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WORKING TO MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE LIVING
CONDITIONS FOR DEATH ROW IN FLORIDA
NEWSLETTER, AUGUST 2003
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July 18, 2003 New Standards in Death Penalty Cases Predicted Marcia Coyle, A new
era of tougher scrutiny of defense lawyers' work in death penalty trials is
expected as the result of an end-of-term U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In a case
that was largely overshadowed by rulings on affirmative action and gay rights,
the Court took a major step toward dealing with the pervasive and persistent
problem of inadequate representation for indigent capital murder defendants.
Wiggins v. Smith, 02-311. A 7-2 majority led by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor held
that the performance of public defenders representing Kevin Wiggins in the
sentencing phase of his capital murder trial violated his Sixth Amendment right
to effective assistance of counsel. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas
dissented. Wiggins is only the second case in nearly 20 years in which the
justices found a death row inmate had received ineffective assistance of counsel
under standards announced in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). The
first case was three years ago, Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000). The
promise of Williams -- to put teeth into the Strickland standards -- has not
been fulfilled, according to some scholars and litigators. But Wiggins, they
added, will not be so easily ignored by lower courts. The striking elements of
the latest case: It did not involve extraordinarily egregious representation by
a sleeping or drunk lawyer. Wiggins probably received better representation than
many death row inmates, experts said. But the justices still found that
inadequate under Strickland. The ruling should lay to rest the near sacrosanct
quality of a lawyer's "tactical" decision to make no effort, or only a
half-hearted one, to present a jury with mitigating factors that would offset
aspects of the crime that could result in a death sentence. A typical mitigating
factor is childhood abuse of the defendant that must be established through
investigation by the defence. After being sentenced to death, Wiggins brought a
claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to present a mitigation
case. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that his trial counsel made "a
deliberate, tactical decision to concentrate their effort at convincing the
jury" that Wiggins was not directly responsible for the murder. Writing for
the majority, O'Connor, who also wrote Strickland in 1984, said Wiggins'
counsel's decision not to look beyond a presentencing report and certain social
services records fell short of professional standards in Maryland in 1989. She
noted that public defenders had funds available to commission a social history
report, but Wiggins' counsel did not use them. She also found their conduct fell
short of the standards for capital defence work set by the American Bar
Association. Strickland, O'Connor said, does not require attorneys to
investigate every conceivable line of mitigating evidence and does not require
them to present mitigating evidence in every case. But a decision not to
investigate, she said, "must be directly assessed for reasonableness in all
the circumstances." "I think Wiggins is extremely important, almost
more important than you can glean from the opinion," said death penalty
scholar James Liebman of Columbia University Law School. "There has been
this broad set of courts -- both federal and state -- that has reached the
conclusion under Strickland that if the trial attorney gave a strategic or
tactical explanation for failing to do something, that was essentially
impenetrable. "The Supreme Court says very explicitly that no strategic
judgment will trump the basic Strickland test, so any strategic judgment on
which you are relying also has to be rational. It removes a very important
barrier." Capital litigator Eric Freedman of Hofstra University School of
Law agreed, adding, "I do expect to see lower courts interpreting
Strickland in light of Wiggins, and obviously they are at serious risk of being
reversed if they don't. That's the realistic outlook." ABA GUIDELINES'
IMPORTANCE: Freedman noted O'Connor's reliance on the ABA guidelines. A new set
that came out in February, he said, are more stringent and require the use of
mitigation specialists. "O'Connor is correctly positioning the court in the
center of where the consensus is," said Freedman who serves as the ABA's
reporter on the guidelines. "These new guidelines passed with well over 90
percent of the vote -- a higher percentage on the floor of the House of
Delegates than a pay raise for judges." Wiggins' potential impact is broad
also because of the facts of his case, said Freedman and others. "One of
the things that is encouraging about this case is it's precisely the sort of
routine level of ineffective assistance in capital cases rather than the
headline-grabbing type of case," Freedman said. "The statistical norm
is what's illustrated here: the lawyers simply don't go far enough, dig hard
enough, pursue leads aggressively enough to come up with the total picture
that's critical to saving the client's life." Not everyone reads Wiggins so
broadly. Kent Scheidegger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which filed
an amicus brief supporting Maryland in the case, called the decision
"pretty fact-intensive." "It is still the law that if the lawyer
has the evidence, evaluates it and decides not to use it, that is close to
unreviewable," he said. He noted that the high court last term also
rejected an ineffective-assistance claim in a death case in which the 9th
Circuit granted relief. "If you consider them as a pair, you can see the
court is telling circuits not to wander off too far in either direction,"
Scheidegger said. But Bruck countered, "It's true every ineffectiveness
case is fact-laden, but I sense there is a shift that has taken place with
Wiggins. The growing recognition that this country has failed to provide fair
trials in so many capital cases has reached the Supreme Court." Wiggins is
also important as a habeas case, said habeas scholar Ira Robbins of American
University Washington College of Law. In the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective
Death Penalty Act, Congress crafted a standard for federal review of state
prisoners' claims that is extremely deferential to state courts in order to
hasten post-conviction appeals. That standard is a major obstacle to prisoners
-- death row or otherwise -- who want federal courts to hear their claims.
Despite that high bar, the Supreme Court in Williams, Wiggins and another death
case last term involving race-based peremptory jury challenges, has granted
habeas relief, Robbins noted. "They are soberingly giving scrutiny to death
cases from states that have not gotten this level of federal review in the
past," he said. "Clearly what's going on, and maybe contrary to what
Congress intended, they have to allow some room, some nondeference, some true
federal review, in order for them to pierce the veil of these death penalty
judgments."
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News from the inside
Wow. Sorry we are so late this month. We had a few setbacks with people
having to leave the group and rearranging ourselves to fit the empty spots.
Lynne has left and will be missed greatly. Hopefully she has just left for a
season, time will tell. More about the new people in the next issue. Art and
poetry can still be sent to FDRAG's address and will be handled as usual.
We have also heard a lot about the pen pal situation, but still no one knows
exactly what is going on, or how it is going to be implemented. The DOC has
informed the press that the rule took effect august 5th, but nothing has been in
writing yet, as far as we know. We do know that people are fighting to prevent
it from happening, the ACLU and the Florida Justice Institute + plus we also
received this email when asking some pen pal organizations:
We are already in the process of filing an immediate injunction for the rule in
federal court. It is unconstitutional, and we expect to triumph in the courts.
Best wishes.Sincerely,Ben…Support at WriteAPrisoner.com.
If it gets to a point where the DOC expect for you to get your pen pal adds
removed, and you have problems with it- let us know and we will do our best to
help you.
There is also a lot going on with some of you on the legal front, partly due to
the closing of CCRC-N - hopefully we have an update on that next month.
And here is a message we received from the inside, which might be useful:
" If you see Miss Wylie, she needs to tell you before you begin the
"session" that she is obliged to tell the institution if one of the
following is the topic: "suicide attempt, escape attempt, discussions
involving your crime."
Apparently she tends to tell people after the session that there are certain
issues she has to report and cannot keep confidential.
Please all - do help us get material for the web page. It is for the public
only, and meant to give people a change to see and sense what you have to live
every day. We need your contributions to make it work. Diary-like input, poetry,
and art - whatever you can think of to give people a sense of your reality. This
page cannot come to live without you, and we know how much talent there is
hidden behind those walls. Share it! And tell your families about it too. Maybe
they have something on their hearts to share?
That's it from here, for now. If you still haven't gotten a response to your
letter -we apologize and are working on it. Thanks to all of you who do write
with encouragements and useful information. You are not forgotten. None of you!
God bless
Hannah
| A little more legal news: This
covers July 21 to August 3, 2003, with two cases of special note. The
first is the Fifth Circuit's decision in Bigby v. Cockrell. In a highly
unusual move, the Fifth Circuit has granted relief to a Texas death row
inmate. The Bigby Court grants relief on a Penry II claim dealing with
mitigation in relation to the Texas special questions & in so doing
lays out a solid example of what counsel must do in order to get relief
under this type of claim in that Court. The other decision is an equal
surprise. In an unusual move the Sixth Circuit in Cooey II v. Bradshaw has
granted petitioner's request for initial hearing en banc during a stay
proceeding. At issue appears to be a claim that habeas counsel
incompetence impacted on the integrity of the initial habeas proceedings.
This unusual move and unusual issue will undoubtedly lead to further
analysis here once the final decision of the court sitting en banc is
handed down. Finally, three other positive outcomes are noted. In Pickens
v. Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered a remand
in light of Atkins v. Virginia for a mental retardation hearing. In
Pennsylvania v. Williams the state supreme court has ordered a remand in
light the court below's apparent mishandling of petitioner's claimed
attempts to fire counsel & amend his PCRA petition. Finally, in Idaho
v. Lovelace a remand was ordered for a new sentencing in light of Ring v.
Arizona. Of additional note is that Darnell Williams in Indiana has won a
stay to permit DNA testing. Joseph Amrine, who has spent the past 17 years
on Missouri's death row, has had all charges dropped and walked out of
jail. In Pennsylvania counsel for Nicholas James Yarris announced in a
press conference that three separate DNA tests exclude Yarris from the
rape and murder for which he was convicted and sent to death row. Source:
Capital Defense Weekly
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| MESSAGE FROM ABE BONOWITZ, FADP
Greetings Friends,
I hope you are hanging in there OK. If it is any consolation, we're on the
downhill side of summer. While I know it can never compare to the heat you
are dealing with, I wanted to share with you that when we were in
Washington, DC for the annual Fast & Vigil at the US Supreme Court,
the air conditioning was broken. (We always stay at the Community for
Creative Nonviolence, which is part of a huge homeless shelter that was
founded in the 1980's by Mitch Snyder.) The heat was stifling. Many of us
couldn't sleep. Johnny put it all in perspective for us - reminding us
that it could be a lot worse. At least we could leave!
People in the streets are starting to get sick of the Bush Regime. On my
car I have a bumper sticker (actually, four in total - one on each of the
rear side windows, one on the back window, and one on the bumper) that
reads, "There's Dirt Under Every Bu$h." Back before the most
recent war got started, I was getting a lot of one-finger salutes. These
days people have figured out what a friggin liar George Bush is, and now
all I get is thumbs up, smiles, and people rolling down their window to
say they it, and "Where can I get one?" The reason I mention
this is because while that sticker is not specifically about the death
penalty, in my book, being anti-Bush is much the same as being anti-death
penalty.
Now Jeb! Is going to martyr Paul Hill. As you probably know, Hill wanted
to be executed from before he even committed the crime that put him on
death row. That's right - he murdered a doctor who worked at a women's
health clinic that provided abortions among other services. This is one of
those cases where it is very clear that the death penalty actually
inspires murder, and now the evil MF Jeb Bush is going to give Paul Hill a
platform to encourage others to commit the same crime. It really makes you
wonder why they call Jeb "the smart one."
Puerto Rican Johnny (AKA Juan Melendez - released Jan 2002) and Shabaka
WaQlimi (AKA Joseph Green Brown - released 1987) participated in "Starvin'
for Justice '03," the 10th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the
Death Penalty at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty will be out in force
protesting against that killing, and we are working to get some new voices
to the table on this one. We'll see just how consistent the
"Pro-Life" movement really is.... We do want to get a big crowd
outside the prison for this one. If you know anyone who might join the
protest, please write to them right away and tell them to be there, across
from the prison, by 5:15 on September 3. We will also have street
demonstrations in most major cities - so if you have people in Florida but
they can't make it to Starke, have them look at our web page at
www.FADP.org, or call us at 800-973-6548, for the details.
The play, "The Exonerated" will be in Ft. Lauderdale in October.
This play is based on interviews with a number of exonerated death row
prisoners, including Floridians Robert Hayes, Sunny Jacobs, and Delbert
Tibbs. Its quite fitting that it will play in Broward County, where they
seem to have a problem with wrongful convictions. Jesse Tafero, Sunny
Jacobs, Frank Lee Smith and others were railroaded there.... FADP hopes to
participate in some way....
What else? Juan Melendez and I are going on another road trip. We'll be in
Ohio for the Ohio Journey of Hope from September 26 to Oct. 12. The next
weekend is the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty conference
in Nashville, TN. And THEN we'll be back in Florida, raising awareness at
schools, churches, and in the media - as much as we can.... As with the
demonstrations, if you know people who have a school or a church or
somewhere that Juan can tell his story, please ask them to be in touch
with me as soon as possible at 800-973-6548. Finally, I was interviewed
today (7/30/03) for a news article about the new rules about soliciting
for pen pals. You should know that the reporter was Scoffing at the DOC.
They are just trying to get at you in any way that they can. Don't let
them! We will be litigating this, and the first amendment will prevail!
Stay cool, and stay strong. And feel free to drop me a note to let me know
what's on your mind.
Yours in the Struggle,
-Abe
FADP-177 U.S. highway # 1. Tequesta, FL 3346
Members of the board of the Journey of Hope... From Violence to
Healing, including Juan Melendez and Abe's dog Governor, in front of the
offices of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
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More News About the Heat Lawsuit
On July 2nd, Elliot Scherker, Karen Gottlieb, Randall Berg and Peter Siegel
filed a brief with the 11th Circuit challenging Judge Nimmons' earlier ruling
that the extreme temperatures on Florida's death row during the summer months do
not violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the 8th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. The brief primarily argues that the court applied the wrong
legal standard.
Peter Siegel and Randall Berg of the Florida Justice Institute, Miami, tried
the case before U.S. District Court Judge Nimmons last July in Jacksonville.
Berg and Siegel decided to enlist seasoned appellate counsel from the Greenberg
Traurig law firm to draft the brief and handle oral argument. "After living
with and trying a case, it often helps to have new talent take a fresh look at
the issue for the appeal," said Berg. "And Elliot and Karen are the
best in the business." Greenberg Traurig is one of the largest firms in
Florida and the country. The firm gained national recognition during its
successful representation of George W. Bush in the Presidential Election battle
in Florida. Karen is now in private practice in Coconut Grove. Highly regarded
appellate counsel Elliot Scherker and Karen Gottlieb are to be commended.
Elliot and Karen are husband and wife. They met as appellate attorneys in the
Miami Public Defenders Office. They were in the trenches for years successfully
handling capital and other appeals. They are wonderful attorneys. We thank them
and attorneys at the Institute for their fine work. The Department will file its
brief around the first of September as they were granted an extension. The 11th
Circuit has not set a date for oral argument.
This information has been provided by the Florida Justice Institute.
After we received this information and a copy of the brief, we mailed a copy
to each wing. If you have not yet seen it, we can try to provide some more
copies, but please ask your wing before sending out a request. It is quite
lengthy and fairly expensive to print and mail. We ask that you please enclose
at least the stamps to cover the postage. (5 stamps per brief as we can only
send five back-to-back printed pages at
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The Ten Commandments of True Love
1. Be honest: always be honourable in principles, intentions and actions; not
disposed to lie, cheat, or steal; showing uprightness and fairness, always being
sincere, respectable, frank, humble and virtuous.
2. Be Loyal: Always show faithfulness to one's oaths and obligations, showing
unadulterated commitment to any person conceived as deserving fidelity.
3. Be forgiving: always ready and willing to forgive, offering the chance to
recover from one's mistakes, showing reasonable tolerance at all times.
4. Be kind: always reflecting a good and benevolent nature that is loving,
affectionate, considerate, and helpful.
5. Be gentle: always polite and courteous, chivalrous, noble; demonstrating
dignity without pretence.
6. Be giving: always willing to present voluntarily and unselfishly without
expecting compensation.
7. Be joyful: always showing and expressing joy, happiness, and jubilance,
thereby causing joy and happiness to others.
8. Be patient: always bearing provocation, annoyance, pain and disappointment
without complaints or anger.
9. Be Amorous: always ready to dispense with one's love, especially with
one's mate, sexual love.
10. Be yourself: always revealing the true fruits of the heart freely, and
generously sharing your best with every one.
By Mark Asay. UCI- (cat fish)
Britta's Poetry Corner
Between the lines
When I read between the lines...
I see your fears, worries
And insecurities.
When I read between the lines...
I see the tears you´ve shed over people
Who have hurt and misunderstood you.
When I read between the lines...
I see a void that has left you wanting,
Needing and Yearning for something better.
When I read between the lines...
I see the wall you've built around your heart
For protection.
When I read between the lines...
I see a mind that's weary from trying to answer
So many unanswerable questions.
When I read between the lines...
I see the loneliness, frustration and anxiety
That imprisons you.
When I read between the lines...
I pause...
And imagine how wonderful it would be
If you would just let me in.
By Bill Clark, San Quentin 2003
Joachim's Art Corner
William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Madonna of the Roses (1903)
The French painter William Bouguereau creates a painting with Madonna, which
is in my opinion very untypical. Most paintings with Madonna showing Maria
suffering, because Jesus is dead (the so called "Pieta") or the
paintings are showing Madonna in a kind of mystical ecstasy during the
annunciation.
Here we can see Maria - neither suffering nor ecstatic. When I look at the
painting, I have the feeling, that Maria is very strong and she knows her
destiny. She looks into the future, but she's also in the present. Also
untypical is, that she doesn't look to the observer, but the little Jesus does
it. Unfortunately I have no explanation for this difference.
In this painting you can see a lot of mystical symbols - the roses, the blue
robe and the white cape for example. More about all this in the next art corner
These drawings kindly submitted by:
Daryl Moody (Short Dogg) UCI William Reaves - UCI
 
Spiritual Corner
Within each of us, is a spark of Light, which connects us to our Creator. This
"corner", is not about religion or conversion. It is about each of
us...our humanity... how we each at times, lose our direction and personal
power, and how we may find them again. Our purpose for this segment is to
encourage empowerment, discernment, hope, Oneness and the integration of
spirituality into daily life, regardless of the name by which we call the One in
the darkest nights of our souls. We welcome both comments and suggestions.
The Most Beautiful Heart
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he
had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and
they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in
it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever
seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful
heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your
heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the young man
looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it
had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they
didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some
places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared
-- how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought?
The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed.
"You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine,
mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears." "Yes,"
said the old man, "yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with
you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I
tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece
of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the
pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they
remind me of the love we shared.
Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't
returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love
is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding
me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return
and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to
the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a
piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took
his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred
heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not
perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart,
not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's
heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.
Author Unknown
Those who cannot forgive others, break the bridge over which they themselves
must pass. Confucius
A Hopi Elder Speaks
Oraibi, Arizona
"You have been telling the people that this is the eleventh hour, now
you must go back and tell the people that this is the hour. And there are things
to be considered. Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your
relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader".
And then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be
a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift
that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
"Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of
the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our
heads above the water. "And I say, see who is in there with you and
celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of
all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes
to a halt. "The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
"Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that
we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
"We are the ones we have been waiting for."
All the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of one small candle.
Anonymous
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it
multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder
the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but
you do not murder hate, In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a
night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light
can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." Martin
Luther King
This might be a bit of an unusual Christian input this month, but maybe one
that will benefit you more in the long run. This county, or the nearest town
rather, have some - not many- but some, very nice, and very loving and caring
churches- and having lived here for quite some years now and participating very
actively in the church life, I think I have a pretty good sense of which
churches would be reachable in terms of having love and compassion enough to
actually come to you, and do some serious ministry. Not "scoring points
with God and the Pastor" ministry, but the real stuff.
I have a feeling that letters from you guys to these churches, telling about the
need for some true outreach would be much more effective than me walking around
trying to make people listen. If anyone can explain the need - you can! And
maybe it is about time that people around here get a wake up call - Make them
aware you are just down the road…
Ezekiel 33:11; Say to them… as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his ways and live. -
Hebrew 13:3 remember the prisoners as if chained with them.
Anyway…It is just a suggestion…. here are the addresses:
Harvest Christian Fellowship. (Pastor Kyle, cool guy) cool church - mixed races….
238 S Walnut Street, Starke Fl. 32091
Or: 18933 US Highway 301 N, Starke Fl. 32091
True Vine Outreach Ministry -wonderful pastor- have done jail ministry for
ages… mostly black church
422 St Clair Street. Starke Fl. 32091
Grace Community Fellowship- the best Pastor- mineJ mostly white church.
P.O.box 1072. Starke Fl. 32091
First Christian Church- real nice young pastor- my youngest love him…
507 W Call Street, Starke, Fl. 32091
Or: 215 N Broadway Street, Starke Fl, 32091
If you would like information about a specific denomination I will be happy
to help you… just let me know….My favourite bible quote as I end this:
Numbers: 6: 24-26 May the Lord bless you and keep you, May the Lord make his
face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his
countenance upon you, and GIVE YOU PEACE
Hannah
USA: It's time for the AMA to Act on Lethal Injection The American Medical
Association (AMA), known for its loud, clear voice on issues pertaining to its
members' financial well-being (like Medicare physician payments or
"liability reform"), has been considerably less articulate when it
comes to their moral welfare. For example, on the subject of physician
participation in executions, the AMA's stance is complex and usually articulated
in a whisper. The AMA's policy E-2.06 asserts that "an individual's opinion
on capital punishment is the personal moral decision of the individual"
but, nevertheless, admonishes that "a physician, as a member of a
profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, should
not be a participant in a legally authorized execution." When the execution
method is lethal injection, the AMA further states that "selecting
injection sites; starting intravenous lines as a port for a lethal injection
device; prescribing, preparing, administering, or supervising injection drugs or
their doses or types; inspecting, testing, or maintaining lethal injection
devices; and consulting with or supervising lethal injection personnel" all
constitute participation and are there forbidden. The definition of
"participation" is itself ambiguous. "Pronouncing" death
(which involves monitoring an electrocardiogram and examining the
"patient") is considered participation and is forbidden but
"certifying" death is permitted. Attending or observing an execution
as a physician is forbidden, but witnessing an execution in a totally
nonprofessional capacity is allowed. It is forbidden for physicians to determine
legal competence to be executed, but "testifying as to medical history and
diagnoses or mental state as they relate to competence to stand trial" is
permissible. The AMA's stance on capital punishment is so muted that a survey of
1000 physicians published in 2001 demonstrated that over 40% of respondents
would willingly participate in at least one act that is forbidden by the AMA,
and 25% would perform multiple forbidden actions. Only 3% of the respondents
were even aware that the AMA (or anyone else) had published any ethical
guidelines on this issue. Given these findings, is it surprising that physicians
are frequent, and sometimes essential, participants in executions? Several
states have made doctors integral to the killing process. Three doctors
administered the first lethal injection in Illinois, a state that currently has
a moratorium on capital punishment. In Nevada, a doctor examines each condemned
prisoner to determine a site for venous access and prescribes the doses of the
lethal drugs. In Ohio, a physician pronounces the inmate dead. In several past
executions, doctors have provided advice about intravenous lines and, on one
occasion, a surgeon inserted the intravenous catheter into a condemned man after
the "execution team" was unable to. In Georgia, doctors from the
Medical College of Georgia have been present (as physicians) at several
executions. Another physician is present to help with intravenous lines. In one
case, this physician performed a central venous catheterization (a sophisticated
procedure usually performed only in intensive care units or operating rooms) in
order to allow the execution to proceed. Lethal injection is a stain on the face
of medicine. It defiles not only the doctor-participants, but it also corrupts
all physicians, because the healing profession becomes a charade for murder.
Physicians have an obligation to provide society with moral protection. Until
capital punishment is abolished, doctors will be executioners. Therefore, in a
loud, clear voice, AMA members should call for the abolition of capital
punishment when its House of Delegates meets in Chicago on June 14-19,2003.
(Source: Jonathan I.Groner MD; Trauma Medical Director, Children's Hospital,
Columbus, Ohio and Associate Professor, Clinical Surgery, The OSU College of
Medicine and Public Health)
Announcements, birthday's and……
August Birthdays
Edward James
Jack Ferrell
Derrick Smith
Ernest Stuggs
Gregory Capehart
Merit Sims
Ernest Downs
Burley Gilliam
Meryl McDonald
George Hodges
Marshall Gore
Elmer Carroll
Guy Gamble
David Gore
Jim Chandler
Rossiny St Clair
Joe Nixon
Tony Watts
Kenneth Steward
Timothy Robinson
Joel Wright
Dominick Occhicone
Guillermo Arbelaez
Angel Diaz
Garfield is so Lazy That:
...He takes a coffee break between naps.
...He has a doorman open the refrigerator for him.
...He makes Jon buy pre-shredded drapes.
...He only chases dead mice.
...He hired another cat to shed for him.
...He thinks yawning is an exercise.
Dedications
This song is a dedication of love from Marc James Asay to Valerie Ann Asay.
Shameless
Well I'm shameless when it comes to loving you
I'll do anything you want me to
I'll do anything at all
And I'm standing here for all the world to see
Oh baby, that's what's left of me
Don't have very far to fall
You know now I'm not a man who's ever been
Insecure about the world I've been living in
I don't break easy, I have my pride
But if you need to be satisfied
I'm shameless, oh honey, I don't have a prayer
Every time I see you standin' there
I go down upon my knees
And I'm changing, swore I'd never compromise
Oh, but you convinced me otherwise
I'll do anything you please
You see in all my life I've never found
What I couldn't resist, what I couldn't turn down
I could walk away from anyone I ever knew
But I can't walk away from you
I have never let anything have this much control over me
I work too hard to call my life my own
I have never let anything have this much control over me
I work too hard to call my life my own
And I've made myself a world and it's worked so perfectly
But it's your world now, I can't refuse
I've never had so much to lose
Oh, I'm shameless
You know it should be easy for a man who's strong
To say he's sorry or admit when he's wrong
I've never lost anything I've ever missed
But I've never been in love like this
It's out of my hands
I'm shameless, I don't have the power now
I don't want it anyhow
So I got to let it go
Oh, I'm shameless, shameless as a man can be
You make a total fool of me
I just wanted to you to know
Oh, I'm shameless, I just wanted you to know
Oh, I'm shameless, Oh, I'm down on my knees... shameless
(Written by Billy Joel-performed by Garth Brooks)
It is with sadness that we have to inform those of you who have been writing
to CHRISTINE MARIE HARDIE OF BRANTFORD ONTARIO CANADA, that Christine passed
away Saturday JULY 5th 2003.
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