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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

A View Looking Back at Capital Punishment and Clemency in Tennessee

Posted on March 31, 2010
"Gov. Clement followed conscience on death penalty," is the title of an OpEd from the Tennessean. It's written by former congressman Bob Clement and appeared in the Sunday paper. It's a must-read. As governor, my father, Frank Clement Sr., truly...

Amnesty International Report

Posted on March 31, 2010
The report is, Death Sentences and Executions 2009, is in Adobe .pdf format. Amnesty International's USA landing page has video. The press release announcing the report is, "Amnesty International Challenges China's Continued Secrecy in Death Penalty Executions...

Texas Execution

Posted on March 31, 2010
Texas carried out its fifth execution of 2010, last night in Huntsville. It was the 452nd Texas execution since 1982. Texas has far and away the most active death chamber in America, accounting for more than 37% of the nation's...

Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit Issues 2009 Report

Posted on March 31, 2010
The Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit, formed by Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Barbara Hervey in 2008, has issued it's second annual report. The 2009 Annual Report of Activities is available in Adobe .pdf format. The Integrity Unit also has...

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Crime Lab Scandals to Force Reviews in San Francisco & Nebraska

Posted on March 31, 2010
The Recorder reports, "1,400 Narcotics Cases to Be Re-Evaluated due to San Francisco Crime Lab Scandal," by Kate Moser. The San Francisco district attorney's office is combing through files in 1,400 cases -- the entire universe of open narcotics cases...

A New Report From the ACLU of Northern California

Posted on March 30, 2010
The report is titled, Death in Decline '09; it's also available in Spanish. A news release announcing the report is, "Death Penalty Sentencing In Decline Across U.S. California, Los Angeles Fall Back in National Trend Toward Permanent Imprisonment." An excerpt:...

The Cost Issue in Pennsylvania

Posted on March 30, 2010
Today's Philadelphia Inquirer carries the editorial, "Dollars and death." Facing a massive and costly prison overcrowding problem, Pennsylvania has reached the point where the right moral course - ending capital punishment - coincides more than ever with the need to...

Is the Death Penalty on Death Row?

Posted on March 30, 2010
That's the title of a BBC News report posted today by Paul Adams. It focuses on the Hank Skinner case, but examines current trends in Texas.. LINK The scene outside the Huntsville unit of the Texas state penitentiary last Wednesday...

Texas Execution

Posted on March 30, 2010
Texas is scheduled to carry out its fifth execution of 2010, tonight in Huntsville. It would be the 452nd Texas execution since 1982. Texas has far and away the most active death chamber in America, accounting for more than 37%...

Symposium at UT Law

Posted on March 29, 2010
Thursday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10 the William Wayne Justice Center and the Capital Punishment Center will host a symposium at the law school, "The American Death Penalty in the 21st Century: The Direction of Legislative Change and the...

Forensics Roundup

Posted on March 29, 2010
"US judge urges skepticism on forensic evidence," is the title of a report in today's Boston Globe written by Jonathan Saltzman. ?CSI?? may make for gripping television, but US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner says forensic evidence isn?t everything it?s...

More on Death Penalty Cost

Posted on March 29, 2010
"Just or Not, Cost of Death Penalty Is a Killer for State Budgets," is the title of a FOX News report by Ed Barnes. Capital murder trials and death row boondoggles are wreaking havoc on budgets across the country as...

Death Penalty Process Must Be Fair

Posted on March 29, 2010
That's the title of commentary in today's National Law Journal by former Texas Governor Mark White. He's writing about the Charles Dean Hood case. It's subtitled, "The high court should right the wrong in the Hood case, stemming from the...

Status of Delaware Lethal Injection Litigation

Posted on March 26, 2010
"Delaware courts: Death row inmates seek review," by Sean O'Sullivan is at Delaware Online today. The federal lawsuit that delayed all Delaware executions for almost four years could be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys representing Delaware's death-row inmates...

Opinion Roundup

Posted on March 26, 2010
Today's Houston Chronicle carries an OpEd by attorney George Parnham, "HPD a forward-thinking leader in mental health." Parnham represented Andrea Yates. He and his wife, Mary, founded the Yates Children Memorial Fund with Mental Health America of Greater Houston to...

What If Jesus Had Been Tried Under Texas Law?

Posted on March 26, 2010
That's the title of Michael Landauer's post at the Dallas Morning News Death Penalty Blog. LINK It's a conversation with Baylor Law prof Mark Osler's, Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment., noted here. An...

In Georgia

Posted on March 26, 2010
A split Georgia Supreme Court is allowing a long-delayed capital trial to proceed. Defense attorneys had attempted to strip the death penalty from the case due to funding delays. The Court's 4-3 ruling in Weis v. The State is in...

Nebraska Legislators Reject Cost Study in Tie Vote

Posted on March 26, 2010
"Nebraska lawmakers turn down death penalty study," is the title of JoAnne Young's report in today's Lincoln Journal Star. The Legislature split 22-22 Thursday on authorizing a $50,000 study of what it costs to have a death penalty in Nebraska,...

Additional News Coverage of the Hank Skinner Stay

Posted on March 26, 2010
Allan Turner writes, "Justices may opt to settle DNA issue," in today's Houston Chronicle. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday stayed Skinner's execution to consider taking up his lawyers' writ of certiorari seeking review of a lower court's rejection of...

Editorials Praise Skinner Stay

Posted on March 26, 2010
Today's Wichita Falls Times Record News contains the editorial, "Beyond the shadow of doubt." Skinner has long since declared his innocence ? as doomed convicts typically do ? and has requested that additional DNA testing be performed that could exonerate...

Oral Argument in Magwood v. Patterson

Posted on March 25, 2010
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard Magwood v. Patterson, an Alabama death penalty case. The transcript is in Adobe .pdf format. Today's New York Times reports, "Court Weighs Timing of Death Row Appeal." It's written by Adam Liptak. As is his...

Larry King Examines the Skinner Case and Greg Taylor's Recent Exoneration

Posted on March 25, 2010
Last night's Larry King Live on CNN examined the Hank Skinner case, as well as Greg Taylor's recent exoneration in North Carolina. The transcript is here; video, here. Some excerpts: KING: Brandi, a reporter for "The Texas Tribune," this stay...

Blog Coverage of the Skinner Stay

Posted on March 25, 2010
Retired Federal Judge H. Lee Sarokin posts, "Supreme Court Grants Stay of Execution of Henry Skinner," at Huffington Post. It is difficult to imagine what it must mean for someone scheduled for execution to believe that they are innocent and...

News Coverage of the Skinner Stay

Posted on March 25, 2010
There is a good deal of coverage on the Supreme Court's stay in Hank Skinner's case. I'll break it out into the next several posts. News coverage, here; blog posts, next; followed by a link to the Larry King Live...

In Alabama

Posted on March 24, 2010
Today's Birmingham News carries the editorial, "A committee in the Alabama House should vote in favor of a bill that would place a three-year hold on executions in the state." With all the things that need to be fixed with...

Tonight - Larry King Live to Feature Skinner Case & DNA Testing

Posted on March 24, 2010
Larry King Live appears on CNN at 9:00 pm (EDT), 8:00 pm (CDT). Death Row Inmate's Last Request! A death row inmate scheduled to be executed in hours has one last request: Don't kill me until you test my DNA!...

Maryland Legislation

Posted on March 24, 2010
John Wagner posted, "Death penalty bill sought by Md. Senate president seems derailed," yesterday afternoon at the Washington Post Maryland Politics blog. Death penalty opponents appear to have derailed a bill sought by the Maryland Senate president that would have...

What the Blogs Are Saying About Hank Skinner's Case

Posted on March 24, 2010
Radley Balko posted, "Hank Skinner Scheduled for Execution Tomorrow," yesterday afternoon at his Hit & Run blog at Reason. As noted earlier today, tonight I'll be moderating a panel that will discuss the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, the Texas...

Legislators Urge Reprieve

Posted on March 24, 2010
Hank Skinner is scheduled to be executed shortly after 6:00 pm, tonight, in Huntsville. Thanks to the Texas Tribune you can read the letters from Rep. Elliott Naishtat and Sen. Rodney Ellis. Both are in Adobe .pdf format. Brandi Grissom...

Statement From Hank Skinner's Attorneys

Posted on March 24, 2010
Rob Owen, Co-Director of the Capital Punishment Center at the University of Texas School of Law, has issued the following statement: "We are relieved that the U.S. Supreme Court has intervened to prevent Mr. Skinner?s execution. As a result of...

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