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News and Developments: Clemency

NEW VOICES: 30 FBI Agents Call for Pardon in VA Case with Death Penalty Implications

Posted: November 17, 2008
in

On November 10 in Richmond, Virginia, thirty former FBI agents held a press conference calling for the pardon of four sailors, known as the Norfolk Four, who were convicted of rape and murder. Their convictions were based mainly on their own confessions, which were apparently made out of fear that they might otherwise receive the death penalty.

Georgia Execution Stayed to Allow a Parole Board Hearing

Posted: September 15, 2008
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UPDATE: Parole Board Denied Clemency on Sept. 16 and Jack Alderman was executed. On September 15, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melvin Westmoreland granted a stay of execution for Jack Alderman in Georgia. Judge Westmoreland stayed the execution, scheduled for Sept. 16, until Alderman receives a “meaningful” meeting with the state’s Board of Pardons.

Upcoming Arkansas Execution In Doubt Because of Lethal Injection Problems and Clemency Recommendation

Posted: September 02, 2008
in

A state judge in Arkansas has thrown further doubt on whether the upcoming execution of Frank Williams will be carried out on September 9 because the state did not follow proper procedures in adopting its lethal injection protocol.  Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox barred the Arkansas Department of Correction from using the protocol in its execution of Frank Williams, Jr. because the new execution procedures should have been subject to public comment before implementation.

Executions Since Supreme Court's Upholding of Lethal Injection

Posted: August 09, 2008
in

On April 16, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's lethal injection process in Baze v. Rees, thereby opening the door to a resumption of executions which had been on hold since September 2007. Since then, there have been 18 executions:

  • 100% have been in the South
  • 33% have been in Texas
  • All but one have been by lethal injection.

Of the 18 defendants executed:

  • 8 were white
  • 8 were black
  • 2 were Hispanic.

Of the 25 victims in the underlying murders:

Arkansas Parole Board Recommends Life Without Parole for Mentally Disabled Man

Posted: August 05, 2008
in

In a 4-3 vote, the Arkansas Parole Board recommended that Frank Williams' death sentence be commuted to life without parole. The Board had received petitions for clemency from 13 state, national, and international organizations and developmental disabilities experts which concluded that Mr. Williams suffers from mental retardation based on his sub-average adaptive functioning and the diagnosis of psychological experts.

Mental Retardation Group Pleads for Clemency for Mentally Disabled Man in Arkansas

Posted: July 31, 2008
in

Arkansas’ leading advocacy organization for people with mental retardation, Arc Arkansas, delivered a letter to Governor Mike Beebe and the Arkansas Parole Board urging clemency for Frank Williams, Jr. because of his mental retardation. He is scheduled for execution on September 9 and the Arkansas Parole Board is holding a clemency hearing on his case on August 4. The letter notes that executing a mentally retarded person is unconstitutional based on both Arkansas’ 1993 statutory ban and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in Atkins v. Virginia.

Oklahoma Governor Commutes Death Sentence at Juror's and Parole Board's Request

Posted: July 28, 2008
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Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry commuted the death sentence of Kevin Young to life in prison without parole on July 24. Henry stated, "This was a very difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly." He explained that, "after reviewing all of the evidence and hearing from both prosecutors and defense attorneys, I decided the Pardon and Parole Board made a proper recommendation to provide clemency and commute the death sentence." This is only the second time the Governor has granted clemency since taking office.

Execution Stayed Because Jurors May Have Been Misinformed about Life Sentence

Posted: July 17, 2008
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Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry granted a 30-day stay of execution for Kevin Young who was scheduled to die on July 22. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Young a week earlier after hearing tape recorded statements from jurors stating that they hadn’t wanted to give Young the death sentence but didn’t receive clarification when they asked whether he would be eligible for parole if he was sentenced to life without parole. One juror explained, “We felt that the crime did not warrant the death penalty.

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Two Death Penalty Cases

Posted: June 23, 2008
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The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on June 24 to hear two death penalty cases, both from Tennessee. The first case, Cone v. Bell, No. 07-1114, focuses on whether federal courts can consider issues that state courts dismissed on state procedural grounds. The petitioner, Gary Cone, had claimed that his use of drugs mitigated his guilt in the underlying murder of which he was accused.

ARTICLES:The Story of a Death Row Inmate Who Wanted to Die

Posted: June 10, 2008
in

In 1996, Illinois Governor Jim Edgar commuted the death sentence of Guin Garcia to life without parole, even though Garcia herself had stopped fighting for her life. Garcia would have been the first woman executed in the U.S. in twelve years. She had been convicted of killing the man who had physically abused her, but she had dropped her appeals because she said she was done “begging for her life.” Chicago Sun-Times reporter Carol Marin followed Garcia's case after the commutation and recently wrote about the changes in Garcia's life.