Results matching “first”

Several weeks ago, the so-called Smarter Sentencing Act was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 13-5 vote, with all ten Democrats and three Republicans (Lee, Cruz and Flake) voting in favor.  The opposition was led by Ranking Member Chuck Grassley.  I have previously analyzed the law and the politics of the SSA.  If enacted, it would be the most significant generally applicable piece of federal sentencing legislation since the SRA 30 years ago.

Mississippi Execution Delayed: A Mississippi woman sentenced to death for the murder of her husband was scheduled to be executed Thursday evening, but was granted a temporary reprieve while the state Supreme Court reviews her post-conviction motion.  Marlena Baldacci of CNN reports that after the delay, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a motion with the state's high court to schedule another execution date for 57-year-old Michelle Byrom, but that motion was ultimately denied.  If the execution is carried out, Byrom would become the first female prisoner executed in the state in 70 years.

Repeat Felon Arrested in Navy Ship Murder: The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has identified 35-year-old Jeffrey Savage as the person responsible for killing a Navy sailor on board the USS Mahan earlier this week.  WAVY News reports that Savage has a violent criminal past and was sentenced to almost four years in prison for a manslaughter conviction in 2008, but was released after serving only a year and a half behind bars.  Officials say Savage attempted to board the USS Mahan Monday evening and was confronted by a sailor on the ship, a struggle ensued and Savage killed Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Mayo.  Authorities are still unsure why Savage, a civilian truck driver, was trying to board the Navy ship.

Newlywed Sentenced for Murdering Husband: A Montana woman who pushed her husband off of a cliff just eight days after their wedding day will have to spend the next thirty years of her life behind bars.  Sasha Goldstein of the New York Daily News reports that 22-year-old Jordan Graham pled guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to pushing her husband off a 200 foot cliff during an argument at Glacier National Park last summer.  Graham, who was convicted in federal court, will have to serve her entire 30 year sentence without the possibility of parole.

The Delaware State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Delaware State Troopers Association, the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware and the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council have this letter in the Middletown Transcript:

All law enforcement groups in the State of Delaware have joined together to oppose Senate Bill 19, an initiative to strike from the Delaware Statutes what is commonly referred to as the "Death Penalty."

Never before in the history of the state has the law enforcement community come together to present one united voice. Representing over 5,000 individual members, this coalition includes the State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Delaware State Troopers Association, the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware and the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council.

On March 26, 2013, this initiative passed the Senate by a bare majority and now awaits action in the State House of Representatives. We view this action, and potential for action, as a direct threat to the welfare and safety of those that we represent and to the community at large that we have sworn to serve and protect.

MO Executes Convicted Killer: A Missouri man sentenced to death for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 17-year-old girl more than 25 years ago was executed early Wednesday morning, making it the state's fifth execution in five months.  The Associated Press reports Jeffrey Ferguson abducted the teen from her workplace, raped, and strangled her before dumping her body in a field, where she was found 13 days later.  An acquaintance of Ferguson was also convicted of first-degree murder for the crime, and is serving a life sentence. 

Bin Laden's Son-in-Law Convicted in Terror Trial: Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, was convicted in federal District Court today of conspiring to kill Americans and providing support to terrorists.  Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times reports that the jury reached their verdict after two days of deliberation, finding 48-year-old Abu Ghaith guilty on all charges.  He is scheduled to be sentenced September 8, and faces a possible life sentence.

CA Bill to End Backlog of Rape Kit Testing: A bill to reduce the overwhelming backlog of untested rape kits in California has passed out of its first hearing in the State Assembly.  Jeffrey Schaub of CBS San Francisco reports that AB1517 would require law enforcement to submit rape kits for testing within five days of a sexual assault, and ensure that forensic laboratories submit the information collected from the kits to the national database CODIS within 30 days.  Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley testified on behalf of the bill Tuesday, informing the Assembly committee that only 21 percent of all rapes result in an arrest in California.

As noted previously on this blog, an initiative to fix California's death penalty is now circulating.  The initiative has been carefully drafted so that few solid arguments can be made against it from either a policy or a constitutional perspective.  The opposition will be from people who do not want the death penalty to work so that they can claim its "broken" status as a reason to repeal it.  That ulterior motive should be transparent to the voters, who overwhelmingly favor mending it over ending it.

So I've been curious to see what arguments the opponents would come up with.  We are now seeing them trickle out.  One bogus argument being floated is that the initiative would overwhelm California's intermediate appellate courts, the courts of appeal.

Jennifer Rubin has this column at the WaPo:

Erwin Chemerinsky, the liberal (are there any who aren't?) dean of University of California at Irvine's law school, recently wrote to tell Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg her days are numbered so she should get off the court before she dies. No, really, he did. He opines: "She turned 81 on Saturday and by all accounts she is healthy and physically and mentally able to continue. But only by resigning this summer can she ensure that a Democratic president will be able to choose a successor who shares her views and values." Regardless of what you think of Ginsburg (or of Chemerinsky), this is a rotten, obnoxious suggestion.

First, on a human level, it's disgraceful to tell an older person to stop doing what they are doing because they might keel over any day. If Chemerinsky's parents are living I'm sure he would be offended if someone told one of them to get out of the way before they croak on the job. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm got in a heap of trouble when he opined that rather than undertake life-prolonging measures the elderly have "a duty to die and get out of the way. . . . Let the other society, our kids, build a reasonable life." It is quite simply an affront to human dignity to predict the timing of another person's death and tell them to make room for others for the good of society.

Illinois Man Pleads Guilty to Murdering Niece: An Illinois man agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder for his role in the death of his 7-year-old niece.  Paul Donnelley of the Daily Mail reports that 22-year-old Justin DeRyke was babysitting the girl late last year when he claims that she pierced her neck after falling onto a pile of sticks, so in order to 'put her out of her misery', DeRyke slit the child's throat and stabbed her in the heart five times before wrapping her body in plastic bags and dumping her outside.  As part of the plea deal, other charges against DeRyke were dismissed, and he will be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.  

Convicted Rapist-Murderer Sentenced to Life: A Michigan man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of the rape and murder of Jennifer Phillips.  John S. Hausman of M Live reports that the man responsible, 36-year-old Christopher Wallace, was a repeat rapist with prior convictions for sexual assault.  Along with the life sentence, Wallace will serve a separate but concurrent sentence for a cold-case rape he was found guilty of committing in 2005.

LA House Backs Expansion of Death Penalty: A Louisiana House committee has voted in favor of advancing legislation that would expand the application of the death penalty.  Michelle Millhollon of The Advocate reports that House Bill 278 would make the killing of any prison employee a capital crime punishable by death.  Presently, Louisiana law considers the murders of firemen, peace officers, young children and the elderly as capital crimes.

  

Convicted Murderer Suspected of Killing Again: Authorities at a Northern California prison have named convicted killer Floyd Bailey as the prime suspect in the murder of his cellmate a few days ago.  The Associated Press reports that 50-year-old Ervin Savoy, who was serving a 25 years to life sentence, was found unresponsive with severe injuries in the cell he shared with Bailey Saturday morning, prompting the District Attorney's Office to launch a homicide investigation.  Bailey was convicted of first-degree murder in 1993 and was serving a life sentence. 

OK Struggling to Obtain Drugs for Upcoming Executions: Oklahoma's Attorney General has announced that the state has yet to come up with the drugs needed to carry out two upcoming executions, prompting the inmates' attorney to seek a delay.  The Associated Press reports that the state has approved the use of a firing squad or electrocution as alternative methods, but they are only to be used if lethal injection has been declared unconstitutional. The state is working on an alternative to one of the drugs used in the three-drug cocktail, and still plans to execute convicted murderer Clayton Lockett this Thursday.

Conn. Man Sentenced to Death for the Second Time: A Connecticut jury has sentenced Richard Roszkowski to death for the second time after a judge overturned his original sentence based on an error made during jury instructions at his first sentencing hearing.  The Associated Press reports that Connecticut abolished the death penalty for murders committed after April 24, 2012, but still allows it for murderers who killed their victims prior to the law's enactment.  Roszkowski was convicted in 2009 of capital murder for killing two adults and a nine-year-old girl in 2006.

Convicted Killer Sentenced to Death: A South Carolina man has been sentenced to death for his role in the kidnapping and murder of an 8-year-old girl in 2009.  The Daily Mail reports that 55-year-old Ricky Blackwell, who was recently divorced from the victim's mother, choked and shot the girl four times in front of her mother and his grandsons in what prosecutors say was an act of revenge.  Blackwell's execution date has been set for June 14, but will likely be delayed once his attorneys file an appeal.

CA High Court Upholds Death Sentence: California's Supreme Court unanimously upheld the conviction and death sentence of  a man found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a teenager nearly 20 years ago.  Met News reports that Joseph Montes was charged with first-degree murder after he and a group of friends kidnapped and carjacked a southern California teenager so that they could to get to a birthday party. They forced the boy to wait in the trunk while they attended the party and then proceeded to drive him to a remote location where he was shot and left to die.  Montes' co-defendants were also found guilty, and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.  

KS Man Sentenced to Two Life Terms: A Wichita, Kansas man has been sentenced to two life terms plus 228 years in prison after being found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder.  Hurst Laviana of the Wichita Eagle reports that 21-year-old Shawn Brown, along with his two brothers, shot and killed two men in separate drug-related crimes early last year, marking the city's first two homicides in 2013.  Brown's oldest brother was sentenced last month to life in prison for his role in the murders, the youngest brother is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Heroin.

As an example of how the country's reaction to murder descends further into cultural mush, one could hardly do better than this zinger from CBS News in Boston:

For the first time ever, this year psychologists will be stationed along the Boston Marathon route to talk with people who may feel emotionally overwhelmed.

Between now and race day, Dr. Chris Carter of Spaulding Rehab Hospital says it's likely we'll feel a range of emotions.

Carter believes people may be more reactive.

"They may be feeling a little more on edge. A little more tearful perhaps or a little more irritable and less patient," he said.

Murder Suspect On Probation When Homicide Occurred: A West Virginia man released from jail only a few weeks ago has been arrested as the prime suspect in the murder of a 72-year-old woman.  Edward Marshall of The Journal reports that 37-year-old William Jackson, who was released from custody and put on probation February 21, was arrested on Tuesday on one count of first-degree murder and six counts of fraud, after authorities say he stole the victim's bank card and made several fraudulent transactions.  If convicted of murder, Jackson faces a possible life sentence. 

Bill Would Put Habitual Property Criminals Behind Bars: A Hawaii lawmaker is seeking to crack down on the state's repeat burglars by requiring that offenders be put behind bars instead of being placed on probation. Tim Sakahara of Hawaii News Now reports that state Representative Chris Lee is proposing a bill that would eliminate probation as a sentencing option for anyone convicted of three or more burglaries within five years and require a judge to sentence the individual to serve up to five years behind bars.  A community meeting about the bill is scheduled to take place later this week.

Attorney General Pushes Sentence Reductions For Drug Dealers: In an effort to reduce the federal prison population, Attorney General Eric Holder is encouraging the U.S. Sentencing Commission to reduce sentences for non-violent drug offenses.  Evan Perez of CNN reports that Holder believes the change would make the federal justice system more effective and efficient, and if adopted, could reduce the federal prison population by more than 6,000 inmates in five years.  The plan would affect individuals convicted of so-called low level offenses while maintaining tough penalties for violent criminals.

Mom Charged With Attempted Murder: The South Carolina woman who drove her minivan into the Atlantic Ocean with her young children inside has been charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Erin McClam of NBC News reports that 32-year-old Ebony Wilkerson locked the doors of her vehicle, rolled up the windows and told her three children to close their eyes and go to sleep as she drove the family vehicle into the ocean earlier this week.  Witnesses ran into the surf and managed to pull the woman and children to safety.  Wilkerson, who is nearly seven months pregnant, has also been charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse. 

Teen Charged in Murder of 12-Year-Old Friend: A 15-year-old New Mexico boy accused of killing his 12-year-old friend last month has been indicted by a grand jury and charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.  The Associated Press reports that the boy will most likely be charged as an adult, but the presiding judge will have the option to sentence him as a youthful offender.  New Mexico law allows the state to charge minors as adults as long as they are at least 14 years old.

Rare Death Penalty Trial Set to Begin in Hawaii: A murder trial is scheduled to begin next week in Hawaii for a man accused of beating his daughter to death.  If convicted the murderer could be sentenced to death even though Hawaii abolished capital punishment more than 50 years ago.  Jennifer Sinco Kelleher of the Associated Press reports that because the murder occurred on a military base, the defendant, Naeem Williams could face a possible death sentence, which is available under federal law.  It is rare for the federal government to seek the death penalty in a state that doesn't allow it. Currently, only seven of the 59 federal inmates on death row come from states that had abolished the death penalty at the time of their sentencing.

Prisoner Stabs Fellow Inmate 87 Times: A Maine State Prison inmate has been charged with first-degree murder after authorities say he stabbed a fellow inmate 87 times.  David Harding of the New York Daily News reports that 35-year-old Richard Stahursky, who was originally incarcerated for burglary and theft, told prison officials that he stabbed the other man because he blamed him for this loss of his prison job.  While incarcerated, Stahursky has been convicted multiple times for trafficking.  In 2011 he was sentenced to eight additional years for assaulting a corrections officer.

Convicted Killer to be Released From Prison Early: The family of a murder victim is outraged after their mother's killer is set to be released from prison after spending less than half of her sentence behind bars.  Jennifer Jensen of ABC 10 reports that 69-year-old Delores Jackson is scheduled for release after serving 10 years of a 25-year sentence so she can be placed in a convalescent home and receive cancer treatment.  Jackson was convicted of murder in 2004 for killing an elderly woman who had been providing her financial assistance.  She stabbed the victim more than 50 times and then watched her die.  

Police Solve Decades-Old Homicide: Police in a Northern California town have closed a homicide case that had been left unsolved for more than thirty years. Ian McDonald of Fox 40 reports that the case involved a woman who was found brutally beaten and murdered in her Fairfield, CA home in August of 1983.  At the time police collected DNA and fingerprints from the crime scene, but did not get a match from the national database.  In 2012 the case was re-opened and the fingerprints matched 48-year-old Robert Hathaway, who was childhood friends with the victim's son.  After being questioned by investigators last month, Hathaway hanged himself in his home and left behind a short note explaining he "took the coward's way out."  

Wesley Lowery has this post at The Fix, the WaPo's political blog, on the nomination of Debo Adegbile to head the USDoJ Civil Rights Division.  It is titled, "Remember Mumia Abu-Jamal? He may derail Obama's pick for top civil rights post."

Under new Senate rules approved last November, Adegbile will need to secure a simple majority of senators -- 51 votes -- to clear a procedural hurdle before he is confirmed. But Adegbile's confirmation is at risk of falling short of the votes needed as Democrats face pressure from Republicans and several national law enforcement groups who oppose his nomination.

The first sign that the Adegbile nomination could be in real trouble came last week, when Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said he would not vote in favor of confirmation.

See earlier posts Jan. 9, Feb. 4, Feb. 6, Feb. 6 (again), Feb. 19, and Feb. 26.

CA Supreme Upholds Death Sentence: In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for a convicted murderer who was forced to wear a stun belt during his trial.  Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times reports that Jonathan Jackson was appealing his sentence based on the claim that the fear of being electrically shocked by the belt during trial negatively affected his demeanor in front of jurors, resulting in a guilty verdict.  The justices ultimately sided with the prosecution, noting that there was no evidence to suggest that jurors knew Mr. Jackson was wearing the stun belt under his clothing.

FL Considering Tougher Sexual Predator Bills: A package of bills that would crack down on sexual predators is before the Florida state senate on its first day in session.  Tonya Alanez and Dana Williams of the Sun-Sentinel report that the bills are designed to toughen sex-crime sentences, increase community monitoring after release, and keep more of the most dangerous predators incarcerated after their prison terms end.  Another bill would create a 50-year minimum sentence for anyone convicted of raping children, the developmentally disabled or the elderly.

Convicted Killer Denied Clemency: The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has rejected the clemency request of convicted murderer and death row inmate, Charles Frederick Warner.  The Associated Press reports that Warner was convicted of rape and first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's 11-month-old daughter in 1997.  He is scheduled to be executed March 27.

Today the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Hall v. Florida, regarding when a murderer is deemed mentally retarded so as to be exempt from execution regardless of how heinous, callous, premeditated, or sadistic his actual crime really was.

In the course of this discussion, there was much talk about the 95% confidence interval in statistics.  Contrary to myth, this 95% number is nothing but a conventionally adopted rule of thumb.  There is nothing magic about it, and there is no compelling reason to use 95% in every circumstance, rather than some other number tailored to the needs of a particular situation.

The rule of thumb goes back to the period between the two world wars and the work of R. A. Fisher.  A common problem in studies is that we find that two things, call them A and B, tend to go together, and we want to get a handle on whether this is coincidence or a true correlation.  The rule of thumb is that we "reject the null hypothesis" and say it's not just a coincidence if the correlation between A and B is strong enough that the chance of it being a coincidence is less than 5%.  This is expressed in journals as p < .05.  A result meeting that criterion is pronounced "statistically significant" and given the coveted asterisk, as if there were a big difference between p = 0.051 and p = 0.049.  (There isn't.)

The quasi-religious devotion to this arbitrary criterion was skewered by the famed psychological statistician Jacob Cohen in a classic article:

The atmosphere that characterizes statistics as applied in the social and biomedical sciences is that of a secular religion [citation], apparently of Judeo-Christian derivation, as it employs as its most powerful icon a six-pointed cross, often presented multiply for enhanced authority.

The U.S. Supreme Court today took up a case that may be as remarkable for how it got to the high court as it is for the eventual holding.  Arkansas prisoner Gregory Holt, alias Abdul Maalik Muhammad, filed a handwritten certiorari petition on his own.  He claims the State's anti-beard policy violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.  The case is Holt v. Hobbs, No. 13-6827.

Back in November, the Court enjoined Ark. DoC from enforcing its policy against Holt, for the first 1/2 inch of beard, until disposition of the case.

Update:  The Court subsequently amended its grant of certiorari to narrow the Question Presented to "Whether the Arkansas Department of Correction's grooming policy violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, 42 U. S. C. §2000cc et seq., to the extent that it prohibits petitioner from growing a one-half-inch beard in accordance with his religious beliefs."

The US Supreme Court today sent a capital case back to the Alabama courts to reevaluate the petitioner's ineffective assistance claim.  The case is Hinton v. Alabama, No. 13-6440.

This case is highly unusual for a capital case in that the disputed question actually involves who committed the crime.  The trial lawyer hired a forensic expert he knew was unqualified because he mistakenly believed that state law capped the fee he could offer.  In fact, the statute had been amended to give more leeway.  The prosecutor sliced and diced the unqualified expert.  The state courts failed to correctly apply the "prejudice" prong of Strickland v. Washington, holding that there was no prejudice because the experts in the postconviction proceeding testified the same as the trial expert.  That's not the point.  A qualified expert would not have been so easily attacked by the prosecutor, and there is a reasonable probability the jury would have believed him.

The high court took this case on direct review of the state courts, rather than letting it go to federal habeas first, probably to avoid the complications of the AEDPA deference standard.

So is it open season for federal courts to second-guess the qualifications of experts in the guise of ineffective assistance claims?  No, the Court makes clear:

Bill Introduced to Overrule CO Governor's Controversial Death Penalty Decision: Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper angered many of his constituents last year when he granted all death row inmates an indefinite reprieve.  Among them was Nathan Dunlap, who has been on death row nearly twenty years,   Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post reports that one lawmaker upset by this decision, Representative Libby Szabo, responded by proposing a bill that would limit reprieves in death penalty cases to 90 days, only to be used if "administrative difficulties" arise in carrying out the execution.  Dunlap was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering four people at an Aurora, Colorado pizzeria in 1993.

'Smart Pistols' Hit the Shelves in CA: The first 'smart gun' has been put on the shelves by retailers in one of the largest firearms stores in the state of California.  Brendan McGarry of Military.com reports that is only able to function if its accompanying wristwatch, which is sold separately, is activated by a PIN number and placed near the gun.  Once the wristwatch is activated it sends a signal to the 22 caliber pistol allowing it to be unlocked-otherwise, the gun will stay in a locked position unable to fire.  The 'smart pistol' currently sells for $1,399 and the watch is an additional $399-.  That is more than double the cost of a .40 caliber Glock.

U.S. Supreme Court to Consider Death-Row Case for the 13th Time: An Arizona death penalty case has been put on the U.S. Supreme Court's conference calender for a 13 time, after 12 previous conferences were unable to decide whether or not to hear it.  Whitney Ogden of Cronkite News Service reports that the case, Ryan v. Hurles, involves an appeal by Richard Hurles, an Arizona man who was convicted of burglary, attempted sexual assault and first-degree murder in the brutal stabbing death of a librarian in 1992.  Hurles latest claim of judicial bias was denied in the state courts but was accepted by the Ninth Circuit panel last year.   The high court first considered whether to hear the Arizona Attorney General's appeal of that holding last September.     

Eugene Volokh at VC has a post titled "May Congress delegate to the Executive the power to define minor crimes by regulation?"  He points to a Tenth Circuit decision Tuesday in United States v. Baldwin, No. 13-1198, in which Judge Gorsuch muses on that question.

MO To Execute Taylor Although Drug Supplier Backs Out: The Missouri Department of Corrections has announced they will carry out an execution scheduled for next week as planned. Jeremy Kohler, of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the compound pharmacy hired to produce the state's supply of pentobarbital announced earlier this week that they had reached a settlement with attorneys for death row inmate Michael Taylor, and would not be providing any drugs to be used for his execution.  A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections said that the execution will be carried out following established protocols.  Taylor was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a young girl that he abducted from a school bus stop in 1989.

Woman Sentenced to Life in Bizarre Murder Case: A Massachusetts woman convicted of killing her pregnant friend and taking her unborn baby has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  The Associated Press reports that 39-year-old Julie Corey was found guilty of first-degree murder after authorities say she killed her eight months pregnant friend and took the woman's baby from her womb in an attempt to pass it off as her own child.  Under Massachusetts' law, the conviction will automatically be appealed.  

Probation Officers Overwhelmed with GPS Monitoring Alerts: Probation officers in Los Angeles County had relied on  GPS monitoring devices to help keep track of offenders released from prison under Realignment.  Paige St. John of the L.A. Times reports that due to the volume of alerts they receive from the devices, which are often caused by a blocked signal or low battery, probation officers have begun to routinely ignore or delete them.  An audit of the department conducted in September revealed numerous cases where alerts were never responded to, and noted that officers lost track of 80 offenders in 2013 who had cut off their monitors and disappeared.  The story cites examples indicating that other states are having the same problem.

                

Quinnipiac Polling Institute has this poll in Ohio, mostly about the governor's race but also with a couple of questions about the death penalty.  Unfortunately, it appears that Quinnipiac is backsliding on the questions it asks.

As I have noted several times on this blog, the main problem in death penalty polling is that the questions often fail to distinguish between the penalty for the typical murder, which most people agree should be life in prison, and the penalty for the worst murders, which is the actual point of debate.

The generic question in death penalty polls, which Gallup has been asking since the 30s, goes something like Question 40 in this poll, "Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder?"  This question understates actual support for the death penalty for the worst murders, merely asking about murder generally.  Even phrased that way, however, the death penalty is favored by more than a 2-to-1 margin, 68-26.  The death penalty is heavily favored in every political affiliation, both sexes, and every age group.

So what does the heading of the press release say?  "Voters Divided on Death Penalty"

To get "divided," it is necessary to skew the question to the max in favor of the anti side.

The FBI has released its preliminary figures for the Uniform Crime Reports for the first half of 2013.  Violent crime is down in all categories tracked and all regions.  Property crime is down also, although the decline in the West is a negligible 0.3%.

Unfortunately, the preliminary figures have no breakdown by state, so we cannot tell if the Realignment-driven crime increases are continuing in California.  Given the state's large weight in the Western region, though, that would be consistent with the West's relatively poor results.  The West's drop in violent crime is only 3.7% compared with 5.4% for the country as a whole.  As noted above, the West's property crime rate is essentially unchanged, compared to another 5.4% drop for the country. 

Perhaps most telling is motor vehicle theft.  As explained in this post, this is the category most likely to be affected by Realignment, and it did indeed shoot up in California between 2011 and 2012.  In today's report, motor vehicle theft is up 3% in the West as a whole, the only net increase in the entire table.

Astute reader federalist, having taken the Astronomy Quiz, wonders whether the unhappy truth is that the death penalty is hanging by a thread.

CA Town Sees Increase in Crime Rate Under Realignment: Police in Fairfield, CA is dealing with increasing rates of robberies and violent crimes, and the city's police captain believes a big contributor to the increase is Governor Brown's Realignment plan.  Ian Thompson of the Daily Republic reports that along with increases in violent crimes, the city has also been afflicted with a 43 percent increase in arson, a 25 percent increase in auto theft and a 10 percent increase in burglary.  City police have partnered with county sheriffs officers to keep tabs on felons that have been released from state custody, noting that the large majority of people arrested last year were individuals released under Realignment.  

Police Make Arrest in Fatal TN Package Bombing: Authorities in Tennessee have announced they have made an arrest in the case of a couple that was killed when a bomb exploded in their home earlier this week.  The couple's son-in-law has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.  Matt Smith and Tom Watkins of CNN report that 74-year old retired lawyer Jon Setzer was killed on Monday after a package placed in his mailbox exploded as he was walking back into his home, his wife, 72-year-old Marion Setzer, was critically injured in the explosion and died in the hospital a few days later.  Police arrested the couple's son-in-law, 49-year-old Richard Parker, who lived next door. He is being held in county jail on $1 million dollars bond.
  
Florida Legislation Targets Sexual Predators: New laws focusing on sexual predators are quickly moving through the Florida Legislature, however, there is resistance from state Democrats regarding mandatory minimum sentencing.  Matt Dixon of the St. Augustine Record reports that the bill would increase the mandatory minimum sentence for dangerous sexual felony offenses from 25 years to 50 years.  Democrats are suggesting that these offenders instead be placed in long-term treatment programs with an opportunity to be released in less than 50 years.  Other laws focusing on sexual predators are also under consideration.  Other bills would eliminate the statute of limitations for sex-related crimes where the victim is under 16 and remove the ability for offenders convicted of violent sex crimes to earn good time to reduce their sentences.

Among the issues in the last-minute appeals of Juan Carlos Chavez was Florida's use of midazolam hydrochloride as the first drug of its three-drug protocol. CBS4's Gary Nelson has this eyewitness report of the execution.

"What  I saw tonight was a very sterile, very antiseptic, very unremarkable procedure as Juan Carlos Chavez drifted off to sleep, essentially forever as he was executed for the murder of Jimmy Ryce," said Nelson.

Why stick with the three-drug procedure instead of the single-drug?  With pentobarbital, if you can get it, there is no reason.  If you can't, though, the longer time to die and the noises that the unconscious inmate makes in the process may create the false impression he is suffering, as happened in the Ohio execution of Dennis McGuire (see this post), so the choice is not as clear-cut as we may have thought.

Florida does have a consciousness check between the first and second drugs, the safeguard the dissenting justices found lacking in the former Kentucky procedure at issue in Baze v. Rees.  According to Nelson's report, the warden shook Chavez and called his name, and there was no response.  He was out cold.

Jonathan Lee Gentry was convicted in 1991 of the murder of 12-year-old Cassie Holden in Bremerton, Washington.  He bashed her head in with a rock.  The circumstances suggested sexual assault, although the autopsy could not conclusively confirm that. The State of Washington has spent the years since defending the judgment against Gentry's numerous attacks.  In the Ninth Circuit, even Judge Paez, who almost never votes to affirm a capital sentence, concurred that his claims had no merit.  The "normal" appeals ended with the Supreme Court's denial of certiorari last October.  The Washington Supreme Court subsequently denied yet another petition last month.

Now comes Washington Governor Jay Inslee, announcing he will impose a moratorium, granting reprieves so that no one is executed while he is governor.  He conveniently omitted any mention of an intent to would do that while campaigning for the office, so as to allow the people of Washington to decide if they wanted a governor who would clear-cut justice in this manner.  (Campaign website here.)  The election was reasonably close at 51.5 - 48.5, so it is quite possible he would not be governor if he had announced his intentions in advance of the election, which, of course, is precisely why he did not.  If anyone reading believes that he has had a change of heart based on recent study and soul-searching, I would like to sell you a bridge.  This action is one more in a series of Profiles in Cowardice that we have seen in multiple states.  Get elected first, then drop the bomb.

Inslee's claimed reasons for this action are here.  Let's see if a single one actually supports failure to carry out Gentry's thoroughly deserved and thoroughly reviewed punishment.

Holder Urges States to let Felons Vote: Attorney General Eric Holder is urging states to restore voting rights to convicted felons, an issue he said predominantly affects African Americans.  Pete Williams of NBC News reports Holder believes that preventing felons from voting further isolates them from society, which in turn increases the likelihood they will commit more crimes in the future.  In the majority of states, voting rights are restored after a sentence is served.  Three states-Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky permanently ban the right to vote for felons, while eight other states bar some felons from voting after release. 

Judge Sentences Border Agent's Murderer to 30 Years: A Mexican man has been sentenced by a federal judge to 30 years in prison for his role in the 2010 murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.  Cindy Carcamo of the Los Angeles Times reports that 37-year-old Manuel Osorio-Arellanes pled guilty to first-degree murder in October 2012 in exchange for avoiding the penalty.  Upon completion of his sentence, Osorio-Arellanes will be deported and banned from returning back to the U.S. 

WA Governor Declares Moratorium on Death Penalty: Washington Governor Jay Inslee has announced that he is suspending the use of the death penalty in his state, citing that the practice is both inconsistent and unequal.  Rachel La Corte of the Associated Press reports that the moratorium will be in place as long as Inslee is governor, meaning that each death penalty case that comes to his desk will be issued a reprieve.  Washington state currently has nine men awaiting execution on death row.

The California Attorney General has prepared a title and summary for the initiative to reform the state's death penalty, as required by law.  Here it is:

DEATH PENALTY. PROCEDURES. INITIATIVE STATUTORY AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Gives state appellate courts jurisdiction over death penalty appeals, before consideration by California Supreme Court. Changes procedures governing state court petitions challenging death penalty convictions and sentences. Designates superior court for initial petitions and limits successive petitions. Imposes time limits on state court death penalty review. Requires appointed attorneys who take noncapital appeals to accept death penalty appeals. Exempts prison officials from existing regulation process for developing execution methods. Authorizes death row inmate transfers among California state prisons.  States death row inmates are required to work and pay victim restitution. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government:  Increased state costs potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually for several years related to direct appeals and habeas corpus proceedings, with the fiscal impact on such costs being unknown in the long run. Potential state correctional savings in the tens of millions of dollars annually. (13-0055.)

A pretty fair summary of the initiative overall, given the constraint of putting it in 100 words.

The last two sentences, in bold, come from the fiscal analysis by the Legislative Analyst Office, and I think the LAO overstates costs and understates savings.  Yes, the initiative will increase annual budgets in the first couple of years as the backlog is cleared out, but this is mostly moving up expenses that would be incurred anyway.  The savings are understated.  The initiative will eliminate successive state habeas petitions in most cases (those with no question of actual innocence or ineligibility, which is the vast majority).  Long-term, we will eliminate the costs of a long period of incarceration and the skyrocketing cost of health care for aging inmates.

The campaign website is here.  Every contribution helps.