Dead men walking.

Execution scene, that happens in execution chambers all over the US.


Kill the Death penalty not people!!

Dear Mr President...

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you? 

Why do states conduct autopsies on executed prisoners?

In 2010 the state of Virginia  executed its first female killer since 1912. After putting Teresa Lewis to death by lethal injection, officials  shipped her body to the medical examinerfor autopsy. Why would you bother to do an autopsy on someone who was executed?


Mostly to make sure the anesthetic worked. A lethal injection comprises  a cocktail of drugs designed to bring about a painless death via anesthesia, paralysis, and cardiac arrest. If the anesthesia fails, however, the prisoner feels a torturous burning sensation as a lethal dose of potassium chloride enters her bloodstream. The paralysis makes matters worse, since the condemned cannot scream or signal to the executioners that she is in distress. Unless someone monitors the inmate's brain waves, which  some states have tried, the best way to assess the state of anesthesia is by measuring the concentration of anesthetic in the inmate's blood after death. Studies on human volunteers have shown that a concentration of around 20 mg of thiopental per liter of blood would be significantly higher than you'd need to perform surgery. There may be some variation in how effective the anesthetic is—the stress of being executed can increase requirements, and a prisoner's past drug use might make her exceptionally tolerant to the anesthetic. But, as a general rule, blood concentrations above 20 mg/L strongly suggest that the prisoner passed away without pain.


Unfortunately, most states wait so long to conduct the exam that the results have little value. Blood thiopental concentration  drops precipitously after death,, and most experts believe you'd need to draw a sample within an hour of passing to know whether the dose was adequate. Few states move that quickly. Even medical examiners who go to the prison rather than waiting for the body to arrive at the morgue rarely get a sample in less than an hour. Perhaps as a result, the autopsy data suggest that the anesthetic is often ineffective. A 2005 paper used these delayed analyses to estimate that  43 percent of inmates suffer through their injections. (The study summoned a  storm of opposition.)

Medical examiners do more than draw blood from an executed prisoner. They also examine the site where the intravenous needles were inserted to confirm that they were placed appropriately. Most examiners also check for internal injuries—a sign that someone beat up the prisoner before the execution.

The validity of the drug-dose testing isn't the only source of controversy. Some states have tried to autopsy executed prisoners over the objections of family members. In December 2009, Tennessee  executed Cecil Johnson, then tried to conduct an autopsy even though he had signed an affidavit arguing that it would violate his Baptist faith. Johnson's body remained in limbo for more than a month, until the state courts prohibited the autopsy.

Should prisons have government-sanctioned tattoo shops?

Nothing says "I've been in prison" like an armful of tattoos. Worldwide, studies report that up to half of prisoners get tattoos while doing time. Because prison tattooing is illegal, inmates create their inking equipment with whatever they can scrounge: ink made from burned Styrofoam cups, shampoo, or anything else that can be turned into a dark liquid is injected through makeshift tattoo guns using parts from radios, PlayStations, or anything else with a rudimentary motor. And a needle can be crafted from just about anything sharp—even a staple.

Now, a newly published review of more than 100 studies has confirmed the connection between tattoos and hepatitis C virus. Nowhere is that relationship more apparent than within prison walls. Rates of HCV are 10 to 20 times higher in prisons, compared with the population at large; as many as one-third of the more than 2 million inmates in the United States are infected. As a blood-borne disease, HCV is easily transmitted through dirty tattoo needles and can survive for some time in ink. Considering the high prevalence of HCV, the popularity of illegal tattooing, and the commonness of sharing used ink needles, the disease is probably being spread through this route. Studies have found higher HCV rates among tatted-up prisoners than in their ink-free inmates.

So it makes sense that many prison and human rights advocates are looking at safer tattooing programs as a way to lower HCV transmission rates. Correction Services Canada ran a pilot program from 2005 to 2006 offering sanitary tattooing by inmates and education about blood-borne diseases. It was shut down prematurely by the incumbent government, but even the short run demonstrated its clear benefits.

Though it's impossible to know for sure whether any cases of HCV were avoided, a look at the expenses of the program vs. the expenses of an inmate with HCV show the potential benefits of such an investment. Start-up and implementation cost about $913,000.  Considering the high costs of treating HCV and HIV (mildly transmissible through tattooing), the program could be considered cost-effective if one out of every 38 tattoo sessions avoided an HCV infection, if one out of every 50 sessions avoided a case of HIV, or if one out of every 248 sessions avoided a liver transplant (a late-stage option for many HCV sufferers). Given the frequency of tattooing and the high HCV rates among people entering prison, these figures are realistic.

The shop art cost about $5 for a two-hour session—cheaper than so-called range tattoos, which typically cost $10 to $15 on the prison black market—creating an incentive to take the sterile route. The potential savings could improve even more since a long-term program would enable purchases of bulk ink and nondisposable nozzles. As a side perk, the shops provide useful employment for inmates, giving them not only an activity while behind bars but also a skill that's marketable on the outside.

Prisoners weren't the only ones to benefit from the program. While the official tattoo shop was in operation, guards seized less ink-slinging contraband, and they reported feeling less concerned about needle-stick injuries. Such injuries aren't routine, but they do happen during cell searches, both on purpose and by accident, and are a common fear among prison staff members.

Saving money and protecting guards aren't the only reasons to embrace government-sanctioned prison tattoo shops. We should also keep in mind how much suffering is in store for inmates who contract HCV. These are persuasive arguments for government-sanctioned prison tattoo shops. Because the disease is silent, up to 75 percent of those with HCV don't even know they're infected until it's too late for treatment. Many people do not respond to the currently available medications, and liver transplants are costly and not always available. Although some patients do spontaneously recover, most don't, and there is no way to predict who will develop end-stage complications, which include cirrhosis and cancer.

Why not just test inmates and treat those who are positive for HCV? By law, HCV testing cannot be compulsory. Many prisons don't even offer it. And although some states have solid health care for prisoners, many do not, so those in need of HCV treatment don't necessarily receive standard care: a 48-week treatment with two drugs, pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. Many states refuse to medicate prisoners who might leave prison before completing the course; because an incomplete treatment is unlikely to help patients, it's a waste of money to start what can't be finished. (New York City is an exception here, allowing abridged treatment for prisoners who will follow up with a regional doctor upon release.) Even more problematic, one of the major side effects of interferon is depression, so anyone seeking treatment must be in good mental health before the drugs are given—and prisoners are disproportionately affected by mental illness.

Still, as a strategy to reduce HCV transmission, safer-tattooing initiatives are not without problems: For instance, a lot of prison-borne tattoos signify gang associations; and during the Canadian pilot program, other inmates reportedly preferred the work of prisoners not employed at the shop. A safe-tattoo program would have to forbid such body art, so some market for DIY tattooing would remain.

Also, as Anne Spaulding of Emory University School of Medicine, notes, most HCV in prisons is imported, not acquired on the premises. One study reported that a third of all people in the United States infected with HCV pass through a correctional facility each year. If that's the case, then clean tattooing in the big house is not going to slice HCV rates either inside or outside penitentiaries.

But legal tattooing could still hold one major advantage: as a steppingstone toward public acceptance of prison needle-exchange programs. As an HCV risk factor, tattooing pales in comparison with injection drug use, which also transmits HIV.Studies report extremely high levels of drug injection in prisons. Many inmates switch from pot to heroin because, with no wafting smoke, it's easier to hide from the guards. But actual needles are a scarce commodity. Inmates will inject themselves with anything—pens, coat hangers, whatever—often with a tattoo chaser to conceal the puncture wounds. When inmates do get their hands on a real needle, sharing is commonplace; they'll even pay to use a dirty one. "About 10 of us used the same needle," says one Canadian prisoner of her first experience injecting drugs, which was while she was incarcerated. "We had to keep sharpening it on a matchstick cover."

Several countries have launched needle and syringe exchange programs within correctional facilities. Swiss prisons have vending machines that provide clean needles upon deposit of a used one. Similar programs are in place in Spain, Germany, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. Combined with education and methadone treatment for addicts, the efforts have brought HIV prison transmission rates to nearly zero in several countries and have also led to reduced overdosing, increased referral to treatment programs, and increased awareness of infection risk—without increasing drug use.

Still, state and federal prison systems in the United States remain resistant to all of these options. Security concerns regarding increased needle-stick injuries persist, though evidence shows that these programs actually reduce such problems. Politically, the approaches are a hard sell, too. HCV patients are already short on advocates, and prisoners with HCV even more so. A tattoo program could be a small step toward addressing the major public health problem that is HCV—and HIV, for that matter—in prisons.

The future has never looked brighter for HCV sufferers. In 2011, two new drugs with cure rates of up to 75 percent will be approved. New regimens that omit the depression-inducing interferon component are also coming available. The joint is the perfect place to treat people since they are in a fixed place (unlike, say, the homeless population, which also has sky-high hep C rates). As David Thomas of Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, a world-renowned expert on hepatitis, explains, considering that so many HCV carriers end up behind bars, a rigorous, comprehensive prevention and treatment program in prisons could go miles toward eradicating the disease.

Why should taxpayer dollars be used for clean needles and cheap tattoos? This kind of thinking lays its own trap.Most jail sentences are for fewer than three months, and most prison sentences are two to three years. Health problems on the inside will eventually find their way to the outside.

Up to 300 million people are infected with HCV worldwide. With no vaccine available, finding ways to prevent transmission is essential to reining in this epidemic. Preventing just one dirty needle in the haystack could save lives and significant public health care dollars. Installing safer tattooing programs in prisons is a simple, low-cost step in the right direction.

Kristin's story

Kirstin's story begins during Memorial Day weekend of 2001. A large black male assaulted her in a Budget Suites parking lot at Boulder Highway and Flamingo Road, a location from which many crimes have been reported.  Kirstin's attacker attempted to rape her and she defended herself by using a knife that had been given to her by her father. That knife and some basic self-defense training her father had also shown her enabled Kirstin to fight back by cutting the man in his groin area so she could safely escape the scene. As she fled, she saw the man curled up in a ball, apparently crying, so Kirstin believed she had inflicted a reasonably serious wound.


At the time the attack occurred, Kirstin had unfortunately fallen into a lifestyle that was unacceptable to her own upbringing and values – she was earning her living by dancing in a strip club and also using illegal amphetamines. As a result of the drugs and lifestyle, Kirstin felt it would be pointless to report the attack to the police. A previous experience with reporting a rape had left her feeling shunned and helpless and she was convinced that the police did not care about nor would they ever believe "someone like her."

On July 2^nd 2001, Kirstin made the decision to change her unfortunate lifestyle once and for all. She moved back to her parents' home in Panaca, Nevada with the immediate goal of getting completely off drugs. Shortly after Kirstin arrived in Panaca, her mother, Becky, became worried that something was physically wrong with her daughter. Kirstin was unusually lethargic and was sleeping much more than normal.  Becky decided to take Kirstin to see a doctor on July 5 ^th 2001, and the physician ordered blood samples for testing. Kirstin's blood tests showed that she was on the way to achieving her goal. The blood tests proved there were absolutely NO drugs in her system. The doctor also took a 24-hour urine collection from July 6 ^th through July 7^th.  The urine tests confirmed the blood test results - complete absence of any drugs in Kirstin's system.

As Kirstin began to get re-settled at her parents' home, she began to relax and told some of her friends and a school teacher about her attack and self-defense with the knife on Memorial Day weekend.  Although Kirstin didn't know it, one of the people she told, the teacher, thought the attack should be reported and had apparently contacted the Las Vegas police who documented the information.

Between midnight on July 8^th until the early AM July 9^th, Kirstin's then boyfriend, Doug, drove from Las Vegas to Panaca. He had offered to help get her into a drug rehabilitation program. Telephone records show that there were several calls between Doug and Kirstin as he drove in from Las Vegas. He had no knowledge of the area and needed specific directions to her parents' house.  They then drove back to Las Vegas together the morning of July 9^th.

On July 13^th Kirstin called her father to ask him to please drive to Las Vegas to bring her back to Panaca. She discovered that Dougwas not off drugs himself and Kirstin was determined to place herself in a drug-free environment. Her father came to get her.

Suddenly, on July 20^th 2001 in Panaca,  Kirstin was placed under arrest by Las Vegas Homicide. It appeared that a result of the teacher's call to the Las Vegas police and a remote similarity in the cases, the police had decided Kirstin was a suspect. Kirstin was horrified to imagine that somehow the attacker against whom she had defended herself had later died as a result of her knife wound. The date of the crime was not mentioned to her by the police, so Kirstin incorrectly assumed the man who died was the same person as the one who attacked her.  She admitted that, in self-defense, she had used a knife the area of the attacker's penis (since he was trying to rape her). It seemed to her at that time, that since all she had done was use the weapon from her father and the self-defense techniques he had taught her to protect herself against a big man trying to rape her there was no reason not to tell the truth. And, the man was alive when she left the scene.

Kirstin unfortunately had no way of knowing that an entirely different crime had occurred to an entirely different victim in an entirely different part of town on an entirely different date and this victim had been murdered. The police failed to mention any of these factual discrepancies before getting Kirstin's signed "confession."  The second victim's body was discovered at 10:30PM on July 8^th (and there is an 18-hour window during which he could have died). Kirstin was in Panaca during that entire time period.  The victim did not match the description of Kirstin's attacker, he had been a small man, not the large person Kirstin described. The murder victim's penis had been severed after death, he was beaten with a blunt instrument and anally stabbed. Furthermore, Kirstin's description in her confession about her own attack clearly states it occurred in an entirely different area of town. The police just disregarded this and took it upon themselves to assume since this girl was a stripper and a "druggie" she wasn't credible and just didn't remember things right (in reality her drug tests had come back clean and she was not on any drugs then or at the time the second crime occurred).  The only actual similarities in the case were wounds (albeit different ones) to the penis areas and both men were black.

When Kirstin's father found out from a newspaper article (the police never bothered to tell the date to the family either) the exact time of the crime for which Kirstin was charged, he knew Kirstin had been with him and the family at home. He was elated with this news and immediately contacted the detective on the case to so advise him. He told the detective that Kirstin could not possibly have committed the crime since she was with him, her mother and sister in Panaca at the time it occurred.  The detective told Kirstin's father that as far as he was concerned he had arrested and charged the right person and did not need any further information. This left Kirstin's father and family completely shocked. They were even more shocked when during his court testimony, this same detective actually denied ever having had such a conversation with Kirstin's father!  Kirstin's parents had also advised the state appointed Public Defender that Kirstin was at home in Panaca at the time of the crime and during the entire 18-hour "window" and also mentioned the phone records from the calls with Kirstin's boyfriend.  The lawyer, a former law teacher turned Public Defender with no criminal trial experience, unfortunately did NOT (or could not due to inexperience), effectively use this crucial information in Kirstin's case.

The Las Vegas police built their entire, very circumstantial case around Kirstin's unfortunate misunderstanding of her crime and subsequent "confession."  The obvious discrepancies and inconsistencies between her confession and the actual crime were attributed to Kirstin's "drug induced haze" with blatant disregard to the drug-free results of Kirstin's blood and urine tests. Eyewitnesses (including Kirstin's father, mother, sister, cousin, a visiting friend, and Kirstin's boyfriend at the time, Doug) as well as phone records confirm Kirstin was in Panaca at the time of the crime and during the entire 18-hour window during which the victim was murdered. To substantiate her eyewitness testimony, Kirstin's mother was given a polygraph test. She passed the test, verifying her testimony was completely truthful. Kirstin was given and passed three (not just one) separate polygraph tests, all supporting her story and her innocence. And, further, no physical evidence whatsoever was found at the crime scene linking Kirstin in any way to the victim. In fact, the actual physical evidence pointed to someone else entirely - someone whose identity remains unknown. This evidence included a bloody shoe print at the crime scene in a man's size 9 (Kirstin wears a woman's size 6) and DNA from a piece of chewing gum also obtained from the scene which was not that of the victim and certainly not Kirstin's. There were absolutely no traces of blood found in Kirstin's car and blood spatter indicate a person of Kirstin's size and stature could not have committed this act.  Kirstin's father knows for a fact that when he came home from work at half past midnight he saw Kirstin sleeping on the couch. Kirstin's mother (who passed a polygraph confirming the truth of this testimony) got up for work at 5:45AM the very next morning and saw her also, still asleep. In order for Kirstin to have committed the crime for which she was convicted, all of the following would have had to happen in UNDER five hours:  Kirstin would have had to drive 340+ miles in an old car that has problems at top speeds, would have to stop at least once to fill up her gas tank, find an alleged drug dealer and a drug deal that then went "bad," make a decision to kill the drug dealer, bludgeon him, cut off his penis post mortem, move the victim's body by herself to a dumpster where he was found, clean up every speck of forensic evidence from the crime scene and the dumpster, thoroughly clean and remove any and all blood and forensic evidence from herself and her car, change her clothes and dispose of the bloody ones she would have been wearing, and then be back asleep in the same pajamas on her parents' house in Panaca when her mother woke up. And, having a change of clothes and all the necessary cleaning materials pre-supposes Kirstin somehow knew in advance that the alleged drug deal would go bad. The timing of events and entire supposition of Kirstin's involvement is logistically and statistically virtually impossible! Again, Kirstin's defense attorney failed her by not explaining this critical information clearly to the jury.

The District Attorney offered Kirstin a plea bargain that would have required her to serve only three years in prison. Since there were so many discrepancies and the police had no actual evidence, the plea offer reflects the weakness of the Prosecution's case. Nonetheless, Kirstin declined the plea offer because she knew she was innocent, the facts and the evidence supported her innocence and at the time she trusted her lawyer, the Public Defender, would prove it. If she were guilty, this would have been a VERY good deal for her, so why would she turn it down unless she was truly innocent?

Kirstin's Public Defender did not object to a number of derogatory remarks made by the Prosecution about the Panaca community and Kirstin's "character" within hearing range of the jury. The Public Defender made a serious "technical" mistake by failing to give "proper notice" to the court pertaining to certain witnesses. This error proved quite significant in harming Kirstin's defense. It prevented an important expert witness from giving testimony regarding the crime scene blood spatters.  Had the attorney properly filed notice, this expert would have stated under oath that the blood spatters found at the crime scene were completely inconsistent with an injury that could be inflicted by a person of Kirstin's size. The expert was only allowed to testify that the bloody shoe print found at the scene of the crime could NOT possibly have been Kirstin's.

To beef up their case for the trial, the Prosecutor's office obtained the testimony of a jailhouse "snitch" who could supposedly link Kirstin to the crime.  This snitch's testimony completely mimicked the newspaper stories about the case and even included errors – exactly the same errors just as they appeared in the news articles.  The prosecutor's office chose to ignore these obvious errors the snitch had clearly derived from the news. The prosecutor's office also ignored the fact that the snitch had unsuccessfully attempted every other means possible to try to obtain a prison release. With those efforts failed, she suddenly came forward with hearsay testimony against Kirstin.  Due to current laws preventing questioning witness character/credibility (NRS 48.045 and NRS 50.085) the Prosecutor was able to keep from the jury the violent nature of the snitch's own criminal background knowing that such information would have lessened or even ruined the credibility of her testimony. The inexperienced Public Defender did not even point out to the jury  her "deal" with the Prosecutor in exchange for this hearsay testimony.

Kirstin has been tried and convicted of first-degree murder – due to her inability to afford a good defense team with sufficient resources, skills and time to give her the benefit of every fact, as a result of mistakes and inexperience of her Public Defender, highly dubious jailhouse hearsay testimony, because a detective had already made his decision and wasn't willing to bother to consider new information, without any factual support or forensic evidence, due to prosecutorial bias and prejudices, and for a crime that took place at a time when multiple witnesses swear under oath that she was more than 170 miles away. How could this happen?

It's time to do what's right!

Kirstin deserves her rights to a FAIR trial with competent representation

There are people in our media and legal system that care and can help do what's right

Please help us get the word out so we can help Kirstin get her rights – and help our system to get it right this time!

http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/justiceforkirstin/Kirstin_s_Story/kirstin_s_story.html

Woman on Death Row

 TEHRAN (FNA)- Human rights activists say that despite Washington's claims about its support for the rights of women, specially female inmates, in the other world countries, the White House refrains to show clemency to 53 women who are on the death row in various parts of the US.

The list of these 53 female inmates was handed to Charlie Rose, the US Channel 13 host, by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his recent visit to New York.Elaborating on the numerous cases of execution in the US, the official in charge of Iran's interest section in Washington, Mostafa Rahmani, told FNA that a number of 7,713 people were executed in the US between 1976 and 2009.This means that the US has executed an average of 233 people annually, Rahmani said, reminding that the US has long massacred its enemies in the other world countries in different forms, including drone attacks, which need to be added to the aforementioned

figure."No one, even human rights groups, speak of these 53 women," he said, reminding the notorious double-standard approach of the US administration towards human and women's rights inside and outside the US.Here is a list of 59 US women on death row, several of whom have already been executed.


ALABAMA 


Patricia Blackmon Tierra Capri Gobble Louise Harris Shonda Nicole Johnson 


ARIZONA


Wendi Andriano Debra Jean Milke 


CALIFORNIA 


Maria Delrioaro Alfaro Dora Luz Buenrostro Socorro Caro Celeste Simone Carrington Cynthia Lynn Coffman Kerry Lynn Dalton Susan Eubanks Veronica Gonzalez McDermott, Maureen Michelle Lyn Michaud Sandi Dawn Nieves Angelina Rodriguez Mary Ellen Samuels Janeen Marie Snyder Catherine Thompson 


FEDERAL


Valerie Suzette Friend Angela Jane Johnson Lisa Marie Montgomery 


FLORIDA 


Tiffany Cole Rhonda Norman 


GEORGIA 


Kelly Renee Brookshire 


IDAHO 


Robin Lee Row 


INDIANA 


Debra Denise Brown 


KENTUCKY 


Virginia Susan Caudill 


LOUISIANA 


Antoinette Frank Brandy Holmes 


MISSISSIPPI 


Michelle Byrom Lisa Chamberlin Kristi Leigh Fulgham 


NORTH CAROLINA 


Melanie Anderson Patricia JoAnn Jennings Christene Kemmerlin Blanche Kiser Moore Carlette Elizabeth Parker Christina S. Walters 


OHIO

Nicole Ann Diar 


OKLAHOMA 


Brenda E. Andrew 


PENNSYLVANIA 


Carolyn Ann King Michelle Sue Tharp Shonda Dee Walter 


TENNESSEE 


Gaile Kirksey Owens Christa Gail Pike 


TEXAS 


Suzanne Margaret Basso Linda Anita Carty Lisa Coleman Cathy Lynn Henderson Brittany Marlowe Holeberg Melissa Elizabeth Lucio Kimberly Legayle McCarthy Chelsea Lea Richardson Darlie Lynn Routier Erica Yvonne Sheppard 


VIRGINIA 


Teresa Michelle Lewis (executed) 

NM’s governor wants death penalty reinstated

New Mexico’s new governor, a longtime prosecutor in Las Cruces, said some crimes deserve the ultimate punishment, and she wants the death penalty back on the state’s books.

“When a monster rapes and murders a child or a criminal kills a police officer, the death penalty should be an option for the jury,” Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, said in her State of the State address to open the 2011 Legislature earlier this month.

Some religious groups are opposing her effort, but organizations representing prosecutors and law enforcement officers say the death penalty is necessary.

Former Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, signed a measure two years ago abolishing New Mexico’s death penalty, citing flaws in how it was applied and saying the criminal justice system must be perfect if it’s going to put someone to death.

With the repeal, New Mexico replaced lethal injection with life in prison without the possibility of parole, becoming one of 15 states without a death penalty.

Republican Rep. Dennis Kintigh of Roswell, a former FBI agent, introduced the first attempt to reinstate the death penalty this year — a joint resolution that would put the question before voters as a state constitutional amendment.

Kintigh said he’d vote to reinstate the death penalty if it comes before lawmakers, but that he believes voters should decide such a serious issue. Since New Mexico has no provision for referendums, an amendment is the only way to do that.

New Mexico executed nine men from 1933 until it abolished the death penalty. The state’s most recent execution in 2001 was its first since 1960.

Capital punishment is more expensive than life without the possibility of parole, given the longer trials, additional lawyers and expert witnesses, added proceedings, drawn-out jury selections and prolonged appeals, opponents say.

Life sentences without parole “can keep society safe, save money and focus on the victims instead of always focusing on the murderer,” said Vicki Elkey, executive director of the New Mexico Murder Victim Family Advocacy Project, which succeeded the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty. The coalition lobbied against the death penalty for 12 years.

It’s also not easy to define who’s for and against capital punishment, she said.

“It’s not a Republican-Democrat, police-not police, victim-non-victim issue,” Elkey said.

New Mexico’s death penalty was limited to specific murder cases, including those involving kidnapping; rape; killing police officers, prison guards or inmates; murder for hire and murder of a witness. Martinez’s office said she wants to reinstate that law.

The New Mexico Conference of Churches, which worked for nearly two decades to repeal capital punishment, will fight its reinstatement, said interim director Jim Baird.

The conference, which represents a broad section of Christian communities, issues statements only “when we can speak with one voice,” Baird said. “In the act of killing in the name of the state, we can speak with one voice because we strongly oppose this.”

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan called the death penalty cruel and unnecessary and pointed out innocent people have been executed around the country. Reinstating the punishment, he said, would be a step backward.

But the New Mexico Sheriffs’ and Police Association argues that capital punishment deters violence against police officers, jailers and prison guards.

“We have had many interviews with the assailant who said they would have killed a cop had it not been for the potential of the death penalty,” said Jim Burleson, head of the association.

The association and district attorneys had opposed the penalty’s repeal.

Attorney General Gary King also believes the death penalty is necessary in some cases. He said someone who is already serving a life sentence won’t be deterred from killing a guard if the only penalty is another life sentence.

King, who also opposed repeal, said the death penalty should be imposed only in narrow circumstances, including killing a police officer or prison guard.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg, currently involved in a death penalty case that predates the repeal, worries whether New Mexico has the money to reinstate capital punishment.

“We don’t have the money to hire attorneys to defend against the death penalty (for defendants),” she said.

New Mexico residents are struggling with the issue because it’s not black and white, said Brandenburg, who acknowledged her own ambivalence.

“New Mexico has had a very conservative approach to the death penalty, which is good,” she said. “It’s not about revenge. It’s about public safety and keeping people off the streets. . The practical issue is can we afford to have the death penalty?”

Bill seeks to curb delays caused by death-penalty appeals

A bill that seeks to shorten the decades-long delays caused by death penalty appeals was unanimously passed from the House Judiciary Standing Committee on Thursday.

HB202 — sponsored by former 6th District Judge Kay McIff, R-Richfield — would generally bar a court from issuing a temporary stay of execution following a defendant’s first post-conviction petition. The bill also would limit public funding of defense counsel after that first post-conviction petition has been rejected.

McIff said his bill is designed to discourage frivolous or untimely appeals while still allowing for claims based on new evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel or other issues with potential merit.

“We’re not going to put anyone to death if a meritorious claim is out there that hasn’t been heard,” McIff assured committee members.

Post-conviction petitions, which are filed following a defendant’s direct appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, are a catch-all device in the process “to review anything and everything that may have been overlooked,” McIff said.

Following that review, McIff said, “the process is complete.” But he said some death row inmates have filed for post-conviction relief up to four and five times — sometimes without good reason and sometimes by holding onto a meritorious issue “like a piece of jerky” you put in your pocket to eat later, McIff said.

McIff said his bill was prompted by condemned killer Ronnie Lee Gardner, who filed his fourth post-conviction petition just a month prior to his execution by firing squad last June.

By limiting stays of execution following the first post-conviction petition, HB202 would encourage defendants to advance their best theories as part of their first petition, he said.

Said LaVar Christensen, R-Draper: “Without this [bill], they can circle back and try all different theories, and one day it’s been 20-plus years.”

McIff said he and Assistant Utah Attorney General Thomas Brunker have met with criminal defense attorneys who wanted to discuss their concerns about the bill.

California man jailed in alleged attempt to blow up Dearborn mosque

A California man is in jail on a terrorism charge after he was arrested in Dearborn for allegedly trying to blow up the biggest mosque in metro Detroit, Dearborn officials said today.

The suspect was arrested in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on Monday, while hundreds were inside the mosque that sits along Ford Rd., police said. He came to the city because of its large Arab-American and Muslim population, police said.

Roger Stockhman, 63, was arraigned Wednesday on one count on a threat of terrorism or false report and one count of explosive-possession of bombs with unlawful intent for possession of class C fireworks, said Dearborn Police.

"He's very dangerous," Dearborn Police Chief Haddad told the Free Press. "We took his threat to be very serious."

Haddad said the man was previously known to law enforcement officials in other parts of the country.

"He's had a long history of being angry with the United States government," Haddad said.

Stockhman, in jail on a $500,000 bond, drove from California to Dearborn and was caught with a car packed with high end fireworks. The FBI has been notified about the incident, Haddad said.

"He picked Dearborn as a stop because of the huge Arab and Muslim population," Haddad said.

Dearborn has the highest concentration of Arab-Americans in the U.S. and has garnered increased attention in recent years as a center of Islam.

Haddad said that a witness said that Stockhman was planning to blow up the mosque. The suspect "appeared to be acting alone," Haddad said. "His threat has been mitigated."

A preliminary examination is set for Friday before Judge Mark Sommers in 19th District Court in Dearborn, police said.

The Islamic Center was holding a funeral at the time the suspect was found in the parking lot, with up to 700 people inside. But the suspect doesn't appear to have known about the funeral, Haddad said.

Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly said the suspect "had a lot of high end fireworks."

"It was the max you could buy legally."

They were not "conventional explosives," O'Reilly said. "But at that level, those things misused are terrific weapons."

Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said "we thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident."

Demand Justice for Kelley Williams-Bolar

Ohio mom, Kelley Williams-Bolar, recently went to jail for sending her kids to a highly ranked school near where her father lives, which was out of her home school district.

Kelley was trying to give her children a better life.  Now, as a convicted felon, helping her children will be even harder -- she was studying to become a teacher, but that dream may have ended with the conviction as well.

Please join us and ColorOfChange.org, in calling on Ohio Gov. Kasich to take a public stand and do everything he can to right this injustice!

Petition

Dear Governor John Kasich,

I’m writing to ask you to intervene to correct a grave injustice in the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar, a single mother who recently received a draconian sentence after sending her children to a school they weren’t entitled to attend for two years.

Williams-Bolar was simply trying to send her kids to a good school. While it appears that she broke the law by enrolling her kids in the school district where her father lived, clearly her intent was to provide a good education and bright future for her children with limited resources — in the context of an educational system that does not provide equal opportunity to all, regardless of race or economic status. Ironically, Williams-Bolar was studying to be a teacher and working as a teaching assistant, demonstrating her commitment not only to her own children, but to providing a better future for many other children through education as well.

Williams-Bolar was targeted by a prosecutor who refused to negotiate any kind of plea deal, instead pushing for the maximum punishment  possible under the law. Luckily she only served 10 days in jail, instead of the 5 years she originally faced, because the judge saw the sentence as an injustice. However, her own education and career may now be in serious jeopardy as a result of her felony conviction. While Williams-Bolar made a mistake, the punishment in her case is vastly disproportionate to the crime she committed.

I urge you to take a public stand in this case and push for a more just outcome, and that you commit to granting Williams-Bolar a pardon should a request come across your desk. And I’m asking that you do everything you can to ensure that Williams-Bolar has the opportunity to continue her education and teach in Ohio.

Sincerely,

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Ohio_Mom/?fs=fb

Dear Friend,

As you've likely seen in the news, Ohio mom, Kelley Williams-Bolar, recently went to jail for sending her kids to a highly ranked school near where her father lives, which was out of her home school district.[1]  She was trying to give her children a better life.  Now, as a convicted felon, helping her children will be even harder -- she was studying to become a teacher, but that dream may have ended with the felony conviction as well.

Real justice requires that the punishment fit the crime.  By any measure, this is cruelly unjust.

*Please join me and national non-profit organizations, MomsRising and ColorOfChange, in calling on Ohio Governor Kasich to take a public stand and do everything he can to right this injustice (including making sure that Williams-Bolar has the opportunity to become a teacher in Ohio). And please ask your friends and family to sign the letter as well -- it takes just a moment:

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Ohio_Mom/

What happened?  Kelley Williams-Bolar is a single mother of two daughters who's a teacher’s aide in Akron city schools in Ohio and has been studying to become a teacher. According to Williams-Bolar, after their home in a housing project was burglarized, she decided to protect her daughters’ safety by sending them to school in neighboring Copley Township, where her father lives.  In an interview with the Akron Beacon-Journal, Williams-Bolar explained she feared for her children's safety after school, 'I could not conceive of them walking home after our home was violated.'' [2]

Williams-Bolar claims that she maintained a part-time residence at her father’s home, but the school district didn’t see it that way. Neither did County Prosecutor Sherri Walsh, who charged Williams-Bolar with grand theft and falsifying records — a third-degree felony. The judge presiding over the case recognized the harshness of the felony charge and encouraged Prosecutor Walsh to offer a plea bargain for a lighter charge — but Walsh flatly refused.[3]

The end result was cruelly unjust with a punishment that went far beyond what the crime merited.  Williams-Bolar was convicted on the felony charge, and sentenced to 5 years in prison. The judge suspended all but 10 days of the jail time, instead ordering 2 years of probation and 80 hours of community service. She’s out of jail now, but the repercussions could last a lifetime: Unless the felony is eliminated from her record, Williams-Bolar may be unable to earn her teaching certificate under Ohio law. Williams-Bolar is only a few classes away from earning her teaching certificate.[4]

Ridiculous!

Any parent could understand why Kelley Williams-Bolar did what she did to try to give her children access to opportunity.

Join me and ask OH Gov. Kasich do everything he can to right the injustice Kelley Williams-Bolar faces.

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Ohio_Mom/

Toether we are a powerful voice for women and families,

Judie

[1] http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-mom-jailed-sending-kids-school-district/story?id=12763654

[2] http://www.ohio.com/news/trexler/114319074.html

[3] http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/114692469.html

[4] http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-mom-jailed-sending-kids-school-district/story?id=12763654 

Kristen (Moms rising)