PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In 2012, Thaman was co-chairman of an American Bar Association committee that found multiple constitutional concerns with how the death penalty was applied in the Missouri criminal justice system.
• That the severely underfunded public defender system — among the lowest in the country — limits effectiveness of counsel.
• That there is no active system of policing prosecutorial misconduct.
• That a lack of tight controls over the witness identification protocol leads to the potential for false testimony.
•
That too many aggravating circumstances listed in the law increase the
opportunities for the death penalty to be applied in arbitrary fashion.
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GIST: "When Pope Francis declared early this month that the death penalty was “an attack” on human dignity in all cases, no matter how heinous the crime, he was doing more than sending a message to the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. He was potentially changing politics in America forever. Thirty-one
states in the U.S. still have the death penalty, though five of those
states are under a moratorium imposed by a governor. Missouri ranks fifth-highest in the nation
with 88 executions since 1976. But in a state in which the Pope’s words
could sway conservative lawmakers, change could be afoot. “I
think the Pope’s condemnation of the death penalty is in line with the
waning support in the U.S.,” said retired St. Louis University law
professor Stephen Thaman. In 2012, Thaman was co-chairman of an American Bar Association committee that found multiple constitutional concerns with how the death penalty was applied in the Missouri criminal justice system.
• That the severely underfunded public defender system — among the lowest in the country — limits effectiveness of counsel.
• That there is no active system of policing prosecutorial misconduct.
• That a lack of tight controls over the witness identification protocol leads to the potential for false testimony.
•
That too many aggravating circumstances listed in the law increase the
opportunities for the death penalty to be applied in arbitrary fashion.
The
report didn’t call for a moratorium but came close. And in the years
since it was presented, it still sits on a shelf collecting dust. There
have been few changes by the Missouri Legislature to address the serious
legal concerns. Paul Litton, an associate dean and professor
at the University of Missouri School of Law, said the recommendation
about Missouri having too many aggravating circumstances was among the
most serious changes if lawmakers wanted to make sure the death penalty,
if used at all, was applied fairly. The
purpose of putting aggravating factors into the law, Litton says, is to
make sure that only the “worst murders” end up being death penalty
cases. “Because
Missouri has so many aggravating factors,” says Litton, who was a
co-chairman of the ABA death penalty assessment team, “the purpose of
them is lost.” He
agrees that the pope’s announcement could have a significant effect on
how Missouri lawmakers view the death penalty. But he points to a local
political result as something that could have a more immediate effect:
Ferguson city councilman Wesley Bell’s defeat last week of longtime St.
Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch. “That’s huge,” Litton said. Bell campaigned on his opposition to the death penalty, which McCulloch long supported. When
former Gov. Eric Greitens last year stopped the execution of convicted
murderer Marcellus Williams and appointed a panel to examine whether
newly discovered DNA in his case could exonerate him, McCulloch was
dismissive, saying there was “zero possibility” that Williams was innocent of the brutal 1998 murder of former Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle. That panel will reconvene later this month. Whether
or not Williams committed the crime, Pope Francis’ new decree says, he
doesn’t deserve to die. The death penalty is now “inadmissible.” That
teaching, officially part of the Catholic catechism, finds itself in
contradiction to majority opinion in the U.S., where 53 percent of
American Catholics still favor the death penalty, according to a Pew
Research Center survey this year. Those findings mirror general findings
for all Americans, though the 2018 findings buck a trend that had death
penalty support drop below 50 percent in 2016. Perhaps the pope’s words will make a difference. As will Bell’s election in St. Louis County. For the next four years, at least, this county will be sending no more men or women to die. In a state that in recent years has been so desperate to send men in prison to their deaths that it bought lethal drugs on the black market using untraceable cash payments, that’s progress."
The entire commentary can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
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