Bill Seeks To Resurrect The Death Penalty For Some In Illinois

Illinois Republicans have their sights on undermining the premise of the recently-signed bill banning the death penalty in the state. On March 9, Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill, after much deliberation, ridding the state of the death penalty under all circumstances. But some Illinois Republicans say the punishment should be an option for those deemed the most heinous of offenders.

Yesterday, State Rep. Dennis Robeletti (R-Elmhurst) was able to get his bill passed out of the House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee. The bill (HB 1519) calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty in some cases including those that involve the murders of corrections officers, police officers, or firemen as well as those who have allegedly committed multiple murders.

In an editorial in the Chicago Tribune today, State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) touted a bill he's sponsoring, SB 2277, which would allow the state's attorney's office to determine which accused criminals should be eligible for the death penalty in certain first-degree murder cases, like those committed against law enforcement, children, and state's witnesses. Dillard writes that his bill would create a review board that would prevent discrimination when determining who should be eligible for the death penalty:

Senate Bill 2277 would establish a statewide review committee charged with reviewing and approving a state's attorney's decision to seek the death penalty. The panel would ensure that there is a uniform process and equitable standards for seeking the death penalty, eliminating the gender, geographical and racial biases that may have existed in previous capital cases.

The assertion that a bill could spark the creation of a committee that will right the wrongs of Illinois' clearly-flawed death penalty and criminal justice system is preposterous. If the wrongly accused were sent to death row in the past for the wrong reasons, what is Dillard's proposed committee really going to do to assure that doesn't happen again? To think that biases can be removed from the process is naive and undermines the years of work death penalty reformers have done to try and reconcile those biases before determining that there really is no way to truly fool-proof the system.

For now, prosecutors can still seek the death penalty in Illinois until the ban goes into effect on July 1; judges and juries are allowed to hand down the punishment until that date as well.

Source: Progress Illinois, March 18, 2011
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Two remain on New Mexico's death row

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Governor Susana Martinez has made it clear she wants to overturn the death penalty ban in New Mexico, but it won't matter for New Mexico's two death row inmates.

Both were sentenced to death before the 2009 repeal of the death penalty in New Mexico.

Robert Fry has been on death row since 2003 for bludgeoning a mother of four to death with a sledgehammer. He has also been convicted of 3 other murders.

Timothy Allen was sentenced to death in 1995 for the kidnapping, murder, and attempted rape of a 17-year old girl.

But both men will not be executed anytime soon.

The cases remain bogged down in the court system, as defense lawyers file motions and appeals to keep their clients out of the lethal injection chamber.

"The basic challenge in those cases is ineffectiveness of assistance of council," New Mexico Public Defenders Capital Crimes Director Jeff Buckels said. "Both are also challenging continuing use of the Death Penalty against them as a general matter."

Viki Elkey heads the advocacy group that worked to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico.

"Both (death row inmates) are looking at a decade or more in these cases, if not more," Elkey said.

Governor Susana Martinez's push to re-instate the death penalty will have no bearing on both death row cases.

A Martinez spokesman today told us the governor doesn't have the authority to push the judicial system to speed up a timetable for the executions.

Two remain on New Mexico's death row: krqe.com

Source: krqe.com, January 20, 2011

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Trinidad and Tobago: "Hangings won't solve crime"

Social worker and former People's Partnership activist, Verna St Rose-Greaves has broken her silence on moves by the Government to amend the Constitution to allow for the resumption of hangings in T&T. 

St Rose-Greaves, in an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, said last Friday's announcement of fresh moves to execute condemned murderers was "perhaps to take attention away from the pending state of emergency because my sense is that a state of emergency is coming, which is a whole other drama that I don't know that the population is prepared to deal with." 

St Rose-Greaves, who indicated she initially didn't want to speak about the move, said her change of heart was triggered by a violent attack on her on the streets on Monday. She said she was assaulted by a citizen who was in support of the resumption of hangings in T&T. "Yesterday a man actually found himself pointing a finger and his hand in my face. All of this is frightening, especially as so many people are doing this in the name of God." She said she suspected that "before long somebody is going to dare to put their hands on me and that’s not something that I would want to happen. That would be very unfortunate." 

St Rose-Greaves said previously attempts were made to "run me off the road" because of her known objections to the imposition of the death penalty. She said the PP Government must be very careful because "when you start whipping up that kind of frenzy in people (whose expectations are already high) and when you talk about the Constitution amendment and then you don’t deliver... because I suspect there is not going to be delivery, this thing is not going to happen and at the same time there are other things we need to look at that we are not doing." 

St Rose-Greaves said there remained the need for "ongoing, informed and sustained debate on this issue. We need to talk about the plan, the pain, the anger and victim support." She said she was aware of the pain people felt when their loved ones were murdered. "And unless we are prepared to sit down in calm and with respect and address those issues, we’re heading for more trouble," she warned. St Rose-Greaves said all politicians in T&T were guilty of embracing the criminal element to secure political power. 

"They walk with us, they're our friends and rather than take the opportunity to move them away from that kind of lifestyle, we hold on to them so that we could get power and then, as soon as it becomes convenient, or we become afraid of them because they are now making demands that we can't meet, we start to talk about hanging and getting rid of them," she added. St Rose-Greaves said the murder rate escalated every time there was talk about the resumption of hangings "because you’re feeding something that you cannot control. 

"So we have to really consider the things that we are saying, the things that we are doing, the ways that we are saying it and the people that we are doing it to. "The death penalty is about taking away our humanity," she insisted. She added that while many countries have either abolished the death penalty or were moving to abolish it "we are prepared to treat with the end. We are not prepared to go to the root." St Rose-Greaves said the crime problem did not escalate overnight and it would not be solved overnight by the imposition of hangings. 

In response to a claim by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar that millions have been spent on crime to no avail, she said that was so because it was not spent on the right remedies. She said: "We do not have the interlocking devices that we need. We do not have the database and the monitoring and evaluation systems that would measure where the gains, losses were and where the challenges were." St Rose Greaves said part of the solution to the problem involved working with children to ensure the right values were instilled in them from young. 

She listed other remedies: 

•Address the sexuality issue in the country; 

• Teach human rights awareness; 

•Set up drug interdiction centres; 

• Establish intervention centres for families; and, 

•Develop safe and proper child care measures. 

Source: The Guardian, January 19, 2011

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Philippines: Aquino against re-imposing death penalty

(UPDATE) President Benigno Aquino has said he would look into calls for the re-imposition of the death penalty but at the same time indicated that he’s against the implementation anew of capital punishment.

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) President Benigno Aquino has said he would look into calls for the re-imposition of the death penalty but at the same time indicated that he’s against the implementation anew of capital punishment.

Aquino was asked the question amid renewed calls for the death penalty after a series of car-theft-related murders.

“I will have to study that, and I don’t know where the calls are emanating from but the essence here is that our judicial system, as you know, is not perfect,” Aquino said in a chance interview after addressing the Liberal Party’s 65th anniversary ceremonies.

Aquino indicated that he was once an advocate of the death penalty. He said he even had discussions on the death penalty with his mother, the late democracy icon and former President Corazon Aquino.

“At the end of the day, I used to support death penalty,” he said.

“But I really witnessed a justice that was not perfect, so I have to change my position...Since we cannot turn back the clock, if we execute somebody, then we shouldn’t, in the off chance that we might render that penalty to somebody who was not guilty,” he added.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, an author of a bill calling for the re-imposition of the death penalty, has again sought support for the capital punishment in the wake of car thefts that ended in the abduction and killing of car dealers.

Lawyer Oliver Lozano, the father of one of the victims of the recent killings and car thefts, also asked for the return of the death penalty.

But Aquino called for caution. “There is a possibility that people can be wrongly convicted especially if they do not have the ability to secure competent counsels. If in a perfect world, we have an efficient judicial system, then perhaps there is a room for that.”

“But when… because of your economic status you cannot get the right lawyers to help you out, then there is a possibility that you will be wrongly convicted. Then, if we are going to pass the death penalty, how do you turn back the clock if the accused is executed?” he added.

Aquino also vouched for the integrity of the Philippine National Police amid criticisms brought by the recent heinous crimes.

“Can I just add? There are so many criticisms against the PNP. But look at how many (cases) that they have been solving? And it will just take maybe a few minutes to Google search what their achievements have been,” Aquino hastened to add, before ending his interview with reporters.

The President felt optimistic that the investigation of recent crimes would be resolved soon.

Source: Politics Inquirer, January 19, 2011

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