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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.

Texas: Posthumous Pardon Is Denied for Man Executed in 3 Deaths

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Todd Willingham
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request for a posthumous pardon for Cameron Todd Willingham, a man executed in 2004 after being convicted of setting his house on fire and killing his three young daughters.

Members of Mr. Willingham’s family and the Innocence Project in New York requested the pardon, noting that the arson science used to convict Mr. Willingham had long been questioned and presenting new evidence suggesting a secret deal between the prosecutor and a jailhouse informant. 

The board’s decision was unanimous. 

The letter from the board denying the request noted that the family could apply again after two years. 

Barry Scheck, the co-director of the Innocence Project, said the decision “illustrates that the clemency system is completely broken in Texas.” 

Source: The New York Times, April 3, 2014
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Photos of maximum-security prisons in Norway and the US reveal the extremes of prison life

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US Administrative Security Facility, or ADX Florence, in Florence, Colorado. Inside the walls of the toughest prison in the US, a fork is a deadly weapon. Inside the walls of Norway's toughest prison, a fork is, well ... a fork. The differences extend far past silverware. In just about every way, the approaches that the US and Norway take to criminal justice fall on opposite ends of the spectrum. While the US uses isolation to punish offenders and keep them away from civil society, Norway prefers to rehabilitate its inmates so they can return to the outside world — there are no life sentences . No two prisons make that difference more clear than the super-max Administrative Security Facility, or ADX Florence , in Florence, Colorado and Halden Prison , in Halden, Norway. Not all US prisons are as strict as ADX, and while Halden is technically maximum-security, it's still closer to the rule than the exception in Norway. Here's what life is like at both e
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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.
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Idaho death-row inmate survived injection intended to kill him. Now state will try again.

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Switzerland | The Guillotine of Geneva

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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denies Robert Roberson’s stay of execution request

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Wyoming | One of Matthew Shepard’s Murderers Denied Sentence Reduction

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Activists Call on President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty Before Leaving Office

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Alabama set to tie record for executions in 50 years with upcoming lethal injection

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Iran Executes 16 People in One Day Amid Surge in Death Penalties

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