

The New Haven Board of Alderman has become the second city in the United States to call for the abolition of the death penalty.  In a vote of 25 to 3, the Board of Alderman overwhelmingly demonstrated support for ending the state of Connecticut's death penalty.  The Resolution the Board endorsed was sponsored by the New Haven Peace Commission and is the Resolution of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty (CNADP).  The vote represents a significant victory in the effort to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut.  With the Board's support, CNADP plans on approaching other cities in Connecticut and asking them to support the same initiative.  The resolution cited issues such as wrongful convictions, inadequate counsel, socioeconomic bias, racial disparities, and geographic bias as reasons for ending the State's death penalty system.  

Learn More About the Death Penalty In Connecticut

Execution Alerts:

Upcoming Executions Raise Concern About Fairness of Death Penalty  (May 4, 2004)

A number of executions over May and June raise critical issues concerning the application of the death penalty:   Oklahoma has set May 18 as the execution date for Osbaldo Torres, a Mexican National, despite a recent decision handed down by the World Court.  Last month, the International Court of Justice, the highest United Nations court, ruled that United States violated the rights of 51 Mexican nationals on death row.  Mexico argued that the defendants were entitled to retrials because they were not informed of their right to notify the Mexican consulate about their arrest and receive help with their cases.  Under Article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), local authorities must notify all detained foreigners "without delay" of their right to have their consulate informed of their detention.  Authorities must then notify the consulate without delay, facilitate unfettered consular communication and grant consular access to the detainee. The Court's decision may mean reprieve or another chance of appeal for the death row inmates, including Osbaldo Torres.  Torres's clemency hearing is scheduled for May 7 at 10:00.  Even if the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole recommends clemency, which they have done recently in a couple of Oklahoma death penalty cases, it is uncertain what Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry will do. Henry has repeatedly ignored clemency requests from his Parole Board on the death penalty, despite the fact that when Henry campaigned for Governor he articulated support for a Moratorium on the death penalty.

Take Action To Stop The Execution of Osbaldo Torres

Please write the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board directly, in your own words, expressing support for a clemency recommendation for Osbaldo. 

   Send your letters to:

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board
4040 N Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 219
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5521

   Send a copy to Osbaldo's lawyers:
Henricksen & Henricksen Lawyers, Inc.
PO Box 1129
El Reno, OK 73036
(405-262-0983)

For more information and other ways to get involved: http://www.acluok.org/TakeAction/OsbaldoTorresClemency.htm 

The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Kelsey Patterson, a mentally ill man, on May 18.  Patterson has a long history of mental illness and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1981.  While acknowledging that Patterson committed the crime for which he was sentenced to die, a federal judge noted the substantial role that his mental illness played in his crime. ""Patterson had no motive for the killings?he claims he commits acts involuntarily and outside forces control him through implants in his brain and body?Patterson has consistently maintained he is a victim of an elaborate conspiracy, and his lawyers and doctors are part of that conspiracy?and he refuses to acknowledge that his lawyers represent him.""  Despite Patterson's pronounced mental illness, a jury found him competent to stand trial and he was ultimately sentenced to death.  Patterson's case raises important considerations about society's treatment of the mentally ill.  Mentally incompetent individuals are unable to grasp the consequences of their actions, and executing the mentally ill does little to serve the administration of justice.  

Take Action To Stop the Execution of Kelsey Patterson

Read 'The Case Of Kelsey Patterson' From Amnesty International 

Contact Governor Rick Perry and Urge Him to Stop This Execution

For the first time in nearly five years, Pennsylvania is on track to execute a human being with the scheduled execution date for Hubert Michael on June 1.  There is overwhelming evidence that Michael is mentally ill.  Michael has been diagnosed as suffering from severe depression and organic brain disorder.   Accounts of his childhood are a composite of brutal abuse and ongoing neglect. Michael's attorney made no effort to present mitigating evidence that demonstrated his mental illness.  In fact, the lawyer actually asserted that no such evidence existed.  Michael requested the court provide him with effective legal representation; however, his requests were denied.  Despite his mental illness, Michael ultimately entered a guilty plea, consented to a death sentence, and recently has abandoned his appeals.  A letter-writing campaign is currently underway directed at Michael encouraging him to resume his appeals to stop his impending execution.

Take Action To Stop the Execution of Hubert Michael

Please write Hubert Michael directly and urge him to pursue his appeals.

Hubert L. Michael Jr. #CS-8880
SCI-Graterford
PO Box 244
Graterford, PA 19426-244

For more information on Hubert Michael: http://www.pa-abolitionists.org/exalert.html 

The State of Maryland plans to execute Steven Oken during the week of June 14.  If carried out, this will be Maryland's first execution since 1998. Over the past few years, Maryland's capital punishment system has come under great scrutiny.  In January 2004, the University of Maryland released a study that demonstrated Maryland's death penalty system was riddled with racial and geographical bias.  Despite the studies findings, then newly appointed Governor Ehrlich put an end to a moratorium on executions that Governor Glendening placed in May 2003. In the recently concluded Maryland legislative session, a Moratorium passed the full MD Senate and failed to pass out of the House Judiciary Committee. Despite the evidence of serious problems with Maryland's death penalty system and the failure of the legislature and the Governor's office to respond to state's problems as outlined in the University of Maryland study, the state is prepared to resume executions next month.

Take Action to Stop the Execution of Steven Oken 

Contact Governor Ehrlich at:
Honorable Robert Ehrlich
State House
100 State Circle
Annapolis, MD 21401

Phone: 410-974-3901
Fax: 410-974-3275
Email: governor@gov.state.md.us

To learn about and take action on the above and other upcoming executions: NCADP Execution Alerts

Upcoming Executions 

MAY
05/13/04            PA            Francis Bauer Harris - Stayed
05/18/04            OK            Osbaldo Torres - Foreign National 
05/18/04            TX            Kelsey Patterson - Mentally Ill
05/21/04            LA            Cedric Howard - Juvenile - Stayed 
05/21/04            NC            Sammy Perkins
05/25/04            FL            John Blackwelder - Abandoned Appeals

JUNE
06/01/04            PA            Hubert L. Michael - Abandoned Appeals
06/03/04            TN            Sedley Alley
06/08/04            OK            Robert Leroy Bryan
06/08/04            FED            David Paul Hammer - Abandoned Appeals
06/10/04            TX            James Lee Henderson
06/10/04            PA            Arthur Bomar - Stay Likely 
06/14-19/04            MD            Steven Oken    
06/20/04            OH            John Drummond
06/23/04            TX            Efrain Perez - Juvenile - Stayed
06/24/04            TX            Raul Villarreal - Juvenile - Stayed 
06/24/04            OH            Donald Ketterer
06/25/04            OH            Robert Bethel
06/29/04            TX            Mauro Barraza - Juvenile - Stayed 
06/30/04            TX            David Harris

NCADP Execution Alerts
Action Alerts From the ACLU