Death Penalty News

July 16, 2007: Gov. Rick Perry Monday signed a bill to increase punishment for sexual predators whose victims are under the age of 14. Texas House Bill 8, also known as Jessica's Law, makes repeat offenders eligible for the death penalty and tracks sexual predators using global positioning devices, among other provisions. The most important provisions of the bill were those calling for GPS tracking and a minimum punishment of 25 years to life in prison without parole for aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 6. Florida, where the 1st Jessica's Law passed, is still working on finding all registered sex offenders two years after the law took effect. The most controversial aspect of the bill is the possibility that 2-time offenders could be sentenced to death. House Bill 8 becomes effective Sept. 1 and applies only to crimes committed on or after that date. Source : Hands Off Cain

Sunday, July 22, Fifth Circuit Court Judge Carven Angel issued a temporary injunction barring the State of Florida from carrying out the execution of Death Row inmate Ian Lightbourne. The Judge stated that it would be improper for the Governor to consider taking up a Death Warrant at this time. After hearing sworn testimony in the first courtroom review of the December 13, 2006 botched execution of Angel Diaz and the subsequent proposed changes to Florida's lethal injection protocols, Judge Angel found that the Dept. of Corrections and the State of Florida are unprepared to carry out an execution of Death Row inmate Ian Lightbourne. Judge Angel said that the Governor must have confidence that Florida's execution process is compatible with evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society and the dignity of man. The judge further stated that executions should be carried out in a manner that does not result in the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain...

Photos réalisées lors du "die-in" organisé le 2 juillet 2007 à Paris, place de la Concorde, à quelques centaines de mètres de l'ambassade des Etats-Unis. Ces photos sont libres de droits et peuvent être utilisées gratuitement dans tout contexte ne contrevenant pas à la vocation abolitionniste du présent blog.

Photos réalisées lors du "die-in" organisé le 2 juillet 2007 à Paris, place de la Concorde, à quelques centaines de mètres de l'ambassade des Etats-Unis. Ces photos sont libres de droits et peuvent être utilisées gratuitement dans tout contexte ne contrevenant pas à la vocation abolitionniste du présent blog.

Photos réalisées lors du "die-in" organisé le 2 juillet 2007 à Paris, place de la Concorde, à quelques centaines de mètres de l'ambassade des Etats-Unis. Ces photos sont libres de droits et peuvent être utilisées gratuitement dans tout contexte ne contrevenant pas à la vocation abolitionniste du présent blog.

(Atlanta) -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) applauded today's decision by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant a 90-day stay of execution to Troy Anthony Davis, who has spent 15 years on death row for a murder that he denies committing. Davis, 38, was convicted despite the lack of a murder weapon or physical evidence linking him to the crime."Let today begin a new day for truth and justice in Georgia," said Larry Cox, executive director of AIUSA. "We call upon the Georgia Parole Board to recognize that in the United States, one is innocent until proven guilty -- and in the absence of such proof, there is no acceptable choice but to grant clemency. The Board must recognize the flawed logic of executing a man who may be innocent."Troy Anthony Davis, who is African American, was convicted in 1991 of murdering Mark MacPhail, a white police officer. The prosecution based its case on the testimony of purported "witnesses," many of whom ...

On July 11, South Dakota carried out its first execution in 60 years, marking only the 15th time the state has carried out a death sentence since 1877. The state executed 25-year-old Elijah Page after he dropped all appeals and volunteered to die by lethal injection. Page was only 18 at the time of his crime and had a long history of being abused. During his trial, the presiding judge noted, "Most parents treated their pets better than your parents treated you." Page's decision to drop his appeals meant that his execution was carried out under new lethal injection protocols that have not been examined by the courts. Since U.S. executions resumed in 1977, 127 inmates have been executed after dropping their appeals. South Dakota is one of ten states with the death penalty that have carried out only 1 or no executions since reinstating capital punishment. Source : Death Penalty Information Center

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A court delayed a hit man's execution Tuesday, more than an hour after he could have been put to death for killing a woman in a life insurance scheme concocted by her husband and brother-in-law. The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay for Rolando Ruiz. The majority said they needed more time to rule on his arguments that a state-appointed lawyer in earlier appeals failed to identify his substance abuse and poor childhood as mitigating evidence jurors should have been allowed to consider before they decided on a death sentence. Execution teams cannot begin a lethal injection procedure as long as appeals are pending. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons, who described Ruiz as "genuinely at a loss for words," said the prisoner "didn't seem like he had processed it yet. "He apparently was expecting to go. He expected his execution to be carried out," she sa...

Un Iranien condamné pour adultère a été exécuté par lapidation le jeudi 5 juillet dans le nord-ouest de l'Iran, a annoncé mardi 10 juillet le porte-parole du pouvoir judiciaire Alireza Jamshidi. Les préparatifs nécessaires à l'exécution de la sentence avaient été mis en oeuvre dès le 20 juin. Le supplicié, Jafar Kiani, avait été condamné pour relation adultère avec une femme nommée Mokarrameh Ebrahimi. Tous deux mariés, ils avaient quitté leurs familles pour vivre ensemble il y a treize ans, avant d'être arrêtés il y a onze ans. Le couple a alors été séparé de l'enfant né de leur union adultère, et ni le père ni la mère n'ont pu élever cet enfant aujourdhui âgé de onze ans. Incarcérée de puis onze ans, la mère attend dans le couloir de la mort le jour où elle sera à son tour lapidée. Cliquez ici pour lire la suite de cet article. Voir également sur ce sujet l'article du Herald Tribune (en anglais) Source : Iran-resist.com