97 Pro Death Penalty Quotes by Attorneys from the U.S.A



The American public possesses a deep-seated sense of right and wrong. It seems that no matter how hard the liberal media and the anti-death penalty elitists try, average citizens continue to believe that those who commit the most heinous murders should face the possibility of the most serious punishment. America’s prosecutors feel that people who violate our laws should suffer the consequences of those acts, and they will continue to do all they can to see that law-breakers are held responsible for their criminal acts. The safety of the public is job # 1 for prosecutors. That is what the public expects and wants.

“Do you feel safe in downtown Detroit? You shouldn't be. Beyond the obvious specific deterrent of executing a killer so he can't kill again, the most recent studies (since 2000) come from a broad base of economists and non-ideological scientists. Their studies include authors who personally oppose capital punishment but cannot deny the findings of their research.”

“Citing a high murder rate in Texas makes as little sense as citing Michigan or the District of Columbia - both places with much higher than average murder rate - as examples of how. Comparing the United States with other countries is equally pointless. There are very stable countries like Switzerland or Japan with low murder rates (one has the death penalty, the other not) or point to countries like Brazil with murder rates much worse than the United States.”

“As someone who has tried both capital and non-capital murder cases, as well as defending similar cases, I can say from direct knowledge that the costs of capital punishment are directly related to the amount of due process given the defendant. The costs exist because we want to be very sure to guarantee that the defendant has every protection.

The only way to "save" money is to cut the defense made available to defendants charged with very serious crimes. I have tried murder cases where the death penalty was NOT available and the costs of the defense were similar to those in death penalty cases.

In places where the death penalty is either legally or effectively abolished the next attack comes on life without parole.

In a 2001 debate at the American Bar Association convention I debated the head of the ACLU. http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=196
During that debate it became clear that if and when the death penalty is off the table the next target is life without parole.”

“What Amnesty International is not telling you is that polling done on capital punishment shows that consistently 65 to 85% of Americans support capital punishment in some cases since the mid-1970s. Support peaked in the 1980s, decreased slightly to about 65% in 2000, but remains about 70%. If the question is asked "Is there ANY crime that merits the death penalty" Americans say yes at a rate of 82%.

There is no question that death penalty cases are decreasing.

Because of decreasing rates of violent crime (including murder) due in no small part to tougher penalties, the number of cases appropriate for the death penalty have decreased.

Both juries and prosecutors are becoming more discriminating about the cases in which the death penalty is applied.”

How Many Innocent Victims are Too Many?

There has never been any doubt that capital punishment is a specific deterrent. The killer who dies cannot kill again, but in the last decade a series of academic studies have shown that executions mean less murder, less innocent victims. This is the number rarely bandied about by those who fashion themselves “abolitionists.” They claim the moral high ground and point to a system they claim is fatally flawed. But they do not speak of what happens when society fails to incapacitate the worst of the worst killers. Since the death penalty was reinstated by the United States Supreme Court in 1976 there have been about 600,000 murders in America and just over 1000 killers executed.

The death penalty is used rarely, as it should be and as the criminal justice improves there are fewer death sentences. This is because prosecutors are being more discriminating about the cases they submit to juries for capital punishment, the Supreme Court has narrowed the categories of murders for which the death penalty is even available as a choice for juries.

As progressive law professor Cass Sunstein says is his paper “Is Capital Punishment Morally Required,” how can we exclude capital punishment if we know with certainty that innocent people will be murdered without it?

The Idea that Many People on Death Row are Innocent is Nonsense: One of the most pernicious urban legends perpetrated by those who oppose capital punishment is that innocent people have been executed and that there have a large number of exonerations. Exoneration means innocent and while there is no question the justice system makes mistakes they are extremely rare. Of almost 10,000 people sentenced to death over the last 30 years exactly 4 have been removed from death row because DNA showed it extremely unlikely they committed the crimes of which they were convicted. The Innocence Project points to just over 200 DNA exonerations in all kinds of serious felonies. The question raised by Justice Scalia in his concurrence in the case of Kansas vs. Marsh was out of what universe. Those are 200 DNA exonerations out of tens of millions of rapes and murder cases.  That would mean an error rate of about one ten thousandths of one percent or putting it another way a success rate of around 99.99%. No human endeavor is without risk and every year tens of thousands of people are killed by mistakes by pharmacists and doctors. Yet we don’t stop medicine or surgery, we seek to improve it and reduce the risk.

The Gary Graham case offers fodder to those who contend that the United States has gotten carried away with enthusiasm for capital punishment. But Joshua Marquis, a member of the board of directors of the National District Attorneys Association, said that the adversarial justice system remains a sound forum on which juries and judges can weigh matters like eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence and make sound convictions short of scientific certainty.

   ``DNA can be a marvelous forensic tool, but it is not a magic bullet,'' Marquis said. ``We must never forget the other, massively larger part of this risk-benefit analysis _ the thousands of truly innocent victims who die at the hands of criminals that the legal system has failed to hold accountable.”

``In this country we have an incredibly elaborate appellate system that recognizes that police, prosecutors, judges, and juries are not infallible,'' he said. ``Opponents . . . are attempting to reshape the discussion in the form of a new urban myth: that our justice system is growing increasingly reckless in its zeal to execute and, worse yet, that significant numbers of innocents are ending up on death row. This is a myth in search of a crisis that doesn't exist.''

 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: “The U.S. in Bad Company.”

Only a handful of countries still execute more prisoners each year than the U.S., including countries such as China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.  Is this the company that we want to keep?

JOSHUA MARQUIS, District Attorney, Media Commentator: “America is NOT a Rogue State.”

Many democracies maintain capital punishment, not the least being India and Japan. The death penalty was abolished in Europe and Euro-centric countries because the European Union made abolition an absolute prerequisite to membership.

Polls of most western European counties show the people of those nations agree with most Americans that the death penalty is appropriate in the worst murders. 

Even some of the states that abolished capital punishment still reserve it as a possibility for war crimes or crimes against humanity, such as the execution of Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg Trials in the late 1940s.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: “The Death Penalty Makes Too Many Mistakes.”

We know that many innocent people have been sent to death row - over 125 have now been released from death row in the U.S. due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. The death penalty is also riddled with racial and economic bias and geographical arbitrariness.   

JOSHUA MARQUIS, District Attorney, Media Commentator: “Innocence on Death Row Rarer than Rabies.”

In discussing capital punishment, words matter. But the idea that death row is "riddled" with innocents is ridiculous.

There is not a single case in the modern era of capital punishment (since 1976) where a person executed has turned out to be factually innocent. There have been 5 people freed from death row because of DNA evidence and 9 more who had ALREADY had their death sentence removed who were later cleared by DNA. Of the approximately 10,000 sentenced to death in the U.S. since 1976 perhaps 30 of them were actually innocent. 

The larger question is how many innocent people will die because we fail to incarerate or execute killers. Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago Law School - a well known "progressive" - makes the case best in "Is Capital Punishment Morally Required, A Life for Life Trade-off."

Sunstein refers to a series of studies (http://www.cjlf.org/deathpenalty/DPDeterrence.htm ) that show that failure to condemn killers results in an unacceptable number of new victims.

 

Parting Thoughts A Just Punishment (Oregon State Bar Bulletin — MAY 2002) - One need not practice criminal law to recognize that even in a crime as bad as murder, these are particularly horrific and are denominated as aggravated murder under Oregon law.

Parting Thoughts A Just Punishment (Oregon State Bar Bulletin — MAY 2002) - Far from signaling ambivalence, these lengthy delays and retrials bear witness to the extreme care given to the most extreme penalty. The death penalty is seldom sought by Oregon prosecutors and even more rarely imposed by juries. It is properly reserved for the worst of the worst. Oregonians understand that there exist some crimes so unspeakable, some men so evil, that a just punishment is the forfeiture of the killer's own life.

The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - In the last ten years the violent crime rate in America, including the murder rate, has decreased dramatically. A series of recent studies by economists showed an undeniable correlation between the death penalty and deterrence.
The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - Some claim that a civilized society must be prepared to allow ten guilty men to walk free in order to spare one innocent. But the well-organized and even better-funded abolitionists cannot point to a single case of a demonstrably innocent person executed in the modem era of American capital punishment.
The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - Instead, let's tally the additional victims of the freed: Nine, killed by Kenneth McDuff, who had been sentenced to die for child murder in Texas and then was freed on parole after the death penalty laws at the time were overturned. One, by Robert Massie of California, also sentenced to die and also paroled. Massie rewarded the man who gave him a job on parole by murdering him less than a year after getting out of prison. One, by Richard Marquette, in Oregon, sentenced to "life" (which until 1994 meant about eight years in Oregon) for abducting and then dismembering women.137 he did so well in a woman-free environment (prison) that he was released-only to abduct, kill and dismember women again.138 Two, by Carl Cletus Bowles, in Idaho, guilty of kidnapping nine people and the murder of a police officer. Bowles escaped during a conjugal visit with a girlfriend, only to abduct and murder an elderly couple.

The victims of these men didn't have "close calls" with death. They are dead. Murdered. Without saying goodbye to their loved ones. Without appeal to the state or the media or Hollywood or anyone's heartstrings.

The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois – Discouraged over polls that have consistently shown public support for capital punishment between sixty-five and eighty-five percent over the last quarter century,140 proponents of the death penalty have decided to tap into an understandable horror that people who are truly innocent of the murder of which they stand convicted are on death row. They are turning into doe eyed innocents the few murderers who have slipped through one of the countless cracks in the law afforded to capital defendants. They want us to believe that any one of us could be snatched at any time from our daily freedoms and sentenced to die because of a false and coerced confession, police corruption, faulty eyewitness identification, botched forensics, prosecutorial misconduct, and shoddy and ill-paid defense counsel.

The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - For those who believe that no rate of error is acceptable, the death penalty can never be "reformed" sufficiently, despite the claims that they are seeking only to insure a fairer system. Yet these same advocates urge the substitution of life without parole, claiming (as is sometimes true) that many inmates consider a life sentence to be worse than execution. Peel back the layers of this reckoning and you'll find these advocates claiming that it is just as horrible to threaten to take away the remaining days of a murderer's life, and therefore we must abolish all long prison sentences as well as the death penalty. In a debate at the American Bar Association's annual convention in Chicago in 2001, I confronted Nadine Strossen of the American Civil Liberties Union on that very question. I asked her, if I would-for the sake of argument-abandon my support for capital punishment, would she, on behalf of the ACLU, affirm her support for sentences of life without possibility of parole? She honestly responded that she could not; that it was an ever-changing political and moral environment. And therein lies the dilemma. If there are people so dangerous, so evil that that they can never be trusted to walk among us, how will we answer to their next victims? What level of risk are the j abolitionists willing to accept for those who will die at the hands of a McDuff, a Marquette, or a Massie?

The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - The number of death sentences is, in fact, decreasing. Criminal sentences for crimes other than murder have become tougher, terms of imprisonment more certain, and perhaps more significantly, the rate of murder is down overall. Prosecutors and juries are properly and appropriately becoming even more discriminating about determining who should die for their crimes. It is a journey not taken lightly.

Likewise, casting the accused as true innocents caught up by a corrupt and uncaring system only discredits a movement that has legitimate moral arguments. Nothing excuses making the victims nameless and faceless, making martyrs out of murderers, and turning killers into victims.

The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - Some may wonder why it should matter if the number of people who were genuinely exonerated is 30 or 150. Many will claim that even one innocent person put to death is an intolerable number, but those who make that argument are demanding an impossibility-a perfect system. Such errors are episodic, not epidemic, and merit the most rigorous review, precisely as occurs in 21st century capital jurisprudence.

But if one of the primary engines in the debate over capital punishment is that wrongful capital convictions are rampant, then the devil is very much in the details. To call a man with blood on his hands innocent stains not only the truth, but calls into question the actual innocence of the fewer number who are truly exonerated.

The Myth Of Innocence published in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology - March 31, 2005 Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois - In a subject as emotionally charged as the death penalty these claims must be made precisely-by all sides. Intellectual honesty is a critical ingredient to a meaningful discussion of this important subject. Death penalty opponents risk losing their credibility when they are reckless with the truth.

American justice is a work in progress, and those of us charged with administering it are well aware that it needs constant improvement. But nothing is gained by deluding the public into believing that the police and prosecutors are trying to send innocent people to prison. Any experienced defense lawyer will concede that he would starve if he accepted only "innocent" clients. Americans should be far more worried about the wrongfully freed than the wrongfully convicted. - The Innocent and the Shammed January 26, 2006

He's a murderer. He should die. December 4, 2005 Los Angeles Times - There are heartfelt moral and religious reasons to oppose capital punishment, but holding up Stanley Tookie Williams as a symbol of redemption is absurd and obscene. It is especially offensive to his victims' families, whose names the celebrities championing his cause probably don't know. News coverage rarely mentions Albert Owens or the Yang family, all gunned down by Williams in a series of crimes in 1979. The Crips' reputed co-founder also bears moral responsibility for the deaths of countless young black men.

He's a murderer. He should die. December 4, 2005 Los Angeles Times - According to a Gallup poll in May, nearly 75% of Americans support capital punishment for murderers. There are some murderers so heinous and so evil that removing them is the measure of the severity of their violation of the social contract. Williams qualifies.

Thursday 9 June 2011 - Clatsop County Attorney Josh Marquis, a death penalty proponent who has prosecuted two capital cases, said capital punishment is an important tool for prosecutors. The threat of a death sentence helps prosecutors secure plea bargains for life without parole, he said, and Oregon hasn't had a history of imposing the death penalty on innocent people.

"It is rarely asked for, it is rarely used and it is rarely imposed," Marquis said.

Sunday 9 October 2011 - Efforts aimed at persuading Oregonians to dump the death penalty are doomed to fail, according to proponents of capital punishment.

As they tell it, nothing has changed since 2002, when death penalty opponents shut down a proposed ballot measure to abolish capital punishment after polling showed it would not pass.

"Polls show that between 65 and 85 percent of Oregonians support capital punishment," said Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis, a death penalty proponent and author on the topic.

A quiet majority favoring the death penalty lacks the "fevered" intensity of those who want to abolish it, Marquis said.

"The zealousness on one side is not matched by the zealousness on the other," he said. "I know there are some crazy people that show up at the pen when there's an execution and wave signs saying 'roast in hell' and 'burn baby burn,' stuff like that. But most people who are pro death penalty are somewhat ambivalent about it because it's very serious business."

Kitzhaber allowed the executions of Wright and Moore to occur in 1996 and 1997 during his previous administration.

Marquis thinks Kitzhaber should take the same non-intervention stance with Haugen.

"When Mr. Wright and Mr. Moore came up, his position was, 'Look, this is the law, and I'm not going to interfere in it, absent of a tremendous injustice'," he said. "Well, the only injustice that the opponents can point to (in Haugen's case) is, they don't like the death penalty."

"I don't think Oregon voters voted for it because they thought it would save them money," said Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis, a proponent of the death penalty.

He says the money argument doesn't really wash when criminals convicted to life in prison don't fight any less than those facing execution.

"They still have expensive $300,000 trials, and they still appeal," Marquis said. In fact, they will appeal forever just like the people on death row." [Wednesday 23 November 2011]

The unique intersection of democracy and justice that is the death penalty must be respected. [Column: Governor should uphold law By JOSH MARQUIS for the Daily Astorian | Posted: Thursday, December 8, 2011 10:30 am]

Some claim life without parole is an adequate substitute. What they fail to note are the people, both inside and outside prison, who die at the hands of convicted murderers. Nor do they seem to comprehend that the only reason many terrible murders are resolved with a plea to a "true life sentence" is the specter of a possible death sentence. [For select few, death is just 11 December 2005]

Opponents claim the death penalty is arbitrary. So is homicide. Thus, each case must be examined individually, first by a prosecutor, then by a jury in two phases, then by more than a decade (on average) of appeals. [For select few, death is just 11 December 2005]

We all agree: 10 guilty men should go free to prevent one innocent from being wrongly convicted. But how about 10,000 guilty, or 100,000, going free? How many victims become too many? What do we say to the victims of killers like Kenneth McDuff, Robert Massie or Carl Cletus Bowles, all murderers doing life who got out and killed again? [For select few, death is just 11 December 2005]

Maybe someday we can start having an honest debate in this country over the morality of capital punishment rather than constantly refuting the chimera of the wrongfully convicted. [Guilty Again! Sunday 15 January 2006]


Even according to Barry Scheck's Innocence Project there have only been 174 DNA exonerations for ALL crimes, more than 90% of which were not murder, let alone death penalty cases. In fact, the number of inmates taken off death row specifically because DNA cleared them is....FIVE. An additional nine inmates who were once on death row were eventually fully exonerated by DNA evidence. Some might say, 14 or 140, it doesn't make a difference. That makes as much sense as being told you have a 1% mortality risk from a surgical procedure versus a 10% risk. [How many innocent victims is “a few”? Tuesday 14 March 2006]

Joshua Marquis (born 1952) is an attorney and politician from Astoria, Oregon in the United States. He has served as District Attorney for Clatsop County since 1994. He frequently writes and speaks about capital punishment. He is known for his belief that the death penalty is justified in some cases. He is often quoted as a spokesperson on behalf of the National District Attorneys Association.

“A two and a half-year-old girl was kidnapped, raped, sodomized, tortured and mutilated with vise grips over six hours. Then she was strangled to death. Her assailant, Theodore Frank, according to court records and his own admissions, had already molested more than 100 children during a 20-year period. A sentence of death is the only appropriate punishment for such a serial assailant committing such an extraordinarily heinous crime.”

“In our understandable desire to be fair and to protect the rights of offenders in our criminal justice system, let us never ignore or minimize the rights of their victims. The death penalty is a necessary tool that reaffirms the sanctity of human life while assuring that convicted killers will never again prey upon others.”

Michael D. Bradbury is the Former Ventura County District Attorney.

Do you support the death penalty? Why or why not?

I took an oath to uphold the laws of the State of Washington, which includes due consideration of the death penalty option in the appropriate aggravated first degree murder case. There are extreme cases when a jury should have this option.

"Cal Brown's sadistic and predatory crimes rank him among the worst of the worst criminals in our state, and there can be no doubt about his guilt," King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a statement. "If we are serious about having a death penalty in the State of Washington then it is time to carry out the sentence."

Thursday 1 September 2011 - Satterberg currently is prosecuting two death penalty cases, one involving the murders of six members of a family and the other a murder of a Seattle police officer. Neither case has gone to trial, yet the cost of defending them has hit $4.3 million and keeps going up. Because all three defendants are indigent, that cost is born by taxpayers. Budget shortfalls have forced Satterberg to cut his department by 51 employees including 36 deputy prosecutors.

Nationwide, death penalty sentences have dropped 60 percent since 2000 from 224 to 112 last year. Experts say there are several factors including more skeptical juries, better defense teams and fewer death sentences being sought by district attorneys.

Satterberg blames what he calls the death penalty "industry." 

“They want to drive up the cost,” Satterberg says, “They want to delay the cases forever, only to turn around and use those arguments why we should get rid of the death penalty.” 

Dan Satterberg A.K.A Daniel T. Satterberg is currently King County Prosecuting Attorney, an office he has held since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. Satterberg attended Highline High School and graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Political Science. During his undergraduate education at the University of Washington, Dan Satterberg pledged Delta Upsilon Fraternity (Washington Chapter), class of 1982. He went on to receive the J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, following which he began work in the King County Prosecutor's office. There he spent four years as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division before serving as Chief of Staff to then-Prosecutor Norm Maleng from 1990 to 2007.In May 2007 King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Satterberg was appointed by the King County Council to fill the position until a special election was held in November 2007. That November, Satterberg was elected to fill the remaining three years of Maleng's term. He subsequently won election to a full four-year term in 2010. A Republican, Satterberg has called for the King County Charter to be amended to make the office of Prosecutor nominally non-partisan. Since 2008 Satterberg has served on the State of Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission under appointment by Governor Christine Gregoire. He is the co-chairman, along with Washington Attorney-General Rob McKenna, of the Washington Law Enforcement Group Against Identity Theft (LEGIT), a quasi-governmental organization that seeks to raise awareness about consumer data privacy issues in Washington.

"It was pretty obvious he committed the crime," said Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed, who prosecuted the case and also witnessed the punishment. "He went on a killing spree. He's an evil person." [Referring to the execution of Frank Garcia on Thursday 27 October 2011] 

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed, who prosecuted the case, attended the execution in Huntsville, Texas, according to a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Earlier in the week, she called the murders "a huge tragedy."

"If there was ever a poster child for the death penalty, this is the case," Reed told Reuters. "Hector Garza, a fine officer; Jessica Garcia, a woman who is trying to leave an abusive situation, and this huge tragedy happens to all of them." [Referring to the execution of Frank Garcia on Thursday 27 October 2011] 

Susan D. Reed is the Criminal District Attorney of Bexar County, Texas. She is a member of the Republican Party. Reed was elected District Attorney of Bexar County (San Antonio) in 1998, becoming the first woman to hold the office. She served as Judge of the 144th District Court (San Antonio) from 1986 to 1998. She served as an Assistant District Attorney for Bexar County from 1974 to 1982, including duties as chief prosecutor for court districts 144 and 187. Reed was in private practice from 1982 to 1986, with the firm Soules and Reed, specializing in business litigation. During her tenure as a 144th District Court Judge, she helped create a "Gang Unit" in the Adult Probation department. As Bexar County District Attorney, she has created a new "Elder Fraud Unit" and successfully lobbied the Texas Legislature to increase penalties for crimes against the elderly. Reed is a member of the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. She was appointed to the Criminal Justice Policy Council for Governor Bill Clements. Later, Governor George W. Bush appointed her to serve on the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Board. She continues to serve on that board under Governor Rick Perry.

Referring to the upcoming execution of Oba Chandler  on Friday 11 November 2011 - It will be the first time Bartlett, the chief assistant state attorney for Pinellas and Pasco counties, has watched a man die at the hands of the state.

"I really have no compunction or reservations in seeing this guy executed," Bartlett says. "If Florida is going to have a death penalty, this individual is the poster child for having it.”

Bartlett said this is a part of the criminal justice system he's never experienced. He has a professional curiosity to see how it's done — and to see this particular sentence carried out.

"I don't take any pleasure in seeing someone take their last breath," Bartlett said. "But this particular individual, I don't have any reservations about. He has shown throughout this entire process that he has no remorse for the family. He hasn't provided any additional information about how this happened. It's been complete and total denial."

Wednesday 4 January 2012 - The announcement of Waterhouse's death warrant was welcome news for Bruce Bartlett, Pinellas-Pasco chief assistant state attorney. Bartlett helped secure a second death sentence for Waterhouse after the Florida Supreme Court tossed his original death sentence.

"He definitely ranks among some of the most notorious murderers that we had in Pinellas County during that time," Bartlett said. "I'm glad to see the governor moving forward with this."

Bruce Bartlett is the chief assistant and No. 2 official at the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office in Florida. Bruce Bartlett has seen a lot of murders in his 33 years as a prosecutor.

The states’ attorneys say the move would rob them of an important bargaining chip — the threat of death to get guilty pleas from suspects who opt for life in prison.

Take that off the table, they say, and there’ll be more trials because defendants facing only the prospect of life behind bars would be less inclined to deal.

“When we go to battle in the most serious, heinous cases, we have to have every weapon available to us,” said Thomas Gibbons, the state’s attorney in southwestern Illinois’ Madison County. “Let’s say you’re playing cards and you lose your ace — you’re one step behind.”

 

Thomas Gibbons was appointed to the position by Chairman Alan Dunstan and the unanimous vote of the Madison County Board on November 17, 2010 to fill out the remaining 2-year term of State's Attorney William A. Mudge who was elected Circuit Judge in the November 2010 election. He will serve until the November 2012 General Election. In 1998, Gibbons, a native of Edwardsville, was hired by the State's Attorney's Office upon graduation from St. Louis University Law School. While a full-time Assistant State's Attorney, he was promoted to Chief of the Misdemeanor and Traffic Division and was active in the development of the Domestic Violence Court. Gibbons left the office in 2001 to pursue a career in the private sector, but returned in 2004 as a part-time Assistant State's Attorney where carried a felony caseload while being responsible for the traffic and misdemeanor docket in Granite City. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree and Juris Doctor from St. Louis University, he pursued a Masters in Public Administration at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, graduating in 2003. He is a member of the Third Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council and has served as a volunteer with the Madison County Juvenile Diversion Program and the Glen-Ed Food Pantry. Gibbons was also a member of the Metro-East Auto Theft Task Force and the Regional Computer Crimes Enforcement Group. In addition to his work as a prosecutor, Gibbons served as Guardian ad Litem for minors and disabled adults in guardianship, child custody, accident and wrongful death cases. He is a certified arbitrator in the 3rd Judicial Circuit.

On seeking the death penalty for the murderers of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom


“These weren't just murders," prosecutor Leland Price said. "These crimes cry out for the maximum penalty. Give us justice."

 

Leland Price is a prosecutor in Knoxville, Tennessee

"I can still see the picture of that little girl in the field," said Catherine Babbitt, chief of the Bexar County district attorney's family justice division, who helped prosecute the case. "Murder is horrible anytime. Not only did we have a murder of a child, but a murder and a rape of a child. It was particularly horrific." [Referring to the execution of Guadalupe Esparza on 16 November 2011]

Catherine Babbitt has over twenty years of experience in criminal prosecution. She currently oversees the Family Justice & Victim Protection Division, which handles all cases of child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence in Bexar County, Texas. Ms. Babbitt has been a faculty member for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, United States District Court, Western District of Texas, and Texas District and Attorneys Association. Ms. Babbitt completed her academic training at Wells College - Aurora, New York (BA, 1984), and St. Mary's University School of Law - San Antonio, Texas (JD, 1987). She is a frequent lecturer for the Rape Crisis Center, the Alamo Area Council of Government, numerous law enforcement agencies, and for local schools.
Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau, whose office prosecuted Haugen and a co-defendant in the 2003 killing of inmate David Polin at the Oregon State Penitentiary, said counties with prison populations see the death penalty as a valuable deterrent in preventing crime within the prison walls.

"Someone doing a life sentence or the equivalent really isn't threatened by (another) life sentence" as punishment for a prison murder, he said.

Walt Beglau A.K.A Walter M. Beglau was appointed Marion County District Attorney in October 2004. He is also the 2011 President of the Oregon District Attorneys Association.  

Tuesday 8 March 2011: In the words of Kane, when asked by state Rep. Gary A. Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven, what he considered the value of the death penalty, "There are crimes … which are so horrendous that the public has the right to have us as prosecutors seek the highest penalty that the law permits.

"I think, with regard to human beings being on the face of the earth, there was a substantial amount of our life over the years where a death penalty was probably necessary for the survival of civilization," Kane added.

Kevin T. Kane is the seventh person to hold the title of Chief State’s Attorney since the position was established in 1973. His appointment by the Criminal Justice Commission was effective September 5, 2006. As Chief State's Attorney, Mr. Kane is the administrative head of the Division of Criminal Justice, the independent agency of the executive branch of state government that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters in the State of Connecticut. The Division includes the offices of the State’s Attorney for each of the thirteen Judicial Districts in the State of Connecticut and the Office of the Chief State's Attorney in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. Attorney Kane joined the Division of Criminal Justice as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the former 9th Circuit in Middletown in August 1972 and was promoted to Prosecuting Attorney in the fall of 1973. He transferred to the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in November 1978 where he served as the Unit Chief of the former Special Investigations Unit. In 1986 he transferred to the Office of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New London. He was promoted to Senior Assistant State’s Attorney in 1988 and Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney in 1990. He was appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission as State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New London effective January 4, 1995, and served as State’s Attorney until he assumed the position of Chief State’s Attorney. Chief State's Attorney Kane earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

"I have an obligation to think about the costs and the cost to our taxpayers. I would never say that I don't," Yager said. "But how do you put a price on justice? If this was someone else's loved ones, whoever the victim, I certainly think we should be seeing the price of prosecution as the price of justice."

Brent Yager is the Prosecuting Attorney in Marion County, Ohio.

He supports the death penalty.  "I think that it is a sufficient and appropriate deterrent to crime.  It is an appropriate punishment for the worst of the worst who commit heinous murders in our communities across the state."

"With the amount of crime in Winnebago County, the citizens cry out for justice. The victims cry out for justice," Bruscato said. "I believe (the death penalty) provides justice for the victims."

"I firmly believe the death penalty is appropriate in certain cases."

"A recent United Press poll found 80% of the people in this country, of the people that they polled, favor the death penalty," Bruscato states. "And we seriously questioned whether the will of the people was being followed in expedited fashion when the veto session is used to address a law of this magnitude."

Joe Bruscato is the Winnebago County State's Attorney in Illinois.

Referring to the coming execution of Albert Greenwood Brown

The execution of a man who raped and murdered a 15-year-old Riverside girl in 1980 should move forward next week so family members can "finally get the justice they've waited 30 years to see," Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco said Wednesday.

"It's time for Susan Jordan's loved ones to finally get the justice they've waited 30 years to see," Pacheco said in a statement. "This is a murderer who never claimed innocence and who has now exhausted all his appellate rights in an extremely horrific case. There is no reason for his execution to be further delayed."

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco, a supporter of capital punishment, said cost shouldn't be a consideration, that district attorneys are "in the job of making sure justice gets done." His prosecutors pursue a death penalty when the circumstances of the crime warrant it, he said, calling the penalty not only morally justified but also necessary as a deterrent and a means of dealing with criminals "so unbelievably dangerous that they cannot even live in our society in a correctional facility."

Rodric Anthony Pacheco (born May 7, 1958), usually known as Rod Pacheco, is an American politician. He served in the Riverside County District Attorney's Office as a Deputy District Attorney, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Assistant District Attorney and finally, as District Attorney from 2007-2010 in Riverside County, California. He served in the California State Assembly from 1996-2002. He served as Republican leader from November 5, 1998-April 6, 1999. Pacheco was defeated on June 8, 2010, in his bid for a second term as Riverside County District Attorney.

All persons harboring or secreting the conspirators or aiding their concealment or escape, will be treated as accomplices in the murder of the President and shall be subject to trial before a military commission, and the punishment of death.

Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814 – December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865. Stanton's effective management helped organize the massive military resources of the North and guide the Union to victory. After Lincoln's assassination, Stanton remained as the Secretary of War under the new President Andrew Johnson during the first years of Reconstruction. He opposed the lenient policies of Johnson towards the former Confederate States. Johnson's attempt to dismiss Stanton led the House of Representatives to impeach him.

“No one seriously believes that Timothy McVeigh is being put to death because he is a white male. He is being executed because he is a cold-blooded killer, with the reasonable hope that his death will advance the safety and security of the rest of us, whatever our skin color. The same is true for the other cold-blooded killers being put to death.”

Roger Clegg is the President and General Counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity. Prior to joining the CEO Clegg served in a variety of capacities within both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, including a position as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in both adminsistrations, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Associate Deputy Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy. He is a graduate of Rice University and Yale University.

“As a career prosecutor, I believe that the death penalty should be available as a deterrent to violent crime in the most heinous of cases, particularly at a time when we have witnessed outrageous crimes such as the senseless murder of five Chicago Police officers this past year,” she said.

Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill which abolished the death penalty in Illinois on Wednesday 9 March 2011: Some prosecutors said the repeal could take away a bargaining tool sometimes used by defendants.

Citing the case of Michael Alfonso, who in 1992 shot and killed pregnant Sumanear Yang and killed another woman in 2001, Kendall County state’s attorney Eric Weis said Alfonso’s fear of the death penalty ultimately led to better results for the state and Yang’s family Alfonso, who Weis said was clearly eligible for the death penalty, cooperated with prosecutors and was sentenced to life in prison.

“My heart goes out to the families of the victims who have been senselessly murdered in violent, horrific crimes — crimes that in my view clearly demonstrate that the death penalty should be available within our justice system as a deterrent in the most heinous of cases,’’ Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said.

"This is a case that would definitely qualify for seeking of the death penalty. It’s a felony murder," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said at a press conference announcing charges against Wilson. "It’s a murder that occurred during the commission of a burglary. So, yes, it is a case that qualified and it's a case in which I believe we would have sought it." [Referring to the murder of Kelli O'Laughlin on Friday 4 November 2011]

Anita Alvarez is a Chicago native, she was born and raised by working class parents in the Pilsen neighborhood. She attended Maria High School and received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University of Chicago. She earned her Law Degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. At the time of her historic election on November 4, 2008, Anita held the rank of Chief Deputy State's Attorney, the third ranking post in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. http://www.statesattorney.org/index2/anitabio.html

Her mother, Kay Fitzgerald, raised her as a single parent.  They moved to Knoxville from Hawkins County when Fitzgerald was just seven years old.  She is humble about her accomplishments in the courtroom, even though she has a reputation for being fearless.  Fitzgerald said she lives her life by the Bible verse, "Don't be afraid, just believe."

"It's all about taking responsibility and holding people accountable for their actions," said Fitzgerald.

During today's hearing, prosecutor Fitzgerald urged the jury to sentence Cobbins to die.

"We asked you if you could sign your name to the verdict form sentencing the defendant to death," Fitzgerald said in closing arguments. "The time is now."

Takisha Fitzgerald was the lead prosecutor in the trials of the people convicted of murdering and torturing Chris Newsom and Channon Christian back in 2007. The prosecutor graduated from UT Law School in 1998, and started at the Knox County District Attorney's office that same year. She graduated from Austin East High School in 1992, and started her bachelor's degree at UT the following summer. While in high school, she was enrolled in UT's Upward Bound program, which helped prepare her for early university studies.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said he would urge Gov. Pat Quinn to keep capital punishment in Illinois, if the governor sought his opinion.
 
“I do believe the death penalty is a deterrent,” McMahon said Tuesday. “I believe in certain cases it is the appropriate sentence.”

Joe McMahon has considerable experience as a trial lawyer and advisor to individuals and corporate clients in matters involving complex litigation, partnership disputes, government investigations and criminal prosecutions. Mr. McMahon’s practice has included matters relating to contracts, employment, non-compete agreements, trade secrets, serious personal injury, insurance coverage, government audits and investigations, corporate compliance, disciplinary matters before professional licensing boards, and criminal defense. Mr. McMahon’s litigation experience is of great value to his business clients where he serves as outside general counsel for small to mid size companies, closely held entities and start-ups. He has provided counsel on a wide variety of transactional matters including formation, joint ventures, divestitures, real estate, restrictive covenant agreements, contract negotiations and employment disputes. He also represents a minor league professional sports team in contract matters. While in public service Mr. McMahon successfully prosecuted complex criminal cases involving healthcare fraud, public corruption, bribery and major street crimes involving capital murder, armed violence, sexual assault and property offenses. As Chief of the Criminal Division in the Kane County State Attorney’s Office and Deputy Chief of Criminal Prosecutions in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office he supervised thousands of criminal cases and investigations conducted by grand juries throughout Illinois.

Indeed, the taking of human life—even justifiably—takes a toll on a right-minded person. However, this truth resides in a layer of abstraction that includes other particulars of human political organization. Local police are called upon to use reasonable force, extending often to deadly force, in the discharge of their duties. In some instances, civilians must kill in their own self-defense or in the defense of others, and in so doing are justified by the law.

At a slightly higher level of abstraction, we can also say that jailers who lock up human beings continuously deprive these individuals of their liberty. Sheriffs who enforce on civil judgments must, in the course of their duties, deprive defendants of their property.

What is the common thread in all of these cases? A man who has defrauded another has no moral right to the property he holds as a result of his fraud. A sheriff thus does not deprive the fraudster of “property” in the [proper] understanding of the word. A man who is convicted of crimes of violence has forfeited his moral right to liberty, and thus the jailer deprives him of nothing by locking him in a cage. [The Best Argument in Favor of Capital Punishment by Tim Kowal on January 17, 2012]  

Similarly, in a case where a human being has intentionally and imminently threatened the life of another, he is deemed by moral reason to have forfeited his moral right to be free from mortal threat to his own life. A man who kills in self-defense not only has committed no moral wrong: he has saved one innocent life at the expense of none. His courage profits the world an invaluable gift.

What difference is there, then, in the taking of a life forfeited through aggression in the moment of that aggression, and the taking of a life forfeited through aggression at a later time upon conviction through a due process of law? In moral reason, there is none. The decision to kill another in self-defense is no different than the decision to kill an individual convicted of murder and sentenced through due process to death. In each case, that individual has forfeited his life. [The Best Argument in Favor of Capital Punishment by Tim Kowal on January 17, 2012]

However, to those who do not share that view, then obviously it would not profit the human race anything to muddy our moral faculties by infusing more violence into the death penalty process.  Assuming due process has been given (this is no small assumption, granted, but let’s not fight the hypothetical), then what good is there in making the ultimate act more emotional, more gut-wrenching, more tormenting to the tender feelings of the community?  Think back to the fraudster who has forfeited his right to a sum of money: should we collect damages by taking his family’s home instead of “sugarcoating” or “whitewashing” it by levying his bank account?  Or the jailer who has to deprive prisoners of their liberty: should he dangle images of the prisoner’s family in front of him to cause the jailer to witness the anguish the prisoner feels?  Or the victim who kills his assailant in self-defense:  does he owe a moral obligation to defend himself in the most violent manner available to him so that he fully appreciates the gravity of what he’s done? [The Best Argument in Favor of Capital Punishment by Tim Kowal on January 17, 2012]

Tim Kowal is an attorney practicing in Orange County, California, Vice President of the Orange County Federalist Society, and contributor to UnionWatch. 

Tuesday 19 April 2011 – According to a former major at the penitentiary, Berget and Robert had nothing to lose.

Berget was serving two life sentences and Robert was serving 80 years for kidnapping when Ron Johnson was killed in an escape attempt last week. And former Minnehaha County State's Attorney Dave Nelson says that will make prosecuting them for this most recent crime even more complicated.

"The fact that a person is an inmate in the state penitentiary does not give them free reign to commit any further offenses simply because they arguable have nothing else to lose," Nelson said.

Those issues can't and shouldn't overburden prosecutors in the position of pursuing the death penalty, said former Minnehaha County State's Attorney Dave Nelson.

"Our Legislature has made the determination that it is a sentence our juries should be allowed to consider," Nelson said. "If it costs too much money, the Legislature needs to decide that it costs too much money. If it costs too much money to send drunk drivers to prison, then the Legislature needs to say drunk driving is no longer punishable by a penitentiary sentence."

 

Dave Nelson is the former Minnehaha County State's Attorney in South Dakota. As one of Minnehaha County's longest-serving state's attorneys, Dave Nelson's career record as a prosecutor speaks for itself — during his five terms in office, he personally handled 100 jury trials, from which 28 inmates are currently serving life sentences in South Dakota prisons. In 2003, he was honored as South Dakota Prosecutor of the Year and, by 2008, the year he announced his retirement, his office was prosecuting 10,000 cases annually, with charges ranging from littering to premeditated murder. As Nelson, a 1973 graduate of Augustana, reflects on a career that spanned nearly three decades, memories of significant and historic cases certainly come to mind. Yet, he also marvels at the impact technology has had on the legal system, particularly the vital role DNA analysis now plays in criminal cases. Nelson has lived in Sioux Falls all his life and is currently a lawyer maintaining a small, local practice. He also serves on the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles, a nine-member group that reviews applications for parole or early release from state penitentiaries.

Referring to the execution of The Gainesville Ripper serial killer, Danny Harold Rolling on 25 October 2006:

Bill Cervone, the state attorney for Gainesville, called Rolling "the face of evil in our community." "Even after his conviction ... and ever since he was imprisoned under sentence of death, he still cast a shadow on our community," Cervone said. "This execution has removed that shadow."

Monday 28 March 2011 - "The death penalty is appropriate and consistent with the wishes of Florida citizens. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is lawful and constitutional," Cervone said. "Some crimes are so terrible that death is an appropriate sanction."

Bill Cervone was first elected State Attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit, which serves Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Levy, Gilchrist and Union Counties in 2000. He was re-elected to a second term in 2004 and a third term in 2008. His election to that office culminated over 20 years of service to the 8th Circuit as an Assistant State Attorney. He was first employed as an Assistant State Attorney in 1973 upon his graduation from the University of Florida Law School. After four years prosecuting in juvenile court, he was promoted to a felony prosecution position. In the following years he served as a felony supervisor and, immediately prior to his election, as Chief Assistant State Attorney from 1993 to 2000. He has for over 25 years been involved in not only the trial of cases ranging from simple misdemeanors to the most serious of capital murders but also in the administration and management of the office. Bill brings to the office a perspective combining both practical experience in casework and management experience in running the office, which is in essence the largest law firm in the Circuit. He has a keen interest in alternatives that might reduce or correct criminal activity, especially among children and teens, and supports many innovative programs designed to differentiate between criminals who need to be locked up because of their crimes and history and relatively minor offenders who can truly be rehabilitated. He is also committed to active victim advocacy and the rights of citizens who have been crime victims and who have no other representative in the criminal justice system but the State Attorney. He has created a workforce that is active in its community, especially in areas touching on criminal justice issues, and that strives to insure that the entire Circuit has access to the resources needed to address those issues. Bill has been recognized for many accomplishments while working under former State Attorneys Gene Whitworth and Rod Smith. In 1985 he was named Florida's outstanding prosecutor and received the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association's Gene Berry Memorial Award. He currently serves as President of the Florida Prosecuting Attorney's Association. He is active in many community organizations, especially those that are related to criminal justice and juvenile justice crimes. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Law School, where he has taught Trial Tactics for over 20 years, and has been a frequent instructor at professional seminars for prosecutors over the years. A native of Tampa, he has lived in Gainesville since 1967 and is a 1971 graduate of the University of Florida and a 1973 graduate of the University of Florida Law School.

Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill which abolished the death penalty in Illinois on Wednesday 9 March 2011: "I think it's a sad day for the Illinois criminal justice community," Webb told The Times. "There are definitely instances where the death penalty is needed, such as multiple killings. Now, someone can kill multiple people in the most heinous manner, and they are merely facing life imprisonment. It sends a message that the lives of victims are worth less than the lives of killers," the prosecutor said. "Victims seem to have been ignored in this decision."

Webb said he had read that Quinn was concerned about whether the enhanced procedures enacted by former Gov. George Ryan were sufficient to ensure that innocent people would no longer be sentenced to death.

"In my opinion," Webb said, "those safeguards actually gave the defendant more options than the state in many respects and significantly minimized the possibility that an innocent person would be sentenced to death.

"I also read where the governor spoke to different people while deliberating whether to sign the bill, including Martin Sheen. I'm not really sure we want non-resident Hollywood types dictating criminal justice policy."

T. Scott Webb is the White County State's Attorney in Illinois.

Referring to the execution of Donald Loren Aldrich in Texas on 12 October 2004:

 

"If you take the position the death penalty is to deter people who don't have a conscience from continuing to perpetrate crimes and who have a past track record of criminal behavior, then he's your poster child," said David Dobbs, the former Smith County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Aldrich.

David Dobbs is the former Smith County Assistant District Attorney in Texas.

“Opponents of the death penalty contend that natural life without parole is an adequate punishment, yet some of them also worked to pass legislation that would allow compassionate release parole to all inmates, including murderers.”

“As State’s Attorneys, we have a special duty to seek justice,” the letter stated. “Regardless of personal feelings about whether or not the death penalty is good or bad, the political efforts currently being used to abolish the state’s ultimate punishment are, without question, offensive to justice.”

“Armed robbers are the most calculating of the criminals that we deal with,” he said. “Armed robbers know they face (long incarceration if convicted). Without the death penalty as a deterrent, there is less reason for a calculating armed robber to leave the witness alive.

“I’ve always believed that the people who were most protected by the death penalty were those people who work the graveyard shift at a convenience store or a gas station.”

“Capital punishment is also needed as a deterrent to keep an inmate serving a long sentence from killing a prison guard or other inmate.”

Stewart J. Umholtz is the Illinois State Attorney of County Tazewell.

Unable to convince the public on the merits of abolition, death-penalty opponents have a new strategy, attacking capital punishment on fiscal grounds. That is the basis for a ballot initiative to stop executions in California that backers of a capital punishment ban hope to qualify for the November 2012 ballot. They do have half a point: Litigation has driven up the cost of executions, and delays and expense mean that states don't always seek death for the worst of the worst.

But this argument is beyond hypocritical, coming from the same groups that have thrown up every possible roadblock to timely and efficient administration of capital punishment.

If these groups took their fiscal rhetoric seriously, they would do better to acknowledge the Constitution's text and history and drop their endless campaigns to litigate the death penalty out of existence, which cost taxpayers millions to defend. The public should not be denied the choice that the Constitution allows: an affordable and effective ultimate punishment. [The death penalty: valid yet targeted By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew Grossman Posted: October 26, 2011]

More broadly, the risks of wrongful conviction apply to all forms of punishment. Thirty years' imprisonment for a wrongful conviction is no less "irreversible" than death — freedom cannot somehow be refunded. One difference is that other punishments, like imprisonment, can be suspended. But another is that individuals sentenced to punishments other than death receive far less process, and their convictions far less scrutiny. This increases the probability, although still small, that a wrongful conviction will stand.

These are the reasons why the death penalty's institutional opponents rarely push the actual innocence argument in the United States, opting instead to attack its supposed arbitrariness or its deterrent effect. [What if an innocent is executed? David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew Grossman respond to question regarding his Op-Ed article defending capital punishment. Posted: Saturday 29 October 2011]

So "due process," it turns out, is an effective standard, as evidenced by the steady trickle of post-conviction exonerations, which show that the system works. But to require perfection would have the perverse effect of denying justice to both victims and the people, who favor an effective and fairly administered ultimate punishment. [What if an innocent is executed? David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew Grossman respond to question regarding his Op-Ed article defending capital punishment. Posted: Saturday 29 October 2011]

David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew Grossman are lawyers in Washington, D.C. Rivkin served in the Justice Department under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. - David B. Rivkin Jr., (born in 1956 in the former Soviet Union) is an American attorney, political writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. Rivkin has gained national recognition as a representative of conservative viewpoints, frequently testifying before Congressional committees, and appearing as an analyst and commentator on a variety of television and radio stations. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, Contributing Editor at the National Review and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and is a former member of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Rivkin is a former U.S. government official, having served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In 2010, Rivkin took on his highest profile case to date when he agreed to represent a multi-state lawsuit—currently consisting of 26 state attorneys general against health care reform legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. The lawsuit, filed in the Federal Court's Northern District of Florida, argues the legislation is an "illegal expansion of Congress' regulation of interstate commerce and unfairly penalizes uninsured people who refuse to buy into the program". Rivkin is currently involved in two high profile cases: He is representing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a lawsuit by al Qaeda operative José Padilla, who claims he was tortured while in custody; Rivkin is also "helping craft legal strategy for the State of Texas as it fights federal proposals on health care and environmental regulation." In May of 2011, Rivkin was awarded a Burton Award for Legal Achievement for a Washington Post article he wrote with Lee A. Casey in February of 2010 titled "Why the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy is doomed."____ Andrew Grossman is a litigator in the Washington office of the global law firm Baker & Hostetler. He has represented states in challenges to the constitutionality of federal statutes and the legality of federal environmental regulations. He also is active in commercial litigation. He has participated in cases before the Supreme Court by authoring or contributing to certori-stage filings, merits briefs and amicus briefs and by “mooting” top Supreme Court litigators and state solicitors general before they make their oral arguments. Grossman originally joined Heritage in 2003, rising from writer, editor and general analyst to senior legal policy analyst. Before his departure in 2009, he researched and wrote about issues as diverse as bankruptcy and “overcriminalization.” In 2007, the Burton Foundation and the Library of Congress presented Grossman with the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, citing his research on federal evidentiary law and Internet communications technologies. He is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law, where he received the Adrian S. Fischer Award for Student Research and the Betty Southard Murphy Award for Constitutional Law. He also served as senior articles editor of George Mason Law Review and was a judicial clerk to Chief Judge Edith H. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Grossman received his master's degree in government from the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor's degree in economics and anthropology from Dartmouth College, where he edited The Dartmouth Review.He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

“I support the death penalty,” Milhiser said. “I personally believe that when certain individuals commit certain crimes, the ultimate punishment should be awarded, and that ultimate punishment is the death penalty.”

John Milhiser is the Sangamon County State’s Attorney in Illinois.

“There are certain individuals that commit heinous crimes that definitely deserve the death penalty,” the Lombard resident said. “Without it, I’m afraid people will be in our system for years and years to come.”

Patrick J. O'Shea is a defense attorney and DuPage County Board Member representing District 2 in Illinois.

“I feel there are some cases so terrible that the death penalty should be imposed,” Garnati said. “Myself and the state’s attorney association are fighting hard to hopefully convince the Senate to not repeal the death penalty.”

Williamson County Prosecuting Attorney Charles Garnati says abolishing the death penalty would make his job more difficult.

"Several times over the years I have been able to use the fear of the death penalty to get a defendant to plead guilty for natural life," Garnati said.  "What that does is that means that we don't have to have a trial and it makes it so much easier on the victim's family that's been left behind."

Charles Garnati is the Williamson County District Attorney of Illinois.

In a written response to The Washington Post, Alsobrooks confirmed her office will seek the execution of Darrell Lynn Bellard, 44.

"The killing of innocent, defenseless children is at its very core abhorrent," Alsobrooks said in the brief statement. "The murder of two women as well as those children makes this an even more heinous case. After careful review and much consideration, I have decided to file the necessary paperwork to seek the death penalty."

Bellard is accused in the Aug. 6 slayings of Mwasiti Sikyala, 41; Shayla Shante Sikyala, 3; Shakur Sylvester Sikyala, 4; and Dawn Yvette Brooks, 38. Brooks was the childrens' mother, and Mwasiti Sikyala was their paternal aunt, authorities said.

The victims were found shot to death in a garage apartment in the 6800 block of Third Street in the Lanham area. The apartment was strewn with piles of trash and debris, police said.

Bellard's co-defendant, T'Keisha Nicole Gilmer, who was 18 at the time of the killings, also has been charged. If convicted, she faces a possible sentence of life in prison.

 

 

 

 

 

Angela D. Alsobrooks is Prince George's State's Attorney in Maryland, USA. She is an experienced lawyer who has dedicated her talents to seeking Leadership.Integrity.Justice. and enforcing the law to improve the quality of life in our communities. She was born and raised in Prince George's County, the youngest daughter of James and Patricia Alsobrooks. Her parents instilled in her a strong belief in the values of education, hard work, integrity and public service. During her High School career at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, Angela developed a passion for leadership and service as President of the Citywide Student Government Association. In this capacity, she represented her peers as a student leader in conferences around the Country. After graduation from Banneker in 1989, Angela attended Duke University where she received a BA in Public Policy. While at Duke, she was selected to serve on the prestigious President's Honor Board and the President's Advisory Council. She also served as a mentor in the Durham companion's program, and became an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Following her graduation from Duke University in 1993, Angela attended the University Of Maryland School Of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate and was licensed to practice law in 1996. After serving as a law clerk to the Honorable William Quarles on the Baltimore City Circuit Court, Angela's dedication to public service brought her home to Prince George's County. In 1997, she was sworn in as the first full-time Domestic violence attorney in the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office. During her nearly six years as an Assistant State's Attorney, Angela prosecuted hundreds of serious criminal cases including homicide, rape and child sexual assault cases. In 2002 Angela was appointed as Education Liaison in the Administration of County Executive Jack B. Johnson. In this position, she helped develop Educational summits and parental involvement conferences to improve student achievement through partnerships between parents, the government and the school system. Angela was appointed as Executive Director of the Revenue Authority in 2004. Under her leadership, the Agency has experienced unprecedented growth through the use of smart technology and partnerships between the Community and Government. This growth has contributed to the County's general fund for education, public safety and infrastructure improvements through a 40% increase in its operating revenues. Angela is a daughter of Prince George's County, and is passionate in her desire to promote a positive sense of community and family life within a safe environment. She believes that safety and Leadership.Integrity.Justice. are fundamental to the health of a progressive community, and has enjoyed serving her community through a variety of organizations and causes including teen court, Avon Walk for Breast cancer, Susan B. Komen foundation, Task force on the education of African American males, and Christmas in April. She is also a proud member of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden and the Prince George's Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Angela lives in Upper Marlboro with her pride and joy, her daughter, Alexandra Patrice.

"If you are going to have a death penalty, this is the kind of people you want to have the death penalty for," said Ashmore, now the first assistant district attorney in nearby Grayson County. In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Wooten's attorneys argued he wouldn't have turned down a plea bargain if he knew about additional DNA evidence that didn't become available until after his trial began.

 

Kerye Ashmore was the former Lamar County district attorney and now first assistant district attorney in nearby Grayson County in Texas.

Prosecutors also say repealing the death penalty would take away their access to the Capital Litigation Trust Fund, the pool of state money that pays for death penalty trials, likely forcing cash-strapped counties to absorb the entire cost of murder trials. The money would be used instead for services for families of homicide victims and law enforcement training,

There’s also the value of an execution to victims’ families wanting a measure of justice and closure, prosecutors argue.

“I firmly believe there are certain cases that are so shocking, outrageous and have such an impact on the community that there is no other sentence,” said Bob Berlin, the new DuPage County state’s attorney.

Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill which abolished the death penalty in Illinois on Wednesday 9 March 2011: DuPage County state’s attorney Bob Berlin roundly criticized Quinn’s move.

“Today is a victory for murderers across Illinois,” he said. “Violent offenders can now murder police officers, kill victims during forcible felonies, kill multiple victims and kill witnesses without fear of receiving the death penalty.”

“I firmly believe that there are some murders that are so horrific, so shocking to the community, that the only just penalty is the death penalty,” Berlin said. “We’ve learned from the past and with the reforms now in place, Illinois has the fairest death penalty statute in the country.”

Monday 26 December 2011 - Berlin has argued that the decision in March to abolish the death penalty would remove a powerful bargaining chip for prosecutors. But he still expects to see fewer guilty pleas to murder as a result of the change.

Berlin noted that Whitney was already decades into a 60-year prison term for an unrelated killing when he pleaded guilty, and that Smirnov had researched the death penalty and later asked investigators if it was true he'd only face life in prison.

“It's very unusual for a defendant to plead guilty to natural life when that's the maximum. It happened twice, but those were very unusual cases,” Berlin said. “The Smirnov case — really over any other case — proved the death penalty is indeed a deterrent. There is a very good chance that that victim might still be alive if we had a death penalty.

“Smirnov was more than willing to take that sentence because, I think in his mind, he had accomplished what he wanted to do. You can't use that as a barometer for what will happen in the future.”

The death penalty does indeed deter murders. The recent murder of Jitka Vesel in Oak Brook on April 13, 2011 where the defendant researched the status of the death penalty in Illinois prior to killing the victim, is evidence of the deterrent effect. [Capital punishment a matter of justice Last Modified: Jan 16, 2012 08:28AM] 

Without the death penalty, more cases are going to trial, resulting in even greater costs to the taxpayers. I have yet to see one study that measures the cost to a victim’s family and an entire community when a horrific crime like the murder of Kelli O’Laughlin does not result in the appropriate penalty. [Capital punishment a matter of justice Last Modified: Jan 16, 2012 08:28AM]

The truth of the matter is certain crimes are so evil and horrific that they tear at the very fabric of society, and those who favor capital punishment for such crimes are not proponents of the death penalty but proponents of justice. [Capital punishment a matter of justice Last Modified: Jan 16, 2012 08:28AM]   

Robert Berlin is a career prosecutor, Robert B. Berlin was appointed State's Attorney of DuPage County on December 14, 2010 to complete the unexpired term of Joseph Birkett. At the time of his appointment, State's Attorney Berlin was serving as the Chief of the Criminal Bureau of the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. In that capacity, he supervised all of the Assistant State's Attorneys charged with the criminal prosecution function in DuPage County. He had previously served as the Deputy Chief of Criminal Bureau's Juvenile and Felony Trial Divisions. Prior to joining the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office in 2004, Mr. Berlin completed nearly four years as the First Assistant State's Attorney in Kane County, serving in an administrative and supervisory capacity over all office staff and reporting directly to the elected State's Attorney. From 1987-2001, Mr. Berlin was an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County where he tried 68 felony jury trials, including 40 first degree murder cases, and hundreds of felony bench trials, including more than 50 homicide cases. During his time in Cook County, Mr. Berlin's assignments included the criminal appeals, misdemeanor, felony review, child exploitation, preliminary hearings and felony trial divisions. He also served as the deputy supervisor of criminal appeals. Mr. Berlin received the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation Board of Directors' Trial Award in August 2003 and the Outstanding Prosecutor Award in Kane County in 2004. He is a member of the Capital Litigation Trial Bar Screening Committee for the 16th Judicial Circuit and a member of DuPage County's Felony Investigative Assistance Team. He is a frequent lecturer on a variety of criminal justice issues for the Illinois State Appellate Prosecutor and the Illinois Prosecutor's Bar Association. In 1999, he presented to the American Prosecutors Research Institute Seminar on Hate Crimes. Mr. Berlin was raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago and is a graduate of Dickinson College and Washington University College of Law. Mr. Berlin resides in Clarendon Hills where he serves as an elected Republican Precinct Committeeman. He and his wife have two daughters whom he coaches in softball.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry announced this afternoon on Friday 18 February 2011 that he will seek the death penalty against Thomas Hardy, the man accused of shooting and killing IMPD Officer David Moore. Hardy, 60, is accused of shooting Moore during a traffic stop Jan. 23. Moore was declared brain dead a few days later and was taken off life support. Curry said the fact that Hardy shot a police officer while he was on parole makes him eligible to pay the ultimate price.

“Anything less than the ultimate possible punishment minimizes the sacrifice of Officer Moore and indeed all public safety officers who have lost their lives while serving our county.”

In Indiana, prosecutors have to identify one of 16 aggravating circumstances to ask for the death penalty. In this case, Curry cites three:

-that 60-year-old Thomas Hardy killed Officer Moore while Moore was on duty.
-that the murder was motivated by a traffic stop, something that Officer Moore did in the course of his duties.
- and that Hardy was on parole at the time of the killing.

"This is more than a crime against our police officer. It is a crime against our community," said Curry.

Terry Curry is a widely respected attorney in Indianapolis, having practiced as a trial lawyer for more than 30 years in Indiana and Federal courts. His diverse trial experience from 1978 to the present has included employment as a Deputy Prosecutor in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, as a law firm partner, and as a solo practitioner. He has served as lead counsel in more than 125 court and jury trials, arbitrations, and injunction hearings.