TresSugar

Front Page: New Mexico Repeals the Death Penalty

CitizenSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:38:23 -0700

New Mexico has become the 15th US state to ban the death penalty. Gov. Richardson said signing the bill was the toughest decision he's made in public life. - New Mexico Independent
Natasha Richardson's peers in the entertainment world offer words of tribute for the actress, who has died at the age of 45 after a skiing accident. - BBC News
President Obama is in California discussing the stimulus plan. He will appear on Jay Leno's show tonight. - LA Times
AIG's top executives are asking employees to return half of their bonuses. - New York Times
Josef Fritzl has been sentenced to life by an Austrian court. - Guardian

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Front Page: India Launches Moon Orbiter, Palin Gives Speech Advocating Women, EU Protests US Death Sentence

CitizenSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:00:27 -0700

India Launches Moon Orbiter:
India has launched its first unmanned spacecraft on a mission to the moon, in an effort to assert its power in space. The mission is set to last two years and will prepare a three-dimensional atlas of the moon as well as survey the lunar surface for usable natural resources like uranium, a coveted fuel for nuclear power plants.

Palin Gives Speech Advocating Women:
At a rally in Nevada yesterday, Sarah Palin gave a speech advocating for women's rights the world over. She said, "there are still places where women are subjugated and persecuted as they were in Afghanistan, places we’re they’re bullied and brutalized and murdered in honor killings. . . if I am elected, these women, too, will have an advocate and a defender in the 47th vice president of the United States. She also gave her first interview to CNN.
EU Protests US Death Sentence:
The European parliament is protesting the execution of a prisoner in the US after seven of the nine key witnesses recanted their testimony against him. The head of the EU parliament says that all executions are a violation of human rights and that the prisoner symbolizes all death row inmates. He says he "will fight against the death penalty under any circumstances everywhere in the world."

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Iran Considers Death Penalty for Bloggers, Russia Jails One

CitizenSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:00:42 -0700

The beauty of the Internet is getting to say exactly what you want in a public forum, right?(Well that and stalking ex-boyfriends and shopping at work, but I digress.) The ability to speak one's mind in bytes and blips has landed one blogger with a jail sentence for extremism. A Russian man who called the local police “scum” and calling for the clean-up of the force he blogged that the police should be burned in the town square twice a day. For this posting, was convicted of “inciting hatred or enmity” and given a one-year suspended sentence.

Free speech activists said the ruling is creating a dangerous precedent: “This was an absolutely unjustified verdict ... This verdict means it will be impossible to make rude comments about anybody.” News of the sentence permeated Russian blogs yesterday leading some to say, "I don't know now if I should be writing here or not." For his part, new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he prizes free speech and that Russia should use a light touch when policing the Internet. That's not the case in Iran. To see what's happening there, read more.

In Iran, they have a somewhat different interpretation to "light touch" - the death penalty. Their parliament is debating a bill that would call for death for anyone “...establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption. . .” Though the government itself will decide what would constitute “promoting corruption." Among other death sentence crimes in Iran are apostasy (leaving a religion, in this case Islam), prostitution, rape and armed robbery.

No word on the world's reaction to the ultimate crime against blogging - starting one and then never posting again.

Is cyberspace the next battleground for free speech? Can speech on the Internet be protected as a vital outlet for those in countries with state-controlled media or oppressive governments?

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Front Page: Gore Endorses Obama, Japan Hangs Murderers, Israel Makes Progress

CitizenSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:58:20 -0700

Gore Endorses Obama: Last night at an event in Michigan, Al Gore officially endorsed Barack Obama, drawing from his own experience to drive his point saying, “Looking back over the last eight years, I can tell you that we have already learned one important fact since the year 2000. Take it from me, elections matter. If you think the next appointments to the Supreme Court are important, you know that elections matter.” In front of nearly 20,000 people Gore outlined the challenges facing the US and said Obama is “clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.”

Japan Hangs Murderers: In Japan today, a serial killer who whose rash of grisly killings in the late 1980s triggered calls for tighter restrictions on violent pornographic videos, was hanged at a detention center in Tokyo. His unspeakably heinous crimes were ultimately punished alongside two other convicted murderers. The justice minister said, "I ordered their executions because the cases were of indescribable cruelty. We are pursuing executions in order to achieve justice and firmly protect the rule of law." Japan is one of the few industrialized countries to use capital punishment, and the use has risen dramatically amid rising concerns about violent crime. In the past six months, 13 have been hanged, compared to one in all of 2005.
Israel Makes Progress: Israel appeared to be making diplomatic progress yesterday on three issues: a prisoner exchange in the works with Hezbollah; a call back for brokered talks with Syrian representatives in Turkey; and gearing up for a possible truce with Hamas in Gaza. Israeli officials however say it would be premature to draw any conclusions about understandings with Syria or Hamas. The positivity comes with skepticism as some Israelis suspect that the current burst of diplomatic activity is intended to distract attention from the political and legal troubles of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Radical Raul? Cuba Commutes Death Sentences

LibertySugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:00:48 -0700

Raul Castro has commuted all but three death sentences handed down in Cuba. Every death-row inmate, besides three convicted terrorists, will now face 30 years in prison, instead of death by firing squad.

Raul, who officially took over for his brother Fidel Castro this past February, said that humanitarian concerns, not international pressure, motivated his decision. He quickly maintained that the death penalty still remains on the books.

Raul, who also announced the first Communist Congress in over a decade, has been showing signs of pragmatism and reform since taking power. He lifted a ban on electronics sales, and Cubans can now stay in hotels designated for tourists. Many other freedoms, such as the right to own property, are still forbidden.

The US has found itself in a curious position with its North American neighbors when it comes to the death penalty. To see how, read more.

Suspected murders sometimes flee to Mexico or Canada, because those countries will not extradite suspects unless the death penalty is taken off the table. A recent example? Marine Cesar Laurean, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and fellow Marine, fled to Mexico and therefore saved himself from a death sentence.

Now Cuba, a country the US criticizes for its human-rights record, has decided to join the majority of countries that reject execution. Does this latest development shine Cuba's human-rights image, while bruising America's? Do you think humanitarian concerns or international pressure, could ever motivate America to reconsider death sentences?

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Front Page: Attack in Iraq, Lethal Injection, Ricin Arrest

CitizenSugar — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:00:40 -0700

Attack in Iraq: No fewer than 30 people have been killed and many more injured in a suicide attack on a crowd of mourners in Iraq. The attacker detonated his explosives at a funeral near the city of Baquba, north of the capital, Baghdad. Officials said the funeral was for two brothers said to be leading figures in the Sunni Awakening Council, who may have died fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq militants. The Sunni Awakening Council works alongside the Americans and Iraqi government to fight al-Qaeda-linked insurgents. More than 50 people were killed in another Baquba attack just two days ago.

Lethal Injection: The US Supreme Court voted 7-2 yesterday to reject prisoners' challenges to the lethal injection procedure in Kentucky. The justices upheld the method saying the state's use of a three-drug combination does not violate the Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Many states put their slate of executions on hold waiting for the court's ruling and are now rushing to assign execution dates. The decision may particularly help Nebraska after the state's Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that its only method, electrocution, was unconstitutional.
Ricin Arrest: The man who was sickened by the deadly toxin ricin in his Las Vegas motel room was arrested upon his release from a hospital yesterday and charged with possession of the substance. The federal indictment says the man enjoyed experimenting with production of the substance derived from castor beans, calling it "an exotic idea," but had no specific intention to use it against anyone. An FBI agent said, “based on the results of our investigation, we don’t believe that the public was ever in danger nor do we believe that this was any terrorist plot.” The man is expected to be arraigned this afternoon.

What Year Is It? Iranian Woman Spared Death by Stoning

LibertySugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:00:27 -0700

International pressure may have saved the life of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning. After 11 years behind bars for committing adultery, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi has been freed. Her partner, Jafar Kiani, was stoned to death in July 2007, causing an international uproar. Though the official reason for her release is unclear, human and women rights campaigns surely had an impact.

Article 102 of the Iranian penal code details the stoning sentence. Men should be buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts while being stoned. Ms. Ebrahimi would have been the first official stoning since 2002.

International pressure doesn't just save the lives of criminals in Iran. Often, countries refuse to extradite suspects to the US, unless authorities agree not to seek the death penalty. Recently, Brazil agreed to extradite a Colombian drug lord to the US, only after receiving a guarantee that the US would not to impose execution.

I wonder if the American reaction to Iranian stoning, mirrors the way other Western countries react to the US executions. Do you think these actions, which raise international human rights concerns, are comparable?

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Headline: US to Seek Death Penalty in 9-11 Case

CitizenSugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:25:14 -0800

US military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for six Guantanamo detainees held for their roles in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The six who face this sentence include Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the former al-Qaeda operations chief who has called himself the mastermind of the attacks, and the so-called “20th hijacker,” the man who was denied entry to the US the month before the attack.

Though no one was officially allowed to comment on the case, an anonymous Defense Department official said, “if any case warrants it, it would be for individuals who were parties to a crime of that scale.” However, even if the military court rules for the death penalty on the capital charges, an execution could take months or even years to conclude, as a death sentence would also have to be scrutinized by civilian appeals courts.

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Child Rape Death Penalty Unconstitutional, For Murder Only

LibertySugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:00:00 -0700

The US Supreme Court struck down the death penalty for cases of child rape as unconstitutional today, continuing its tendency to narrow, rather than expand, capital punishment. The broad ruling held that the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment requires that the defendant killed, and intended to kill, the victim in order to trigger the death sentence. The Court left room for death in cases of treason, by discussing only crimes against individuals.

Justice Kennedy wrote the opinion, which sited the unfairness and inaccuracies of the death penalty as reasons to be cautious when expanding its application. He also brought up that the death sentence requires repeated and painful testimony from the child victim, writing: “The way the death penalty here involves the child victim in its enforcement can compromise a decent legal system."

To see what Justice Alito, writing for the conservative dissenters, wrote read more. Alito argued: "The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave. It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty."

When the Court heard oral arguments on this issue a while back, you all weighed in on whether you think the death penalty for child rape constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Now that the Supreme Court has decided, and you've seen their reasoning, do you agree that death is a disproportional punishment to the crime? Should children be protected from having to testify repeatedly through a long drawn-out death penalty trial and appeal process?

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Pregnant British Woman Could Face Laos Death Penalty

TresSugar — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Another reminder that carrying drugs to countries with draconian anti-trafficking laws is extremely dangerous: a Nigerian-born woman from London arrested for carrying heroin may face death by firing squad in Vientiane, Laos.

Samantha Orobator, 20, was arrested in August for carrying 1.1 pounds of heroin in the Laotian capital. Anna Morris, a lawyer for Reprieve, a group that uses the law to enforce human rights for prisoners, told CNN that "For that amount of heroin the sentence is normally the death penalty."

On top of her other woes, Orobator became pregnant in prison, and her lawyers worry that she may have been raped there. There is no British embassy in Laos, but the British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said that Laos authorities are aware that the British government is opposed to the death penalty and have dispatched British Embassy officials and the British Ambassador to visit her.

Orobator's trial begins this week.

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