President Orders a Review of Executions in USA

The New York Times reported on May 2, 2014, that the president declared [the] botched execution [of Clayton Lockett] in Oklahoma “deeply disturbing” and directed the attorney general . . . to review how the death penalty is applied in the United States at a time when it has become increasingly debated.

“In the application of the death penalty in this country, we have seen significant problems — racial bias, uneven application of the death penalty, you know, situations in which there were individuals on death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of exculpatory evidence,” Mr. Obama told reporters. “And all these, I think, do raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied.”

Especially with mystery drugs being used to execute Americans, many abolitionists are encouraged by the president's directive to review executions in the United States. The United Nations News Centre published an article regarding Oklahoma's botched execution. An excerpt is below:

UN rights office calls on US to impose death penalty moratorium after botched execution.

2 May 2014 – The suffering of United States inmate Clayton Lockett during his execution in Oklahoma on 29 April could amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment according to international human rights law, the United Nations said today, calling on the US authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

The prolonged death of Mr. Lockett – who reportedly died of a heart attack after an execution that went wrong – is the second case of apparent extreme suffering caused by malfunctioning lethal injections reported in 2014 in the US, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The other case was that of Dennis McGuire, executed by the state of Ohio on 16 January 2014 with an allegedly untested combination of drugs.

“The apparent cruelty involved in these recent executions simply reinforces the argument that authorities across the United States should impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty and work for abolition of this cruel and inhuman practice,” OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.

The Death Penalty Information Center featured a book by Austin Sarat that regards botched executions. An excerpt is below:

A new book, "Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty," describes the history of flawed executions in the U.S. from 1890 to 2010. During that period, 8,776 people were executed, and 276 of those executions went wrong in some way. Of all the methods used, lethal injection had the highest rate of botched executions--about 7%. Austin Sarat, the author of the book and a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, described the evolution of new methods of execution: "With each development in the technology of execution, the same promises have been made, that each new technology was safe, reliable, effective and humane. Those claims have not generally been fulfilled."

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IT IS A LEGAL VICTORY for the president to order a review of executions by the Justice Department. In addition to the obvious human rights issues, eliminating capital punishment would save significant financial resources that should be applied to improving life rather than taking lives.

Three(3) References:

NY Times: President Obama Orders Policy Review on Executions
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/03/us/flawed-oklahoma-execution-deeply-troubling-obama-says.html

U.N. Calls for a Moratorium on Executions in USA
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47706

Death Penalty Information Center
BOOKS: "Gruesome Spectacles" Reveals the History of Botched Executions
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/5772

This writer considers it extremely unfortunate that most executions in America happen in the Bible Belt states where churches stand on nearly every corner. For that reason, a recording giving a Christian perspective against capital punishment was published: MaryLovesJustice Show Tape 1 "End DP in Bible Belt States" at this TalkShoe link http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=621240&cmd=apop After the first 45 minutes, there is a two-minute pause, then the tape continues for another hour.

Call or write with information about legal victories you wish to highlight

MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com or (678) 531.0262.

Messages will be responded to within 24 hours, or please call again.

I endure First Amendment violations.

http://JusticeGagged.blogspot.com

Thanks.

Supreme Court: Legal Victories for Condemned Inmates

US Supreme Court orders 6 death row cases reviewed

HOUSTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday [June 3, 2013] sent the cases of six Texas death row inmates, including one of the infamous "Texas 7" gang of escapees, back to a lower court for reviews of whether attorneys in earlier stages of appeals let the men down.

The decisions are in line with last week's ruling in another Texas case where the justices, in a 5-4 vote, said a condemned prisoner had deficient legal help early because appeals lawyers didn't raise challenges that his trial lawyers were ineffective.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/03/3430729/us-supreme-court-orders-6-death.html#storylink=cpy

It is probably a dream come true for the six condemned people to have their cases reviewed before being eligible for execution. Many defendants who must depend on overworked public defenders operating on small budgets to defend the nation's indigent people are represented by ineffective counsel. In fact, so much can happen in a criminal case to cause wrongful convictions before and during the court process that wrongful convictions are bound to happen from time to time. However, wrongful executions should never happen, and they would be impossible if every state does what Maryland recently did:

SAY DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/03/3430729/us-supreme-court-orders-6-death.html#storylink=cpy

Overview of "Legal Victories" Venture

This writer and advocate for human and civil rights was recently interviewed on "Civil Alert" Blogtalkradio show about "Legal Victories," my new venture that has a blog at http://LegalVictories.blogspot.com as well as a social network presence at Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Attorneys, paralegals and all my online friends are invited to join and post links and videos about legal victories from bygone years or current successes. I hope "Legal Victories" will help build optimism about victory over violence and oppression through the legal system and that it inspires greater determination in officers of the court to deserve the People's confidence. My interview begins at the 10-minute point on the tape archived May 15, available in Blogtalkradio's archives and accessible at this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/civilalertworld/2013/05/15/your-local-farmer--a-nationwide-meet-greet

My articles ordinarily enjoy a wide audience of advocates for various human rights concerns and many people who need legal services for civil and criminal cases. Law firms are invited to submit reports about recent legal victories for possible publication to LegalVictories@gmail.com. Publishing victories does not constitute an endorsement by "Legal Victories." However, legal consumers recognize that attorneys who win for their clients, and prosecutors who win righteous cases for the People, have proved themselves to be conscientious legal professionals. Space for full page ads and public service announcements is also available.

Thank you for your interest in justice for ALL. (Two(2) links are in this article.) Enjoy reading about three recent legal victories that follow this introductory page. CELEBRATE with prosecutors who successfully defended newborns' right to life and nailed abortionist Emitt Gosnell for first degree murder; U.S. attorneys who issued a Consent Decree to end the school-to-prison pipeline in Meridian, Mississippi; and wrongful death attorneys who won a significant verdict against Culver City, California after police officers shot an unarmed, surrendered robber, Lejoy Grissom, a father of four. The Supreme Court of Mississippi is congratulated on the "Civil Alert" radio show for issuing a stay of execution for Willie Manning, who faced capital punishment on May 7, 2013, with requests for DNA testing denied. Thank you legal professionals!

ABOUT MARY NEAL
I am founder and director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill ("AIMI"), a human and civil rights organization that advocates online to decriminalize mental illness, end capital punishment, mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, racial and class discrimination in the justice system, and erosion of Americans' civil rights, especially the First Amendment. Incredible events brought me into human rights advocacy. I relayed the tale in thousands of emails, articles, blogs, and videos. There are thousands of people in a similar situation. Perhaps "Legal Victories" will help attorneys and clients find each other. I also reveal the events during radio interviews but have yet to find ethical legal representation, not because of any lack of credible attorneys, but because my telephone calls and online communication are illegally monitored and sometimes prevented. A two-part radio interview is available at these links: "Rev. Harris and Dr. Kennedy Interview Mary Neal Part 2" http://www.blogtalkradio.com/realtalk1dr/2013/05/10/rev-harris-dr-kennedy-interview-mary-neal … Part 1 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/realtalk1dr/2013/05/09/rev-harris-dr-kennedy-interview-mary-neal … Incredible nonfiction!