Welcome to the Reprieve Australia Online Newsletter
1 December 2008
December 2008 Newsletter
Please click the links at the end of the article abstracts to read the full story.
President's Corner
Reprieve Interns Update
Meagan Grosse is currently undertaking a Reprieve internship at the Gulf Region Advocacy Center (GRACE) in Houston, Texas. In the coming months Sophie Cull, Matthew Goldberg, Sally Teale, Chloe Lazaroy, Sarah Luckock, Samantha Hammersley and Donna Rushbrook will be interning in capital defence offices across the southern states of the US. We wish them good luck!
Features
Intern Article: Death penalty, the United States and public opinion
Jane Hingston
Returned Reprieve intern Jane Hingston writes about the opportunity to contribute to the extremely important legal and humanitarian work capital defence offices undertake and to assist those, whom are ultimately defenceless in their situations. The full article can be read here
Review of Australian Federal Police Practical Guide on International Police to Police Assistance in Death Penalty Charge Situations
PILCH (The Public Interest Law Clearing House)
Following the sentencing to death of 3 of the 'Bali Nine' in circumstances which implicated the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in their arrest, the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland recently announced a review of the AFP Practical Guide on International Police to Police Assistance in Death Penalty Charge Situations. Read the full article here
Country Profile: India
Reprieve domestic volunteers are in the process of creating a database of information about various countries throughout the world which still impose the Death Penalty.
In India, the death penalty has a profound national impact, in the absence of government records of executions, although the death penalty is limited to applying only in the 'rarest of the rare' cases. Read the summary here, and full text article here.
The Honourable Justice Lasry delivers Inaugural Reprieve Lecture
On 9 October The Honourable Justice Lasry of the Supreme Court of Victoria delivered the Inaugural Reprieve Lecture at the Roadshow Theatrette in the State Library of Victoria.
His Honour Justice Lasry addressed a crowd of more than 100 people on the eve of World Anti-Death Penalty Day. The full text of his oration can be found here.
Brain Morley was also presented with his certificate of Honorary Life Membership.
The Sir Rupert Hamer Internship Fund for returning interns was also launched on the night. The fund is intended to support volunteers who have completed one internship in the US to return to complete a further internship. We were delighted to have Lady April Hamer and daughter Sarah Brenan in attendance on the night of the lecture. Photos from the evening can be viewed here.
News from around the world
Death Penalty Distorts the Criminal Justice Process
November 14, 2008
A recent editorial in The Journal Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) expressed the paper's shock at how the death penalty distorted a state criminal investigation to the extent that six innocent people were convicted of a murder they did not commit. Defendants were pressured to offer erroneous testimony through the threat of facing the death penalty. "The wrongful convictions show how the death penalty can distort the search for justice," the editorial stated. "Investigators supplied suspects suggestions on what could have happened. They showed photos of the crime scene. Read more
Maryland Commission Recommends Abolition of Death Penalty
November 13, 2008
The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment voted on November 12 to recommend the abolition of the death penalty in the state. In a 13-7 vote, the Commission cited the possibility that an innocent person could be mistakenly executed, as well as geographical and racial disparities in how it is used. Read more
New National Poll Shows Decrease in Support for Capital Punishment
November 12, 2008
The Gallup Poll's latest national survey of American opinion on the death penalty found that support for capital punishment dropped by 5 percentage points from 2007, down to 64% support from 69% last year. The percentage of those opposing capital punishment rose from 27% to 30%. This poll reflects that support for the death penalty is equal to the lowest level in the Gallup Polls during the past 30 years. Support had reached a high of 80% in 1994. Read more
Florida Inmate Facing Imminent Execution Despite Evidence of Witness Tampering by Prosecution
November 11, 2008
A Florida inmate faces execution despite new revelations that the state prompted a trial witness to lie. Inmate Wayne Tompkins was to be executed in Florida on October 28, 2008, but was granted a stay of execution to allow time for the state Supreme Court to review his case. Read more
The Supreme Court's Emerging Death Penalty Jurisprudence: Severe Mental Illness as the Next Frontier
November 06, 2008
Professor Bruce Winick of the Miami School of Law has written an article arguing that the Supreme Court should extend the protection it presently offers to those with mental retardation and juveniles to offenders with severe mental illness, as well. Read more
Imperfections Abound with Death Penalty
November 07, 2008
A recent editorial in The Virginian-Pilot points to the problem of arbitrariness in applying the death penalty. The editorial asks, "Is it right to look at who the victims were? Is it fair to consider the strength of the evidence and the time and resources required to pursue the death penalty, a costly process? Does it make a crime less important, a victim's life less memorable, if prosecutors decide that life in a tiny prison cell is punishment enough for the killer?" Read more
Contact Details & Membership Information
Thank you to all of you who have renewed your membership with Reprieve. Your support allows Reprieve to continue its fight against the death penalty. If you have not yet renewed your membership and would like to, please click here
Remember to add Reprieve Australia to your address book, so that if you change email addresses, we can change with you. You may also change email addresses via the contact form at www.reprieve.org.au
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