Figures Exceed Previous Counts Because They Include All People in Solitary in Prisons and Jails for 22 or More Hours a Day, and Are Based on the Most Reliable Available Sources Washington, DC — The watchdog group Solitary Watch and the advocacy coalition Unlock the Box today released a groundbreaking joint report showing that at least 122,840 people are locked daily in solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails for 22 or more hours a day. Calculating Torture ( LINK ) is the first report to combine the use of solitary in local and federal jails in addition to state and federal prisons. It is based on analysis of data recently released by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) as well as by state prison systems that did not report to BJS, and data from a survey of local jails conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice.
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➤ Clemency
2019. USA. Director: Chinonye Chukwu. Writer: Chinonye Chukwu. Cast: Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff, Aldis Hodge. Running time: 1h52
Synopsis: Bernadine Williams, a Death Row prison warden whose job has taken a psychological toll on her, must confront her demons when she has to execute another inmate. (Imdb)
"There’s little room to breathe in writer-director Chinonye Chukwu’s constricting, devastating drama Clemency, an intentionally airless film processing a tough subject through an unusual viewpoint. It was the deserved big winner at Sundance this year, making Chukwu the first black woman to win the Grand Jury prize. Our protagonist is prison warden Bernadine (Alfre Woodard), first seen as she prepares for an execution, methodically going through her mental checklist with calm professionalism while keeping emotions at bay. It might be her 12th but experience only seems to make the process that much harder, a growing awareness that the system she’s a part of might not be something she truly believes in. Any back-burner doubt she might have had soon turns into something far less avoidable after she bears witness to a horrifyingly botched lethal injection. Bernadine is sent into an inner tailspin as she confronts her guilt while also prepping for the next execution, this time for an inmate who insists he’s innocent." (The Guardian, Benjamin Lee)
➤ The Current War
2017. USA. Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Writer: Michael Mitnick. Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Oliver Powell, Katherine Waterston. Running time: 1h42
Synopsis: The dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world.
This race incidentally led to the invention and the use of the electric chair as a "humane" way to execute death-row inmates. The first execution took about eight minutes. George Westinghouse later commented that, "They would have done better using an axe."
As Edison expanded his direct current (DC) power delivery system, he received stiff competition from companies installing alternating current (AC) systems. From the early 1880s, AC arc lighting systems for streets and large spaces had been an expanding business in the US. With the development of transformers in Europe and by Westinghouse Electric in the US in 1885–1886, it became possible to transmit AC long distances over thinner and cheaper wires, and "step down" the voltage at the destination for distribution to users. This allowed AC to be used in street lighting and in lighting for small business and domestic customers, the market Edison's patented low voltage DC incandescent lamp system was designed to supply. Edison's DC empire suffered from one of its chief drawbacks. Edison's DC plants could not deliver electricity to customers more than one mile from the plant, and left a patchwork of unsupplied customers between plants. Small cities and rural areas could not afford an Edison style system at all, leaving a large part of the market without electrical service.
AC companies expanded into this gap. Edison expressed views that AC was unworkable and the high voltages used were dangerous. As George Westinghouse installed his first AC systems in 1886, Thomas Edison struck out personally against his chief rival stating, "Just as certain as death, Westinghouse will kill a customer within six months after he puts in a system of any size."
Edison took advantage of the public perception of AC as dangerous, and joined with self-styled New York anti-AC crusader Harold P. Brown in a propaganda campaign, aiding Brown in the public electrocution of animals with AC, and supported legislation to control and severely limit AC installations and voltages (to the point of making it an ineffective power delivery system) in what was now being referred to as a "battle of currents".
The development of the electric chair was used in an attempt to portray AC as having a greater lethal potential than DC and smear Westinghouse at the same time via Edison colluding with Brown and Westinghouse's chief AC rival, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, to make sure the first electric chair was powered by a Westinghouse AC generator.
The first person in line to die under New York's new electrocution law was William Kemmler, convicted of murdering his wife with a hatchet. Kemmler was executed in New York's Auburn Prison on August 6, 1890; the "state electrician" was Edwin F. Davis. The first 17-second passage of 1,000 volts AC of current through Kemmler caused unconsciousness, but failed to stop his heart and breathing. The attending physicians, Edward Charles Spitzka and Carlos F. MacDonald, came forward to examine Kemmler. After confirming Kemmler was still alive, Spitzka reportedly called out, "Have the current turned on again, quick, no delay." The generator needed time to re-charge, however. In the second attempt, Kemmler received a 2,000 volt AC shock. Blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled, and the areas around the electrodes singed. The entire execution took about eight minutes. George Westinghouse later commented that, "They would have done better using an axe", and a witnessing reporter claimed that it was "an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging". (Wikipedia)
➤ Just Mercy
2019. USA. Director: Destin Daniel Cretton. Writer: Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham. Cast: Jamie Foxx, Charlie Pye Jr., Michael Harding. Running time: 2h17
Synopsis: "Just Mercy" tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who, with the help of young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, appealed his murder conviction. The film is based on the memoir of the same name, written by Stevenson.
In 1989, idealistic young Harvard law graduate Bryan Stevenson travels to Alabama hoping to help fight for poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation. He meets with Eva Ansley and founds the Equal Justice Initiative, then travels to a prison to meet its death row inmates. He meets Walter "Johnny D." McMillian, an African-American man who was convicted of the 1986 murder of Ronda Morrison, a white woman.
Stevenson looks over the evidence in the case and discovers it hinges entirely on the testimony of convicted felon Ralph Myers, who provided highly self-contradictory testimony in exchange for a lighter sentence in his own pending trial.
Stevenson approaches Myers, who eventually admits that his testimony was coerced after police played to his fear of being burned and threatened to have him executed by electric chair. Stevenson appeals to the local court to grant McMillan a retrial and successfully convinces Myers to recant his testimony on the stand, but the judge nevertheless refuses to grant a retrial. Distraught, Stevenson vents his frustrations about the case to Ansley. He appears on 60 Minutes to rally public support in favor of McMillan, then appeals to the Supreme Court of Alabama. The Supreme Court overturns the circuit court's decision, and grants McMillan his retrial. (Wikipedia)
The death penalty is inhumane and violates the fundamental right to life. Physician involvement enables this continuing abuse of human rights and undermines the four pillars of medical ethics—beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. “The death penalty is, in our common experience, an atavistic relic from the past that should be shed in the 21st century”, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk in April, 2023, during the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council. The death penalty has existed since the Code of Hammurabi, with its history seeped in politics and discrimination. Physicians have been involved throughout this history. In the eyes of the public, the medicalisation and very involvement of physicians renders execution palatable, eroding any natural sense of abhorrence. Yet capital punishment is ineffective as a deterrent and morally wrong. At its core, execution is a barbaric practice that goes against the ethical foundation of the physician's rol
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed a man convicted of receiving weapons training in an unidentified "enemy country", state media reported, the latest in a spate of death penalty cases involving terrorism. Since May 2, the Gulf kingdom has executed seven terrorism convicts, all but one in the eastern region where the Shiite minority is concentrated. There have been 36 executions so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on state media reports. In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 147 people in total -- more than double the 2021 figure of 69, the AFP tally showed. The figure for 2022 included 81 people executed on a single day in March of that year for terrorism-related offences, an event that sparked an international outcry.
Figures Exceed Previous Counts Because They Include All People in Solitary in Prisons and Jails for 22 or More Hours a Day, and Are Based on the Most Reliable Available Sources Washington, DC — The watchdog group Solitary Watch and the advocacy coalition Unlock the Box today released a groundbreaking joint report showing that at least 122,840 people are locked daily in solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails for 22 or more hours a day. Calculating Torture ( LINK ) is the first report to combine the use of solitary in local and federal jails in addition to state and federal prisons. It is based on analysis of data recently released by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) as well as by state prison systems that did not report to BJS, and data from a survey of local jails conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice.
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks on Thursday shared details about the timeline to get the El Paso Walmart shooter state trial started after the federal case ends. Hicks explained what needs to happen once Patrick Crusius receives his sentence in federal court. "After that sentencing [in federal court] there is a paperwork process. Once that paperwork process is complete the shooter [Crusius] will come into state custody and we will proceed with our case in state custody,” said Hicks. After Crusius is sentenced, it could take anywhere from two to four weeks for him to transition into state custody, Hicks explained. "The number one priority of my office has been to put the Walmart case back on track and I’m very confident that we have done that, that we are prepared to proceed with prosecution on the case and that once he is back in our custody, looks like it will be sometime late June maybe early August, will be ready to proceed with the pros
No one understands what this is like. This is a part of Disorder in the Court , a weeklong series on the legal press and the most explosive Supreme Court in generations: how we cover it, how we’ve failed, and how we can do better. In these installments, we’re looking specifically at those who have suffered at the hands of SCOTUS decisions, as their stories are too frequently overlooked. When the federal death penalty was formally reinstated in 1988, the country didn’t rush to use it. In 2001 the U.S. executed Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, and followed that up with two more executions later that year and in 2003. The federal government did not execute anyone else until 2020, when, under the Trump administration, 13 prisoners were killed in just six months. This spree would not have been possible without Barr v. Lee, a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that swatted away a lower court’s concerns that lethal injection’s potential for respiratory distress could count as “cruel and unus
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 20, 2023: State media have reported the execution of Shahrooz Sokhanvari who authorities claimed was arrested by Interpol in Malaysia and extradited to Iran in 2020. Condemning the executions, Iran Human Rights demands Interpol be held accountable for handing Shahrooz Sokhanvari to Iran authorities. Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “If, as Islamic Republic authorities claim, Interpol was involved in handing over Shahrooz Sokhanvari to Iran, they are complicit in his execution and must be held accountable.” In a statement published in August 2022, Iran Human Rights questioned Interpol about its involvement in Sokhanvari’s extradition to Iran which was never answered.
Jurors in southwest Florida have recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter more than 30 years ago. The recommendation came following a trial in which Joseph Zieler yelled at the jury and made vulgar gestures while he was on the witness stand. The Lee County jury voted 10-2 in favor of death for Zieler on Wednesday night after about five hours of deliberations, according to court records. The same panel found Zieler, 60, guilty last week of two counts of first-degree murder. A judge will make the final decision in whether Zieler will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison following a June 26 hearing. Florida law had previously required a unanimous jury recommendation for a convicted murderer to face the death penalty, but a new law signed last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis requires only an 8-4 vote in favor of execution.
Pending results from a full psychological evaluation, Palm Beach County murdered Duane Owen might avoid his death penalty. The convicted murderer has tried to appeal before, but has not succeeded. WEST PALM BEACH — Duane Owen, 62, fatally stabbed a Delray Beach babysitter and battered a single Boca Raton mom to death nearly 40 years ago. As of yesterday, Owen may no longer face a death sentence, pending psychiatric evaluation. Governor Ron DeSantis signed Owen's death warrant on May 16. He would have been the fourth person to receive the death penalty in Florida this year.
Despite its tendency to distort memories, hypnosis has been used on witnesses in numerous investigations, including death penalty cases. Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a similar bill in 2021. For the second session in a row, the Texas Legislature has passed a bill that would ban hypnosis-induced statements from being introduced as evidence in criminal trials. Lawmakers are hopeful the governor won’t veto it again this year. Despite scientific evidence that hypnosis can distort memories, Texas police and prosecutors have routinely relied on witnesses who identify suspects after being hypnotized by a police officer. The controversial policing practice was used close to 1,800 times in Texas over the course of 40 years, according to a 2020 Dallas Morning News investigation , and played a role in sending numerous people to death row, including a man who was executed last year.
Early 2023, the newly elected government of Israel announced an ensemble of judicial reforms; including a new bill that would introduce the death penalty for acts of terrorism. As of May 2023, the judicial reforms have been put on hold by the PM Netanyahu. This article takes a historical perspective to recontextualize the issue of the death penalty in Israel, as well as the views of civil society organizations on the subject. In January, the newly elected government of Israel announced an ensemble of judicial reforms which would modify the entire Israeli judiciary system. As part of this reform package is a law trying to instate mandatory death penalty for those deemed “terrorists” by the State. Specifically, the law targets anyone who “intentionally or out of indifference causes the death of an Israeli citizen when the act is carried out from a racist motive or hate to a certain public… and with the purpose of harming the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in its hom
