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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

An Examination of Abolition of the Death Penalty in New Jersey

Posted on March 20, 2008
On April 14, Seton Hall Law School and several co-sponsors will host a day-long symposium, "Legislation, Litigation, Reflection, and Repeal: The Legislative Repeal of Capital Punishment in New Jersey. The event will be held at Seton Hall Law School in...

Two Items from Orin Kerr

Posted on March 20, 2008
I'm catching up on looking through the Essential Law Blogs, and two recent Orin Kerr posts on Volokh caught my eye. First, this commentary on the Rothgery oral argument. It concludes with: In the end, I suspect that this is...

Cutting the Prison Rate Safely

Posted on March 20, 2008
That's the title of an OpEd in today's Washington Post co-authored by Texas state Senator John Whitmire and John Vratil, Vice-President of the Kansas Senate. LINK The news that more than 1 in 100 adults in our country are behind...

Mississippi Legislation

Posted on March 20, 2008
The alt-weekly Jackson Free Press reports, "Dealing Death." The Senate passed a bill that expands the use of the death penalty in the state. Senate Bill 2921 provides that multiple murders in a single incident or a murder committed in...

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Maryland Legislation

Posted on March 20, 2008
From Maryland, the Washington Post reports, "Death Penalty Remains Issue of Debate." The state's death penalty statute continues to spark controversy. Lawmakers in Annapolis are expected to vote soon on two measures related to the death penalty -- one to...

Legislation in Georgia

Posted on March 20, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, "House approves controversial death penalty bill." Imposing the death penalty in Georgia would take only 10 of 12 jurors under an amended bill approved by the state House Wednesday. The controversial amendment would change the way...

Additioinal News Coverage of Snyder v. Louisiana

Posted on March 20, 2008
In addition to news coverage linked at this post yesterday, additional coverage is below. The SCOTUS wiki page is here, and the opinion is here. More on Batson v. Kentucky, via Oyez, is here. Linda Greenhouse reports, "Court Details Opposition...

Additional News Coverage of Rodney Reed Hearing

Posted on March 20, 2008
Molly Bloom reports, "Rodney Reed's lawyers tell appeals court that he deserves a new trial," in the Austin American-Statesman. If a Bastrop County jury had heard all of the evidence in the 1998 trial of Rodney Reed, the jurors would...

Miller-El Case Ends With Plea Agreement

Posted on March 20, 2008
There is more than a little irony in the fact that the Thomas Miller-El case settled with a plea agreement on the same day that the Supreme Court revisited race and the death penalty in Snyder v. Louisiana and the...

Alabama Legislation

Posted on March 19, 2008
Today's Birmingham News has the editorial, "Alabama legislators should pass a bill that would require judges to have at least a few years of legal experience." Given a choice, most of us would prefer that a judge not be the...

An Update on Rodney Reed

Posted on March 19, 2008
Every seat in the Court of Criminal Appeals' courtroom was filled today. and a line of his supporters stood outside the door. All the local television stations were on the scene, as well as other print and broadcast journalists. KUT-FM's...

Initial News Coverage of Snyder v. Louisiana

Posted on March 19, 2008
Todya's earlier post on the decision in Snyder v. Louisiana (06-10119) is here. The opinion is here. More on Batson v. Kentucky, via Oyez, is here. In the New York Times David Stout reports, "Justices Overturn Louisiana Death Sentence." The...

Death Penalty for Rape Doesn't Protect Children

Posted on March 19, 2008
That's the title of an editorial in today's Denver Post concerning a death penalty bill Colorado legislators are considering. LINK A bill pending in the Colorado Senate that would authorize a death sentence on a second conviction of raping a...

Snyder v. Louisiana Victory

Posted on March 19, 2008
SCOTUS Blog's Lyle Denniston reports, "Court finds flaws in La. jury choice." The case is Snyder v. Louisiana (06-10119). The opinion is here. Here is an extended excerpt of Lyle's initial report. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Wednesday that...

Rodney Reed Hearing at Court of Criminal Appeals

Posted on March 18, 2008
Tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m., the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will hear oral argument as to whether the conviction and death sentence of Rodney Reed should be overturned because of mounting evidence of Reed?s innocence. Reed is represented by...

Rothgery Transcript

Posted on March 18, 2008
The transcript in Rothgery v. Gillespie County is here. Earlier coverage is here, here, and here.

In Montgomery County

Posted on March 18, 2008
Renee Lee reports, "Montgomery DA says funds used for liquor." After a month of denying rumors, Montgomery County District Attorney Michael McDougal now admits that money from his drug forfeiture account was used to buy alcohol for a community event....

How to Build an Execution Chamber

Posted on March 18, 2008
That's the title of a report by Dan Gorenstein that aired today on New Hampshire Public Radio. You can listen to the report at this LINK. Here's the introduction: he New Hampshire Department of Corrections has a lot of work...

Latest Harris Interactive Polling on Death Penalty

Posted on March 18, 2008
Harris Interactive has released its latest polling on death penalty attitudes. A news release, via Business Wire, is here; it includes several tables. Over the past few years there have been many high profile cases where those on death row...

News Coverage of Troy Davis Ruling

Posted on March 18, 2008
The New York Times reports, "Georgia Court Refuses New Trial in Death Penalty Case." In a split decision, the Georgia Supreme Court refused Monday to allow a new trial for a man sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of...

Also from Georgia

Posted on March 17, 2008
More developments in the state's indigent defense funding crisis as reported in Saturday's Fort Mill Times, "Georgia's death penalty lawyers leaving amid budget crunch." The Georgia Capital Defenders Office was seen as a promising national model when it opened its...

The Troy Davis Case in Georgia

Posted on March 17, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has, "Condemned cop killer denied new trial." The Georgia state Supreme Court ruling is here. The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday, by a 4-3 vote, rejected Troy Anthony Davis' bid for a new trial, keeping the condemned...

The Cost of Justice

Posted on March 17, 2008
That's the title of an editorial in Friday's Amarillo Globe-News. LINK Potter County commissioners approved $44,000 Monday for legal expenses related to the death sentence of Jimmie Lucero, who was convicted and sentenced to die in 2003 for blasting to...

Another Rothgery Preview

Posted on March 17, 2008
Marcia Coyle reports, "Right to counsel probed by justices," in today's National Law Journal. Rothgery v. Gillespie County is being argued in the Supreme Court right now. The transcript should be available later today, here. The rights of one man...

The Federal Judiciary

Posted on March 14, 2008
Legal Times reports, "Stalemate Over Judicial Nominations Dampens Bush Legacy." With just about 10 months left in his term, President George W. Bush is on track to leave office with fewer of his picks on the federal bench than his...

Nebraska Legislation

Posted on March 14, 2008
JoAnne Young reports, "Death penalty debate to begin March 25," in the Lincoln Journal Star. State senators will begin debating on March 25 whether Nebraska should have a death penalty for certain first-degree murder cases. Since the Nebraska Supreme Court...

Indigent Defense in Ohio

Posted on March 14, 2008
The Chillicothe Gazatte reports, "Changes to public defense system to come." Changes have been promised in the state public defender's office that the office's new leader said will help counties like Ross and Pike provide better representation to lower-income defendants...

In Maryland

Posted on March 14, 2008
The Hagerstown Herald-Mail has, "Md. House Republicans lobby O'Malley to keep death penalty." House Republicans on Thursday renewed their push to keep Maryland's death penalty and for Gov. Martin O'Malley to remove an obstacle so it may be carried out...

South Dakota Legislation

Posted on March 14, 2008
The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan reports, "Notable Bills Still On Rounds' Desk." Saturday is the deadline for Gov. Mike Rounds to take action on a couple of dozen notable bills the Legislature passed before beginning its two-week recess Feb....

Indigent Defense in Georgia

Posted on March 14, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, " Public defender bill clears hurdle." A key state Senate committee on Thursday approved legislation that defense attorneys say would increase jail costs and deprive poor people charged with crime speedy access to a lawyer...

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