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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

California High Court Won't Reconsider Death Penalty Ruling

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San Quentin death row, California
California's Supreme Court won't reconsider its decision upholding a voter-approved measure meant to speed up executions in the state.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's Supreme Court won't reconsider its decision upholding a voter-approved measure meant to speed up executions in the state.

The court voted 5-2 in August to uphold Proposition 66, but ruled that the measure's provision for a five-year deadline for condemned inmates' appeals was advisory, not mandatory.

Anti-death penalty crusader Ron Briggs had asked the court to reconsider its Aug. 24 ruling. 

The court declined the request Wednesday with no comment, saying its August decision was final.

The measure requires more lawyers to take death penalty appeals that will be assigned almost immediately after sentencing. 

It would shift one type of appeal to trial court judges and require those appeals to be filed within a year after an attorney is appointed.

California has 400 appeals pending.

Source: The Associated Press, October 25, 2017


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: California, USA
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