The Christian Science Monitor today presents a glowing review of Thomas Cahill's new book, A Saint on Death Row." It tells the story of Dominique Green who spent 12 years on death row before his Texecution.

Sister Helen Prejean wrote of the book:

"There are many ways to tell the tragic story of America's death rows. Tom Cahill has chosen to show—through the extraordinary life of one man—that God is always working everywhere and can bring the most beautiful soul to maturity in even the most horrifying circumstances. If you read his story, you will never forget Dominique Green, nor will you ever feel the same way about our courts, our prisons, and our criminal justice system. This book is a life-changer." —Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

Cahill's website features this video of an interview with Green before his execution and Cahill's views on why the death penalty is wrong for anyone. [More...]

The Maryland House today passed a bill severely curtailing the use of the death penalty:

The measure will limit capital cases to those with biological or DNA evidence, a videotaped confession or a videotape linking the defendant to a homicide. Those are among the steepest hurdles faced by prosecutors in the 35 states that have a death penalty.

The Maryland Senate has approved it and Gov. Martin O'Malley has indicated he will sign it.

Amid a national debate over executions, Maryland's evidentiary limitations will become the most stringent of any of the 35 states that have capital punishment on the books.

Brian Nichols, convicted of 54 charges resulting from killings he committed during and after his escape from a courthouse in Atlanta four years ago (TalkLeft coverage collected here), was spared death last year after a jury deadlocked during the penalty phase of his trial. He instead received multiple sentences of life without parole.

As Jeralyn discussed in December, a Georgia prosecutor asked the Justice Department to bring a federal death penalty prosecution against Nichols because one of his murder victims was a customs officer. The Justice Department has sensibly declined.

[more ...]

Great news from New Mexico. Governor Bill Richardson today signed the bill passed by the legislature abolishing the death penalty. He called it "the "most difficult decision in my political life."

"Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps society safe," the Democratic governor said at a news conference in the Capitol.

The death penalty will be replaced by life without the possibility of parole. New Mexico becomes the second state to end the death penalty since the Supreme Court restored it in 1976.

Total number of states now without a death penalty? 15. And hopefully rising.

As mentioned earlier, the New Mexico legislature has voted to repeal the death penalty. Gov. Bill Richardson hasn't decided whether to sign it. He's asking for input.

Please take 30 seconds and tell Gov. Richardson to sign the bill. Via David Seth at Daily Kos:

Here's the number: (505) 476-2225. The number will record your request. There is no human being on the phone, just a recorder.

If you are near Santa Fe, the Governor is holding meetings with the public tomorrow from 2:30 to 5, first come-first serve...you get five minutes with him to tell him your position.

Good news from New Mexico:

New Mexico state lawmakers voted on Friday to repeal the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. ... New Mexico's House of Representatives, also controlled by Democrats, previously voted in favor of the repeal, and it will now go to Governor Bill Richardson for his signature.

Although Richardson has expressed opposition in the past to a death penalty repeal, the odds seem to be good that he'll sign it. Richardson has established a hotline — (505) 476-2225 — for New Mexico residents to express their opinions.

Bad news from Maryland:

Bump and Update: Attorney General Eric Holder has approved the plea deal his predecessor Michael Mukasey rejected. The death penalty will be off the table when trial resumes for Emile Fort.

Not only does Holder's reversal likely spare defendant Emile Fort his life, but it may signal a less aggressive approach to the death penalty in federal court. And it vindicates the local U.S. Attorney's office: Months ago federal prosecutors in San Francisco had recommended a 40-year plea bargain for Fort to their higher-ups in Washington -- only to be rebuffed by Holder's predecessor, Michael Mukasey.

Original Post below:

You may recall the shameful work of Judge Sharon Keller, the appellate judge in Texas who (without consulting her colleagues) refused to keep the courthouse doors open for 20 minutes past closing time to accept a petition for a stay of execution. The stay request was based on the Supreme Court's decision to consider the constitutionality of executions carried out by lethal injection. The Supreme Court granted a stay request to a different Texas inmate two days later, but Michael Richards wasn't so lucky. Thanks to Judge Keller, he was killed without having a chance to have his stay request heard.

In addition to being condemned by lawyers and her judicial colleagues, Judge Keller's outrageous behavior caught the attention of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which brought five charges against her. [more ...]

What do Maryland, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire have in common these days? All are considering bills to abolish the death penalty. Why? It's too expensive.

In five other states, Virginia, Arizona, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey and Vermont lawmakers are considering releasing non-violent inmates early or cutting their sentences to cut expenses.

The cost of taking a death penalty case to trial is enormous. [More...]

It's common for states to rely on theories of vicarious liability (conspiracy and aider-or-abettor laws, for instance) to treat everyone who played a role in a crime as if they are equally as guilty as the individual who directly committed the crime. The getaway car driver and the lookout and the person who planned the heist are deemed just as guilty of bank robbery as the guy who instructs the teller to hand over the cash.

Vicarious liability becomes controversial when the death penalty is imposed on individuals who played some role in causing a death but didn't take direct action to end a life. A legislator in Texas has introduced a bill to eliminate the death penalty as a possible penalty under the state's Law of Parties.

[Rep. Harold] Dutton said there have been at least 12 people executed under the Law of Parties and possibly as many as 20.

The Virginia General Assembly voted yesterday to do just the opposite by eliminating the state's "triggerman rule," which restricts imposition of the death penalty to the person who actually did the killing. Gov. Kaine is expected to veto the bill.

The AP reports Robert Levy, in discussing the imminent arrest of a suspect in the murder of his daughter Chandra Levy, says:

Robert Levy said he and his wife, Susan, were not told the identity of the person to be arrested "but we all know who it is." He would not elaborate but said they would favor a life sentence for the killer.

"If someone is executed, they really don't suffer too much," he said.

Here are some other reasons, in their own words, family members of other murder victims have for opposing the death penalty.

[Note to the AP: The man about to be arrested may or may not be the killer of Chandra. While it's apparent that Mr. Levy would oppose the death penalty for whoever the killer is, this article can be read to imply the suspect is the killer. Future editions should make that clear.]

Good news out of Montana: The state senate passed a bill abolishing the death penalty.

With a 27 to 23 vote, Montana State senators on Tuesday approved a bill that would abolish capital punishment. Montana is one of 36 states that currently has the death penalty and bill sponsor, Democrat Dave Wanzenried of Missoula, hopes that will change. His bill would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The reasoning: [More...]