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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

Connie Schultz on the Kevin Keith Case

Posted on August 23, 2010
The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Pulitzer Priz- winning columnist writes, "A 'troubling' case, and a life, rest in Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's hands." One of the horrible blessings bestowed on the governor of Ohio is the occasional duty to play God,...

Kentucky Won't Budge on Death Drugs

Posted on August 23, 2010
That's the title of an AP report written by Brett Barrouquere, and is via the Seattle Times. LINK A Kentucky judge on Friday expressed concern about the state's refusal to consider using one drug instead of three to execute condemned...

Virginia Roundup

Posted on August 23, 2010
There is news of death row conditions changing in Virginia, as well as a rare execution date for a female offender that is sure to draw national attention. "Virginia cuts out face-to-face visits on death row," is the title of...

The Governor's Schedule

Posted on August 23, 2010
Elise Hu of the Texas Tribune examines Governor Rick Perry's schedule and political issues surrounding it in, "Perry's Spare Schedule Feeds Transparency Concerns." The governor who considers himself one of the state?s hardest workers has few official records to back...

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More on David Oshinsky's Examination of Captial Punishment

Posted on August 23, 2010
The Austin American-Statesman has, "In 'Capital Punishment on Trial,' UT's David Oshinsky takes clear look at death penalty's divisive history. It's written by Jody Seaborn. The UT scholar and Pulitzer Prize winner's book is Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v...

The Georgia Puzzle

Posted on August 20, 2010
"What's Behind the Flurry of Judicial Resignations in Georgia?" is the Law.com/Fulton County Daily Report article by R. Robin McDonald. Since Alapaha Circuit Chief Judge Brooks E. Blitch Sr. resigned his judgeship in April 2008 rather than face an ethics...

More on the Kevin Keith Case

Posted on August 20, 2010
Mark Godsey, Director of the Ohio Innocence Project and University of Cincinnati Law prof, has issued a statement. The Ohio Innocence Project urges Governor Strickland to grant clemency to Kevin Keith, and to remove him from death row, because the...

Misoncduct at the North Carolina SBI Forensic Lab

Posted on August 19, 2010
"Review finds flawed NC cases, including executions," is the AP report written by Martha Waggoner. It's via Google News. Here's an extended excerpt: Analysts at North Carolina's crime lab omitted, overstated or falsely reported blood evidence in dozens of cases,...

Ohio Parole Board Recommends No Clemency for Kevin Keith

Posted on August 19, 2010
The Ohio Parole Board recommendation is in Abode .pdf format. The initial AP report is, "Ohio board denies Kevin Keith's innocence claim," via the Marion Star. The Ohio Parole Board has rejected clemency for a condemned killer of three who...

The Work of the Tim Cole Panel

Posted on August 19, 2010
On Sunday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram carried the editorial, "Legal safeguards recommended by Timothy Cole advisory panel." For a while, every time the family of Tim Cole went to Austin or held a local news conference to declare his innocence,...

The Keller Reprimand

Posted on August 19, 2010
"Keller should accept warning," is the editorial in today's San Antonio Express-News. Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller should accept the public warning issued last month by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for blocking a condemned man's...

More Reflections on the Cost of Capital Punishment in California

Posted on August 18, 2010
The East Bay Express has two lengthy, related articles. First, "Are Capital Punishment's Financial Costs Worth It?" It's written by Charlie Mintz. "A lot of people think the death penalty is cheaper, but that's a myth," said Natasha Minsker, death...

Time to Slow March to Death

Posted on August 18, 2010
That's the title of an editorial in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer. It concerns Kevin Keith's clemency hearing last week, and the call for a systemic review of all of Ohio's death sentences. LINK But at the very least, the evidence...

An Update From Oklahoma

Posted on August 18, 2010
Today's Oklahoman carries, "Federal judge issues stay of execution for Oklahoma death row inmate," by Michael Baker. It has new details about the sodium thiopental the state had in stock. A federal judge issued a stay of execution hours before...

Reflections on the Kevin Keith Clemency Hearing

Posted on August 17, 2010
Today's Mansfield News Journal reports, "Kevin Keith triple murder: Attorneys await word on clemency," written by Dan Clutter. Ohio's nine-member clemency panel could have a recommendation ready for the governor by Wednesday in the Kevin Keith capital murder case...

MR, Racial Justice Legislation Examined in Pennsylvania

Posted on August 17, 2010
Today's Harrisburg Patriot-News reports, "Who should decide a defendant's mental capacity?" It's written by Kari Andren. Eight years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people with mental retardation cannot be given the death penalty. But the ruling left it...

Capital Punishment and Our Common Values: The European View

Posted on August 17, 2010
That's the title of commentary posted by Christian Prosl, Austria's ambassador to the United States. It's in the Hill, the DC political paper. LINK It is generally assumed the United States and the European Union share the same values. No...

Ohio Lethal Injection Procedure Ruled Constitutional

Posted on August 17, 2010
"Federal judge upholds Ohio lethal injection system," is the AP report via the Canton Repository. With Ohio on track to execute a record number of inmates this year, a federal judge has rejected the latest challenges to lethal injection in...

Additional Coverage of the Keller Reprimand

Posted on August 17, 2010
The Supreme Court's order is here. "Sharon Keller's rebuke in mishandled appeal stands," is the title of Chuck Lindell's report in today's Austin American-Statesman. The Supreme Court, in an 8-0 ruling without comment or elaboration, denied Keller's request to toss...

Texas & Oklahoma Executions

Posted on August 17, 2010
Texas is scheduled to carry out its 16th execution of the year, tonight in Huntsville. It would be the state's 463nd execution since 1982; the 224th in the administration of Governor Rick Perry. Texas has far and away the most...

Oklahoma Execution Stayed Due to Drug Switch; Texas Executes

Posted on August 17, 2010
"Judge stays Oklahoma man's execution for 3rd time," is the AP report via Google News. An Oklahoma death row inmate's execution was stayed for the third time in less than three months Tuesday, after his defense attorneys objected to plans...

Florida's Hybrid Capital Sentencing Scheme

Posted on August 17, 2010
It's being highlighted due to the high visibility Casey Anthony case which is preparing to go to trial. UPI posts, "Case highlights Fla. death penalty law." If convicted, the jury will recommend a sentence -- either the death penalty or...

Texas Supreme Court Upholds Keller Reprimand

Posted on August 16, 2010
"Judge's reprimand in death penalty case stands," is Michael Graczyk's AP filing, via Google News. The Texas Supreme Court refused Monday to overturn a judicial conduct panel's reprimand of the state's highest criminal court judge for her handling of an...

Cost of California Death Row Roils Editorial Boards

Posted on August 16, 2010
Sunday's Sacramento Bee carried the editorial, "What price is too high for death row?" In a twisted sense of timing, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed the exorbitant cost of California's theoretical death penalty squarely before the public again. The Schwarzenegger...

Cleared, and Pondering the Value of 27 Years

Posted on August 16, 2010
That's the title of James McKinley article in the New York Times looking at the case Michael Green, exonerated recently in Harris County. LINK Since a judge let him out of prison for a rape that prosecutors now say he...

Cleared, and Pondering the Value of 27 Years

More on the Case of Claude Jones

Posted on August 16, 2010
AP reports, "DNA test may cast doubt on executed Texan's guilt," via Google News. It's written by Jeff Carlton. For those unfamiliar with the case, it's an excellent recap. Claude Jones may have been wrongly executed for the 1989 slaying...

Former Warden 'Haunted' by Executions

Posted on August 13, 2010
That's the title of Annmarie Timmins' coverage of yesterday's meeting of the New Hampshire Death Penalty Study Commission for the Concord Monitor, today. "Death penalty scars prison staff, he says," is the subtitle. Two former prison wardens offered New Hampshire...

Pennsylvania Arson Case Shadows Willingham Facts

Posted on August 13, 2010
"Junk science? Another inmate on death row fights to disprove arson," is the title of Stephanie Chen's post at CNN. Here's a brief excerpt from the introduction: This is the story of two fathers who drank too much and fought...

News Coverage of Kevin Keith's Clemency Hearing

Posted on August 12, 2010
The Columbus Dispatch reports, "Supporters turn out to appeal for condemned man," by Jim Nash. The pattern of tire treads in the snow, the memory of a 4-year-old child and whether the word cripple is synonymous with kill could determine...

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