BULLETIN BOARD WEEK 6
| I came across a great article tonight about the capital appeal process in Alabama, written by Attorney General Bill Pryor in 1998. I wasn't aware "Alabama has the slowest death penalty in the nation." A defendant sentenced to death in Alabama receives an automatic direct appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA). Each of the five judges reviews the entire record of the trial, and the Court almost always hears oral arguments in a death penalty case. "CASES HAVE SPENT AS LONG AS SIX YEARS AT THIS LEVEL." (!!!!) If the defendant loses the appeal, they are granted automatic appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court. If the defendant loses at this level, they may petition the U.S. Supreme Court. If the U.S. Supreme Court denies the petition, the defendant's "direct" appeals are over. Which means the defendant can begin the "collateral appeal"--which follows the same route all over again(CCA, AL Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court). "The United States Supreme Court once stayed a Texas execution because the inmate had been on death row for more than SIXTEEN years. The Court became concerned that sitting on death row for such a long period of time constituted cruel and unusual punishment. In Alabama, the AVERAGE death row inmate spends THIRTEEN TO FIFTEEN years awaiting execution after he or she has been sentenced." There are other legal concerns with the delays--all of which favor the convicted, including evidence being lost, memories fading, and witnesses becoming unavailable in the event the case is remanded by to Circuit Court for retrial. The direct financial cost to the State of Alabama is staggering. There are profound social concerns, as well, including reducing the deterrence factor in the death penalty, and the detrimental effects on the victims. |
| "Somewhere along the way the system has lost track of the simple truth that it is supposed to be fair and protect those who obey the law while punishing those who break it. Somewhere along the way, the system began to serve lawyers, judges and defendants, treating the victim with institutionalized disinterest." -Lois Haight Harrington President's Task Force on Victims of Crime December, 1982 |
| Thanks to VOCAL and others who have had to remind everyone that manslaughter and assault are serious violent crimes...while Jesse Jackson provides the press side-show demanding voting rights for convicted violent felons. |
| And thanks to those in the system who fight for victims, including Attorney General Bill Pryor. Bill Pryor went out of his way to talk with me privately, personally. He wanted to know how the children were. |
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| I'm happy to report the website has just gone over 40,000 total page hits! (Thanks for looking) And, the website has been listed with three new search engines: MSN, EXCITE, and WEBCRAWLER. That's in addition to GOOGLE, YAHOO, and AOL. |