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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT  

"Just try to imagine yourself in his position! How would you feel if you had been deprived of your freedom, even worse, stripped off your basic rights as a human being?"
Kenneth Foster Jr. 999232, An inmate on Texas Death Row was sentenced under the Law of Parties. Here is his interview with The Abolishment Movement. He speaks about his life, his conviction, and his views on politics.
An assessment of the reliability of our justice system with statistics regarding innocent people on death row, DPICs "Innocence List," some case studies and quotes from people in the industry.
Another inmate has confessed to the crime of murder, yet an innocent man awaits execution on Texas Death Row
In Defense of Justice: Why America Should Not Relinquish the Death Penalty
Sandie, is a prison rights advocate who will soon marry the man she fell in love with Chucky Mamou, by proxy.
I started to cry and scream when they said he was guilty, me as a young mother of a 4 month old son at the time, I felt like my world was going to end and I had nothing else to live for.
Wright's codefendant has admitted that he murdered her, and he also sits on death row, waiting his turn to die.
If Foster is executed, will his case bring pro death penalty opponents to the other side?
California has one of the highest death penalty convictions but one of the lowest actual executions. Death Row life is humbrum at best
Patrick B. Knight, a death row inmate in the Polunsky Unit in Hunstville Texas has an execution date of June 26. He has a strange request, however. He is asking that people send him jokes. Instead of being "Dead Man Walking," he wants to be known as "Dead Man Laughing."
Annette has been a long time prison reformist, and abolitionist and has created several Myspaces for her causes
I talked earlier about the death penalty and the moral and legal issues behind them. Let's look a little deeper at what people expect and what is reality.
This paper explores the reasons for abolishing the death penalty.
Is the Death Penalty justice or just us?
From the moral issues to the mistakes made, the death penalty in this country just isn't viable anymore. What I think and why.
There are many critics of capital punishment who claim it is "inhuman and cruel punishment."
Having a punishment that leave no room for error with in a society can be dangerous, if the person being executed is in fact innocent there is no way to reverse it. The system doesn't always work a fact that is becoming more and more obvious.
In People v. Anderson, 6 Cal . 3d 628, 493 P.2d 880, 100 Cal Rptr. 152 (1972), the California Supreme Courtinvalidated the death penalty as unconstitutionally "cruel or unusual punishment" in the spring of 1972. The whys!
Kenneth Foster will remain in prison for life.
I met a mother and a father who has their only son on death row. I felt their pain and their disgust with the whole system
The review of this landmark case could determine where they draw the line about mentally ill and the death sentence.
The average time for an inmate to be on death row is 10.26 years as listed on the TDCJ website
"I proposed long ago to end tax dollars for the Death Penalty. Just as anti war people are proposing now. I proposed this as a ballot initiative"
An International Court ruled that a murderer on death row in Texas should be extradited to his native country that has no death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his extradition. Good.
"I've yet to see a rich man die in the death chamber in Huntsville."
The issue of the death penalty is one of the most controversial social issues in the present world. One of the controversies surrounding this issue is whether the death penalty contains a pattern of racial bias
My trial attorney Francisca Macias told me "there is a note pad, don't look at the jury, sit here and draw and I'll take care of everything". Literally.
This article examines the various court decisions and reasoning given in those decisions to uphold the death penalty.
Flores was 18 years old at the time of the crime, and 19 when he was sentenced to die for his crime
Will states that Flores told him "Man, I feel bad about that, you know, about the deputy..."
Approximately fifty females are awaiting execution on death row. Many of them were born in Texas where they now sit incarcerated on death row.
In letters received from Charles, he states "I need big time help," the Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas is overlooking something that is so crucial, why won't they help?"
"Greg was excluded as a contributor to the DNA on the knife and his DNA is inconsistent with the biological material found on the jeans."
Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to death in the rape of an 8 year old little girl in 2003. He is now on death row.
I firmly believe that capitol punishment is the most important issue relevant to race and crime in the American system of jurisprudence.
This paper examines the history and future of the death penalty. It also examines high profile cases.
The Death penalty needs to be reviewed often; human life is at stake
The question on which people answer on the basis of gut reactions rather than logical reactions.
Article against the death penalty in Texas
It may seem contradictory to keep abortion legal and to make the death penalty illegal, but if you take another look it might make more sense than you originally thought.
The death penalty has been deemed an appropriate method of punishment as well as a deterrent of future crimes, and yet statistics and morality prove otherwise.
Are you aware of how much putting someone to death is? Can you fathom the thought of exonerating someone after they have been executed? Does your faith portray that killing someone who has killed is justified?
Straight from Death Row in Texas, Daryl Wheatfall's own words.
I believe that capitol punishment is needed in our society. Although I believe this I do not think that it should be used in all cases. The system of capitol punishment needs to be reexamined and fixed so that it will better suit the world we live in.
I have recently been contacted by mail by four Texas inmates. They all allege being the victim of jail house snitching. Two were snitched on by the same informant, and the same prosecutor is involved in all four of these cases.
has has the Supreme Court dealt with the issue
To resolve problems of cruelty with the death penalty the NC State Legislature required a doctor to monitor the prisoner. The State Medical Board determined that a doctor cannot participate in the execution due to their oath.
The Associated Press reports that the Louisiana Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Patrick Kennedy, a convicted child rapist from Harvey, Louisiana, according to Louisiana news station KATC.
Robinson was sentenced to die after only 11 minutes of jury deliberation.
The death penalty actually increases criminal activity and does not serve as a deterrant.
The long lasting debate about the death penalty may be an issue that is never truly decided. The death penalty laws have been established as far back as the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi in Babylon
This is a response to a 1985 article in the New Republic by former New York City mayor Edward I. Koch advocating the death penalty.
Capital punishment is used less and less as Americans questions its fairness and accuracy.
On March 26th , The U. S Supreme Court announced that it would take into consideration the increasing national consensus against capital punishment for mentally retarded killers.
With the video of Saddam Hussein's execution circulating the internet, we need to take a serious look at America's stance on the death penalty
The Kentucky Supreme Court to hear arguments on wether a death row inmate has the right to ask to be executed.
How can the United States call itself the foundation of democracy, the land of the free, and the model of liberty while advocating and promoting ethics and morality around the world and still seek a fatal vengeance on those that commit crimes?
26 years ago, Joseph Nichols and best friend Willie Williams decided their own fate by robbing a Houston, Texas convenience store, shooting and killing 70-year old store clerk, Claude Shaffer.
Revisiting an original article I wrote on the subject
Even though only 1 in 33 people who are charged with criminal homicide are sentenced to death there more than 3,700 men and women in the United States who are currently awaiting execution on death row.
I have to tell you, it is really weird to read a headline that say's; "Your Name" Convicted of Murder and Sentenced to Die" , or even better "Death Row Inmate "Your Name" Scheduled to be Executed."
Has there been an increase in the number of prison suicides? Is this the latest trend in prisoner deaths? Here is a short story about recent prison suicides.
Troy Davis, 39, an African American man, has been given an execution date of July 17- July 24. He will be executed by the state of Georgia by lethal injection.
A personal account of being present outside death chamber walls during an execution.
The criminal justice system in America maybe the best in the world but that doesn't mean there are not serious problems. One ongoing problem is racism.
Legal execution, also called capital punishment, is a highly controversial area of criminal law. At this time, 38 states use legal execution as a manner of punishment for capital offenses.
The administration of a fatal dose of drugs was considered more humane than other methods used over the years. The fact is, whether this deemed excruciatingly painful or not, the inmate is sentenced to death.
Robert Comer is sentenced to die in Phoenix on Tuesday, an execution he has been fighting for nearly seven years, as reported by The Associated Press.
From his Texas Death Watch Cell, Roy talks about his conviction, his views on prison abuse, and his thoughts about dying.
Texas has the largest population of prisoners on death row than any other death sentence state. It may be assumed that the taxpayers of Texas are in some ways given a break by the short life span expected of these prisoners.
Gangbanging and criminalism was the subculture norms, norms that led to my incarceration several times for non-felony crimes.
Approximately 48 women are on death row. Over 55% of the cases involve the killing of a family member or members.
But because your friends with someone, the deep dark things they do alone should not be judged on you. And this is what happened to Sarge.
This article discusses one of the many alternatives to Capital Punishment.
A series of studies indicate that the death penalty deters potential murderers, although advocates for the abolition of the death penalty have disputed the results of the studies.
New Jersey's Legislation to abolish the Death Penalty has been a hot debate item. This has been a sore subject for many in the state including the family of Megan Kanka, who was murdered, raped and beaten by convicted child rapist, Jesse Timmendequas, in 1994.
Learning that the Legislature will vote on a Bill to Abolish the Death Penalty bring great pain and anxiety to many victims and their families
Darrell Grayson was executed in the State of Alabana after being held on death row for 25 years. Are you for or against the death penalty?
What they say about history repeating itself is true. A couple years ago I sat in this very same cage, at this very same steel bunk, typing on this very same typewriter and wrote about this world I've been in since 1996.
Eight death row inmates, including Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994 were spared when New Jersey becomes the first state in 42 years to abolish the death penalty.
What is right and what is wrong with the death penalty?
The death penalty is a huge issue as controversial as it has always been and is frequently a point of contention between the two major parties in the United States.
"People who commit worse crimes often don't get the death penalty if they have a better lawyer than people who commit less aggravated crimes." I feel that this is the major problem with the death penalty, and one that must be adressed.
Whether for or against the death penalty the fact remains that this is an issue that will not be going away anytime soon.
The results of a recent Reuters Poll conducted by a group opposed to the death penalty finds that a majority of Americans favor the death penalty.
So many states have issues with the death penalty; New Jersey has even made progress towards actually implementing an abolishment of the death penalty. Court disputes concerning lethal injections have occurred in over six states.
The latest Gallup Poll shows a vast majority of Americans support the death penalty, with 69% of the participants saying yes when they were asked if they were in favor of the death penalty for a person who had been convicted of murder.
With the sentence of death imposed upon Saddam Hussein and his subsequent hanging, there is the lingering question as to the morality issues associated with the death penalty. Is the death penalty really necessary?
As a result of a recent triple-murder in Kentucky, thousands of state residents are debating the value of the death penalty for the suspect as opposed to life without parole.
New Jersey has abolished the death penalty, does that really change things in New Jersey?
I've been Agnostic since elementary school and try my best to avoid the topic of religion, but when reading Jodi Picoult's book "Change of Heart," I found comfort in reading about the death penalty and other religious views.
Illinois governor George Ryan granted clemency to death row inmates
In California, the legal system is so backed up, there is a more likely chance that someone sentenced to death will die of natural causes rather than by lethal injection. This is ridiculous. Why do they even still have the death penalty?
The ongoing debate as to whether the death penalty is justified and a deterent to criminal activity, or a barbaric act in itself.