StandDown Texas Project: Criminal Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

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

Washington State Adopts Single-Drug Lethal Injection

Posted on March 03, 2010
"WA changes execution method," is the AP report written by Rachel La Corte, via Google News. Washington state has changed its method of execution from a three-drug cocktail to a one-drug system, according to paperwork filed Tuesday with the state...

Texas Execution

Posted on March 03, 2010
Texas carried out its third execution of 2010, last night in Huntsville. It was the 450th 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...

Sister Helen Prejean in Fort Worth Tonight; Houston on Wednesday

Posted on March 02, 2010
Sr. Prejean will be at Texas Christian University this evening. The school's Daily Skiff reports, "Brite speaker to speak about the death penalty in the Catholic faith," written by Wyatt Kanyer. Catholic tradition regarding people on death row and their...

Texas Execution

Posted on March 02, 2010
Texas is scheduled to carry out its third execution of 2010, tonight in Huntsville. It would be the 450th Texas execution since 1982. Texas has far and away the most active death chamber in America, accounting for more than 37%...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Update on the Hank Skinner Case

Posted on March 02, 2010
Allen Turner writes, "Supreme Court refuses to hear Texas killer's case," in today's Houston Chronicle. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the case of Texas killer Henry Skinner, sentenced to die March 24 for the bludgeoning death...

News Coverage of Holland v. Florida"

Posted on March 02, 2010
Marcia Coyle writes, "Justices Debate Whether Lawyer Negligence Can Extend Habeas Deadline," for National Law Journal. ScotusWiki has full briefing in Holland v. Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struggled with just how bad a lawyer must be to...

Perry Signs Posthumous Pardon for Tim Cole

Posted on March 02, 2010
"Perry grants state's first posthumous pardon," is the title of Betsy Blaney's AP report, via the Austin American-Statesman. Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Monday pardoned a man who died in prison after serving more than 13 years for a wrongful...

Lethal Injection Roundup

Posted on March 01, 2010
AP reports, "Supreme Court rejects challenge to lethal injection process in Tennessee." The case was Harbison v. Little. The Supreme Court has declined a Tennessee death row inmate's challenge to the state's lethal injection process. The court rejected without comment...

Editorial Boards Speak Out on Charles Dean Hood Case

Posted on March 01, 2010
Editorials appeared in three major Texas newspapers on Saturday morning; the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the San Antonio Express-News. Let's begin with, "Three capital cases illustrate how tactics trump truth," for the Morning News...

More News From the 4th Congress

Posted on March 01, 2010
"Death row lets victims' families down," is the title of Jessica Reed's report in today's Guardian. Most debates about the criminal justice system and restorative justice are criticised for not focusing enough on the impact that violence has on victims...

David Dow at Politics & Prose Tomorrow

Posted on February 26, 2010
For friends and readers in the Washington, DC area, David Dow will have a reading and book signing at Politics & Prose -- one of the great independent, neighborhood bookstores in the nation -- Saturday afternoon. It will be from...

Eric Zorn on the Death Penalty in Illinois

Posted on February 26, 2010
The Chicago Tribune columnist has two recent posts on his Change of Subject blog. Earlier today Zorn posted, "Birkett: Death penalty all fixed." Joe Birkett interrupted me with a scornful, dismissive, "Oh, come on!" Not bad! We were more than...

The Dynamics of a Jury

Posted on February 26, 2010
A high visibility Philadelphia death penalty case resulted in a life sentence." Joseph Slobodzian reports, "Jury foreman explains Mustafa Ali sentence," in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. To Mustafa Ali, convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for shooting and killing two...

Laurence Tribe to DoJ

Posted on February 26, 2010
Today's Washington Post reports, "Prominent Harvard law professor joins Justice Department," by Carrie Johnson . Prominent Harvard law professor Laurence H. Tribe will join the Justice Department next week to lead an effort focused on increasing legal access for the...

Texas Death Row Ministry Highlighted on CNN

Posted on February 26, 2010
Jay Kernis reports the regular feature, "Intriguing people for February 26, 2010," on CNN. One of those profiled is Michael Denson, founder of Catholic Death Row Ministry. "Walking the last mile with death row inmates, Michael Denson lives in a...

Politics & Prose Book Event Canceled

Posted on February 26, 2010
Due to travel complications, tomorrow's author event for David Dow's Autobiography of an Execution at Politics & Prose has been canceled. I will let you know when it is rescheduled.

Will Nebraska Examine Death Penalty Costs?

Posted on February 25, 2010
"Senators hear testimony on bill to study death penalty costs," is the title of JoAnne Young's report in today's Lincoln Journal Star. The question of whether the Nebraska Legislature should embark on a study of the costs of the death...

News Coverage of the Hood Ruling

Posted on February 25, 2010
The CCA's ruling in Ex Parte Hood, overturning Hood's Death Sentence, is in Adobe .pdf format. "Death Penalty Is Thrown Out in Texas Murders," is the title of John Schwartz' report in today's New York Times. A Texas court threw...

Andrew Cohen on the Hood Ruling

Posted on February 25, 2010
Andrew Cohen has expressed his outrage over the Hood case previously. His latest comentary on the CCA ruling is, "The State of Texas: Third World Justice," posted at the Atlantic Correspondents blog. It's been another extraordinarily bad stretch of days...

Texas Defender Service on the Hood Ruling

Posted on February 25, 2010
Andrea Keilen, the Executive Director of Texas Defender Service, issued the following statement on the CCA's ruling in Ex Parte Hood, overturning Hood's Death Sentence. "While today?s decision recognized a clear flaw in the punishment phase of Mr. Hood?s case,...

IRS Should Stay Away From Exoneree Payments

Posted on February 25, 2010
That's the title of a Dallas Morning News editorial from the Wednesday edition. LINK The motive behind the Timothy Cole Act, passed overwhelmingly by the Legislature last year, could not have been clearer: to create a fair system of compensation...

More on Cost in California

Posted on February 25, 2010
Today's Chico News & Review carries the editorial, "Death row?s high cost." Here?s a way Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can save the state more than $1 billion over the next five years: Convert all 700 death sentences in California to permanent...

The Independent Looks at the Hood Case

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Independent, a British broadsheet, reports, "The death row prisoner, the judge who sentenced him, and the prosecutor who was having sex with her," in today's issue. It's written by David Usborne. They are tough in Texas and perhaps it...

Blog Buzz Over the Hood Case

Posted on February 24, 2010
Adam Liptak's Sidebar column on the Hood case struck a nerve in the blogosphere. Michael Landauer posts, "Charles Dean Hood case a dark mark on Collin County justice," at the Dallas Morning News Death Penalty blog. Bill Baumbach, a blogger...

Rick Casey's Latest Take on the Hood Case

Posted on February 24, 2010
His column in today's Houston Chronicle is,"Best clue: The case of the erotic candy." Former Gov. Mark White has joined 20 former judges and prosecutors and 30 legal ethicists in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to tell the Texas Court...

CCA Orders New Punishment Phase Trial in Charles Dean Hood Case.

Posted on February 24, 2010
Judge Cochran wrote the Court's opinion. Judge Keasler wrote a dissent, which was joined by Judges Keller and Hervey. AP's initial report is, "New punishment hearing for condemned killer," via the Houston Chronicle. It's written by Michael Graczyk. The Texas...

Fourth World Congress Against the Death Penalty Meets in Geneva

Posted on February 24, 2010
"Death penalty opponents see executions on the wane," is the Reuters report written by Jonathan Lynn and edited by Noah Barkin. An increasing number of countries are abolishing the death penalty and even the most active users of capital punishment...

Public Opinion Polling, Politics, and the Republican Primary Contest for Governor

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Texas Tribune has two recent posts of interest. First, "The Polling Center: Voter Empathy," by Jim Henson. "You've been in my life so long, I can't remember anything else," the beleaguered Ellen Ripley says wearily to one of the...

Hire a Lawyer, Escape the Death Penalty?

Posted on February 23, 2010
That's the title of an Issue Brief distributed today by the American Constitution Society. It's written by Scott Phillips of the University of Denver. Here's the abstract from ACS: ACS is pleased to distribute an Issue Brief by Scott Phillips,...

The State of Indigent Defense

Posted on February 23, 2010
The U.S. Department of Justice hosted a two day symposium on indigent defense on Thursday and Friday in Washington, DC. The BLT reports, "Justice Dept. Pledges Support to Indigent Defense Reform." It was posted by Mike Scarcella on Friday afternoon.....

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Texas Governor Takes Surprising Stand In Favor Of Immigrants
Texas Governor Rick Perry, normally an ultra-conservative, surpris...

District Judge Upholds Texas' Moment of Silence Law
In 2003, the Texas legislature amended a "moment of silence" law s...

Irving, Texas Losing Students Due To Immigration Crackdown?
The Dallas Morning News had an interesting story Sunday about the ...

Two New USCIS Training Centers To Open In North Texas
The Dallas Morning News reports today that two regional training c...

Comprehensive Explanation of Irving, Texas Immigration Situation
The Dallas Morning News has a very good series of articles today a...