The Inquisitr » death penalty

EU Restricts Sale of Lethal Injection Drugs to the US

H. Scott English — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:03:04 +0000

The European Union announced on Wednesday that they were going to put new restrictions on all short and long acting anesthetics to country’s that have not abolished the death penalty.

The European Commission is strengthening export controls on Sodium Thipentol, and other drugs which are used as part of the lethal injection. The commission said to the Associated Press it wanted to “prevent their use for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

This had been a policy prerogative of death penalty abolitionists for a very long time. Currently no state in the European Union executes prisoners.

Many US states have already announced the delay of some executions from a shortage of Sodium Thiopental that has been going on for years. Other states have had to switch to other barbiturates in order to compensate. It is unclear if the new restrictions would have much, if any effect on US executions.

The EU restrictions are the latest in a long string of international restrictions aimed at the US Lethal Injection process. In April, Great Britain announced that it would not sell any of the three drugs used to execute prisoners anymore to the US. Indian Pharmaceutical companies have also followed suit. The Danish manufacturer of Phenobarbital (one of the replacement drugs being used by Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma) said it would no longer sell the drugs to anyone who would not sign a waiver that the drug would not be used in executions.

If the EU restrictions do have an effect on supply and force death penalty states to find new drugs, they open up all executions to new legal challenges on 8th amendment grounds. The 8th amendment prevents the use of cruel and unusual punishment.

Should the European Union restrict the sale of drugs used in lethal injections?”

EU Restricts Sale of Lethal Injection Drugs to the US is a post from: The Inquisitr

‘Baseline Killer’ Sentenced to Death in Arizona

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:22:31 +0000

47-year-old Mark Goudeau, dubbed the ‘Baseline Killer’ in Phoenix, has been sentenced to death for his convictions by a jury.

The crimes committed by Baseline Killer Goudeau struck fear into the Phoenix metro area from the summer of 2005 until the summer of 2006. By the time Goudeau was stopped, nine people had died and more than a dozen had been sexually assaulted during the spree. Initially, Godreau had been sentenced to nearly 500 years in prison for his crimes- during which prosecutors say victims were subjected to agonizing over whether they would live or die- before he became eligible for the death penalty. Two weeks ago, Godreau prohibited his lawyers from further handling the case after they suggested to a jury that impotence and insecurity drove him to sexually assault and kill eight women and a man. Instead, Godreau himself addressed the jury, denying his role in the murders and saying that he hoped the “truth” about the crimes would come out:

“I am no monster… I could look in each and every one of your eyes today and tell you Mark Goudeau is no wolf in sheep’s clothing … I do pray that one day you guys learn the truth about this case.”

Prosecutor Patricia Stevens argued that Godreau was, in fact, a monster, and that the pain and anguish of his victims in part drove him to commit the Baseline Killer crimes. Stevens said:

“He enjoyed the power and dominion he exercised over these victims. He enjoyed the threats of force, the threats of death.”

Stevens noted that Godreau had not apologized to any of the victims families. He was sentenced to death for each murder conviction in the case.

‘Baseline Killer’ Sentenced to Death in Arizona is a post from: The Inquisitr

Illinois Law Effectively Shuts Down Death Row, Ends Death Penalty

James Johnson — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:39:27 +0000

Inmates on Illinois’ death row were given a reprieve on Friday when a law was quietly passed in the state that makes it illegal to take the life of a prisoner who had been sentenced to death.

The execution law was promised by Governor Pat Quinn in March after various stories surfaced of inmates who had been sentenced to death for crimes they never committed, handfuls of prisoners have also been released from prison over the last decade as new DNA tests revealed their innocence.

Following his decision Quinn commuted the sentences of 15 men on death row to life in prison with no chance of parole, moving 14 of those men to a super-maximum prison in downstate Tamms, Illinois., while one was placed in a medium-high security prison at a mental health facility.

Only 12 prisoners have been executed since 1977, the last taking place in 1999.

The move to stop the death penalty is not a new fight, in 2000 then Governor George Ryan halted executions, garnering international acclaim for his efforts to end the barbaric practice.

The move also makes Illinois the fourth state in the past two years to end the penalty, following in the footsteps of New York, New Jersey and New Mexico.

If I had to guess it will be Texas as the final holdout once other states have taken to removing inmates from death row.

How do you feel about Illinois abolishing the death penalty?

Illinois Law Effectively Shuts Down Death Row, Ends Death Penalty is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pakistani lawyer wants Zuckerberg dead – carries the no sense of ha-ha too far

Steven Hodson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:13:08 +0000

I get that religious icons are not something that some people might not like to joke about but this call by a Pakistani lawyer for Mark Zuckerberg to be investigated for the recent contest hosted on Facebook called Draw Muhammad is mind-boggling. The problem is that the end result of this criminal investigation carries the death penalty if the ones being investigated are found guilty.

The report in The Register says that the Pakistani Deputy Attorney General at the request of a Pakistani high court judge is claiming that the owners of Facebook have committed a heinous and serious crime under the country’s Section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code.

Section 295-C of the penal code reads: “Use of derogatory remark etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet, whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable for fine.”

Apparently the original petitioner to the Pakistani high court and the person who got this all started in the first place, Muhammad Azhar Sidiqque, is waiting for the police to contact Interpol and arrange for the arrest of Zuckerberg and the rest of the blasphemous crew.

Pakistani lawyer wants Zuckerberg dead – carries the no sense of ha-ha too far is a post from: The Inquisitr

Prisoner Darryl Durr executed in Ohio

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:46:16 +0000

Despite a series of appeals in which lawyers for Darryl Durr contended their client had a severe allergy to the anesthesia used in lethal injections, the prisoner was put to death this morning in Ohio.

Durr, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of a 16-year-old girl, was executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. A prison official who witnessed the execution described the event to ABC News:

A prison official who was present told ABC News that as the process began Durr clenched his fists and grimaced while holding his head up for about 10 seconds, before putting his head down. The official, who declined to be identified, said it wasn’t clear whether Durr was in pain or reacting to the moment.

Prior to the execution, Durr’s lawyer Kathleen McGarry argued that the anesthetic used in the lethal injection procedure could violate her client’s rights:

“One of the things the Ohio Constitution guarantees is that he has a quick and painless execution,” McGarry said to the Associated Press last week.

“If he’s going to react to the anesthetic drugs in such a manner that he’s going to have a violent reaction, either vomiting or seizures or whatever the spectrum is that could happen, then obviously the execution has problems,” she said.

Several letters were posted to a blog dedicated to clemency for Durr prior to his execution, and Durr maintained he was innocent in all the ultimately unsuccessful appeals he made.

Prisoner Darryl Durr executed in Ohio is a post from: The Inquisitr

Egyptian professor calls for death penalty for fake virginity importers

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:27:38 +0000

This one is really hard to let you know about without wanting to bang my head against the keyboard.It seems that the growing business of restoring a woman’s virginity in Egypt is making at least one Egyptian scholar very angry.

Now of course we all know that once that cherry is plucked there’s just no putting it back even though some clinics in the Middle East do perform in secret an operation called hymen repair surgery. This of course has given rise to a a more inexpensive way of giving that oh so special illusion.

A simple contraption produced in China releases a blood-like substance when triggered – hence the illusion. The contraption is being imported into Middle East countries and apparently cost only $15.00 in Syria.

Professor Bayoumi, a highly respected professor from the al-Azhar University, says that the device undermines the deterrent of fornication and anyone caught importing such a device should be sentenced to death. As well the members of parliament in Egypt have called for the banning of the import of the devices.

via BBC News / image via MSN New Zealand

Egyptian professor calls for death penalty for fake virginity importers is a post from: The Inquisitr

Death Penalty on the way out in the United States…due to cost

Duncan Riley — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:41:42 +0000

While the death penalty has been long off the books in much of the civilized world, the United States has for the most part continued the practice. Well, before the recession that is.

The death penalty is slowly being abolished in the United States due not to any moral opposition, but due to simple economics: it’s actually cheaper to jail a man for life then stick a needle in his arm. The cost comes not from the actual death itself, but the appeals process, which can sometimes drag on for 20 years or even longer. Lawyers love it, but it’s nearly as unhealthy for State coffers as it is the condemned man.

New Jersey has already dropped the death penalty, and Colorado and Kansas are currently debating similar legislation. In other jurisdictions such as New Mexico, the death penalty remains on the books, but is effectively dead as prosecutors no longer have the financial support to pursue death penalty cases.

(Chicago Tribune)

Death Penalty on the way out in the United States…due to cost is a post from: The Inquisitr