Tag Archive for "death penalty"

Posts Tagged death penalty

By Alexandra Brodsky • 10 years ago

Weekly Feminist Reader

Women and unions at the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act.

Silence is a woman.

The Lambda Literary Award winners have been announced.

A high school valedictorian called out her school on its discrimination against Native Americans.

A lot of people wrote a lot of things about the FLOTUS heckler conflict.

Sontag is reborn!

Queers should care about sex offenders.

Protesters across the country demand accessible emergency contraceptives.

SiriusXM dropped an anti-trans radio show.

Bitch is pro-“Frances Ha.”

It turns out it

Women and unions at the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act.

Silence is a woman.

The Lambda Literary Award winners have been announced.

A high school valedictorian called out her school ...

By Katie Halper • 11 years ago

PA to execute man who killed his sexual abuser

Child advocates, former prosecutors, mental health professionals, former jury members, and the victim’s widow are asking for clemency for a survivor of child sexual abuse who killed his abuser and is scheduled to be executed October 3. Terrance “Terry” Williams was raised by a physically violent mother and was first raped at the age of 6, before being raped repeatedly by his school teacher. As a teenager, he was sexually abused by two adult men, one of whom used his position as a church leader to prey on teenagers and boys. Three months after turning 18, Terry killed one of his abusers, the day after he had raped him.

But the jury had no idea about this abuse. Terry was ...

By Katie Halper • 11 years ago

Support the death penalty? Then you support executing the innocent

I am vehemently, philosophically opposed to the death penalty. Even if our criminal justice system were not racist, classist, and unfair, I’d be against the death penalty. Even if we somehow had a way to ensure that we only executed people we knew were guilty, I’d be against it.

But I respect the position of people who are for the death penalty in theory, but realize that the way it is implemented calls for, at least, a moratorium on capital punishment. Today, it is impossible to support the death penalty in the United States without tacitly supporting the execution of innocent people. You can try to defend the death penalty and convince yourself that it doesn’t kill innocent people, but you ...

By Katie Halper • 11 years ago

Capital punishment: doesn’t work and takes place mostly in Texas

The Economist has mapped out all the executions that have taken place in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Not surprisingly, as Think Progress points out, “[o]ver one-third of all executions during this period took place in Texas, for a total of 481 people killed by that state. Of the remaining, non-Texas executions, the overwhelming majority are clustered in a small group of southern states.”

Also, a report released Wednesday by a committee formed by the National Research Council suggests that,

This new report from the Committee on Law and Justice concludes that research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide rates is not useful in determining whether the death penalty ...

By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

The Death of Martina Davis-Correia: Mourn AND organize

Earlier today I wrote about the Philadelphia DA’s decision not to seek the death penalty for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Preceding this good news was the tragic news of the death of another death penalty abolition organizer, the utterly amazing Martina Davis-Correia, who fought tirelessly and with grace and dignity against for not only her brother Troy Davis, but for all victims of the prison-industrial complex. In a heartbreaking miscarriage of justice, Davis was executed in September by the state of Georgia, despite undeniable evidence of not just police and judicial misconduct, but his innocence. The evidence was so compelling and Troy’s death sentence was so abominable, that his international campaign enlisted ...

By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

Mumia Abu Jamal Won’t Be Executed, But Still Not Free

Yesterday, Philadephia DA, Seth Williams, announced he would no longer seek the death penalty for Mumia Abu Jamal, who has been on death row for nearly 30 years. Abu Jamal, who was convicted of shooting Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981, will serve a life sentence, with no possibility of parole, behind bars.

This is a bitter sweet victory–bitter because Abu-Jamal, is not getting a new trial and will remain in jail; and sweet because he will not be executed– for people who support Mumia and people who oppose the Death Penalty. But it should also be celebrated by people who support things like the constitution, due process, fair trials and oppose ...

Yesterday, Philadephia DA, Seth Williams, announced he would no longer seek the death penalty for Mumia Abu Jamal, who has been on death row for nearly 30 years. Abu Jamal, who was convicted of ...

By Samhita • 12 years ago

Breaking: Troy Davis denied clemency

One last way to take action to save Troy Davis’ life is to sign this petition from Amnesty International to Chatham County District Attorney, Larry Chisolm, who has the power to withdraw the death warrant and support clemency. Or contact the DA’s office directly at: Telephone: 912-652-7308 Fax: 912-652-7328. Also, call Judge Penny Freesemann at Telephone: 912-652-7252 who has to accept the DA’s withdrawal.

In a rather unsurprising but nonetheless ruthless move, Troy Davis, a man accused of a murder that he most likely did not commit, has been denied clemency from the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles from his sentence to death. Davis will be put to death tomorrow at 7pm thanks to Georgia’s draconian death penalty laws. The parole ...

By zerlina • 12 years ago

Take action: Troy Davis’ execution scheduled

The execution date has been set. On September 21, 2011, Troy Davis is scheduled to die. Davis, 42, was convicted of killing an off duty police officer, Mark MacPhail in 1989.

During his trial nine witnesses testified that they saw Davis shoot MacPhail. And since the 1989 trial seven of those nine witnesses have recanted saying that they were mistaken and that Davis was not the shooter. Without any physical evidence linking Davis to the murder there are many prominent civil rights activists and even former President Jimmy Carter who believe Davis might be innocent.

The execution has been stopped before but it seems that now after all the back and forth, Troy Davis needs a ...

The execution date has been set. On September 21, 2011, Troy Davis is scheduled to die. Davis, 42, was convicted of killing an off duty police officer, Mark MacPhail in 1989.

During his trial nine ...