Death Penalty Focus, Criminal Justice System, Midterms, 2018, Former Felons Allowed to Vote, Florida Prisoner Leaves Death Row (after ten (10) Years, Clemency for Tadd Vassell, California Governor Jerry Brown, Rev. Joseph Ingle, SCOTUS Hears Oral Argument in Case of Missouri Man too Sick for Lethal Injection & President Trump, Jarad Trump and Senator Lesniak Agree about "Earn Your Way Out"

The election’s behind us, and we look at some of the more significant results.  An innocent man who was sent to death row for 10 years walked out of a Florida prison on Monday; and on Tuesday, SCOTUS heard oral argument in the case of a death row prisoner who maintains that lethal injection will cause him "excruciating pain” because of his rare medical condition.  We have a wrap-up of death penalty developments around the country, and a few reading suggestions.  And we talk with Tennessee’s death row chaplain about the state’s recent ramp-up of executions and the effect it has had on him and the prisoners he considers close friends. Last year, Senator Raymond J. Lesniak sponsored legislation (which was vetoed by Governor Christie) to give prisoners an opportunity to "Earn Your Way Out" and stated "What should be the goal of incarceration? I believes its goal should be to give inmates an opportunity to leave prison as better people than when they entered. That hasn't been the case throughout our criminal justice system." President Trump has just endorsed legislation that "focuses on rehabilitating people once they’re already in prison by incentivizing them, with the possibility of earlier release, to partake in rehabilitation programs."  As Jarad Kushner explained, "Rehabilitating people once they’re already in prison by incentivizing them, with the possibility of earlier release, to partake in rehabilitation programs."The single biggest thing we want to do is really define what the purpose of a prison is. Is the purpose to punish, is the purpose to warehouse, or is the purpose to rehabilitate? Jarad Kushner is right. "Earn Your Way Out" legislation has again passed the State Senate and been released from the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee.  It should be approved by the full Assembly and signed by Governor Murphy. Click here to read how non violent convicts could earn their ways out of prisons. California Governor Jerry Brown has just over a month left in his final term in office. It's time for him to take meaningful action and address the situation on California's death row. We already know the facts. A failed system has put nearly 750 people on death row. Two thirds of them are people of color who may not have been sentenced to death had it not been for the racism that pervades our criminal justice system. Nearly half of them were teenagers or young adults when they were sentenced to death, even though recent legislation has given second chances to others in this age group. Countless numbers suffer mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the lingering effects of addiction, poverty, and extreme childhood abuse.  We all remember earlier this year when a man was freed after 25 years on death row because the state Supreme Court ruled that he was convicted by evidence that was "false, extensive, pervasive, and impactful." Death row is still filled with people convicted with the same junk science.  We also know that it's just plain wrong to allow this to continue. Click here to sign our petition asking Gov. Brown to intervene and grant clemency to as many people on death row as possible: those who could face execution, those who were kids at the time they were sentenced to death, and everyone else sentenced by this arbitrary, unjust, and racist system. It's the right thing to do. Many other governors, from both parties and around the US, have made broad use of their constitutional clemency powers in their final days in office. If Gov. Brown joins them, he will set an example of moral leadership for the rest of the country, and one we desperately need right now. With so many in power enabling racist and reactionary vigilantism, Gov. Brown can show that we need to prioritize justice over vengeance and break cycles of violence. We will follow up about with more information, but we wanted to let you know that Tuesday, November 27, is Giving Tuesday. If you make a donation through our Facebook page around 8 AM Eastern / 5 AM Pacific, you can qualify us for a matching gift toward your donation amount.

Should a teenager be sentenced to life in prison for a non-violent drug crime? That is what happened to Tadd Vassell who has been imprisoned for 21 years. Cathryn believes he has more than paid his debt to society. Join her in petitioning President Trump to commute his sentence to time served. Sign her petition now.

Midterms 2018 The election’s behind us, but the ramifications are still reverberating. Voters made their feelings known on such issues as whether to allow former felons to vote, whether felony verdicts require a unanimous jury, and if county sheriffs can continue to put the money they save on prison food into their own pockets. We have a brief rundown. Read More »

Ten Years after being Wrongfully Convicted, Florida Prisoner Leaves Death Row He spent 14 years in prison, 10 of them on death row, and on Monday, Florida prosecutors announced they would not proceed with a retrial for Clemente Javier Aguirre for the murder of two people in 2004. Read More »

SCOTUS Hears Oral Argument in Case of Missouri Man too Sick for Lethal Injection 49-year-old Russell Bucklew suffers from a rare medical condition that his lawyers told the Supreme Court on Tuesday would cause him “excruciating pain of prolonged suffocation” if the state executes him with lethal injection. They’re asking — if he must be killed — for lethal gas instead. Read More »

In Brief: November 2018 From Tennessee to Oklahoma, states around the country continued to tinker with the machinery of death. Read More »

While We’re on the Subject. . . Some of the best writing about criminal justice recently can be found in “Popular Science,” which looks at the inevitable end of the use of lethal injection in executions; in the “Saint Louis University School of Law Journal,” which analyzes how public opinion and politics affect support for the death penalty; and in an op-ed in the “Fort Worth Star Telegram” by a former district attorney who now believes there’s no “adequate justification” for capital punishment. Read More »

Voices: Rev. Joseph Ingle He’s been Tennessee’s death row chaplain for 40 years, but the last few months have been especially challenging for Rev. Joseph Ingle as two prisoners are executed in the space of three months, with more scheduled over the next year. Read More »