Death Penalty (Also see Criminal Justice)

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PART 2 of “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

April 15, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The December 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV program is PART 2 (following up on the November episode) of the topic, “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World.”  The November program focused especially on problems with worldview that has been dominating the U.S., and the December program focuses more on solutions and how to achieve them. Cable TV subscribers in Thurston County WA can watch the December program on TCTV channel 22 three times a week all month long:  every Monday at 1:30 pm, every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and every Thursday at 9:00 pm. Links for […]

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Abolish WA’s death penalty! Here is my testimony to a State Legislative Committee about this.

February 27, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

On Monday February 24, 2020, I testified to the committee of the Washington State House of Representatives that was considering the State Senate’s SB 5339, which the Senate had passed.  It would repeal the law underlying Washington State’s death penalty.  The law remained on the books even though our WA State Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY ruled it unconstitutional in October 2018 because of its long history of pervasive racism. The legislative committee hearing allowed only two minutes of testimony from each person, so I summarized my testimony VERY BRIEFLY from the thoughtful, informative testimony I had prepared. Here is the full […]

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WA State moves closer to abolishing the death penalty!

February 23, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The WA State House of Representatives committee hearing will occur on MON FEB 24, 2020, and more action will occur on THURS FEB 27. The Washington State Senate has already passed SB 5339 to abolish the death penalty, and the House Public Safety Committee will hold its hearing on SB 5339 on Monday February 24, 2020, at 1:30 pm in Hearing Room D of the O-Brien Building (slightly SW of the Capitol Bldg). I will testify to the House committee. Here is a fleshed-out version of what I will say to the committee during the brief time allotted to each […]

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GOOD NEWS! WA State Senate passed SB 5339 to repeal WA’s death penalty law.

February 8, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

On Friday January 31, 2020, the Washington State Senate passed SB 5339 to repeal our state’s death penalty law.  The final vote was virtually identical to last year: 28 yea; 18 nay; 3 excused. In 2019 the State Senate had passed SB 5339, but it never received a vote on the House floor.  Now during the second year of the Legislature’s 2-year cycle, the bill was sent back to the Senate Rules Committee and had to pass the Senate again in order to move to the House. Please urge the House Public Safety Committee to hold a hearing on SB […]

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Worldwide and in the U.S. the public has turned against the death penalty, but Trump insists on more federal executions.

December 8, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Worldwide, the trend has been against the death penalty.  More and more nations have abolished it.  Some nations that still retain their laws allowing the death penalty have stopped using it. The UK’s Amnesty International published a report at the end of 2017 that death sentences and actual executions are both DECLINING in the world:   https://www.amnesty.org.uk/report-executions-death-penalty-2017?utm_campaign=MEMA1645_UPD_DPEN_Death%20penalty%20report&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Campaigns&utm_content=1097     American public opinion is turning against the death penalty!  More states have abolished the death penalty — or have stopped using it without repealing their laws. A 2017 public opinion poll showed U.S. support for the death penalty is the lowest since […]

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Texas stays the execution of an INNOCENT man

November 16, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

On Friday November 15, 2019, the Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas indefinitely stayed Rodney Reed’s execution. Now his case will go back to the trial court where the false testimony and innocence claims will be considered before any further action is taken. Massive public pressure forced the State of Texas to stay the execution of Rodney Reed, who is ALMOST CERTAINLY INNOCENT.  His case will go back to court for further consideration.  This good news occurred ONLY because MILLIONS OF PEOPLE signed petitions and THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE phoned Texas’s decision-makers and HUNDREDS OF EVENTS AND VIGILS called for the […]

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Texas plans to execute Rodney Reed, even though he is VERY LIKELY INNOCENT!

October 26, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Let’s help to prevent Texas from executing Rodney Read, who is VERY LIKELY INNOCENT! He is another black man convicted and sentenced to die by an all-white jury. Strong evidence supports his claim that he is innocent – and that a white man killed the victim. See this information: https://truthout.org/articles/the-fight-to-save-rodney-reed-from-execution-in-texas/      

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Extreme racial bias and the death penalty: North Carolina’s experience

September 22, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

A landmark case exposes rampant racial bias in the death penalty.  Several years ago, North Carolina briefly had the “Racial Justice Act” as part of its law.  It would explicitly allow defendants to argue racial bias in their cases in ways that had not been allowed before — and were not allowed in other state.  But after a short time, North Carolina’s Legislature repealed it.  Now racial bias in jury selection and other aspects of the death penalty system is rampant again.  See this article:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/24/landmark-us-case-to-expose-rampant-racial-bias-behind-the-death-penalty   The ACLU provides this additional information about North Carolina’s experiment with a “Racial […]

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Trump appointed MANY, MANY judges — young right-wing extremists who will enforce Trumpism for MANY DECADES into the future.

September 14, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Trump and the Republicans do NOT want an honest government that will function properly and serve the public interest (by protecting consumers, the environment, social justice, constitutional rights, etc.), Trump and the Republicans DO want government to perform the bad functions (military violence, cruelty to immigrants, violations of human rights in the U.S. and worldwide, massive imprisonment, etc.). Accordingly, Trump has refused to fill many vacancies for high-level federal positions that serve diplomacy, the environment, and other useful functions.  Now the Federal Elections Commission — which is responsible for making sure elections are fair — is prevented from functioning because […]

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A landmark case exposes rampant racial bias in the death penalty.

September 4, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

North Carolina briefly had the “Racial Justice Act” as part of its law, but the Legislature repealed it, and racial bias is rampant again. Racial bias in jury selection, for example, is rampant. See this article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/24/landmark-us-case-to-expose-rampant-racial-bias-behind-the-death-penalty   MORE INFORMATION about North Carolina’s “Racial Justice Act” — 6 death penalty cases are being appealed now. See this article: https://www.naacpldf.org/press-release/ldf-to-argue-death-penalty-cases-before-north-carolina-supreme-court?track=DE20H30&utm_source=1908supporterupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fy20supporterupdate    

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Short article: The currently dominant worldview is hurting our society in many ways.

September 4, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Our society is suffering in many, many ways.  The problems are all around us — and they are interconnected.  They are rooted in a worldview that has been dominating the U.S. (and some other nations) increasingly in recent decades. I wrote a long article about this.  Here is a very short article that summarizes a few of the main points.  I published it in a recent issue of Works in Progress (www.olywip.org): This currently dominant worldview is hurting us.            

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More news on death penalty — and a PETITION YOU CAN SIGN to abolish it

July 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Despite Faulty Drugs & Racist Implementation, Trump Is Bringing Back the Federal Death Penalty:  The radio broadcast and website “Democracy Now!” reported this news and information on July 29, 2019:  https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/26/trump_administration_federal_death_penalty_announcement?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=9399cc86c2-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-9399cc86c2-191704661     For more information on Attorney General William Barr’s promotion of federal death penalty, see the second news item in this collection of news items.  The death penalty article includes some links for additional information.  https://www.truthdig.com/articles/barr-injects-death-penalty-into-the-2020-race/     California’s vigorous non-profit org working to abolish the death penalty is called Death Penalty Focus (www.deathpenalty.org).  On July 29, 2019, they reported that even though California’s Governor imposed a moratorium […]

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Trump’s Atty. Gen. Barr revives federal death penalty and will start executing people again

July 26, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

On July 25, 2019, this bad news came out.   Brand New Congress (www.brandnewcongress.org) reported this: Earlier today, Attorney General William Barr ordered the reinstatement of the federal death penalty for the first time in 16 years. Only 3 federal executions have taken place since 1988. Despite this, the Trump Administration has authorized executions may take place as early as December of 2019. The death penalty is an inhumane practice. It doesn’t deter. It doesn’t rehabilitate. It isn’t moral. It only punishes. It’s time for America to ban legalized murder.  … We have watched this Administration openly peddle in racism […]

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Other states’ progress toward abolishing the death penalty

July 4, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

A strategically smart way to reduce the death penalty’s usage is to change laws to exempt people with severe mental illness.  See a page of information I wrote in 2005 and updated in 2013.  It’s at this link:  Mental Illness – Evolving Standards – April 2005 handout I have been pushing for that for many years, and I got the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to push for such legislation.  Although we got a committee hearing a number of years ago, the bill did not pass out of committee. Some other states have been considering this approach.  One […]