State Roundup - NE Column - North Platte Telegraph - Rogers: Give the dp the chair | OR - Salem Weekly - Killing doesn’tt Pay | IN - WTWO-TV - Indiana Legislators Debate DP
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Steve Hall
May 16, 2013, 12:34:35 PM5/16/13
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NE - North Platte Telegraph - Rogers: Give the dp the chair
News articles from:
OR - Salem Weekly - Killing doesn’t Pay
IN - WTWO-TV - Indiana Legislators Debate DP
- - - - -
http://www.nptelegraph.com/opinion/todays_column/give-the-death-penalty-the-chair/article_cefc01c2-09ac-5aeb-99c5-bf05d9bd837a.html
Thursday, May 16, 2013 | North Platte Telegraph Editorial Column | Excerpt
Give the death penalty the chair
Peter Rogers | Publisher
It happens about this time every year: the Nebraska Legislature debates the wisdom of eliminating the death penalty. (Or not: the bill Tuesday was subject to filibuster and cannot return before the end of the session.)
It has been effectively rendered ineffective anyway - the death penalty, not the Legislature, although that could be discussed - but for purposes that are not all that mysterious to most of us, members of the Legislature make this annual attempt to mandate its removal as law.
Editorially we have supported eliminating the death sentence. It tends to raise eyebrows amongst conservatives and liberals alike. Conservatives generally applaud our positions and liberals tend to not applaud our positions. Our death penalty position runs contrary to those conservative leanings.
But frankly, it is difficult to understand how anyone who adamantly opposes abortion can accept killing an adult. I understand the revulsion of aborting an innocent. And the rationalization of executing a convicted murderer - an eye for an eye, so to speak.
But the fact remains that to honor life, we need to honor all life. It is doubtful the death penalty acts as a great deterrent to crime. It is debatable what it does to us as a society.
Regardless, the purposeful killing of a human can be rationalized from conception to old age. Perhaps we should stop rationalizing.
Time for the death penalty to die.
. . .
/ / / / /
http://www.willamettelive.com/2013/news/killing-doesnt-pay/
Thursday 16 May 2013 | Salem Weekly
Killing doesn’t Pay
By Tim Buckley
“The death penalty is getting a ‘pass’ from legislative scrutiny, when looking for ways to trim Oregon’s budget to fund starving schools and public safety”, said former Oregon Supreme Chief Justice Paul De Muniz.
Oregon spends about $28 million annually to maintain the death penalty system. Every death penalty case costs taxpayers millions of dollars more than non-death penalty murder cases. De Muniz pointed out that, in the past 50 years, there has been only two executions in Oregon (both “volunteers”), and that adds up to “bad public policy.”
De Muniz, who chaired Governor Kitzhaber’s Commission on Public Safety last year, urged the sold-out audience at Willamette University to advocate for a thorough audit of death penalty economics as a prelude to a repeal vote in 2016.
To illustrate a point, De Muniz spoke of having defended a murderer sentenced to death in 1988. In that interceding 25 years, De Muniz experienced a full career in law, from attorney, to judge, to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and now into retirement.
In the meantime, the inmate is still on death row, exhausting his state court appeals before moving on to the federal system.
While Muniz sat as Chief Justice, the Supreme Court initiated a review of recent death penalty cases. The panel of independent, retired judges found that the most recent death penalty cases have each been constitutionally flawed because of procedural issues and inadequate defense.
Nearly half of all Oregon death penalty cases have been overturned, records show.
Frank Thompson, Superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary when the last executions took place (1996, 97) also spoke at the Willamette event. The 25-year veteran of law enforcement and corrections said that he anguished over those responsibilities, with great concern for his employees.
Thompson said, “The fact that there have been 142 exonerations from death rows across the country, for crimes they did not commit, suggests that we have also executed some innocent people in America. “Not only is it a failed public policy,” he added, “it is immoral.”
Edwin Peterson, another retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice at the event, also announced that he, too, would begin speaking out publicly against Oregon’s death penalty.
/ / / / /
http://mywabashvalley.com/fulltext?nxd_id=309872
May 15, 2013 | WTWO-TV
Indiana Legislators Debate Death Penalty
By Paige Preusse
We told you about a local sister who serves a man on death row.
Now we hear from Valley resident Randy Steidl, who served on death row 17 years for a wrongful murder conviction.
This comes following the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session in Indiana, where a bill to abolish the death penalty was proposed.
NBC 2's Paige Preusse reports that lawmakers are torn on the topic.
"I went from the comfort of my home to death row on the word of a mentally ill woman and a town drunk," said Randy Steidl.
Randy Steidl is an example of how flawed the justice system can be, something Indiana State Representative Democrat Clyde Kersey says is the main reason legislators should support abolishing the death penalty.
"From the fairness issue, many people are executed who are not guilty of a crime," said Kersey.
Kersey says an appeal process is necessary to ensure that an innocent man isn't executed, but says, there's just one problem.
"It's very very expensive," said Kersey.
And it's the millions of taxpayer dollars that helped Randy Steidl convince Ill. to ban the death penalty last year.
"Illinois did a study, and they spent more than $3.5 million trying to execute me. Times that by twenty for the innocent people who sat on death row in Illinois, and that's more than $ 70 million that was taxpayer money wasted," said Steidl.
But Indiana lawmakers like Republican Alan Morrison firmly believe the death penalty is necessary to cut crime, Morrison says if cost is the issue, the solution is simple.
"We shouldn't hold them so long. If we could expedite the sentencing and the price they're going to pay, I think we'll save quite a bit of money," said Morrison.
Kersey says if we did that, we'd eliminate our most efficient approach to avoiding errors.
But We're dealing with a human life, so it's important that we go through all of those steps," said Kersey.
On the other hand, Kersey says if we abolish the death penalty.
"It'd save us millions and millions of dollars," said Kersey.
But Morrison says, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state death penalty laws in 1972 crime rose significantly until Indiana reinstated the death penalty in 1977.
"It's a good deterrent to know that if I commit a crime, not only would I spend a lot of time in jail, but I could meet my maker," said Morrison.
"I believe an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth still rings true," said Morrison.
So what are the chances Indiana will eliminate the death penalty, maybe sometime in the future.
"This may just be the first time we deal with this, and if it comes up again next session we'll add to it, and again the next time, until eventually something will happen," said Kersey.
/ / / / /
Steve Hall
The StandDown Texas Project
PO Box 13475
Austin, TX 78711
512.879.1675 (o
512.627.3011 (m
shall78711 (Skype
sh...@standdown.org
www.StandDown.org
NE - North Platte Telegraph - Rogers: Give the dp the chair
News articles from:
OR - Salem Weekly - Killing doesn’t Pay
IN - WTWO-TV - Indiana Legislators Debate DP
- - - - -
http://www.nptelegraph.com/opinion/todays_column/give-the-death-penalty-the-chair/article_cefc01c2-09ac-5aeb-99c5-bf05d9bd837a.html
Thursday, May 16, 2013 | North Platte Telegraph Editorial Column | Excerpt
Give the death penalty the chair
Peter Rogers | Publisher
It happens about this time every year: the Nebraska Legislature debates the wisdom of eliminating the death penalty. (Or not: the bill Tuesday was subject to filibuster and cannot return before the end of the session.)
It has been effectively rendered ineffective anyway - the death penalty, not the Legislature, although that could be discussed - but for purposes that are not all that mysterious to most of us, members of the Legislature make this annual attempt to mandate its removal as law.
Editorially we have supported eliminating the death sentence. It tends to raise eyebrows amongst conservatives and liberals alike. Conservatives generally applaud our positions and liberals tend to not applaud our positions. Our death penalty position runs contrary to those conservative leanings.
But frankly, it is difficult to understand how anyone who adamantly opposes abortion can accept killing an adult. I understand the revulsion of aborting an innocent. And the rationalization of executing a convicted murderer - an eye for an eye, so to speak.
But the fact remains that to honor life, we need to honor all life. It is doubtful the death penalty acts as a great deterrent to crime. It is debatable what it does to us as a society.
Regardless, the purposeful killing of a human can be rationalized from conception to old age. Perhaps we should stop rationalizing.
Time for the death penalty to die.
. . .
/ / / / /
http://www.willamettelive.com/2013/news/killing-doesnt-pay/
Thursday 16 May 2013 | Salem Weekly
Killing doesn’t Pay
By Tim Buckley
“The death penalty is getting a ‘pass’ from legislative scrutiny, when looking for ways to trim Oregon’s budget to fund starving schools and public safety”, said former Oregon Supreme Chief Justice Paul De Muniz.
Oregon spends about $28 million annually to maintain the death penalty system. Every death penalty case costs taxpayers millions of dollars more than non-death penalty murder cases. De Muniz pointed out that, in the past 50 years, there has been only two executions in Oregon (both “volunteers”), and that adds up to “bad public policy.”
De Muniz, who chaired Governor Kitzhaber’s Commission on Public Safety last year, urged the sold-out audience at Willamette University to advocate for a thorough audit of death penalty economics as a prelude to a repeal vote in 2016.
To illustrate a point, De Muniz spoke of having defended a murderer sentenced to death in 1988. In that interceding 25 years, De Muniz experienced a full career in law, from attorney, to judge, to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and now into retirement.
In the meantime, the inmate is still on death row, exhausting his state court appeals before moving on to the federal system.
While Muniz sat as Chief Justice, the Supreme Court initiated a review of recent death penalty cases. The panel of independent, retired judges found that the most recent death penalty cases have each been constitutionally flawed because of procedural issues and inadequate defense.
Nearly half of all Oregon death penalty cases have been overturned, records show.
Frank Thompson, Superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary when the last executions took place (1996, 97) also spoke at the Willamette event. The 25-year veteran of law enforcement and corrections said that he anguished over those responsibilities, with great concern for his employees.
Thompson said, “The fact that there have been 142 exonerations from death rows across the country, for crimes they did not commit, suggests that we have also executed some innocent people in America. “Not only is it a failed public policy,” he added, “it is immoral.”
Edwin Peterson, another retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice at the event, also announced that he, too, would begin speaking out publicly against Oregon’s death penalty.
/ / / / /
http://mywabashvalley.com/fulltext?nxd_id=309872
May 15, 2013 | WTWO-TV
Indiana Legislators Debate Death Penalty
By Paige Preusse
We told you about a local sister who serves a man on death row.
Now we hear from Valley resident Randy Steidl, who served on death row 17 years for a wrongful murder conviction.
This comes following the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session in Indiana, where a bill to abolish the death penalty was proposed.
NBC 2's Paige Preusse reports that lawmakers are torn on the topic.
"I went from the comfort of my home to death row on the word of a mentally ill woman and a town drunk," said Randy Steidl.
Randy Steidl is an example of how flawed the justice system can be, something Indiana State Representative Democrat Clyde Kersey says is the main reason legislators should support abolishing the death penalty.
"From the fairness issue, many people are executed who are not guilty of a crime," said Kersey.
Kersey says an appeal process is necessary to ensure that an innocent man isn't executed, but says, there's just one problem.
"It's very very expensive," said Kersey.
And it's the millions of taxpayer dollars that helped Randy Steidl convince Ill. to ban the death penalty last year.
"Illinois did a study, and they spent more than $3.5 million trying to execute me. Times that by twenty for the innocent people who sat on death row in Illinois, and that's more than $ 70 million that was taxpayer money wasted," said Steidl.
But Indiana lawmakers like Republican Alan Morrison firmly believe the death penalty is necessary to cut crime, Morrison says if cost is the issue, the solution is simple.
"We shouldn't hold them so long. If we could expedite the sentencing and the price they're going to pay, I think we'll save quite a bit of money," said Morrison.
Kersey says if we did that, we'd eliminate our most efficient approach to avoiding errors.
But We're dealing with a human life, so it's important that we go through all of those steps," said Kersey.
On the other hand, Kersey says if we abolish the death penalty.
"It'd save us millions and millions of dollars," said Kersey.
But Morrison says, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state death penalty laws in 1972 crime rose significantly until Indiana reinstated the death penalty in 1977.
"It's a good deterrent to know that if I commit a crime, not only would I spend a lot of time in jail, but I could meet my maker," said Morrison.
"I believe an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth still rings true," said Morrison.
So what are the chances Indiana will eliminate the death penalty, maybe sometime in the future.
"This may just be the first time we deal with this, and if it comes up again next session we'll add to it, and again the next time, until eventually something will happen," said Kersey.
/ / / / /
Steve Hall
The StandDown Texas Project
PO Box 13475
Austin, TX 78711
512.879.1675 (o
512.627.3011 (m
shall78711 (Skype
sh...@standdown.org
www.StandDown.org
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