Jackson Free Press

After many years of extolling the virtues of the death penalty and cheering on the state with gleeful editorials about prisoners about to "ride the needle," The Clarion-Ledger is suddenly acknowledging that just maybe, possibly the criminal-justice system in Mississippi might not be perfect. It's good to see them at this place, finally, but they don't really have any choice now that the Innocence Project has come to the state and is exposing questionable autopsies and "bite mark" testimony that has sent so many people to prison in Mississippi. And that includes death row.

The long-overdue exonerations of Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks Friday proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the system in Mississippi is broken, and not a single additional execution should proceed in this state until that system is aired out, investigated and repaired. The Clarion-Ledger needs to devote real investigative attention to these matters, and not just follow and report after the fact the work of the Innocence Project. The Gannett Corp. has the resources, and it should take time out from forming a superficial online "information center" and investigate what has going for many years in this state, while that newspaper has turned its back on real reporting. If that means sending in investigative reporting expertise from another corporate paper, so be it. There is no greater need in this country right now than figuring out who is prison in this state for crimes he or she did not commit.

And the men who run the Ledger locally, and who write those frothing, blood-thirsty editorials need to take the lead in this state, find a backbone and call for a moratorium on the death penalty immediately. Anything less is a seriously abrogation of journalistic duty, under the circumstances.

Previous Commentsshow

I'm not sure if the Ledge has the guts to call for a moratorium. Even if they did, would it make a difference to Haley Barbour? Death-penalty supporters are a harden bunch and think that any delay of it is justice denied. Now is a good time to ask my fellow Christians who support the death penalty: What Would Jesus Do?

golden eagle

Feb 17 2008

I wrote a page about that. Excerpt: "Jesus repeatedly denounces violence in the Gospels (most explicitly in Matthew 5:38-39/Luke 6:27-28 and Matthew 26:52), and personally interrupts a biblically sanctioned execution (John 8:3-11), which would seem to indicate clear opposition to capital punishment. "Defenders of the death penalty point to Jesus' remarks in support of traditional Jewish law (Matthew 5:18) and the authority of earthly governments (Matthew 22:21)." Re the idea of a moratorium, capital punishment is one area where Mississippi is surprisingly not as bad off as many other states, including some (such as California and Florida) with a higher percentage of death penalty opponents. The biggest problem in Mississippi, I feel, is not that we execute an exceptionally high number of people (8 since 1976, according to DPIC), but rather that indigent defense is not better funded. The Innocence Project is wonderful, but the fact that there even has to be so much Innocence Project work in Mississippi shows the limitations of our criminal justice system as it currently stands.

Tom Head

Feb 17 2008

I would also add, by the way, that Mississippi is effectively under a moratorium right now pending the Supreme Court's ruling in Baze v. Rees, and any legislation that might be necessary to accommodate same.

Tom Head

Feb 17 2008

And the men who run the Ledger locally, and who write those frothing, blood-thirsty editorials need to take the lead in this state, find a backbone and call for a moratorium on the death penalty immediately. As long as Sid Salter has control of editorial comment on capital punishment, that isn't likely to happen. Reading between the lines, the rest of the C-L editorial board has basically surrendered that issue to him. Where are you, David Hampton? The idea of sending Jerry Mitchell into the exoneration issue is a good one, although it's not exactly what you called for. Give him the time and resources and there might be some decent work done. But at the same time, the editorial page will probably still push the death penalty.

GenShermansGhost

Feb 17 2008

Quick plug, if that's allowed: Mississippians Educating for Smart Justice (MESJ) will have its regular monthly meeting on Monday, February 18 @ 5:15. Room 5, Christian Student Center, Millsaps. We will be discussing what can be done to follow up on the Brooks/Brewer cases, and other related topics.

GenShermansGhost

Feb 17 2008

The biggest problem in Mississippi, I feel, is not that we execute an exceptionally high number of people (8 since 1976, according to DPIC), but rather that indigent defense is not better funded. Amen, Tom. And kudos on the excellent discussion of the issue on the page you linked. You might be interested in a bill on indigent defense currently pending in the Judiciary A committee of the State House of Representatives. HB 1015, drafted by Bob Evans (who has done a great job in criminal defense in Lawrence County), would establish several District Public Defender Pilot Projects in different parts of the state. These offices would mirror the DA in number of assistants, investigators and a “social service provider” for each Victim Assistance Coordinator. Salaries and benefits would also mirror the DA. To pre-empt some of the inevitable opposition, the positions of the Prosecutor’s Association and the Circuit Judges Association were taken into consideration in the drafting of the bill. In most respects, including the appointment of the chief defender by the senior circuit judge, this proposed law is consistent with the existing public defender law, 25-32-1 through 25-32-19, which is optional for counties. This is a very realistic bill which would take us one step closer to "equal justice under law."

GenShermansGhost

Feb 17 2008

That sounds fantastic, chief. And don't forget: If Baze v. Rees overturns the three-drug lethal injection cocktail, capital punishment will be a huge issue during the next legislative session as Mississippi adopts another form of execution. Right now, Nebraska is experimenting with that as we speak--single-drug veterinary euthanasia seems to be the form of execution that's gaining the most traction. Unless the Supremes uphold the current lethal injection method in Baze, I don't see any executions on the horizon for Mississippi until at least mid-2009 because it's going to take that long for the state to legislatively approve a new execution method, unless it's addressed during a special session. So we have a small window of opportunity, potentially, to work with here. The question I see asked re: moratoria in other states is "What will you do during the moratorium?" Because a moratorium is pitched sort of like a surge--"we should take time off to resolve problem X, then we can address the question of whether to resume executions." I don't think the Mississippi State Legislature is going to simply put an indefinite hold on executions. Wish it would, but I don't see how. That would be tantamount to getting a civil unions bill passed in terms of difficulty.

Tom Head

Feb 17 2008

GenSherm, HB 1015 sounds VERY exciting--thank you for bringing it to my attention! URL here: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB1015.xml The biggest challenge may be getting it through Judiciary A in the Senate, but it looks like the kind of sensible legislation that could potentially end up on the books.

Tom Head

Feb 17 2008

Good news: HB 1015 has bassed through House Judiciary A and is still alive in this years' legislative session!

GenShermansGhost

Feb 19 2008

That's wonderful.

DonnaLadd

Feb 19 2008

"Jesus repeatedly denounces violence in the Gospels (most explicitly in Matthew 5:38-39/Luke 6:27-28 and Matthew 26:52), and personally interrupts a biblically sanctioned execution (John 8:3-11), which would seem to indicate clear opposition to capital punishment. Yep. Let he that is without sin cast the first stone, and make sure he does it while he's in his glass house. Whenever I hear or read that story about the woman nearly being stoned to death for adultery, I always wondered where the man was. From what I remember about the Mosaic Law, both of them were supposed to be stoned, right? If so, the elders' judgment was unjust from the start.

LatashaWillis

Feb 19 2008

Indeed. And the remarkable thing--or maybe not--about public stonings is that where they are still practiced in the developing world, women are still generally the only victims. In my Bible book, I referred to a feminist theologian (can't remember which one, exactly) who suggested that the words Jesus wrote in the sand could have been "Where is the man?"

Tom Head

Feb 19 2008

Men and women don't get stoned for the same thing, L.W. Never have. We've always been "stoned," in one way or another, for challenging men and patriarchal views. The only response is to keep challenging. Silence can never be an option.

DonnaLadd

Feb 19 2008

Agreed. But casting stones--no matter who the victim is--is never a good idea.

Tom Head

Feb 19 2008

Yep, women have historically "caught it" more than men. A good example is promiscuity. What men get called and what women get called, well...

LatashaWillis

Feb 19 2008

That is true. If a man is messing around with three or four women, he's called a stud. But let a woman mess around with three or four men, she's called a slut. That's not right. I didn't mean to sidetrack the subject at hand, so steer it back before it gets out of control.

golden eagle

Feb 19 2008

Here's a little detail that just kills me about all of the 'ledge reporting on these cases: They repeat over and over again that Kenny Brewer was on death row for 10 years. That's not correct and could have been fact checked with one phone call. Brewer was arrested in 1992, and sat in county jail until he was tried and convicted in 1995. He was on death row from 1995 until 2002, when the district attorney acted on the 2001 DNA testing and vacated the conviction. The original charge was never dismissed, however, and because Brewer still had the death penalty hanging over his head, he was again held in county jail until August of 2007 when he was released on bond. So much for the right of a speedy trial. Brewer was in jail waiting for a trail for nine of last 16 years. He was on death row for approximately seven years.

Ronni_Mott

Feb 20 2008

On SLATE: http://www.slate.com/id/2184798/nav/tap3/

Willezurmacht

Feb 21 2008