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July 20, 2024

Rounding up some notable recent sentencing and prison pieces

A couple of busy weeks has meant I have not had time to flag some newsworthy and noteworthy sentencing and prison stories.  So, making up for lost time, here is a small (and incomplete) round up of some stories catching my eye:

From Alaska News Source, "Resigned Alaska federal judge had conflict of interest in 23 criminal cases, federal prosecutors say"

From the Daily Caller, "‘Could Very Well Be A Death Sentence’: Jonathan Turley Says Bob Menendez Faces Long Prison Stay After Conviction"

From The Hill, "FCC votes to lower call rates for incarcerated people"

From the Los Angees Times, "Can chess games and toilet paper change prison culture? Inside San Quentin’s big experiment"

From Mother Jones, "Has Prison Programming Recovered from Covid?"

From NPR, "Women don’t have equal access to college in prison. Here’s why"

From the Tampa Bay Times, "DeSantis increased executions during his campaign. Then he slowed down."

From The Vera Institute, "The Double Standard of Donald Trump’s Court Sentencing"

July 20, 2024 at 08:11 AM | Permalink

Comments

The DeSantis story (at least the lead paragraphs) miss the most important question -- how many "execution ready" cases are there. I know from my own state's experience that -- after a de facto moratorium is lifted -- there are typically multiple individuals who have completed federal habeas review who can legally be executed. Once you get past that group, however, the pace of execution is driven by when the federal courts finish the habeas process. In Missouri, starting in November 2013, we had eighteen executions over the next two years. Since January 2016, we have had thirteen. Nothing changed in terms of the desire of the Attorney Generals and Missouri Supreme Court (which schedules executions) to schedule executions. We just haven't had people to execute. (We have, so far, had two executions this year, with a third set for September and maybe one more for November or December (or maybe into 2025).

It would be one thing if there are people waiting for execution warrants and DeSantis just isn't setting execution dates. It's something else if there is nobody for whom an execution warrant could be issued.

Posted by: tmm | Jul 20, 2024 10:24:05 AM

tmm: Since you seem to be from Missouri, I want to write briefly about the conduct of the Missouri Attorney General, who has tried to prevent the release from prison of a woman who was exonerated after 43 years in prison for a murder conviction. She has served more time in prison than any other exonerated woman in American history. At the time she was interrogated by the police, she was a highly sedated patient in a psychiatric hospital and she was not represented by counsel. No evidence connects her to the homicide but her own "confession". The Missouri Attorney General removed the local prosecutors, who agreed that the defendant should be released from prison. He pursued the case through the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that the defendant satisfied the conditions for exoneration and should be released from prison. But then he called the Warden where the woman was incarcerated and told him not to release her. He wanted her to begin serving a 10-year sentencing for cutting a prison guard with a razor blade in 1996. But that assumes that her 43 years was a valid sentence for a valid crime, even though she had already been exonerated for that conviction. The Missouri Supreme Court finally put it's foot down and told the A.G> that unless she was released by 6 p.m. Friday, the Court would hold a criminal contempt hearing for the A.G. on Tuesday morning. So, faced with jail himself, the A.G. finally backed down and the woman was released late on Friday afternoon. The Missouri Supreme Court should still hold a contempt hearing against the A.G. for telling the Warden to ignore the Court's Order and not release her. And they should file a Complaint against him with the Missouri Bar Association. His conduct in this case is just reprehensible.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jul 20, 2024 12:00:48 PM

Sometimes, criminal cases can offer humor. Seen this morning on the website for the Fayette County (Kentucky) Detention Center: 21-year-old defendant is charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun. MEMO space says: "Defendant shot himself." You just can't make this stuff up!

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jul 20, 2024 12:03:47 PM

Jim. I would rather not comment too much on the current AG as we have had our own issues with him and the habeas unit, and I have dealt with all of the players in this particular case in different matters.

Though to be fair to the people in the habeas unit, the Missouri Supreme court did not rule on the merits of the case. The Missouri Supreme Court just turned down the AG's request to deny bond while the AG is having the Court of Appeals review the trial court decision. The order to show cause came from the trial judge, not the Missouri Supreme Court, and is technically directed to the Warden.

And the local prosecutor was not removed from the case by the AG. All habeas cases are handled by the AG's office not by the local prosecutor. Our AG's office has taken the position in most criminal cases that they will fight all habeas and actual innocence petitions. In a different case that I have mentioned several times recently, they have just asked the Missouri Supreme Court to rule that the actual innocence statute (allowing the local prosecutors to initiate the review) does not apply to capital cases because only the Missouri Supreme Court has the power to stay an execution.

Posted by: tmm | Jul 20, 2024 5:52:05 PM

tmm: Wow, you have your hands full with those folks in the Missouri A.G.'s office. My understanding from reading news article was that the local prosecutors who had tried the case were in favor of exoneration and setting aside the conviction, but the A.G.'s office refused to agree with them. My sense of what you have revealed about the Missouri Supreme Court being the only ones who can Grant a Stay of Execution is that the defense lawyers should be pleased to present their actual innocence arguments to the Supreme Court, even if just to get the stay and have to turn around and make the same arguments to the Trial/Sentencing Judge.

Here in Kentucy, our new (for 1 year now) Republican Attorney General, Russell Coleman (former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky and a close political ally of Senator Mitch McConnell) has gotten new Death Penalty [Lethal Injection] Regulations put in place so that he can move to vacate the Injunction against lethal injection executions that has been in place in Kentucky for the last 14 years. While the Franklin Circuit Court Judge agreed that the new Regs appear to satisfy the concerns he placed in his Order 14 year ago, he is letting the injunction remain in place while opponents appeal the new Regulations. Kentucky only has 25 people on death row and has executed only 5 people since 1954. But one man has been on death row for 40 years, and the current Republican A.G. wants to get back to executing people and bringing closure to the victims' families. One condemned man killed two Sheriffs who came to his home with an arrest warrant with an automatic assault rifle. In Kentucky, you pretty much have to be the worst of the worst to make it to Death Row. There is political pressure on Gov. Andy Beshear, who himself served as Attorney General, to commute all death sentences to life without parole when his 4-year term is nearly over, since he is term barred from seeking re-election. He may next run for Mitch McConnell's U.S. Senate seat.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jul 24, 2024 1:15:20 PM

Jim, the problem in the capital case is that the actual innocence claims mirror claims previously raised. Missouri Supreme Court has already denied the stay on the basis that there is no reasonable likelihood of success on the actual innocence motion.

Not sure about position of local prosecutor in Hemme as that was a straight habeas case with actual innocence and Brady claims.

Our legislature, about three years ago, gave local prosecutors the power to file actual innocence motions. So far, three cases have had hearings, and the AG is 0-3 on the merits and has not conceded any actual innocence case. Given the advice on the merit given to the local judge by the Missouri Supreme Court in the capital case, they might finally win one if they can find time to actually prepare for that hearing instead of fighting the State of New York.

Posted by: tmm | Jul 24, 2024 2:21:45 PM

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