Criminal Law

Shujaa Graham in Memphis

Posted on February 22, 2008
Last night, Shujaa Graham, an exonerated death row inmate, spoke to a crowd of nearly 60 folks in Memphis, Tennessee. The event was held at Annesdale Cherokee Baptist Church. The pastor there is Rev. Dwight Montgomery. Rev. Montgomery is also the Memphis Chapter president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)...

Physicians and Execution

Posted on February 15, 2008
The New England Journal of Medicine had an editorial recently on the role of physicians in executions spurred by the US Supreme Court case, Baze v. Rees. READ IT HERE. Baze v. Rees has called into question the current lethal injection protocol. The editorial explains the risk of the current lethal injection protocols in a clear and concise manner...

Race Matters

Posted on February 13, 2008
Last night at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, a large group of students, professors, and other folks gathered to watch the documentary "Race to Execution." Rachel Lyon's film is a powerful documentary that "explores the deep and disturbing link between race and the death penalty in America...

Hector Black Featured on NPR

Posted on February 08, 2008
Hector Black, an active member of TCASK, was featured on NPR's Story Corps today. With soft spoken determination, Hector shared his journey to forgivness after the 2001 murder of his daughter, Patricia Ann Nuckles.Patricia was 43 when she was killed by Ivan Simpson in her home...

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Nebraska Court Outlaws Electric Chair

Posted on February 08, 2008
The Nebraska Supreme Court this morning issued a strongly worded ruling striking down the use of that state?s electric chair. Because Nebraska has no back-up means of execution, this means Nebraska has no effective death penalty statute. This court ruling comes the day after a bill abolishing the death penalty cleared Judiciary Committee on a strong 6-1 vote...

TCASK celebrates its very own "good-looking do-gooder"

Posted on February 06, 2008
TCASK's very own Isaac Kimes has made the Scene's annual Lust List. While we always knew he was a phenomenal field organizer and a passionate supporter of the movement, we had yet to fully recognize his "lusty" side. Thank goodness the Nashville Scene took notice and pointed out all of Isaac's shining characteristics...

Speaking in Cleveland

Posted on January 31, 2008
On Wednesday, Jan 30, Rev. Stacy Rector and I were planning on speaking together at Northside Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, TN. Stacy would be handling the majority of the talk including the Biblical reflection of why the death penalty was wrong. I would be working a shorter segment, talking about TCASK and how folks could get involved...

Free Paul House Rally a Success!

Posted on January 25, 2008
At 11:30 a.m. this morning over 25 concerned Tennesseans convened in front of the office of Attorney General Bob Cooper to ask him to drop his appeal in the case of Paul House. The weather was frigid--thermometers read around 13 degrees, even colder with the wind chill--but as the Rev...

Free Paul House Rally Friday (Tomorrow!)

Posted on January 24, 2008
Free Paul House Rally Tomorrow (Friday)An Innocent Man on Death RowWhen: Friday, January 25th, Be there by 11:15 a.m.Where: In front of the office of the Attorney General (John Sevier Building), 425 5th Ave. N., around 5th and CharlotteWho: TCASK with Joyce House (mother of Paul House), Rep...

Don't Blame Us

Posted on January 22, 2008
As I was reading the Tennessean yesterday, I came across an article on the lethal injection debate. Governor Bredesen stated that he believes the state needs to wait on the Supreme Court decision before making a move to execute anyone. I couldn't agree more...

Paul House's Life in Limbo

Posted on January 21, 2008
Last Thursday, Isaac and I traveled to San Jose, CA for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) conference. The conference was great (as was the weather!), and we will be writing about some of our experiences there. However, in the midst of our conference, I received a phone call from Joyce House informing me that the state had appealed Judge Mattice's ruling which gave the state 180 days to try Paul House or let him go...

Murder Victims' Families Speak...check out the video

Posted on January 16, 2008
The ACLU Death Penalty Policy director of Northern California, Natasha Minsker, sent out an email today stating that she had asked their members to send letters to the editor of the Sacramento Bee about the paper's coverage of the first California Commission hearing on the death penalty...

Buyer's Remorse

Posted on January 14, 2008
Kudos to James Staub for his piece in Sunday's Tennessean. As a murder victim's family member, James' voice is of vital importance as the state of Tennessee examines the death penalty, particularly concerning the question of whether or not it serves victims' families...

Death Row Inmate's Mother in Painful Waiting Game

Posted on January 10, 2008
Dwight Lewis of the Tennessean has written another terrific article covering the case of Paul House.Read it HERE!It begins with..."Sixty-six-year-old Joyce House is in a waiting game, and it's no fun. In fact, "it's hell,'' she says.

A Rube Goldberg Machine

Posted on January 08, 2008
About 10 minutes ago my sister made me aware of this fantastic article from Time Magazine titled "Death Penalty Walking" written by David Von Drehle. I am embarrassed to say that she found it before me, but, she writes for Time Inc. so she has a slight advantage...

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Lethal Injection

Posted on January 07, 2008
Today, the US Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments on whether or not the current protocols of lethal injection are in violation of the 8th amendment of the Constitution which bans cruel and unusual punishment. The Justices are not being asked to rule on the constitutionality of the death penalty which was determined constitutional three decades ago...

Let's Wait on the U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on January 04, 2008
Yesterday, three Tennessee legislators called upon Governor Bredesen to move forward with the execution of Paul Dennis Reid who was convicted for the murders of seven people in the 1990's. The leaders urged the Governor to execute Reid by some other method available to the state, circumventing the controversy concerning the lethal injection protocols which will be argued before the U...

Another Great Paul House Article

Posted on January 03, 2008
On December 27th the Tennessean published another great article on the case of Paul House written by Dwight Lewis. It can be found HERE. I did not get the article up sooner because I was visiting my family in Seattle over break. I actually just received a phone call from Paul's mother, Joyce House, asking if I had read it...

Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer?

Posted on January 02, 2008
First off, I hope all of you had a wonderful holidays and are excited about 2008--it's going to be a great year! Also, if I had one New Year's wish I would ask that anyone that finds this blog interesting/informative share it with friends and also contribute with comments...

He's Not the Man I Met 10 Years Ago

Posted on December 21, 2007
Today's Tennessean featured an article about the recent ruling on the case of Paul House. The article can be found HERE.The article is a good one and feature some notable quotes."I've spoken with Mr. House," federal community defender Stephen Kissinger said...

Judge Rules on Paul House Case/Poll on Tennessean

Posted on December 20, 2007
Judge Rules on the Paul House CaseJudge Harry Mattice ruled just hours ago that Paul House will be granted a conditional writ of habeas corpus resulting in the VACATION OF HIS CONVICTION AND SENTENCE unless the state commences a new trial against him within 180 days after the judgment become final...

Tennessee Op-Eds on New Jersey

Posted on December 19, 2007
A significant amount of media attention has been focused on the death penalty as of late especially with New Jersey's recent abolition. Much of that attention has been in the great state of Tennessee including this recent op-ed column in The Tennessean that can be found HERE...

It's Official: New Jersey Abolishes the Death Penalty

Posted on December 17, 2007
Today, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (photo above, Jeff Zelevanksy/Bloomberg News) signed legislation that makes New Jersey the first state to abolish the death penalty in forty years. The eight men on death row in that state have 60 days to decide if they will drop all their appeals and accept sentences of life without parole...

Present Handout at Riverbend

Posted on December 17, 2007
Often times when I inform people that I am an organizer for an anti-death penalty organization one of the first questions I typically receive revolves around my visitation or involvement with Tennessee?s death row inmates. While I write some prisoners and am hoping to visit one in the New Year, I always feel somewhat disappointed when I inform folks that I have only been out to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution once and that was for an execution...

Congratulations New Jersey!

Posted on December 14, 2007
Sometime yesterday afternoon, the phone rang here in the office. I was deep into "end of the year" financial stuff (my favorite) when Isaac told me I had a phone call. It was Sarah Craft, a friend from Equal Justice USA. Sarah quietly said, "Stacy, I have to tell you something...

New Jersey on the Brink

Posted on December 13, 2007
"One hundred years from now I hope we will be remembered for having had the courage to be leaders in advancing this cause for a more civilized society," said Martin, R-Morris. This quote appeared in an article at Newsday and can be found HERE.On Monday, the state Senate approved an abolition bill...

Memphis TCASK On a Mission

Posted on December 11, 2007
The drive to Memphis is 3 hours and very boring. However, the next hour and a half of my time is absolutely wonderful. This time is spent at the Emmanuel House meeting with the Memphis TCASK chapter?the longest sustaining chapter in Tennessee. This past meeting also saw another record being challenged or broken?attendees for our monthly chapter meetings...

New Jersey One Step Closer to Abolition

Posted on December 11, 2007
Senators on both sides of the aisle voted 21 to 16 yesterday to repeal New Jersey?s death penalty statute, after a comprehensive study found that capital punishment wastes tax dollars, prolongs the suffering of murder victims? family members and is likely to result in wrongful death sentences...

Fairness at Stake

Posted on December 07, 2007
The Tennessee study committee met for two days this week and heard a variety of testimony from local and national witnesses on the state of the death penalty in Tennessee. A few highlights:Libby Sykes, from the Administrative Office of the Courts which oversees the Indigent Defense Fund in TN, testified that since 2000, the funding for indigent defense in this state has continued to decline and is currently $1,000,000 less than it was in 2000...

Former Tennessee Death Row Inmate Found "Not Guilty" by Jury Today

Posted on December 05, 2007
Huge news out of Chattanooga today. Michael McCormick, who spent 15 years on Tennessee's death row before winning a new trial, was found "not guilty"of the 1985 murder of Jeannie Nichols. Though Ms. Nichols family still believes in McCormick's guilt, the jury deliberated for seven hours on Tuesday and a couple of more hours today before returning the verdict...

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