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Criminal Law

StandDown Texas Project

Texas-centric examination of conditions, reform initiatives, and emerging issues related to best practices in the indigent criminal justice system with particular attention to issues involving capital punishment and the administration of the death penalty.
By StandDown Texas Project

Post Frequency: 49.3/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:21:29

Goodwin Liu and the Politics of the Death Penalty

Posted on April 08, 2010
The distinguished UC Berkeley Law prof has been nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Liu's nomination is illuminating the intersection of politics and capital punishment in today's American political landscape. In 2005, Liu and Lynsay...

Commentaries on Capital Punishment, Faith, & Victims

Posted on April 08, 2010
At the Washington Post's On Faith, Reverend Matt Randles posts, "One Christian's view on the death penalty." He's the pastor of Headwaters Covenant Church in Helena, Mont. Randles' essay is drawn from remarks delivered at the National Coalition to Abolish...

A Death Penalty Record

Posted on April 08, 2010
That's the title of an editorial in today's Los Angeles Times. It's subtitled, "L.A. County led the U.S. in capital sentences in 2009. Prosecutors are being overzealous and inhumane." Harris County, Texas, used to be known as the death penalty...

FSC Chair John Bradley Skips Legislative Oversight Hearing

Posted on April 08, 2010
"The Inquisition," is the title of Morgan Smith's report in the Texas Tribune. Lawmakers on Wednesday issued a public rebuke to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, but the commission's embattled chair wasn?t around to hear it. The knuckle-rapping came at...

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Another Editorial Call for Pennsylvania Moratorium

Posted on April 07, 2010
Today's Pocono Record carries the editorial, "Suspend death penalty pending further study." On March 31 a Connecticut judge freed two inmates after they had spent 16 years in prison for a murder they never committed. The judge called the men...

Indigent Defense in Georgia

Posted on April 07, 2010
Bill Rankin writes, "Georgia's public defender system may go back under county control," for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Calling Georgia's public defender program unsustainable, a legislative oversight panel is recommending that part of the system be transferred back to county control...

A Murder's Legacy

Posted on April 07, 2010
"20 years after Winnetka murder, women remain inspired by sister's dying statement," is the title of John Keilman's Chicago Tribune report. It's a must-read: As Nancy Bishop Langert lay dying in the basement of her Winnetka home, mortally wounded by....

New Ohio DNA Law Called 'Model', 'Best in Nation'

Posted on April 07, 2010
The text of the new law is here; you can also view the fiscal note and bill analyses. Governor Ted Strickland's brief press release is here. State Senator David Goodman sponsored SB 77, which expands DNA testing for certain convicted...

Additional Coverage of the Kevin Keith Case

Posted on April 07, 2010
From Ohio, today's Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum reports, "Attorney: Keith case could get review." It's written by Dan Clutter. David Mills, one of the attorneys who worked on a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Ohio death row inmate...

Nebraska's Lethal Injection Law Already Costing State

Posted on April 07, 2010
"Records show state has spent more than $33,000 preparing for lethal injection," is the title of JoAnne Young's report in today's Lincoln Journal Star. Here's an extended excerpt: The state of Nebraska's electric chair has been put into storage. Preparations...

Arkansas Lethal Injection Challenge Results in Two Additional Stays

Posted on April 06, 2010
"Judge stays executions for two death-row inmates," is the title of the Arkansas News Bureau report. A federal judge today stayed the scheduled executions of two-death row inmates who joined a lawsuit challenging Arkansas? lethal injection procedure. U...

Utah Provides Execution Information to Inmate

Posted on April 06, 2010
"Condemned killer to get info on execution methods," is the title of Pamela Manson's report in today's Salt Lake Tribune.If a warrant of execution is issued next week as expected, condemned inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner will have the choice of...

More Support for North Carolina Legislation

Posted on April 06, 2010
Today's Fayetteville Observer carries the OpEd, "Law needed for when courts deal with mental illness." It's written by Debra Dihoff, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness North Carolina. Life or death decisions - not something we all...

Innocence Network Files Amicus in Ohio Case of Kevin Keith

Posted on April 06, 2010
"Innocence groups back condemned Ohio killer of 3," is the title of an AP report by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, via Google News. Innocence groups from around the country on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of an...

Jackson, Mississippi Book Event for David Dow

Posted on April 05, 2010
Sunday's Jackson Clarion-Ledger carried the review, "Lawyer offers glimpse into death row cases." The review of David Dow's The Autobiography of an Execution, is by Gregg Mayer. On David Dow's office calendar, four dates near the end of January were....

Watching Justice Stevens

Posted on April 05, 2010
On Saturday, Adam Liptak's report, "At 89, Stevens Contemplates Law, and How to Leave It," appeared in the New York Times. ?There are still pros and cons to be considered,? Justice John Paul Stevens said in his Supreme Court chambers...

Status of Alabama Death Cases

Posted on April 05, 2010
Today's Times Daily of Florence reports, "Death penalty cases take longer to complete as debate continues." It's written by Dennis Sherer. When a new inmate arrives on Alabama's death row, the chief capital punishment attorney for the state does not....

Kentucky Eyes Coming Executions

Posted on April 05, 2010
"Execution flurry in Kentucky may start by early summer," is the title of an AP report by Brett Barrouquere, via the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle. Kentucky has executed rarely since the reinstatement of the death penalty three decades ago, but a half-dozen...

North Carolina Legislation

Posted on April 05, 2010
"Illness on Trial," is the title of a Sunday editorial in Raleigh's News & Observer. With capital punishment unofficially on hold in North Carolina - there hasn't been an execution since 2006 - the death penalty isn't much in the...

In a Bad Crowd

Posted on April 05, 2010
That's the title of an editorial in today's Houston Chronicle. The subtitle is, "If Texas were a nation, it would be the world?s seventh most prolific executioner." Last week?s headlines on stories reporting an Amnesty International study of global use...

Piper Kerman

Posted on April 02, 2010
Piper Kerman is the author of a news book that is attracting a lot of Buzz, Orange Is the New Black: A Year in a Women's Prison. The Sunday New York Times Magazine of March 15 ran her essay, "Prison,...

The Justice Project on Snitch Testimony

Posted on April 02, 2010
The Justice Project's John Terzano posts, "Jailhouse Snitches Sabotage Justice with Unreliable Evidence," at Fire Dog Lake. Jailhouse "snitch" and informant witnesses often provide incriminating testimony during criminal proceedings in exchange for reduced sentences or other benefits...

Demographics at TDCJ

Posted on April 02, 2010
Melody McDonald writes, "Texas Department of Criminal Justice report reveals characteristics of state's prison population," for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. More than 41,000 criminals were released from Texas prisons in the 2009 fiscal year, including 805 who served time for...

Richard Cohen on Texas & the Death Penalty

Posted on April 02, 2010
The Washington Post columnist writes, "Texas posts strong showing in death-penalty tourney," at the Post Partisan blog. Here's an extended excerpt: Texas didn?t quite make the Final Four this year. It was edged out by China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi...

June Hearing Set in Keller Ethics Case

Posted on April 02, 2010
"Judge's conduct hearing set for June," is the title of Chuck Lindell's report in today's Austin American-Statesman. Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, will appear before the State Commission on Judicial Conduct at a June...

Justice Breyer on a Wide Reading of the Law

Posted on April 01, 2010
Jesse Holland's AP post today is, "Supreme Court Notebook: Looking abroad for tips." The debate over whether the Supreme Court should look to foreign law when interpreting the Constitution is ultimately irrelevant because justices can read whatever they want when...

An Update on the Reginald Clemmons Case in Missouri

Posted on April 01, 2010
Today's St. Louis American reports, "DNA testing delays Clemons hearing," written by Chris King. May 10, 2010 will no longer be a day of reckoning in the Reginald Clemons case, as DNA testing of newly presented evidence has forced a...

Ohio Death Row Growing Smaller

Posted on April 01, 2010
That's the title of Alan Johnson's report in today's Columbus Dispatch. LINK With the number of condemned killers shrinking and new death sentences a rarity, does it mean the beginning of the end of Ohio's Death Row? Anthony Kirkland of...

Additional Coverage of Hank Skinner's Stay

Posted on April 01, 2010
In the current issue of the Austin Chronicle, on the stands today, Jordan Smith writes, "U.S. Supremes Give Skinner a Reprieve." At issue in Skinner's case is whether he will have access to DNA testing for multiple items of physical...

Forensics Roundup

Posted on March 31, 2010
Today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel carries the editorial, "Caravella case proves worth of DNA testing." For someone who spent 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Anthony Caravella may actually be one of the lucky ones. The...

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