Listen to my commentary JFK: What could have been. The commentary was broadcast on WYSU a National Public Radio affiliate on November 22, 2013.
Click Here to listen to the commentary.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Texas executes man for death of corrections officer
The 36th Execution of 2013
Texas executed Jerry Martin on December 3, 2013 for the death of a corrections officer during a short-lived escape from prison six years ago, reported the Houston Chronicle.
Martin was a volunteer, he had requested that no additional appeals be filed on his behalf, clearing the way for his lethal injection.
From the death chamber gurney, Martin told relatives of the slain corrections officer that he was sorry. "I wish I could take it back, but I can't," he said.
"I hope this gives you closure. I did not murder your loved one. It was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it happened. I take full responsibility."
Martin was serving a 50-year sentence for attempted capital murder when he and another inmate, broke away from a work detail outside a Huntsville-area prison on Sept. 24, 2007. In the ensuing chaos and gunfire, a 59-year-old prison officer on horseback, Susan Canfield, suffered fatal head injuries. Martin and Falk sped away in a stolen pickup truck but were quickly captured.
Canfield's husband and daughter were among the people watching Tuesday through a window in the death chamber.
Martin told his own friends and a brother, watching through another window, that he loved them. "You know I'm at peace. God is the ultimate judge. He knows what happened."
He took a deep breath, then snored as the drug took effect. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later at 6:27 p.m.
More than 200 corrections officers stood outside the prison in formation as the execution was taking place. Next to them was a riderless horse. A large photo of Canfield was displayed at the steps leading to the prison front door.
"This is a great day and justice has been done," Canfield's husband, Charles, a retired Houston police officer, said after watching Martin die. "I heard what he said. I accept what he said. Do I give it any credibility? No, sir, I don't.
"The fact is he was escaping. ... I don't care if you intend it or not. You committed the act and, in this state, thank God we live in one where capital murder exists and where that punishment exists."
Texas executed Jerry Martin on December 3, 2013 for the death of a corrections officer during a short-lived escape from prison six years ago, reported the Houston Chronicle.
Martin was a volunteer, he had requested that no additional appeals be filed on his behalf, clearing the way for his lethal injection.
From the death chamber gurney, Martin told relatives of the slain corrections officer that he was sorry. "I wish I could take it back, but I can't," he said.
"I hope this gives you closure. I did not murder your loved one. It was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it happened. I take full responsibility."
Martin was serving a 50-year sentence for attempted capital murder when he and another inmate, broke away from a work detail outside a Huntsville-area prison on Sept. 24, 2007. In the ensuing chaos and gunfire, a 59-year-old prison officer on horseback, Susan Canfield, suffered fatal head injuries. Martin and Falk sped away in a stolen pickup truck but were quickly captured.
Canfield's husband and daughter were among the people watching Tuesday through a window in the death chamber.
Martin told his own friends and a brother, watching through another window, that he loved them. "You know I'm at peace. God is the ultimate judge. He knows what happened."
He took a deep breath, then snored as the drug took effect. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later at 6:27 p.m.
More than 200 corrections officers stood outside the prison in formation as the execution was taking place. Next to them was a riderless horse. A large photo of Canfield was displayed at the steps leading to the prison front door.
"This is a great day and justice has been done," Canfield's husband, Charles, a retired Houston police officer, said after watching Martin die. "I heard what he said. I accept what he said. Do I give it any credibility? No, sir, I don't.
"The fact is he was escaping. ... I don't care if you intend it or not. You committed the act and, in this state, thank God we live in one where capital murder exists and where that punishment exists."
To read more Click Here
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
House passes Undetectable Firearms Act without 3-D provision
The House of Representatives renewed the Undetectable Firearms Act without any provision for 3-D guns. The Act's renewal faced little opposition, it was only debated for 10 minutes and passed on a voice vote, reported the Huffington Post.
It's the only gun-related measure to get a House vote since Democrats launched a major push for action on gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting late last year.
Tuesday's vote doesn't implement new gun laws -- it just extends a current one banning guns that don't contain enough metal to trigger X-ray machines or metal detectors. The law was originally signed by President Ronald Reagan and was renewed by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, passing Congress with broad bipartisan support each time. It is currently scheduled to expire on Dec. 9.
While the House didn't make any changes to the law, Senate Democrats are poised to try to expand it. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will put forward a bill on Monday, the same day the law is set to expire, containing a provision targeting plastic guns made with 3-D printing technology. Specifically, his bill would require that guns contain a piece of metal that is intrinsic to its operation, such as in the barrel or the trigger handle, rather than an extraneous piece that could be removed before a gun is put through a metal detector.
To read more Click Here
It's the only gun-related measure to get a House vote since Democrats launched a major push for action on gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting late last year.
Tuesday's vote doesn't implement new gun laws -- it just extends a current one banning guns that don't contain enough metal to trigger X-ray machines or metal detectors. The law was originally signed by President Ronald Reagan and was renewed by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, passing Congress with broad bipartisan support each time. It is currently scheduled to expire on Dec. 9.
While the House didn't make any changes to the law, Senate Democrats are poised to try to expand it. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will put forward a bill on Monday, the same day the law is set to expire, containing a provision targeting plastic guns made with 3-D printing technology. Specifically, his bill would require that guns contain a piece of metal that is intrinsic to its operation, such as in the barrel or the trigger handle, rather than an extraneous piece that could be removed before a gun is put through a metal detector.
To read more Click Here
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Florida's new lethal injection drug approved
A drug that Florida recently started using in executions does not subject inmates to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment, a Florida judge ruled, according to Reuters.
The challenge to the use of midazolam hydrochloride, the first of three drugs used in Florida executions, now goes back to the state Supreme Court. In a sharply divided 5-2 ruling last week, the high court directed Judge Phyllis Rosier of Florida's Eighth Judicial Circuit to hold an evidentiary hearing on the effectiveness of the drug.
An attorney for Askari Abdullah Muhammad, previously known as Thomas Knight, won a stay of execution through at least December 27 with the medical challenge. He had been scheduled to die last month.
"No credible evidence has been presented to this court that shows midazolam as an anesthetic in the amount prescribed by Florida's protocol is ‘sure or very likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering,' or give rise to ‘sufficiently imminent dangers,'" Rosier wrote, citing a standard set by U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
Rosier said Dr. Mark Heath, a New York anesthesiologist testifying for Muhammad last week, had said midazolam would produce a deep state of unconsciousness at 10 or 15 milligrams. The execution method uses 500 milligrams.
News reports said William Happ, the first man executed with the new drug mix, showed some signs of movement and that it took longer for him to die. Heath "speculated that it could mean that Happ was not fully anesthetized when the second phase of the protocol was administered," Rosier wrote in her order.
But Dr. Lee Evans, testifying for the state, said Happ's movement did not prove that he felt anything. Rosier said Evans testified that midazolam "is faster acting than pentobarbital in inducing unconsciousness."
Pentobarbital was the drug previously used to put condemned prisoners to sleep. Its manufacturer has refused to supply it to states using it in executions so Florida switched to midazolam - executing two men with it so far. No other state has used the drug yet.
To read more Click Here
The challenge to the use of midazolam hydrochloride, the first of three drugs used in Florida executions, now goes back to the state Supreme Court. In a sharply divided 5-2 ruling last week, the high court directed Judge Phyllis Rosier of Florida's Eighth Judicial Circuit to hold an evidentiary hearing on the effectiveness of the drug.
An attorney for Askari Abdullah Muhammad, previously known as Thomas Knight, won a stay of execution through at least December 27 with the medical challenge. He had been scheduled to die last month.
"No credible evidence has been presented to this court that shows midazolam as an anesthetic in the amount prescribed by Florida's protocol is ‘sure or very likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering,' or give rise to ‘sufficiently imminent dangers,'" Rosier wrote, citing a standard set by U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
Rosier said Dr. Mark Heath, a New York anesthesiologist testifying for Muhammad last week, had said midazolam would produce a deep state of unconsciousness at 10 or 15 milligrams. The execution method uses 500 milligrams.
News reports said William Happ, the first man executed with the new drug mix, showed some signs of movement and that it took longer for him to die. Heath "speculated that it could mean that Happ was not fully anesthetized when the second phase of the protocol was administered," Rosier wrote in her order.
But Dr. Lee Evans, testifying for the state, said Happ's movement did not prove that he felt anything. Rosier said Evans testified that midazolam "is faster acting than pentobarbital in inducing unconsciousness."
Pentobarbital was the drug previously used to put condemned prisoners to sleep. Its manufacturer has refused to supply it to states using it in executions so Florida switched to midazolam - executing two men with it so far. No other state has used the drug yet.
To read more Click Here
Monday, December 2, 2013
Nebraska prisoners sue state over prison crowding
Two Nebraska inmates are suing the state's new corrections director, alleging overcrowding at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution is resulting in the intentional infliction of emotional distress, reported the Lincoln Journal Star.
The two inmates allege the Department of Correctional Services Director Michael Kenney and more than three dozen others, including Gov. Dave Heineman, have breached their duty by allowing such conditions to exist and failing to take steps to alleviate them.
The men want $20 million each for what they call intentional infliction of emotional distress and another $60 million each for punitive damages.
The civil lawsuit say that because of overcrowding they get a fifth of the 50 square feet of living space listed in guidelines by the American Correctional Association, the prison's ventilation system in grossly inadequate to prevent mold and other contaminants, and it often takes several minutes for staff to respond to medical emergencies.
"If a prisoner is having a heart attack or is being attacked by his cellmate, the response time would cost him his life," they wrote, reported the Journal Star.
Nebraska’s nine prisons have room for 3,175 inmates and hold 4,782 -- about 151 percent of capacity. That's projected to hit 188 percent by 2020 unless changes are made. Reaching 140 percent of capacity triggers a report to the governor, who can declare an emergency; Heineman has not done so. That level also can be a benchmark federal judges use to order construction of new cells.
To read more Click Here
The two inmates allege the Department of Correctional Services Director Michael Kenney and more than three dozen others, including Gov. Dave Heineman, have breached their duty by allowing such conditions to exist and failing to take steps to alleviate them.
The men want $20 million each for what they call intentional infliction of emotional distress and another $60 million each for punitive damages.
The civil lawsuit say that because of overcrowding they get a fifth of the 50 square feet of living space listed in guidelines by the American Correctional Association, the prison's ventilation system in grossly inadequate to prevent mold and other contaminants, and it often takes several minutes for staff to respond to medical emergencies.
"If a prisoner is having a heart attack or is being attacked by his cellmate, the response time would cost him his life," they wrote, reported the Journal Star.
Nebraska’s nine prisons have room for 3,175 inmates and hold 4,782 -- about 151 percent of capacity. That's projected to hit 188 percent by 2020 unless changes are made. Reaching 140 percent of capacity triggers a report to the governor, who can declare an emergency; Heineman has not done so. That level also can be a benchmark federal judges use to order construction of new cells.
To read more Click Here
Sunday, December 1, 2013
The Vindicator: Is Ohio following wrong path?
Matthew T. Mangino
The Youngstown Vindicator
December 1, 2013
The Ohio House of Representatives voted recently to adopt a variation of the “stand your ground” legislation enacted by nearly half the states around the country.
Under current Ohio law, residents have a duty to retreat before using deadly force. Ohio House Bill 203 would eliminate the duty to retreat. The law would, under certain circumstances, permit the use of deadly force in self-defense.
The measure passed the House by a vote of 62-27. It now goes to the Senate. The bill is not without controversy. The Ohio House vote was interrupted by protests as opponents attempted to shout down legislators debating the bill on the house floor.
The legislation has been mockingly referred to as the “George Zimmerman bill,” named for the Florida man — recently arrested again — whose killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin fueled a national debate on stand your ground and self- defense.
Opponents
There are notable opponents to the deadly self-defense laws. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. has taken a strong stance against stand your ground laws.
“There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if — and the ‘if’ is important — no safe retreat is available,” Holder said. “It’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods.”
Since Florida enacted the first stand-your-ground law in 2005, at least 22 other states have enacted some variation of the expansive self-defense law. The issue is unsettled even in states that have adopted the law.
In March, months before the Zimmerman trial, the New Hampshire House passed a bill to repeal the state’s stand your ground law enacted in 2011. The effort later failed in the state senate, according to the Concord Monitor.
Last summer, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called for a review of his state’s stand your ground law.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bill in North Carolina that would have amended aspects of the law regarding use of force against an intruder never made it out of committee. There were about a dozen bills before state legislatures in 2012, several of which would have amended circumstances allowing for use of force by citizens. None of those proposals advanced.
In Pennsylvania, the chances of repealing the expanded castle doctrine are next to none. In 2011, 45 out of 50 state senators voted in favor of the law. There is little stomach among Pennsylvania lawmakers for quarrelling with gun supporters.
An attempt to repeal Florida’s stand your ground law was defeated by an 11-2 vote in committee earlier last month, but the law remains hotly contested in Florida’s courtrooms and passionately debated on Florida’s streets.
There is growing concern that stand your ground laws may be doing more harm than good. There are a number of studies indicating that stand your ground is actually increasing homicides.
A Texas A&M University study found “that homicides go up by 7 to 9 percent in states that pass the laws, relative to states that didn’t pass the laws over the same time period,” according to A&M economist Mark Hoekstra.
A deterrence?
As to whether the laws reduce crime — by creating a deterrent for criminals — he says, “we find no evidence of any deterrence effect over that same time period.”
A study sponsored by Mayors Against Illegal Guns found “that justifiable homicides increased by 53 percent in states with stand your ground laws, while decreasing by 5 percent in states without these laws.”
Regardless of the research, the political climate is clear. Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Christian Science Monitor, “For better or worse, stand your ground laws are here to stay.”
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George and the former district attorney for Lawrence County, Pa. You can read his blog at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on twitter @MatthewTMangino.
Visit The Vindicator
The Youngstown Vindicator
December 1, 2013
The Ohio House of Representatives voted recently to adopt a variation of the “stand your ground” legislation enacted by nearly half the states around the country.
Under current Ohio law, residents have a duty to retreat before using deadly force. Ohio House Bill 203 would eliminate the duty to retreat. The law would, under certain circumstances, permit the use of deadly force in self-defense.
The measure passed the House by a vote of 62-27. It now goes to the Senate. The bill is not without controversy. The Ohio House vote was interrupted by protests as opponents attempted to shout down legislators debating the bill on the house floor.
The legislation has been mockingly referred to as the “George Zimmerman bill,” named for the Florida man — recently arrested again — whose killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin fueled a national debate on stand your ground and self- defense.
Opponents
There are notable opponents to the deadly self-defense laws. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. has taken a strong stance against stand your ground laws.
“There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if — and the ‘if’ is important — no safe retreat is available,” Holder said. “It’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods.”
Since Florida enacted the first stand-your-ground law in 2005, at least 22 other states have enacted some variation of the expansive self-defense law. The issue is unsettled even in states that have adopted the law.
In March, months before the Zimmerman trial, the New Hampshire House passed a bill to repeal the state’s stand your ground law enacted in 2011. The effort later failed in the state senate, according to the Concord Monitor.
Last summer, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called for a review of his state’s stand your ground law.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bill in North Carolina that would have amended aspects of the law regarding use of force against an intruder never made it out of committee. There were about a dozen bills before state legislatures in 2012, several of which would have amended circumstances allowing for use of force by citizens. None of those proposals advanced.
In Pennsylvania, the chances of repealing the expanded castle doctrine are next to none. In 2011, 45 out of 50 state senators voted in favor of the law. There is little stomach among Pennsylvania lawmakers for quarrelling with gun supporters.
An attempt to repeal Florida’s stand your ground law was defeated by an 11-2 vote in committee earlier last month, but the law remains hotly contested in Florida’s courtrooms and passionately debated on Florida’s streets.
There is growing concern that stand your ground laws may be doing more harm than good. There are a number of studies indicating that stand your ground is actually increasing homicides.
A Texas A&M University study found “that homicides go up by 7 to 9 percent in states that pass the laws, relative to states that didn’t pass the laws over the same time period,” according to A&M economist Mark Hoekstra.
A deterrence?
As to whether the laws reduce crime — by creating a deterrent for criminals — he says, “we find no evidence of any deterrence effect over that same time period.”
A study sponsored by Mayors Against Illegal Guns found “that justifiable homicides increased by 53 percent in states with stand your ground laws, while decreasing by 5 percent in states without these laws.”
Regardless of the research, the political climate is clear. Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Christian Science Monitor, “For better or worse, stand your ground laws are here to stay.”
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George and the former district attorney for Lawrence County, Pa. You can read his blog at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on twitter @MatthewTMangino.
Visit The Vindicator
Texas passes Michael Morton Act-Protect the innocent from wrongful conviction
Texas district and county attorneys are preparing to implement a new law that aims to prevent wrongful convictions by requiring prosecutors to open their files to defense lawyers, reported the Texas Tribune.
The Michael Morton Act, which lawmakers approved this year in the wake of the namesake’s case, requires prosecutors to disclose evidence in their files to defense lawyers in criminal cases. Morton was sentenced to life in prison for his wife’s murder. After he spent nearly a quarter-century in prison, DNA evidence revealed that he was innocent, and an investigation of the case revealed that the prosecutor had not disclosed evidence that could have prevented Morton’s wrongful conviction.
Williamson County District Attorney and state district Judge Ken Anderson went to jail and lost his law license because of his role in Michael Morton's wrongful conviction, read my GateHouse column on Anderson.
Morton, who was freed in 2011, was a fixture at the Capitol this year, lobbying for bills like the Morton Act that increase accountability for prosecutors. Under the act, prosecutors are required to give defense lawyers evidence in their files and to document the release of that information.
In many large counties across the state, prosecutors have long had open-file policies, so the transition to the new law is less challenging. But in smaller counties where sharing such large volumes of information is not routine, establishing the basic nuts and bolts of transferring reams of data while not exposing private information is a big task to tackle.
To read more Click Here
The Michael Morton Act, which lawmakers approved this year in the wake of the namesake’s case, requires prosecutors to disclose evidence in their files to defense lawyers in criminal cases. Morton was sentenced to life in prison for his wife’s murder. After he spent nearly a quarter-century in prison, DNA evidence revealed that he was innocent, and an investigation of the case revealed that the prosecutor had not disclosed evidence that could have prevented Morton’s wrongful conviction.
Williamson County District Attorney and state district Judge Ken Anderson went to jail and lost his law license because of his role in Michael Morton's wrongful conviction, read my GateHouse column on Anderson.
Morton, who was freed in 2011, was a fixture at the Capitol this year, lobbying for bills like the Morton Act that increase accountability for prosecutors. Under the act, prosecutors are required to give defense lawyers evidence in their files and to document the release of that information.
In many large counties across the state, prosecutors have long had open-file policies, so the transition to the new law is less challenging. But in smaller counties where sharing such large volumes of information is not routine, establishing the basic nuts and bolts of transferring reams of data while not exposing private information is a big task to tackle.
To read more Click Here
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