DOCSLIB.ORG

Executing Human Rights

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Executing Human Rights Executing Human Rights The Death Penalty in the United States ANNA ARCENEAUX “Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is AND CHRISTOPHER HILL imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.”–Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr., 1994 he administration of the death pen- tional Protocol to the International Talty in the United States has been a Covenant on Civil and Political Rights failed experiment that stands in stark calling for total abolition of capital violation of the right to life unequivo- punishment. cally provided by Article 3 of the Uni- Since 1977, over 1125 people– versal Declaration of Human Rights men, women, children (at the time of (UDHR), adopted in 1948. The drafters the crime), the mentally retarded, and of the UDHR contemplated eventual the mentally ill–have been denied their abolition of the death penalty, but it right to life by execution at the hands wasn’t until 1991 that the international of the State. The United States’ ad- community, in a complementary treaty ministration of the death penalty, in 36 to the UDHR, adopted the Second Op- states, in the federal system and in the 10 Human Rights Begin At Home Executing Human Rights The Death Penalty in the United States military, continues to violate this basic that the race of the victim has more of to choose another method, such as human right. an impact on the decision to impose electrocution, if it was legally permitted The Death Penalty in the United States Though it presents itself as a bea- the death penalty than the race of the when the sentence was given. In Ten- con of democratic values to the inter- perpetrator. A study by the American nessee, Daryl Holton, a man who may national community, the United States stands alone among its Western neigh- bors in its continued application of the Though it presents itself as a beacon of democratic death penalty. In 2006, 91% of all known executions occurred in six countries: values to the international community, the United China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the United States. As of January 2008, States stands alone among its Western neighbors in the number of people awaiting execu- tion across the country exceeded 3,300. its continued application of the death penalty. With approximately 20,000 people un- der sentence of death across the world, Sociological Review showed that minori- have been mentally ill, chose to die in the United States maintains a grossly ties who are convicted of killing white the electric chair. The Supreme Court of disproportionate share of the interna- people are more likely to have their the State of Nebraska held that use of tional death row population. death sentences carried out. Co-author the electric chair is cruel and unusual In recent years, the United States of the study and Ohio State University punishment. has taken some important steps in pro- Sociology Professor David Jacobs said, Although the Supreme Court of tecting the right to life by barring the “[w]hite lives are still valued more than the United States recently ruled that execution of juveniles and the mentally black ones when it comes to deciding the State of Kentucky’s method of le- retarded. But until this country extends who gets executed and who does not.” 1 thal injection did not amount to cruel that right to all persons facing execu- Article 5 of the UDHR states that and unusual punishment, there is still tion, the United States will continue to “no one shall be subjected to torture or significant evidence that death by that violate this most fundamental of hu- to cruel, inhuman or degrading treat- method qualifies as torture. The three- man rights. ment or punishment.” The very nature drug cocktail which is delivered intra- The drafters of the UDHR antici- of a government putting a person to venously must follow a certain order. pated that racial discrimination would death before their body fails them is The first drug, sodium thiopental, ren- remain a human rights concern and, in cruel. This is not, however, the only ders the inmate unconscious. This is Article 2, prohibited racial bias in the cruelty or torture involved with imple- important because the next two drugs guarantee of all rights and freedoms mentation of the death penalty in the are extremely painful. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, causes paraly- sis. The third drug, potassium chloride, causes cardiac arrest. If the first drug Statistics show that the race of the victim has more of does not result in unconsciousness, the an impact on the decision to impose the death penalty paralytic will prevent the inmate from expressing pain when the second and than the race of the perpetrator. third drugs are injected–leading to a horrific and inhumane death. In Florida, Angel Diaz was executed by lethal in- set forth in the document. The capital United States. The very methods used jection. The autopsy showed that there punishment system is plagued with in- in the death chambers in this country were chemical burns throughout his equities resulting from racial prejudice. are degrading and inhumane. arms, demonstrating that the IVs went According to a 2003 report by Amnesty The state of Delaware used hang- through his soft tissue. In Ohio, Joseph International, African Americans made ing to execute Billy Bailey as recently as Clark cried out while being executed, up only 12% of the population but ac- 1996. Lethal injection is the method of “It don’t work!” He also requested to counted for 40% of those on death row execution used by most jurisdictions. be given something by mouth so the in the United States. Statistics show However, some states allow a person torture would end. The execution of Human Rights Begin At Home 11 Executing Human Rights The Death Penalty in the United States Christopher Newton, also in Ohio, took tal murder trials therefore face not an These same judges campaign with a so long that he was given a bathroom impartial and independent jury of their “tough on crime” platform. Electoral break. peers but a jury biased to vote for death. partisanship has no place in the pro- Executions carried out in the Studies of jurors who have actually cess of deciding who will live or die and United States violate Article 5 of the served on a capital murder trial reveal clearly violates Article 10. UDHR’s prohibition on torture and cruel disturbingly inaccurate perceptions of The United States legal system punishment because they torture the their duty under the law. United States does not offer sufficient protections condemned. When holding the electric law is clear that there are no specific to prevent innocent people from being chair unconstitutional, Nebraska Su- circumstances under which the death sentenced to death. During jury selec- preme Court Judge William Connolly penalty is required. However, many ju- tion, in order to serve on a capital jury, stated, “We recognize the temptation rors erroneously believe that the death jurors are repeatedly asked to affirm to make the prisoner suffer, just as the penalty is required by law if the murder their willingness to impose the death prisoner made an innocent victim suf- was heinous or if the defendant poses penalty should they convict the defen- fer. But it is the hallmark of a civilized a potential danger in the future. Simi- dant of murder. Studies of capital jury society that we punish cruelty without larly, many jurors believed the death behavior illustrate that this process it- practicing it.” penalty to be the only acceptable pun- self persuades them that the defendant Article 10 of the UDHR entitles ishment for specific crimes such as the must be guilty, otherwise the court all people “in full equality to a fair and murder of a police officer or multiple would not be so concerned with punish- public hearing by an independent and victims. ment at this initial stage. Consequently, impartial tribunal.” Juries and judges The great majority of death pen- at the outset of the trial, before hearing fail to uphold this right to capital defen- alty jurisdictions in the United States any evidence, many jurors have already made up their minds that the defen- dant is guilty. This violates Article 11 of Nebraska Supreme Court Judge William Connolly the UDHR which provides the right to presumption of innocence until proven stated, ‘. it is the hallmark of a civilized society guilty. It is no surprise that since 1973, 130 people in 26 states have been exon- that we punish cruelty without practicing it.’ erated from death row. Strong evidence suggests that many innocent men have dants across the country. Any potential fail to uphold the right of capital defen- been executed and many more remain juror asked to serve on a capital trial dants to an impartial tribunal through on death row across the country. must undergo the process of “death the election of its judiciary. In the capi- Philip Alston, the United Nations qualification,” meaning that they must tal punishment context, this violation Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, be able to consider death as a punish- manifests most troublingly in states summary, or arbitrary executions, ment. United States Supreme Court like Alabama and Florida, where the recently examined the death penalty jurisprudence provides that any juror judge has authority to override a jury’s system in the United States, concen- who will be substantially impaired in his recommended sentence of life impris- trating on the states of Texas, with the ability to impose the death penalty may onment.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Death Row U.S.A
    DEATH ROW U.S.A. Fall 2020 A quarterly report by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Deborah Fins Consultant to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Death Row U.S.A. Fall 2020 (As of October 1, 2020) TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATH ROW INMATES KNOWN TO LDF: 2553 (2553 – 180* - 877M = 1496 enforceable sentences) Race of Defendant: White 1,076 (42.15%) Black 1,062 (41.60%) Latino/Latina 343 (13.44%) Native American 24 (0.94%) Asian 47 (1.84%) Unknown at this issue 1 (0.04%) Gender: Male 2,502 (98.00%) Female 51 (2.00%) JURISDICTIONS WITH CURRENT DEATH PENALTY STATUTES: 30 Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, CaliforniaM, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, OregonM, PennsylvaniaM, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming, U.S. Government, U.S. Military. M States where a moratorium prohibiting execution has been imposed by the Governor. JURISDICTIONS WITHOUT DEATH PENALTY STATUTES: 23 Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire [see note below], New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin. [NOTE: New Hampshire repealed the death penalty prospectively. The man already sentenced remains under sentence of death.] * Designates the number of people in non-moratorium states who are not under active death sentence because of court reversal but whose sentence may be reimposed. M Designates the number of people in states where a gubernatorial moratorium on execution has been imposed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Death of Punishment: Searching for Justice Among the Worst of the Worst
    The Death of Punishment: Searching for Justice Among the Worst of the Worst By Robert Blecker, Palgrave MacMillan, N.Y., 314 pages, $28 hardcover. Jeffrey Kirchmeier , New York Law Journal May 12, 2014 When Oklahoma recently botched the lethal injection of a condemned man, death penalty opponents decried the execution as inhumane. While many death penalty advocates also criticized the procedural mistakes, some people argued that the man's horrible crime justified his agony. Throughout history, humans have debated how much suffering governments should inflict on criminals, and in his new book, "The Death of Punishment: Searching for Justice Among the Worst of the Worst," New York Law School Professor Robert Blecker explores the role of retribution in the criminal justice system. While arguing that our system should be more grounded in retributive theories, he concludes that the United States both under-punishes some crimes and over-punishes others. In "The Death of Punishment," Blecker critiques a system that focuses on housing criminals as a way of punishing and preventing crime. He reasons that society gives too little weight to retributive goals of sentencing, arguing that our anger at horrible crimes justifies more severe punishments. As an advocate for the death penalty, he asserts that egregious murderers should suffer a painful, but quick, death. He prefers the firing squad to lethal injection because the former looks like punishment, not a medical procedure. Further, he complains that prisons house people in too much comfort when prisons should be punitive institutions of suffering where inmates are constantly reminded of their victims in an unpleasant environment with tasteless food.
    [Show full text]
  • SHELBY COUNTY MAYOR A. C. Wharton
    SHELBY COUNTY MAYOR A. C. Wharton SHELBY COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS David Lillard, Chairman Joe S. Ford Deidre Malone Henri E. Brooks Mike Carpenter George S. Flinn, Jr. Sidney Chism J.W. Gibson, II Joyce Avery James M. Harvey Wyatt Bunker Mike Ritz Steve Mulroy ANNUAL REPORT CRIMINAL COURT OF MEMPHIS AND SHELBY COUNTY 201 Poplar – Suite 401 Memphis, Tennessee 38103 2007 William R. Key, Criminal Court Clerk Thirtieth Judicial District At Memphis CRIMINAL COURT JUDGES Paula Skahan Division I W. Otis Higgs, Jr. Division II John P. Colton, Jr. Division III Carolyn Wade Blackett Division IV James M. Lammey, Jr. Division V W. Fred Axley Division VI Lee V. Coffee Division VII Chris Craft Division VIII W. Mark Ward Division IX James C. Beasley, Jr. Division X 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Clerk’s Profile 4 Clerk’s Photo 5 Appointed Officials 6 Organizational Chart 8 Tennessee Court Structure 9 State Trial Courts 11 Operations Division Supervisory Staff 14 Operations Statistical Information 17 Administrative Services Division Supervisory Staff 55 Administrative Services Division Statistical Information 57 Finance Division Supervisory Staff 64 Finance Division Statistical Information 67 Miscellaneous Data 74 Glossary 76 3 WILLIAM R. KEY Criminal Court Clerk Thirtieth Judicial District at Memphis William R. Key was re-elected to the position of the Criminal Court Clerk and assumed the office for a fourth term on September 1, 2006. Keeper of the records for Criminal Court of Shelby County Former coach and teacher at Hillcrest High School where he taught Economics, American History, and Psychology and also coached interscholastic sports Former Administrative Assistant to Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth A.
    [Show full text]
  • Mccleskey's Omission: the Racial Geography of Retribution
    McCleskey's Omission: The Racial Geography of Retribution G. Ben Cohen* I. Introduction ....................................... 65 II. McCleskey v. Kemp: Tolerating Statistical Evidence Establishing the Influence of Race ................................... 71 III. The Continued Role of Race in the Operation of the Death Penalty ............ 72 A. State Level Discrepancies Focus on Race of the Victim .. .......... 73 B. Federal Death Penalty ............................. ..... 755 IV.The Local Level of Retribution, Race, and Arbitrariness ......... ........ 788 A. The Connection Between Community and the Racial Geography of Retribution ............................... ......... 86 B. The Local Geographic Circumstances of Race and Retribution in the Death Penalty ................................ ..... 90 V. The Legal Landscape of Retribution 90 A. Kennedy v. Louisiana: Retribution Contradicts the Law's Own Ends .... 91 B. Original Sins: The Eighth Amendment Accommodation of the Angry Mob............................................... 92 VI. The Constitutional Significance of the Racial Origins of Retribution ... 93 VII. Conclusion ............................................ 98 I. INTRODUCTION Perhaps little more can be said about the 5-4 decision in McCleskey v. Kemp.' It has been given dishonorable discharge in a number of symposiums, 2 books, and law review articles.3 In the immediate aftermath of the opinion, the Harvard Law . G. Ben Cohen is Of Counsel to The Justice Center's Capital Appeals Project. In 2010, Cohen was Visiting Litigation Counsel at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute's Race and the Death Penalty Project. I McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987). 2 See Symposium, Pursuing Racial Fairness in Criminal Justice: Twenty Years After McCleskey v. Kemp, 39 COLUM. HUM. RTs. L. REV. 1 (2007); see also John H. Blume, Theodore Eisenberg & Sheri Lynn Johnson, Post-McCleskey Racial DiscriminationClaims In Capital Cases, 83 CORNELL L.
    [Show full text]
  • Death Row Witness Reveals Inmates' Most Chilling Final Moments
    From bloodied shirts and shuddering to HEADS on fire: Death Row witness reveals inmates' most chilling final moments By: Chris Kitching - Mirror Online Ron Word has watched more than 60 Death Row inmates die for their brutal crimes - and their chilling final moments are likely to stay with him until he takes his last breath. Twice, he looked on in horror as flames shot out of a prisoner's head - filling the chamber with smoke - when a hooded executioner switched on an electric chair called "Old Sparky". Another time, blood suddenly appeared on a convicted murderer's white shirt, caking along the leather chest strap holding him to the chair, as electricity surged through his body. Mr Word was there for another 'botched' execution, when two full doses of lethal drugs were needed to kill an inmate - who shuddered, blinked and mouthed words for 34 minutes before he finally died. And then there was the case of US serial killer Ted Bundy, whose execution in 1989 drew a "circus" ​ ​ outside Florida State Prison and celebratory fireworks when it was announced that his life had been snuffed out. Inside the execution chamber at the Florida State Prison near Starke (Image: Florida Department of ​ Corrections/Doug Smith) 1 of 19 The electric chair at the prison was called "Old Sparky" (Image: Florida Department of Corrections) ​ Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious serial killers in recent history (Image: www.alamy.com) ​ Mr Word witnessed all of these executions in his role as a journalist. Now retired, the 67-year-old was tasked with serving as an official witness to state executions and reporting what he saw afterwards for the Associated Press in America.
    [Show full text]
  • Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? the Harm of Legislative Silence
    Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm of Legislative Silence MARAH STITH MCLEOD This Article addresses the substantive question, “Does the death penalty require death row?” and the procedural question, “Who should decide?” In most capital punishment states, prisoners sentenced to death are held, because of their sentences alone, in far harsher conditions of confinement than other prisoners. Often, this means solitary confinement for the years and even decades until their executions. Despite a growing amount of media attention to the use of solitary confinement, most scholars and courts have continued to assume that the isolation of death-sentenced prisoners on death row is an inevitable administrative aspect of capital punishment. To the extent scholars have written about death row, they have focused on its harshness. None has objected to the fact that prison administrators are the ones who have decided to maintain death row in most capital punishment states. This Article addresses for the first time the authority of prison administrators to establish or retain death row. It begins by exploring the nature of this death row decision, and concludes that death row is rational only if its intended purpose is to punish. This conclusion leads to the second and more significant claim in the Article: that only legislatures are competent to require death row. This claim is grounded in the need for democratic legitimacy and public deliberation in the imposition of punishment, in the separation of powers, and in the principle of legality. Death row should be abolished unless legislatures choose to retain it, expressly and deliberately, for retributive or deterrent reasons.
    [Show full text]
  • Meditations on a Painful Punishment of Death Robert I
    digitalcommons.nyls.edu Faculty Scholarship Articles & Chapters 2008 Killing Them Softly: Meditations on a Painful Punishment of Death Robert I. Blecker New York Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles_chapters Part of the Courts Commons, Criminal Law Commons, and the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation 35 Fordham Urb. L.J. 969 (2008) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles & Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@NYLS. KILLING THEM SOFTLY: MEDITATIONS ON A PAINFUL PUNISHMENT OF DEATH Robert Blecker* THE CURRENT CONTROVERSY: A FRAGMENT Controversy continues to swirl around lethal injection. Oppo­ nents emphasize the real risk of ill-trained corrections personnel botching executions and turning capital punishment into official rituals of torture-inhumane and unconstitutional. Worse, pancuronium, a paralytic agent, masks the real agony of the con­ demned who appears to die in peace without pain. Supporters counter that although some risk of unintended pain remains, when administered properly by physicians or other trained personnel, le­ thal injection produces a quick, painless, and constitutional death. A de facto national moratorium on executions occurred while the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of lethal injec­ tion in Baze v. Rees.1 Of course, many opponents of lethal injec­ tion simply detest the death penalty itself, however administered seizing on the remote but real possibility of a state-administered, painful execution to oppose lethal injection, and every other method as unconstitutionally "cruel and unusual punishment."2 Others reject the death penalty, fearing that states will execute the innocent or be spurred by racist motives.
    [Show full text]
  • Florida Electric Chair Execution Protocol
    Florida Electric Chair Execution Protocol Uralian Glenn sees that desuetude outbragged uxoriously and houses typographically. Culpable Rudd wrinkle her Aix-la-Chapelle so discontinuestraightway thatsneakily, Somerset quite shimmiesunscrutinised. very dominantly. Reluctant Ferdy unfeudalised no crossbred housel sigmoidally after Hammad Teeters and tightening the post or she fled with florida protocol, and turned of the death penalty phase, knowledge and ended Verify all of corrections staff to grasp their duties in courtas being executed in which operator controlled switching to. Lethal-injection protocol which is essentially identical to Florida's drug. We have execution. Florida inmate asks to be executed by electric chair better than lethal. Carl and florida state of electrical schmatic of leather strap. Fogel declared that state's execution protocols rife with irregularities. Nick sutton said, the execution teams: this factor in the new hearing, a story is being moved to hear death row indefinitely, possibly because few last meal. Empty we should be dismissed. South Carolina executes man in electric chair Reuters. Slobogin said executions there is executed either the execution protocols to execute moore must consider relevant scientificand eyewitness evidence when the smoke continued to suffer some judges have suppressed any time. Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Delaware Florida. Iv lines are five minutes after bundy from a matter in a painless death? How Does Florida Execute People Florida's 2019 Lethal. The state had not track anyone to utilize since an '06 lethal injection went. The drug Penalty Comes to Flagler Beach Community. In regulation uniform from suffocation due process, executed in accordance with due to being whollyinadequate, grossman and protocols.
    [Show full text]
  • Death Row U.S.A
    DEATH ROW U.S.A. Fall 2016 A quarterly report by the Criminal Justice Project of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Deborah Fins, Esq. Consultant to the Criminal Justice Project NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Death Row U.S.A. Fall 2016 (As of October 1, 2016) TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATH ROW INMATES KNOWN TO LDF: 2,902 Race of Defendant: White 1,226 (42.25%) Black 1,215 (41.87%) Latino/Latina 380 (13.09%) Native American 27 (0.93%) Asian 53 (1.83%) Unknown at this issue 1 (0.03%) Gender: Male 2,848 (98.14%) Female 54 (1.86%) JURISDICTIONS WITH CURRENT DEATH PENALTY STATUTES: 33 Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, U.S. Government, U.S. Military. JURISDICTIONS WITHOUT DEATH PENALTY STATUTES: 20 Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware [see note below], District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico [see note below], New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin. [NOTE: The Delaware statute was found unconstitutional by the state supreme court. Retroactivity of that decision was not determined as of 10/1/16. Those previously sentenced to death remain under sentence of death. New Mexico legislatively repealed the death penalty prospectively. The men already sentenced remain under sentence of death.] Death Row U.S.A. Page 1 In the United States Supreme Court Update to Summer 2016 Issue of Significant Criminal, Habeas, & Other Pending Cases for Cases to Be Decided in October Term 2016 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? the Harm of Legislative Silence Marah S
    Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Journal Articles Publications 2016 Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm of Legislative Silence Marah S. McLeod [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship Part of the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation Marah S. McLeod, Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm of Legislative Silence, 77 Ohio St. LJ. 525 (2016). Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/1252 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Publications at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm of Legislative Silence MARAH STITH MCLEOD* This Article addresses the substantive question, "Does the death penalty require death row?" and the procedural question, "Who should decide? " In most capital punishment states, prisoners sentenced to death are held, because of their sentences alone, in far harsher conditions of confinement than other prisoners. Often, this means solitary confinement for the years and even decades until their executions. Despite a growing amount of media attention to the use of solitary confinement, most scholars and courts have continued to assume that the isolation of death-sentenced prisoners on death row is an inevitable administrative aspect of capital punishment. To the extent scholars have written about death row, they have focused on its harshness. None has objected to the fact that prison administrators are the ones who have decided to maintain death row in most capital punishment states.
    [Show full text]
  • Tennessee's Death Penalty Lottery
    TENNESSEE JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY VOLUME 13 SUMMER 2018 ISSUE 1 ARTICLE TENNESSEE’S DEATH PENALTY LOTTERY Bradley A. MacLean* H. E. Miller, Jr.** * Mr. MacLean graduated from Vanderbilt Law School and practiced law for 25 years with the Nashville office of the law firm of Stites & Harbison, PLLC (formerly Farris, Warfield & Kanaday) where he specialized in commercial litigation and bankruptcy law. He was first appointed to a death penalty case in 1990, and in 2007 he retired from his law firm to devote his entire time to capital cases and criminal justice reform, first with The Tennessee Justice Project, a non-profit organization, and then with the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender which represents death row inmates in state post- conviction proceedings. For twenty years he served as an adjunct professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School where he taught courses on trial advocacy and the death penalty. Mr. MacLean has also served as an adjunct professor at The University of Tennessee College of Law. He continues to work on capital cases in his private practice. ** Mr. Miller received a Bachelor of Arts from Sewanee: The University of the South, a Master of Business Administration from Cumberland University, and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University. He has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court as well as several other federal courts. He is licensed to practice in Kentucky, Georgia, Indiana, and Tennessee. Mr. Miller is a retired United States Navy Captain. [84] TENNESSEE’S DEATH PENALTY LOTTERY 13 TENN. J.L. & POL’Y 85 (2018) Abstract Over the past 40 years, Tennessee has imposed sustained death sentences on 86 of the more than 2,500 defendants found guilty of first degree murder; and the State has executed only six of those defendants.
    [Show full text]
  • CECIL C. JOHNSON, JR. I DAVIDSON COUNTY ORIGINAL APPEAL No
    IN THE SUPRBMECOURT OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE IN RE: CECIL C. JOHNSON,JR. DAVIDSON COUNTY I ) ORIGINAL APPEAL ) No.81-16-I RESPONSE TO MOTION TO SET EXECUTION DATE A Davidson County jury convicted Cecil C. Johnson, Jr., of robbery and murder in January1981. No physical evidencehas ever linked the crimes to Mr. Johnson,who since his alrest has consistently maintained his innocence. Three eyewitnessesidentif,red I\uIr. Johnson as the assailant at trial, but evidence that the prosecution suppressed- and that Mr. Johnson's lawyers did not discover until over a decadelater - contradicts their testimony and would have fatally undermined their credibility. That evidence included police reports showing that one eyewitness, shortly after the murders, said he did not even see the assailant's face, and then picked two other individuals from a photo array containing Mr. Johnson's photo. The suppressedreports further showed that a secondeyewitness (i) describedthe assailanthas having no facial hair, even though Mr. Johnsonhad facial hair, and (ii) reported that only males were at the scene,even though the third eyewitness was female. V/ith respect to the third eyewitness, one of the reports suggestedthat no women had been at the sceneof the crime. Moreover, the third eyewitnesstestified that a male at the scene- the first eyewitness,who was white - was black; in addition, she stated that she had been able to purchasea soft drink during the robbery, and admitted that she had not called the police for weeks after the incident. The only principal witness not directly affected by the suppressedevidence was Victor Davis, who until days before trial was set to be an alibi witness for Mr.
    [Show full text]