capital punishment

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Punishment Fits the Crime for Colo. Noise Offenders

Teens made to listen to an hour of Manilow after late-night backyard gig

(Newser) - One Colorado judge has had it with teenagers making repeat appearances in his court for noise violations. So rather than issue a fine for mom and dad to pay, he’s devised his own punishment: Noise violators are forced to listen to an hour of gloriously un-hip music, from Barney...

Court Refuses Davis Case; 'Too Fat' Cooey Executed

Decision opens path to controversial Georgia execution

(Newser) - The Supreme Court refused today to decide whether executing an individual backed by a strong claim to innocence violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The rejection paves the way for the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, accused of murdering a Georgia policeman....

Inmate Too Fat to Execute: Just Shoot Me

Cooey says that he didn't intentionally pile on the pounds

(Newser) - Convicted killer Richard Cooey knows there have been jokes at his expense. But he insists he’s not afraid to die— just too fat for lethal injection. At 5’ 7”, 267 pounds, Cooey is so rotund that it’s nigh-impossible to find a vein. “It's hard getting access to...

Con Wins Death Stay in Judge Affair Appeal

Relationship between judge and prosecutor not reason for decision

(Newser) - A Texas death-row inmate who filed an appeal alleging that an affair between the judge and prosecutor compromised his trial has been granted a stay of execution. But, ABC News reports, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approved Charles Dean Hood's request based not on the affair but because of...

Death Row Con Wins Hearing Over Courtroom Hanky Panky

Alleges affair between judge, prosecutor

(Newser) - A condemned Texas inmate has won a hearing to decide whether his lawyers can question the judge and prosecutor at his capital case trial about an alleged affair the two were having while the proceedings were unfolding, ABC News reports. A former county DA filed a sworn statement last year...

Army Can Execute Death-Row Soldier, Bush Rules

Ronald Gray set to become first service member put to death since 1961

(Newser) - President Bush today approved the execution of an Army private, administration officials said. It was the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the US military. Bush OK'd the military's request to execute Ronald A. Gray, convicted in connection...

Obama Backs Death Penalty for Child Rapists

Dem disagrees with Supreme Court ruling against Louisiana law

(Newser) - Barack Obama joined rival John McCain yesterday in supporting the death penalty for child rapists, the AP reports. The Democratic candidate spoke after the Supreme Court ruled against a Louisiana law allowing capital punishment for child rape, saying it violates the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The verdict...

No Crying in the Courtroom!
No Crying in
the Courtroom!
Jun 25, 2008 11:32 AM CDT

No Crying in the Courtroom!

Murder case prosecutors seek ban on 'strategic bawling' by defense to sway jury

(Newser) - State prosecutors in Ohio want to ban teary-eyed appeals to the jury in an upcoming capital murder case, Time reports. A motion seeking to prohibit blubbering defense attorneys accuses them of crying on cue and violating a 1999 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that it’s “improper to inflame a...

Aussie Pardoned 86 Years After Execution

New tests reveal evidence flaw that went undetected in 1921

(Newser) - An Australian man hanged for raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl has been pardoned 86 years after his execution, Reuters reports. Hairs found in his bed that were said to belong to the victim weren’t hers, recent tests showed. The attorney general said the case was a warning against...

McCain Veers Right on Supreme Court
McCain Veers Right on Supreme Court
analysis
May 20, 2008 1:10 PM CDT

McCain Veers Right on Supreme Court

Toobin decodes references in recent 'sneak' speech

(Newser) - If you aren’t a conservative activist, John McCain didn’t have you in mind when he recently laid out his position on judicial appointments: The speech was “a dog whistle for the right,” Jeffrey Toobin writes in the New Yorker, in a piece that decodes references meant...

Executions Are Back—So Are Fairness Issues

3 recent death row releases show poor get shoddy defense

(Newser) - The problem with the death penalty isn’t the method of execution, it’s “poor people getting lousy lawyers,”  the director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project tells the New York Times. Now that the Supreme Court has green-lighted lethal injection and Georgia has resumed executions, opponents...

Ga. Executes Prisoner After Appeal Denied
Ga. Executes Prisoner After Appeal Denied
updated
May 6, 2008 7:29 PM CDT

Ga. Executes Prisoner After Appeal Denied

It's the nation's first since Supreme Court ruled on the issue

(Newser) - Georgia executed William Earl Lynd by lethal injection tonight, the first such execution in the nation since the Supreme Court cleared the way for them to resume, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Lynd kidnapped and murdered his girlfriend in 1988. The death penalty had been on hold across the US for...

Ga. Plans First Execution Since Court Ruling

William Earl Lynd denied clemency for two murders

(Newser) - A Georgia killer is slated to be the first US inmate to die by lethal injection since the Supreme Court ruled the method constitutional last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The state denied William Earl Lynd clemency today and plans to execute him tomorrow for killing his girlfriend and another...

Execution Ban Lifted, States Ready the Death Chambers

With Supreme Court's blessing, officials move to play catch-up

(Newser) - States are getting ready to catch up on executions now that a Supreme Court moratorium has been lifted, the New York Times reports. At least 14 executions have been scheduled in six states in coming months. "The Supreme Court has essentially blessed their way of doing things," a...

Raul Castro Empties Cuba's Death Row

New president commutes all but 3 capital sentences

(Newser) - New Cuban president Raul Castro has commuted all but three of the country's death sentences to prison terms of 30 years to life, reports Reuters. Castro, who also has been gradually easing the country's restrictions on daily life, said the death penalty would remain on the books to deter "...

Justice Calls Death Penalty Unconstitutional

Punishment 'pointless,' Stevens says, though he'll keep to precedent

(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says he now believes the death penalty is unconstitutional, as it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Stevens was a key vote in upholding the legality of the death penalty 30 years ago, and says he will continue to respect the precedent of the court...

China Gets 'Gold Medal' for Executions

World leader doesn't report thousands more, Amnesty says

(Newser) - China's 470 executions in 2007 make it the world's leader, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the worldwide state of capital punishment. But even that number is likely low, the group says, with the real number probably in the thousands. "China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions,...

Justices to Weigh Death Penalty for Child Rape

Louisiana case seeks harsher punishment for crimes against children

(Newser) - The Supreme Court could forbid the death penalty for child rapists in a major upcoming decision, the Washington Post reports. On Wednesday, the court will hear the case of a Louisiana man who raped his 8-year-old stepdaughter so violently she needed surgery—a case that follows a series of landmark...

1996 Survey Reveals a More Liberal Barack

Aides deny Obama opposed death penalty and gun ownership

(Newser) - Barack Obama's older, liberal views came to light today after Politico unearthed an old questionnaire. Twelve years ago, he apparently wrote that he opposed the death penalty and the possession of handguns—opinions he has fine-tuned since. But his camp denies the writing is Obama's. "There are several answers...

Supreme Court Overturns La. Death Sentence

Blacks wrongly blocked from jury in case compared to OJ

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a former Marine awaiting execution on Louisiana's death row. Allen Snyder, an African-American, was convicted of fatally stabbing his estranged wife and her boyfriend, but the court ruled 7-2 that prosecutors acted improperly by using its challenges to seat an all-white...

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