Posts Tagged ‘Death Penalty’
Vanity Fair Profile on Judy Clarke
Are you an attorney looking for inspiration? Are you a client who disagrees with your criminal defense lawyer’s tactics even though you see she’s working hard on your case? Run, don’t walk to pick up a copy of Vanity Fair, or read online Mark Bowden’s piece on death penalty defense lawyer Judy Clarke. It was…
Read MoreHarvard Medical Professor would Take Firing Squad over Lethal Injection
A professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School told the Washington Post that “Given these recurring problems with lethal injections, if I had to be executed, I would choose a firing squad.” That article and one in the ABA Journal details the problems with supply of lethal injection drugs throughout the nation.
Read MoreThe End of the Death Penalty / The Rise of Deaths in Prison
The Economist reports that executions are on the decline and that fewer Americans support the death penalty today than they did in 1994. In fact, most death penalty sentences are handed down in narrow areas of the country: Earlier this month a vote to repeal the death penalty narrowly failed in New Hampshire, but similar…
Read MoreNew Law Spares Life of Warren Lee Hill
Andrew Cohen at The Atlantic Monthly has a post up on how Georgia’s legislature created a law that spared the life (so far) of Warren Lee Hill, a man that the State has been trying to kill. It’s a must read if you are trying to teach someone the concept of irony. This past year,…
Read MoreNew SCOG Opinion Sets Out Rules for Voir Dire in Death Penalty Cases
A recent Georgia Supreme Court case on jury selection provides a framework for determining what a case’s subject matter is. There is a fine line between asking juror to prejudge the facts and figuring out if jurors cannot be fair. A few words about the problem in the case first. Full disclosure, I was amicus counsel…
Read MoreAuthor of study of Georgia criminal justice system has died
Alyson Palmer at the Fulton Daily Report has noted the passing of David C. Baldus. Mr. Baldus authored a study in 1986 showing that, in 2,000 murder cases in Georgia in the 1970s, defendants accused of killing white victims were more than four times as likely than defendants accused of killing black victims. That study…
Read MoreWeekend Music About People who Need a Criminal Appellate Lawyer
Music is replete with songs about people who had some bad stuff happen to them at their trial and who need an appellate lawyer. So, I am kicking off a weekly series featuring songs about people who need a good criminal appeals or habeas lawyer. To kick things off, let’s listen to Steve Earle from…
Read MoreRepublican Run-Off for Georgia Attorney General Devolves into Dealth Penalty Smackdown
I’ve been talking about the Democratic side of the Attorney General election for too long. But what about the Republic side? Georgia is such a red state, that the Democratic ticket is largely irrelevant anyway. Meanwhile, the Republicans are in a run-off. And, as Republicans are apt to do when they square off, the candidates…
Read MoreJamie Weis Appeal Puts Georgia’s Criminal Justice System on Trial
Adam Liptak’s recent editorial in the New York Times will provide comfort for those of us who have watched the legislature and governor gut indigent defense in Georgia and attack the judiciary systematically. At the same time, it is a little embarrassing to read about the system that I love so much and wonder what…
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