Important forum event. Plan to attend.

ANOTHER FLORIDA DEATH ROW EXONERATION!

Friends,

On July 9, 2009, the Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Herman Lindsey be acquitted and released from Death Row.  The court said that “the state failed to produce any evidence in this case placing Lindsey at the scene of the crime at the time of the murder,” and that the evidence presented was “equally consistent with a reasonable hypothesis of innocence.”

From the Death Penalty Information Center, “According to DPIC’s Innocence List, Lindsey is the 135th person to be exonerated from death row since the death penalty was reinstated and the fifth person exonerated from death row in 2009.  Lindsey is the 23rd exoneration in Florida — the state that leads the country in death row exonerations.”

“DPIC’s Innocence List consists of former death row inmates who have been acqu itted of all charges related to the crime that placed them on death row; had all charges dismissed by the prosecution; or been granted complete pardon based on evidence of innocence.”

Shine the light,

Mark

Sent by:

Mark Elliott
Executive Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, FADP.org

2840 W. Bay Drive, #118
Belleair Bluffs, FL 33770
727-215-9646

High Court lays low an important path to justice

Supreme Court rules on DNA requests by prisoners.

Mark Elliot sent the following message regarding the Mark Schwab case

Friends,

The U.S. Supreme Court is meeting today on lifting the stay of
execution for Mark Schwab.  Insiders say that if the stay is lifted, a
new execution date may be announced as early as Monday.

—-Mark

Mark Elliott
Executive Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, FADP.org

TINKERING WITH THE MACHINERY OF DEATH

April 16, 2008 — Today the U. S. Supreme Court voted 7 – 2 to reject the latest challenge to capital punishment. The issue at hand was not the death penalty itself, but the legality of the methods used to kill people. I am reminded of former Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun’s words written shortly before his retirement: “The death penalty experiment has failed. From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.” Clearly, that is all the Court was doing. Until they take up the real question of the death penalty, it will all just be tinkering. Read More

Bad news …..

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 — 10:24 AM ET
—–

Supreme Court Allows Lethal Injection for Exection

The Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a challenge to the
lethal three-drug cocktail used in most U.S. executions
during the past 30 years.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

Death Penalty Walking

On Monday, January 7, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments that will determine the future of lethal injection in the United States. The article below, written by David Von Drehle in the recent issue of TIME Magazine, offers an analysis of where things stand today.

Thursday, Jan. 03, 2008
Death Penalty Walking
By David Von Drehle

On Jan. 7, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of Kentucky lawsuits challenging the lethal three-drug cocktail used in most U.S. executions. The gist of the cases is that the drug combination is unnecessarily complicated, using three chemicals when one would do, and that when this procedure is administered by undertrained prison officials, there’s an unconstitutional risk that something will go wrong. Instead of going to a quiet death, an inmate could experience terrifying paralysis followed by excruciating pain. Read More

More Lawmakers Take a Stand Against Death Penalty

Read More

News Update: Hill/Muhammad Execution

From: Mark Elliott,
Spokesperson, FADP – Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
c/p (727) 215-9646
Fax (727) 397-6245
mark@fadp.org

Friends,

Important news about the ClarenceHill/Razzaq Muhammad execution.

The vigil at Raiford last night was attended by over 50 concerned Floridians from diverse religious, ethnic and racial backgrounds…united in their opposition to the Death Penalty. A bus from the Orlando Diocese brought several dozen folks, picking them up at cities across mid-Florida. There were local vigils held around the state.

Read More

Missouri Says It Can’t Hire Doctor for Executions

July 15, 2006

New York Times

By MONICA DAVEY

The State of Missouri, facing a deadline today for changing the way it executes condemned prisoners by lethal injection, told a federal judge last night that it was simply unable to meet his demand that the state hire a board-certified anesthesiologist to oversee executions. Read More