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Human Rights Law

2001

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

Petitions For Life: Executive Clemency In Missouri Death Penalty Cases, Cathleen Burnett Jan 2001

Petitions For Life: Executive Clemency In Missouri Death Penalty Cases, Cathleen Burnett

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

The thesis of this article is that low reversal rates mean serious errors are not being detected and corrected. The research will focus on Missouri, which has very low reversal rates of 15% in federal court and 20% in state court. The data to address this question comes from the clemency petitions submitted to the governor as the last step in the process of executing the death penalty. These petitions illustrate the range and magnitude of the claims of legal problems in one state. The clemency petitions provide the most complete and full statement of the condemned's case, because these …


The Death Penalty In Virginia: Attempts At Legislative Reform, Tara Elgie Jan 2001

The Death Penalty In Virginia: Attempts At Legislative Reform, Tara Elgie

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This paper will argue that the time has come for legislative reform of capital punishment. It will briefly examine the history of the death penalty, focusing on the provisions under which it was reinstated and whether those provisions are met under today's implementation. Then it will look to recent attempts by the Virginia General Assembly to reform the procedures by which it implements the death penalty. The paper will also explore public perception of the death penalty as an explanation for why the death penalty persists as the ultimate punishment, despite recent problems with its implementation.


Public Executions In America Should Death Row Inmates Be Able To Choose Between Private And Public Death, Nicholas Compton Jan 2001

Public Executions In America Should Death Row Inmates Be Able To Choose Between Private And Public Death, Nicholas Compton

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

On June 13, 1997, Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19,1995. The bombing resulted in the deaths of 168 people and the wounding of over 500 more. McVeigh successfully petitioned U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch to put an end to his appeals and expedite his execution. At midnight on February 16, 2001 McVeigh let pass his deadline to petition President George W. Bush for clemency. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 16, 2001 at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, …


Through The Looking Glass Of Teaching: The Death Penalty And The Political Culture Of Detached Passions, Adelaide H. Villmoare Jan 2001

Through The Looking Glass Of Teaching: The Death Penalty And The Political Culture Of Detached Passions, Adelaide H. Villmoare

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Today, despite daily struggles in courtrooms against capital punishment, there appears little legal room to challenge the death penalty. Most constitutional questions appear "settled. Given the present composition of the Supreme Court, there is scant expectation of any major reversals. Also, the Court's future is to be decided by a President who was governor of a state that has executed more people since 1976 than any other state in the nation. While abolitionist scholars and activists continue to raise constitutional issues, the most dramatic events challenging the death penalty have occurred in the larger political arena outside the courtroom. The …