Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 17, 2006 23:09:39 GMT -5
Death Penalty Appeal
A death row inmate is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday but an appeal
before the federal courts could stay that execution again.
Clarence Hill is trying to fight his death sentence. He says Florida's
execution method of lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
Some studies show the anesthesia used in the lethal injection does not
protect from excruciating pain.
Last June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lower courts had to consider
Hill's case as a civil rights violation.
Hill is accused of killing a Pensacola police officer during a bank
robbery in 1982.
The Florida death penalty system needs a major overhaul, according to a
new report by the American Bar Association.
The report identified 11 problem areas in the state's death penalty
system.
Some of those problems include: the number of death row inmates who have
been exonerated. There have been 22 since 1973.
That's more than any other state in the country.
The report also found a significant amount of death sentences have been
imposed on people with severe mental disabilities.
Capital jurors are routinely confused about the role they play when
deciding whether a convict should get the death penalty.
Lack of transparency in the clemency system and in charging practices.
In addition, statistics show a suspect in Florida is more likely to get
the death penalty for killing a white victim, than for killing a minority.
(source: Central Florida News)
A death row inmate is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday but an appeal
before the federal courts could stay that execution again.
Clarence Hill is trying to fight his death sentence. He says Florida's
execution method of lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
Some studies show the anesthesia used in the lethal injection does not
protect from excruciating pain.
Last June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lower courts had to consider
Hill's case as a civil rights violation.
Hill is accused of killing a Pensacola police officer during a bank
robbery in 1982.
The Florida death penalty system needs a major overhaul, according to a
new report by the American Bar Association.
The report identified 11 problem areas in the state's death penalty
system.
Some of those problems include: the number of death row inmates who have
been exonerated. There have been 22 since 1973.
That's more than any other state in the country.
The report also found a significant amount of death sentences have been
imposed on people with severe mental disabilities.
Capital jurors are routinely confused about the role they play when
deciding whether a convict should get the death penalty.
Lack of transparency in the clemency system and in charging practices.
In addition, statistics show a suspect in Florida is more likely to get
the death penalty for killing a white victim, than for killing a minority.
(source: Central Florida News)