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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Proposed Ballot Measure Would End Death Penalty In California

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Mike Farrell
Mike Farrell
A new ballot initiative is being proposed in California to end the state's death penalty.

Longtime anti-death penalty advocate actor Mike Farrell is promoting "The Justice That Works Act of 2016," which would amend the California penal code to replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Initiative supporters have to collect more than 365,000 signatures in 180 days to get the measure on the November 2016 ballot.

It's the latest move toward ending capitol punishment in California. In July 2014, a federal judge ruled California's death penalty unconstitutional. That ruling is awaiting review.

California has not executed a prisoner in nearly a decade despite the state having more than 740 condemned convicts on death row - that's the largest number of any state.

Alex Simpson, associate director of the California Innocence Project, will discuss the status of the death penalty in California Thursday on Midday Edition.

Source: KPBS news, Sept. 17, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: California, USA
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