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Current Death Penalty News Items_______________________
- Death Penalty Rift In States Continues, Stateline.org (US), March 19, 2009
- Bills designed to restore the death penalty will be held in committee by the Assembly in light of declining support for capital punishment. Without Debate, Assembly Panel 'Holds' Death Penalty Bills As Issue's Potency Fades,New York Law Journal (NY), May 22, 2008
- Last death sentence under 1995 statute reversed by Court of Appeals. Citing Flawed Law, Spilt Panel Vacates Final Death Sentence, New York Law Journal (NY), October 24, 2007
- Last appeal under New York's defunct 1995 death penalty statute was heard by the Court of Appeals. Court Mulls Repercussions of Altering Death Ruling, New York Law Journal (NY), September 11, 2007
- Assembly will not take action on proposal to restore death penalty in this session according to Speaker. Execute NY Cop Killers? Not This Year, Says Silver, NY Daily News (NY), May 10, 2007
- Prompted by recent shootings of State Troopers in DelawareCounty, the legislative leadership plans to meet to discuss capital punishment legislation. Death Penalty Bill Urged, Albany Times Union (NY), April 26, 2007
- Governor Spitzer issues statement urging patience before considering legislative requests for a new death penalty law. Governor: Now Is Not the Time to Debate Death Penalty, Albany Times Union [Blog] (NY), April 25, 2007
- Attorney General will not participate in the final death penalty case to be heard in NY Court of Appeals.Attorney General Opts Out of Last Death Penalty Case, New York Law Journal (Queens), April 5, 2007
Current Developments Outside of New York State_________
- Group [ALI] Gives Up Death Penalty Work, New York Times (US), January 4, 2010
- Supreme Court Says ABA Counsel Guidelines Can’t Help Ohio Death Row Inmate, ABA Journal Law News Now (US), November 9, 2009
- Court Won’t Revisit Death Penalty Case, New York Times (US), October 2, 2008
- No End In Sight To Death Penalty Wrangling, Stateline.org (US), July 31, 2008
- Stevens Opposes ‘Pointless’ Death Penalty, ABA Journal Law News Now (US), April 16, 2008
- Face-To-Face Jury Questioning Urged In Death Penalty Cases, New York Law Journal (2nd Cir), December 31, 2007
- Executions in U.S. Decline to 13-Year Low, Study Finds, New York Times (US), December 19, 2007
- ABA Calls for National Execution Moratorium, ABA Law Journal News Now (US), October 29, 2007. For a copy of the report, click here.
- The Death Penalty, ABA Human Rights Magazine, Spring 2007
- Matter of Life or Death, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA), September 24-26, 2007
- Capital Case Tests Post-Conviction Counsel, National Law Journal (FL), September 3, 2007
- Study Says Habeas Reviews Are Actually Slower Since 1996 'Fast-Track' Law, National Law Journal (US), September 3, 2007
- Justice Kennedy: The Man in Control of the Death Penalty, New York Law Journal (US), August 28, 2007
- Fast-Tracking Death Penalty Cases Is Bad Law, Arizona Daily Sun (US), August 26, 2007
- ABA Calls AG's Fast-Track Authority 'Seriously Flawed', National Law Journal (US), August 31, 2007
- ABA Objects to Death Penalty Proposal, ABA Journal News (US), August 30, 2007
- Fast-Track Review of Capital Cases Put on Hold, National Law Journal (US), August 20, 2007
- States Deal With Dearth of Attorneys Willing to Take Capital Cases, National Law Journal (US), July 2, 2007
- Supreme Court Blocks Execution of Delusional Killer, New York Times (US), June 29, 2007
- Suicides Surpass Executions as Cause of Death on California Death Row, Union-Tribune (CA), June 12, 2007
- New Jersey Court Voids Death Penalty Conviction, New York Times (NJ), June 6, 2007
- New Jersey Moves Closer to Abolishing Death Penalty, New York Times (NJ), May 11, 2007
- New Jersey to Consider Abolishing Death Penalty, Associated Press (NJ), May 6, 2007
- Federal Death Penalty Stalls, National Law Journal (US), April 30, 2007
- Drugs Used in Executions May Cause Paralysis, Pain for Conscious Inmates, Washington Post (US), April 24, 2007
- Death No More, Dallas Morning News (TX), April 18, 2007
- Protect the Mentally Ill, National Law Journal (US), April 16, 2007
- Politics of Life and Death, Enquirer (OH), April 15, 2007
- Split Grows on Hearsay Evidence, National Law Journal (US), April 9, 2007
- Resistance to Death Penalty Growing , Chicago Tribune (US), April 8, 2007
- Mitigation Investigation , Champion (US), March 2007
- Executions Halted as Doctors Balk, Stateline.org (US), March 21, 2007
- Georgia Murder Case's Cost Saps Public Defense System, New York Times (GA), March 21, 2007
- A Slow Death, New York Times (US), March 15, 2007
- Law Enforcers Oppose Death Penalty , Baltimore Sun (MD), March 14, 2007
- Death Penalty Challenges Build, National Law Journal (US), March 5, 2007
- Study Draft Decries Execution Appeals Process, USA Today (US), March 1, 2007
- Uncommon Path to Death Row, Kansas City Star (KS), February 25, 2007
- To Push Death Penalty or Not: Prosecutors Asked in Court to Explain How They Decide, Hartford Courant (CT), February 24 2007
- When Life Without Parole Is Worse Than Death, Star-Ledger (NJ), February 4, 2007
- Federal Prosecutors Widen Pursuit of Death Penalty as States Ease Off, Wall Street Journal (US), February 3, 2007
- Lethal Injection on Trial, Stateline.org (US), January 17, 2007
- A Deal With Death: More States Make Child Molestation a Capital Crime¥And Face Likely Challenges,ABA Journal (US), January 10, 2007
- Prosecutors Must Testify; Justice Refuses to Quash Subpoenas in Death Penalty Case, Journal Inquirer (CT), January 5, 2007
- U.S. Death Sentences Drop to 30-Year Low, Washington Post (US), January 5, 2007
- Death Be Not So Complicated, ABA Journal (US), January 4, 2007
- Panel Seeks End to Death Penalty for New Jersey , New York Times (NJ), January 3, 2007
Special Reports________________________________________
NEW YORK DEATH PENALTY PROJECT
The New York Law Journal has published a series of articles exploring the origins of New York's death penalty law and its ramifications.
- Troubling Account of a Wrongful Execution, May 7, 2002
- 1995 Capital Statute Should Be Stricken, May 7, 2002
- Death Penalty Hits Too Close to Home, May 7, 2002
- Judges Focus on Overturned Plea-Bargaining Procedures, May 7, 2002
- Attorneys Soldier on in the Face of Sharp Questioning by Panel, May 7, 2002
- 'Harris' Case Enters Appellate Endgame, May 7, 2002
- New York Has Drafted a Model for Country, May 7, 2002
- Court of Appeals Has Long History of Capital Cases, May 7, 2002
- High Spectator Interest Leads Court to Add Accommodations, May 6, 2002
- New York Is 38th State to Adopt Death Penalty , May 6, 2002
- The Other Death Row Inmates, May 3, 2002
- Capital Punishment Proves to Be Expensive , April 29, 2002
- Taking a Rational Approach to Capital Punishment Through Rational Eyes, April 29, 2002
- Death Row Renovations Cost State $1.3 Million Since 1995, April 29, 2002
- Death Appeal Is a Heavy Weight on the Court , April 29, 2002
- Few Federal Juries in New York Asked to Impose Death Penalty, April 22, 2002
- Death Verdicts Won in 3 Capital Cases, April 22, 2002
- Most District Attorneys Rely on Advice From Trusted Aides, April 22, 2002
- Three Centuries of Experience, Yet Core Issues Are Unresolved Process Still Raises Issues , April 15, 2002
- Death Penalty Number Executed Minimum, April 15, 2002
- [Genesis of New York's Death Penalty Law], April 15, 2002
- Highlights of the Assembly's All-Night Debate, April 15, 2002
- [Highlights of the Senate's Debate], April 15, 2002
- New York's Death Penalty Law, April, 8, 2002
- A Brooklyn Murder to Test 1995 Statute, April 8, 2002
- A Dozen Types of Murder Can Lead to Death Penalty, April 8, 2002
Reports_____________________________________________
The Last Gasp: The Rise And Fall Of The American Gas Chamber (U. Cal. Press 2010). "The Last Gasp takes us to the dark side of human history in the first full chronicle of the gas chamber in the United States. In page-turning detail, award-winning writer Scott Christianson tells a dreadful story that is full of surprising and provocative new findings." Publisher's Description. For more information, see From San Quentin to Auschwitz, Death Penalty Focus, June 8, 2010.
Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis (DPIC 2009). The report combines an analysis of the costs of the death penalty with a newly released national poll of police chiefs who put capital punishment at the bottom of their law enforcement priorities.
Capital Punishment 2004 (BJS 2005). This report describes the characteristics of persons under sentence of death on December 31, 2004, and of persons executed in 2004. Preliminary data on executions by States during 2005 are included.
Death Penalty in New York (NYS Assembly 2005). This report analyzes the results of five public hearings on the death penalty conducted by the Assembly to evaluate restoration of the death penalty. The report summarizes testimony presented at the hearings, the history of the death penalty in New York, and highlights a number of topic areas addressed at the hearings.
Empire State Injustice: Based Upon a Decade of New Information, A Preliminary Evaluation of How New York's Death Penalty System Fails to Meet Standards for Accuracy and Fairness (ABCNY 2005). This report reviews a large body of evidence highlighting flaws in New York's death penalty. It covers the following topics: informant testimony; witness testimony and scientific corroboration; videotaping interrogations; lineup procedures; independent review of scientific evidence; narrower list of death penalty eligibility factors; use of different juries for each stage of a bifurcated capital trial; heightened burden of proof; and discretion of judges to overturn death sentences they believe are unwarranted. The report was prepared by the Committee on Capital Punishment, Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
How the Death Penalty Weakens US International Interests (ACLU 2004). This report describes worldviews on the death penalty in the United States, and its impact on international relations. The report was prepared by the Capital Punishment Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Forgotten Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States Through the Experiences of Women (ACLU 2004). This report describes experiences, conditions, and problems of women on death row in the United States. It also addresses issues such as ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial and law enforcement misconduct, sentencing disparities, and solitary confinement. The report was prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Capital Punishment 2003 (BJS 2004). This report describes the characteristics of persons on death rows nationwide and those executed in 2003. Preliminary data on executions in 2004 include state, method used and race of inmate. This report was prepared by the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Washington's Death Penalty System: A Review of the Costs, Length, and Results of Capital Cases in Washington State (2004). This report analyzes the legal and resource implications of Washington's current capital punishment process. The report was prepared by the Washington Death Penalty Assistance Center.
Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty (DPIC 2004). This report focuses on wrongful convictions in death penalty cases. It examines the impact that the increasing numbers of innocent defendants on death row is having the on the debate over capital punishment. The report was prepared by the Death Penalty Information Center.
Law Reviews and Scholarly Articles______________________
- Lethal Injection: A Stain on the Face of Medicine, 325 British Medical Journal 1026 (2002)
- When Legislatures Delegate Death: The Troubling Paradox Behind State Uses of Electrocution and Lethal Injection and What it Says About Us, 63 Ohio State Journal (No. 1) (2001)
- Is the Death Penalty Good for Women?, 4 Buffalo Criminal Law Review 917 (2001)
- Staying Alive: Executive Clemency, Equal Protection, and the Politics of Gender in Women's Capital Cases , 4 Buffalo Criminal Law Review 967 (2001)
- Symposium:Addressing Capital Punishment Through Statutory Reform, 63 Ohio State Law Journal (No. 1) (2002)
- The Anatomy of an Execution: Fairness vs. Process, 74 N.Y.U. Law Rev. 313 (1999)
- United States of America. Speaking Out: Voices Against Death (Amnesty International October 1999)
- Constitutional Prohibitions of the Death Penalty (Amnesty International October 1999)
- The ABA's Proposed Moratorium on the Death Penalty, Law and Contemporary Problems, Autumn 1998
- Death Penalty For Female Offenders: January 1973 to June 1999 (Professor Victor L. Streib, ClaudeW.PettitCollege of Law, Ohio Northern University)
- Supremes: Judge Can Mislead Jurors About Parolability of Capital Defendant, Indigent Defense, July/August, 1999
- Why Capital Cases Require Mitigation Specialists, Indigent Defense, July/August, 1999
- The Anatomy of an Execution: Fairness vs. Process, 74 NYU Law Review 313 (1999) (PDF version)
- Joel F. Donahoe, The Changing Role of Victim Impact Evidence in Capital Cases, 2 Western Criminology Review (1999)
- Alexander Rundlet, Opting For Death: State Responses to the AEDPA's Opt-In Provisions And The Need For A Right To Post-Conviction Counsel, 1 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law(1999)
Research Links___________________________________
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