Ohio Lawmakers Searching for a Doctor to Help Execute Prisoner

In the aftermath of the botched execution of Romell Broom in Ohio, lawmakers are searching for a doctor to help execute prisoners sentenced to death.  It would seem that the Hippocratic Oath which demands that the physician "do no harm" interferes with deliberately...

Suicide: Desensitization and the "Doctrine of Can't"

            For the fourth time in a little more than four months a student attending California's Palo Alto High School has committed suicide. The most recent occurrence was carried out by jumping in front of...

Blogging for Justice: Against Police Pretrial Electrocutions 4/24

A Day of Blogging for Justice: Standing Up AgainstPolice Pre-Trial Electrocution - April 24, 2009Cross-posted at the Francis L. Holland Blog and Electrocuted While Black.. When I first proposed renaming "tasering" "police pre-trial electrocution and execution", some...

New Mexico Death Penalty Repealed by Governor Richardson

New Mexico became the 15th state in the union to stop using the capital punishment Wednesday, when Governor Bill Richardson signed a bill repealing the death penalty.  Going forward death penalty crimes will be get sentences of life imprisonment with no chance for...

'Texas 7' member volunteers to be executed

Michael Rodriguez worked for a year to convince the courts he was competent to drop his appeals and volunteer for the death penalty, and this Thursday he will get his wish.He says he feels remorse for his involvement in a violent prison break and crime spree that saw one...

Laypeople to decide death penalty in Japan

Starting next May, jury duty in Japan will become an even heavier responsibility, as the country's new "lay-judge" program will sometimes empower ordinary citizens to deliver death sentences.The ethics of the death penalty aside, I find it fascinating--and terrible,...

Cuba to commute death sentences

"Cuba's President Raul Castro says nearly all death sentences are to be commuted to prison terms of between 30 years and life. It is the latest in a series of liberalising measures. Mr Castro said the decision was humanitarian and not due to international pressure. Three...

UN votes for death penalty freeze

"The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, with the ultimate aim of abolishing capital punishment. It voted 104 in favour and 54 against with 29 abstentions on a resolution which, while non-binding, reflects the view of...