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Criminal Law

StandDown Texas Project

Texas-centric examination of conditions, reform initiatives, and emerging issues related to best practices in the indigent criminal justice system with particular attention to issues involving capital punishment and the administration of the death penalty.
By StandDown Texas Project

Post Frequency: 49.3/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:21:29

Profile of Ronald Rodgers

Posted on May 27, 2008
Today's Washington Post reports, "Awaiting New Pardon Attorney: Backlog and Chance to Make Mark," by Carrie Johnson. In three decades of government service, Ronald L. Rodgers has gathered intelligence to prosecute drug rings and has navigated international tensions as a...

The American Law Institute on Capital Punishment

Posted on May 27, 2008
The latest ALI e-rporter has this: Capital Punishment Status Report Now Available A written status report on whether the Institute should address the issue of capital punishment will be mailed to all members with the ALI Annual Reports by the...

Death Penalty Protocols

Posted on May 27, 2008
That's the title of an editorial in today's Baltimore Sun, subtitled, "Our view: Repeal of the law must be pursued." Gov. Martin O'Malley has reluctantly set in motion the process to resume state executions. He didn't really have much of...

Joe Allen, 1940-2008

Posted on May 26, 2008
Today's Austin American-Statesman has this obituary for former Texas State Representative Joe Allen. He served in the Texas Legislature, with true distinction, from 1966-1979. He was one of the "Dirty 30," a bi-partisan group of progressive members of the Texas...

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NYT on 'At the Death House Door'

Posted on May 26, 2008
"His Life With the Deaths That the State Carried Out," is the title of Felicia Lee's review of the documentary, "At the Death House Door," in Tuesday's New York Times. The documentary premieres Thursday on cable channel IFC. A lonely...

Virginia Execution Scheduled for Tuesday

Posted on May 26, 2008
The Virginian Pilot reports, "Death sentence appeal centers on killer's mental capacity." Kevin Green, the attacker that day, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday night. Vaughan, who plans to attend with his two daughters, wonders what took so long. "He...

Lethal Injection Round-Up

Posted on May 26, 2008
The Kansas City Star's Tony Rizzo reports, " Anesthesiologist joins Missouri's execution team, violating ethical guidelines." Despite the medical profession?s ethical guidelines against it, an anesthesiologist has joined the team that will carry out executions in Missouri...

Will Death Become the Exception, Not the Rule

Posted on May 26, 2008
That's the title of an article in today's Houston Chronicle by Mike Tolson. LINK If there was one thing that was all but certain in the world of Houston criminal justice, it was that someone who killed a law enforcement...

Michael Blair Case Unravels

Posted on May 26, 2008
That's the title of an editorial in Sunday's Dallas Morning News. LINK Collin County District Attorney John Roach's decision yesterday to fold his hand in the 1993 capital murder case against Michael Blair was the right call. But it should...

Some Thoughts on the Michael Blair Case

Posted on May 23, 2008
Given the Collin County District Attorney's comments earlier today, I think it's accurate to say that Michael Blair will be exonerated of the 1993 murder of seven year-old Ashley Estell. When that happens, Michael Blair will be the 9th person...

Major Developments in Michael Blair Case

Posted on May 23, 2008
Michael Blair's case has been one of Texas' most controversial death sentences since he was convicted. Blair has always maintained his innocence. He was convicted on the basis of hair and fiber analysis prior to the availability of DNA testing....

At IFC

Posted on May 23, 2008
Next Thursday, May 29th, the documentary "At the Death House Door" premieres on the cable channel IFC. You can view the trailer and clips from the documentary at the link. At IFC.com you can view a somewhat satirical examination of...

Cone v. Bell

Posted on May 23, 2008
At SCOTUS Blog, Jason Harrow notes, "Reply Brief in Cone v. Bell." Yesterday, Akin Gump and the Stanford Clinic filed this reply brief in the case of Cone v. Bell. The issue is whether a federal habeas claim is ?procedurally...

At Supreme Court, 5-to-4 Rulings Fade, but Why?

Posted on May 23, 2008
That's the title of Linda Greenhouse's latest Supreme Court Memo in today's New York Times. LINK Where have all the 5-to-4 decisions gone? And whatever happened to the ?Kennedy Court?? A year ago at this time, the Supreme Court had...

Maryland Governor Requests Lethal Injection Regulations

Posted on May 23, 2008
In the Baltimore Sun, Jennifer McMenamin and Laura Smitherman report, "O'Malley OKs step toward executions." Gov. Martin O'Malley moved yesterday toward ending Maryland's moratorium on executions, saying he "sadly" ordered the drafting of procedures for executing inmates by lethal injection...

More on the Georgia Commutation

Posted on May 23, 2008
Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the updated report, "Georgia murderer's execution halted at last minute." In just the third time out of 24 requests since 1995, the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board on Thursday commuted a death sentence, just hours before...

Commutation in Georgia

Posted on May 22, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted the death sentence of Samuel David Crowe, stopping tonight's scheduled execution. LINK The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on Thursday commuted the death sentence of admitted...

Lethal Injection Round-Up

Posted on May 22, 2008
Last night, Mississippi executed Earl Berry. Reuters has this report, which notes that Berry's was the eighth execution in Mississippi since executions resumed in America in 1977. It was the second execution in the nation this year; the 1,101st in...

An Update on Anthony Graves

Posted on May 22, 2008
Anthony Graves continues to await a new trial, after his conviction and death sentence were overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct more than two years ago. In today's Houston Chronicle, Harvey Rice reports, "Judge to allow dead witness's testimony...

More on Quintero Sentence

Posted on May 22, 2008
Rosanna Ruiz reports, "Quintero didn't expect to be spared after slaying," in th e Houston Chronicle While the verdict may have been shocking to some, it was not the first time a person was convicted of capital murder of a...

Wrongful Convictions an Expensive Proposition

Posted on May 22, 2008
That's the title of Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial board member Linda Campbell's latest column. LINK But for those who still aren't convinced by those worthy arguments that Texas needs more safeguards against wrongful convictions, there's still the bottom line...

Mississippi Execution Allowed

Posted on May 21, 2008
That's the title of Lyle Denniston's latest post at SCOTUS Blog on the scheduled execution of Earl Berry. The Supreme Court refused in late afternoon Wednesday to delay the execution in Mississippi ? scheduled for 6 p.m. ? of Earl...

Plea Raises Issues in Rodney Reed Case

Posted on May 21, 2008
A former law enforcement officer's plea agreement has raised new questions in the controversial case of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed. Isadora Vail reports, "Former Georgetown officer pleads guilty in assault case," in today's Austin American-Statesman...

The Need for a Texas Innocence Commission

Posted on May 21, 2008
Today's Austin American-Statesman carries the editorial, "Texas needs a way to learn from its grave mistakes." Gov. Rick Perry says Texas does not need an innocence commission, which, he asserts, would add an unnecessary bureaucracy to state government...

Pardon Power

Posted on May 21, 2008
I want to highlight a relatively new blog, Pardon Power, maintained by P.S. Ruckman, Associate Professor of Political Science at Rock Valley College in Illinois. I'm adding it to the left-column webroll under More Criminal Justice Web Resources. It's an...

The Berry Case in Mississippi

Posted on May 21, 2008
Observers are watching to see what the Supreme Court does in the case of Earl Berry, scheduled to be executed by Mississippi tonight. While Berry has raised a lethal injection claim, the real question deals with mental retardation. Lyle Denniston...

More Information Sought in Ohio Lethal Injection Challenge

Posted on May 21, 2008
" Accused killers fight to question executioners," is Brad Dicken's report in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Attorneys for two accused killers challenging the state?s lethal injection protocols don?t take no for an answer. Despite Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge?s...

Bob Ray Sanders on Lethal Injection

Posted on May 21, 2008
Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bob Ray Sanders' latest is, "A more humane death for a horse?" Eight Belles, the only filly in this year's Kentucky Derby, was running against the odds. She wasn't supposed to win. The fact that this...

Life Sentence in Harris County Death Penalty Trial

Posted on May 21, 2008
Mike Tolson reports, "Quintero sentencing baffling to many," in today's Houston Chronicle. It sounded like a foolproof recipe for a death sentence: an admired and respected police officer shot in the back by an illegal immigrant whose history included criminal...

In Mississippi

Posted on May 20, 2008
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports, "Update: Berry's attorneys ask hearing on retardation claims." Attorneys for convicted murderer Earl Wesley Berry have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his claims he is mentally retarded and, thus, cannot be put...

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