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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Ohio: Proposal To Abolish Death Penalty Appeals To Cost-Conscious

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There's another bill in the Ohio House of Representatives to abolish the death penalty.

Democratic State Representative Nickie Antonio is one of the bill's sponsors. She says the death penalty needs to be banned because it currently is levied disproportionately upon African Americans and poor Ohioans. And she says it costs many times more to prosecute death penalty cases. This isn't the 1st time a bill to scrap the death penalty has been introduced but Antonio is hoping majority Republicans will embrace it this time around because it is fiscally responsible and respects life.

Antonio - "It's important for us to focus on the political reality of the state of Ohio. The death penalty is expensive. So if we have fiscal conservatives among us - this is the bill for them. This should be a bill they can support. We have people who believe in the sanctity of life. This is a bill that they should definitely support. Even the most conservative among us should support this bill then."

Antonio notes those convicted in wealthier counties are more likely to receive the death penalty than those who commit the same crimes in poorer counties. Antonio's bill would allow for a sentence of life in prison for the most heinous crimes. Her bill is supported by some faith leaders but so far, no Republican has signed on to the legislation.

Source: WCBE News, December 5, 2013
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