Frank Housh
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles announced this morning that it has denied Troy Davis’ request for clemency. He will be executed by lethal injection at 7:00 P.M. tomorrow, Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
by bloizides on
Frank Housh
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles announced this morning that it has denied Troy Davis’ request for clemency. He will be executed by lethal injection at 7:00 P.M. tomorrow, Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
by bloizides on
Mark Wilson
Death is in the news! Hot on the heels of Rick Perry’s avowed affection for the death penalty, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of Duane Buck, a Texas man so close to execution he had already eaten his last meal. Buck does not dispute his conviction, but rather disputes his death sentence. During the sentencing phase of his trial, a prosecution expert told the jury that death, and not life in prison, was appropriate because black people are more likely to commit future violent crimes.
If that seems excessive, keep in mind that it’s only one example of the strained calculus that goes into death sentences. Here’s another one: juries for trials in which death is a sentencing option are already biased because jurors who could not sentence to someone to death are excused with cause. [Read more…] about Death Be Not Cheap
by bloizides on
Frank Housh
Troy Davis’s two decade legal odyssey beginning with his 1989 arrest for the murder of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail reaches its climax at today’s final clemency hearing, the last stop before his execution on Wednesday, September 21st in a Georgia execution chamber. If the execution proceeds, Mr. Davis’s death will be accomplished by injecting him with a drug manufactured for animal euthanasia, never meant for use on humans. The use of this drug, pentobarbital, has been the focus of several legal challenges asserting that its use is “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.
Those efforts have failed thus far. [Read more…] about Controversial Georgia Execution Uses Chemical Not Approved for Use on Humans
by bloizides on
Jake Laperruque
This has been a year of tremendous progress for marriage equality. For the first time in America’s history, a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage. In June, New York – the third largest state in the country – legalized same-sex marriage. And in February, the Justice Department announced that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court, a major blow to the 1996 law barring gay couples from receiving any federal marital benefits or protections. [Read more…] about The Danger of DOMA In Limbo
by bloizides on
Anthony Kammer
Following up on an earlier piece about the student loan bubble, I wanted to share two graphics that depict the over $550 billion in student loan debt carried by U.S. households.
The first shows 2011 student loan debt relative to 2000 debt.
The second reveals how much faster student loan debt has grown relative to all other household debt. If you look closely, it’s possible to notice that since 2008 Americans have reduced their dependence on credit with the exception of student loans. [Read more…] about Debt Forgiveness as Economic Stimulus
by bloizides on
Mark Wilson
Former Vice President Dick Cheney is on a whirlwind tour this week to promote his new book, In My Time. He chronicles, among other things, the tough decisions he had to make in order to keep America safe, including torturing, authorizing torture, legalizing torture, and justifying torture.
Shakespeare said it best: Enhanced interrogation techniques by any other name would be just as sour. Or something like that. But we’ll never know; President Obama, in his quest to look forward, not backward, has said in no uncertain terms that we won’t be investigating Bush Administration officials for their parts in justifying America’s reaction to terrorism between 2001 and 2009. [Read more…] about Vice President Cheney and Normalizing Torture