Special Announcement

We want to continue to build the list of people receiving this bi-weekly Death Penalty Update, an excellent overview of death penalty news stories, scheduled executions, and new resources.  Please take a minute to let your colleagues, friends, family and members know that they can now subscribe simply by sending an email to Josh Noble, at jnoble@dcaclu.org, and typing ""Death Penalty Update"" in the subject line.   

News

Illinois Death Row Inmate Exonerated

(May 28, 2004)

After spending seventeen years behind bars, Gordon Randall Steidl has become the nation's 114^th exonerated death row inmate, and the 18^th person exonerated from Illinois since 1987.  Steidl was wrongfully convicted of the 1986 slaying of an Edgar County newlywed couple.  During his trial, Steidl received such poor legal representation that his conviction was thrown out when a federal judge ruled that Steidl probably would have been acquitted if his defense attorney had properly represented him. No physical evidence ever linked Steidl to the crime.  His guilt was largely based on the testimony of two witnesses who came forward long after the crime.  Both later recanted their testimony.  Subsequent investigation by the State Police, the Attorney General, the Edgar County prosecutor, federal judges, and journalism students found no evidence of Steidl's involvement in the crime.  Prosecutors asked the state to dismiss the case because they were unable to meet a deadline for retrying Steidl.   

Steidl is the second death row inmate exonerated in 2004; Alan Gell of North Carolina was exonerated in February.  Over the past few years, there has been a steady increase in exonerations of death row inmates. In both 1999 and 2000, eight death row inmates were exonerated; in 2001, five death row inmates were exonerated; and in 2002, 4 death row inmates were exonerated. In 2003, a total of 10 death row inmates were exonerated, which is currently the highest number of exonerations in one year.  

Read An Article From CNN

Federal Death Row Prisoner's Execution Stayed

(June 3, 2004)

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the execution of federal prisoner David Paul Hammer, who was scheduled to be executed on June 8^th, 2004.  Hammer, who was sentenced to death for killing a fellow inmate, would have been the fourth man executed since the federal death government resumed executions in 2001 after a 38-year hiatus.  Hammer had originally stated that he did not seek appeals against his execution date, later changed his mind and with the Court's decision here, can resume his appeals.

Learn more about David Paul Hammer

True Murderer Gets Life After MD Death Row Inmate Exonerated

(May 27, 2004)

More than ten years after DNA exonerated Kirk Bloodsworth for the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl, the actual murderer has been sentenced to life in prison.  Bloodsworth was originally convicted in 1984 for the high profile rape and murder of Dawn Hamilton.  The conviction was based largely on the eyewitness testimony of two boys playing in the area where Hamilton was killed.  When it was discovered that the state failed to disclose exculpatory evidence, Bloodsworth received a new trial.  He was convicted a second time, but received a life sentence.  After two wrongful convictions, DNA evidence proved that Bloodsworth could not have committed the crime, and he was exonerated in 1993 becoming the first death row inmate exonerated based on DNA testing.  By that time, Bloodsworth had already served nine years in prison, two of them on death row.  

Last May, DNA evidence implicated Kimberly Shay Ruffner as the true murderer.  When prosecutors informed Bloodsworth of the DNA match and told him that it was a man named Kimberly Shay Ruffner, Bloodsworth exclaimed that he knew Ruffner from prison and used to lift weights with him.  Ruffner was ultimately identified when prosecutors entered a stain of semen from the victim's clothes into state and federal DNA databases.  

Read Kirk Bloodsworth's Statement

John Allen Muhammad To Face Second Virginia Death Penalty Trial

(May 26, 2004)

John Allen Muhammad will likely face a second death penalty trial for the fatal shooting of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Fairfax, Virginia Home Depot.  Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan cited the gravity of the shootings as reason for pushing forward with a second Virginia death penalty trial.  According to Horan, a second conviction would serve as an ""insurance policy"" in the event that an appeals court overturns the first conviction.  Muhammad will be represented by the same defense team.     

  Muhammad was convicted and then sentenced to death last March for his part in the 2002 Washington-area sniper shootings, specifically for the murder of Dean Myers outside a Prince William County gas station.  Muhammad's attorneys argued at trial that there was no evidence that he ever shot or killed anyone; that Lee Boyd Malvo was the actual triggerman.  However, prosecutors built a circumstantial case against Muhammad arguing that he was the ""captain of the killing team"" and was intent on continuing to kill until he received a huge payoff.  

Accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo was convicted of capital murder in Franklin's murder last year and sentenced to life in prison without parole.  

Read An Article By The Washington Post 

Supreme Court Sides With Alabama Death Row Inmate

(May 24, 2004) 

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Alabama death row inmate David Larry Nelson could pursue an appeal claiming lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment in his case.  Nelson had originally asked to be executed in Alabama's electric chair.  However, by the time his execution date arrived, the electric chair was no longer in use and lethal injection was the only alternative.  Nelson suffers from collapsed veins and argued that death by lethal injection would be so painful that it would constitute ""cruel and unusual punishment.""  Nelson was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection last fall, but the Supreme Court issued a reprieve three hours before his execution.  The Court used Nelson's case to decide a technical question of whether last-minute appeals from death row inmates should be allowed in federal courts.  Attorneys representing the State of Alabama had argued that Nelson's case is the quintessential example of a sluggish justice system and the need for limits on appeals because he had been on death row for over 20 years.  However, Nelson's attorneys argued an emergency appeal for a temporary reprieve was necessary because Nelson's medical condition would make the new punishment of lethal injection unconstitutionally cruel unless special precautions, such as surgery, were taken.  

Read An Article From The Associated Press 

Violent Crime Continues To Decline

(May 24, 2004) 

According to recent FBI statistics, violent crime continued to decline in 2003.  Crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault dropped 3.2 percent compared with 2002.  Over the past five years, violent crimes have been declining steadily, particularly in the nation's largest cities.  Murders were the only category to see an increase, rising at 1.1 percent.  In cities with a population exceeding one million, there was a 6.5 % decrease in violent crime from 2002 to 2003.  Decreases were consistent in all regions with the Midwest showing a dramatic drop of 7 percent, violent crime in the Northeast decreasing 3.2 percent; violent crime in the South decreasing 2.7 percent; and violent crime in the West decreasing 1.2 percent.  The numbers come from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which includes statistics from 11,921 law enforcement agencies around the country.  The final report will be available this fall.  

Despite the steady decrease in violent crime, the number of individuals incarcerated continues to dramatically increase.  According to a new study by the Sentencing Project, nearly 128,000 people, or one of every eleven offenders in state and federal prisons, are serving life sentences. The numbers of life sentences have increased a dramatic 83 percent in the last ten years.  The Sentencing Project report along with the above stated FBI statistics demonstrate that the increases are not the result of more crime, but rather, tough-on-crime initiatives have led to harsher penalties; longer mandatory sentences and more restrictive parole and commutation policies.  

Read 'The Meaning Of Life: Long Prison Sentences In Context'

Upcoming Executions 

JUNE

06/01/04            PA            Hubert L. Michael - Stayed 
06/03/04            TN            Sedley Alley - Stayed 
08/08/04            OK            William Zuern
06/08/04            OK            Robert Leroy Bryan
06/08/04            FED            David Paul Hammer - Stayed
06/10/04            TX            James Lee Henderson - Stayed 
06/10/04            PA            Arthur Bomar - Stay Likely 
06/14-19/04            MD            Steven Oken    
06/20/04            OH            John Drummond
06/23/04            TX            Efrain Perez - Juvenile - Stayed
06/24/04            TX            Raul Villarreal - Juvenile - Stayed 
06/24/04            OH            Donald Ketterer
06/25/04            OH            Robert Bethel
06/25/04            WY            Dale Wayne Eaton - Stay Likely 
06/29/04            TX            Mauro Barraza - Juvenile - Stayed 
06/30/04            TX            David Harris

JULY

07/01/04            VA            Michael Lenz
07/07/04            TX            Troy Kunkel
07/09/04            IN            Darnell Williams
07/19-25/04            NV            Terry Dennis - Abandoned Appeals

NCADP Execution Alerts 

Execution Alerts & Updates

Help Stop the Execution of Steven Oken

The State of Maryland plans to execute Steven Oken during the week of June 14.  Over the past few years, Maryland's capital punishment system has come under great scrutiny.  Most recently, the University of Maryland released a study that demonstrated Maryland's death penalty system was riddled with racial and geographical bias.  Despite the studies findings, then newly appointed Governor Ehrlich put an end to a moratorium on executions that Governor Glendening put in place in May 2003.  Exacerbating the imminent execution of Oken, are serious concerns of mental illness.  At trial, prosecutors had psychological experts testify Oken suffered from an incurable mental disease.  Prosecutors played up the threat presented by Oken's incurable state and obscured that he was already serving a sentence of life without parole.  In closing arguments, prosecutors called on jury members to do their patriotic duty and approve a death sentence for Oken, despite the fact that Oken had already been sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole for another murder.

Help stop the execution of Steven Oken by contacting Governor Ehrlich at:

Honorable Robert Ehrlich
State House
100 State Circle
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: 410-974-3901
Fax: 410-974-3275
Email: governor@gov.state.md.us 

There will also be a demonstration in Baltimore on Saturday, June 5^th, 2pm at Caine Field.  From Caine Field there will be a march to the prison that houses death row inmates in Maryland. To learn more about Steven Oken's case and to get involved: www.stopexecutionsinmaryland.org 

Action Alerts From the ACLU (juvenile death penalty repeal legislation in: Delaware, New Hampshire and Louisiana, Moratorium Legislation in North Carolina, and a Federal Moratorium on Executions + action alerts on other ACLU issues)

Employment & Volunteer Opportunities

NCADP Executive Director Search Announcement and Profile

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) (www.ncadp.org) is seeking an Executive Director to provide leadership, vision and management to the organization. The Executive Director, in Collaboration with the Board of Directors, will lead the staff in enhancing existing resources and support and in mobilizing additional resources and support to fulfill the organization's mission of abolishing the death penalty.

 For more information: http://www.ncadp.org/press_release_5_17_2004_search.html 

PADP National Steering Committee Position Announcement 

The Amnesty International USA Program to Abolish the Death Penalty is recruiting for three unpaid volunteer leadership positions:  One must be from the Southern region, one from the Northeast region, and the last one is an ""at large"" position for which a resident of any region may apply.  The Program to Abolish the Death Penalty National Steering Committee (PADP-NSC) is composed of AIUSA members, staff, and Board liaisons working together to develop and implement Program goals.  The Committee collaborates and consults on fundamental policy matters relating to the Program, including long-range and annual plans, major policy or program changes or initiatives, program evaluation, and budget planning.  

Committee members serve for a three-year term and upon reapplication, selection, and appointment may serve a second consecutive term.  After serving two consecutive three-year terms, committee members shall rotate off the committee for at least two years. After a two-year sabbatical, former committee members are eligible to reapply and be reappointed to the committee.

Qualifications

Committee members must be committed to the abolition of the death penalty.  Applicants should have knowledge of the history of social justice issues in the US, including the death penalty. A good grasp of current issues relating to state and national efforts to abolish the death penalty is also highly desirable.  Knowledge of international death penalty issues would be an asset.

Committee members must be members of Amnesty International USA.

Experience in a leadership role within AIUSA, such as serving as a State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator (SDPAC) or Legislative Coordinator (LC) is helpful, but not required. Coalition work, organizing, and building around other social justice issues and movements, e.g., civil rights and liberties, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (LGBT), gender, and children's rights, and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR), is extremely desirable.

Application Process

To apply, interested candidates should submit a resume or summary, which describes past/present anti-death penalty work/volunteer activities (and other relevant social justice experience), a cover letter indicating interest in the position, and three references. Regional Staff and RDPACs are actively encouraged to speak to each other about potential candidates and make recommendations in relevant regions. All interested candidates must submit their applications directly to the PADP. Students and youth are strongly encouraged to apply. Further, the PADP-NSC, like AIUSA, is committed to multiculturalism and organizational diversity, and actively seeks applications from people of color and persons from other minority groups.

Please submit all application materials by JULY 11TH to:

Attn: The Program to Abolish the Death Penalty
Ref: National Steering Committee Recruitment
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20003

You may also fax or email your application materials to the PADP c/o the

Program Associate, Kristin Houlé, at:
Fax:  202-546-7142
E-mail:  khoule@aiusa.org

(Please put PADP National Steering Committee Recruitment Application in subject line)

Resources 

Death Penalty:  Beyond Abolition

Europe is today the only region in the world where the death penalty has been almost completely abolished. In the Council of Europe's 45 member states, including the European Union's 15 member states and its 13 candidate countries, capital punishment is no longer applied. The Council of Europe played a pioneering role in the battle for abolition, believing that the death penalty has no place in democratic societies under any circumstances. This determination to eradicate the death penalty was reflected in Protocol No.6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, on the abolition of the death penalty in peacetime, which was adopted in April 1983, then in Protocol No.13 on the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, adopted in May 2002.  

Introduced by Roger Hood, an international expert on death penalty legislation, this book reviews the long and sometimes tortuous path to abolition in Europe. It also addresses the tangible problems which countries face once the death penalty has been abolished, and related issues: the situation of murder victims' families and alternatives to capital punishment, particularly the choice of a substitute sentence.

Purchase A Copy Of 'Death Penalty: Beyond Abolition' 

Additional Resources from DPIC 

Featured Events

11^th Annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty

This annual event occurs from June 29-July 2^nd in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC. June 29^th is the anniversary of Furman v. Georgia, which stopped executions in 1972 and July 2^nd, Gregg v. Georgia, which reinstated the death penalty in 1976.  For four days death penalty abolitionists will be fasting and vigiling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. If you live in the Washington, DC area, please come by at some point. Highlights include an initial gathering at 12:01am on Tuesday, June 29^th, a press conference at noon on Tuesday June 29^th and a concert featuring the music of Steve Earle on Thursday, July 1^st.  For more information: www.abolition.org 

Weekly Phone Banking at ACLU office in Washington, DC

Volunteers are needed to attend weekly phone banking sessions.  The dates are 6-8pm on: Wednesday, June 9^th, Tuesday, June 15^th, Monday, June 21^st, Tuesday, June 29^th, Thursday, July 8^th, Wednesday, July 14^th, Monday, July 19^th, Tuesday, July 27^th.  The location is 915 15^th Street NW, 6^th Floor, Washington, DC 20005.  Dinner will be served.

This is your chance to come out