Be Careful What You Ask For

by · Oct 4, 2023 1:55 pm

From August last year until last month, Alabama murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith waged a legal battle to require the state to use nitrogen hypoxia, not lethal injection, to execute him. He won. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama issued this order on September 20.

The order notes, “In no fewer than two hearings before this Court, Plaintiff has confirmed that nitrogen hypoxia is his chosen and preferred method of execution.” The order says, “Defendants …  are permanently ENJOINED from executing Kenneth Eugene Smith by lethal injection. Sanctions will be swift and serious if this injunction is violated.” Because Alabama intends to carry out the execution by Smith’s preferred method, the court dismissed the case except for any proceedings to enforce the injunction.

So, the Alabama AG goes to the Alabama Supreme Court with a motion to set an execution date. You know what happens next, right? Continue reading . . .

Florida Executes Double Murderer

by · Oct 4, 2023 10:59 am

Michael Duane Zack, a Florida man who murdered two women in 1996, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday night.  Brendan Farrington of the Associated Press reports that Zack’s attorneys sought a last-minute stay arguing that he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, which was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.   A Florida Supreme Court decision upholding Zack’s conviction and death sentence describes the brutal murders of Laura Rosillo and Ravonne Smith. Continue reading . . .

Major Effort to Overturn 9th Circuit Ruling Allowing Homeless Camps

by · Oct 3, 2023 4:08 pm

The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation has joined the city of Grants Pass, Oregon to seek a Supreme Court review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ extension of its 2019 ruling in Martin v. City of Boise. That decision announced, in effect, that the homeless had an Eighth Amendment right to camp on public property in any city where the number of homeless exceeded the number of beds in shelters. The ruling covers the nine western states in the Ninth Circuit which includes Alaska, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, California, Arizona and Hawaii. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a petition by the City of Boise, supported by a brief by CJLF, to review and overturn that ruling.

Continue reading . . .

First Monday in October

by · Oct 2, 2023 8:08 am

The U.S. Supreme Court began its new session this morning. The Court issued an orders list from the Long Conference. As expected, no new cases were taken up.

Only one case is on the docket for argument today. The Court grapples with Congress’s sloppy drafting in the case of Pulsifer v. United States, No. 22-340. Two civil cases are on the docket for tomorrow and Wednesday. Continue reading . . .

U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Two Criminal Cases for the New Term

by · Sep 29, 2023 8:11 am

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a short orders list taking up twelve cases, two of them criminal, for briefing and argument in the new term. The term begins Monday. Glossip v. Oklahoma, No. 22-7466, in which CJLF co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of the victim’s family and the Oklahoma DA’s Association, is not on the list.

The list is part 1 of the results of the “long conference” last Tuesday. If the Court follows its usual pattern, part 2 will be a long list of denials on Monday. Not all of the cases considered at the conference will be on either list, though. Some will be “relisted” for a second look at a later conference.

Here are the criminal cases taken up: Continue reading . . .

Victims Beg Newsom to Deny Murderer’s Parole

by · Sep 27, 2023 1:52 pm

A Los Angeles murderer serving 40 years-to-life in prison has been granted parole eleven years earlier than originally sentenced.  Michael Ruiz of Fox News reports that Derek Pettis, who at age 24, murdered a police Chaplain and attempted to murder a police officer was granted parole under California’s 2018 youthful offender parole law which considers murderers up to 26 years-old to be juveniles.  The officer, who was shot and permanently disabled told the parole board, “This is difficult to understand, since one can join the military and fight and die for their country at 17, enter into a business contract at 18, vote at 21, drink alcohol at 21, and yes, be a police officer at 21. So, in utilizing the “Youth Offender” hearing, I believe it is imperative to be careful how it is applied, especially with regard to a 24-year-old street gang member.”

Continue reading . . .

After 8th Murder, Illegal Faces Death Penalty

by · Sep 26, 2023 11:55 am

An illegal alien murderer from El Salvador deported six times, may face the death penalty for killing his cellmate.  The LA Daily News reports that Ramon Escobar plead guilty in Los Angeles last year of robbing and beating five men to death with a baseball bat and bolt cutters and also admitted killing his aunt and uncle in Texas.  In exchange for his plea, Escobar was sentenced in May 2022 to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP).   The multiple robbery-murders  made Escobar eligible for the death penalty, but fortunately for him, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon refuses to seek it even for serial killers.  Last February state corrections officials say that Escobar strangled his cellmate to death in a Bakersfield prison.  This is bad news for Escobar.   Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer does not share Gascon’s sympathy for murderers.  With his prior conviction for multiple murders, Escobar is once again eligible for a death sentence.

A Point of Inflection in the California Legislature?

by · Sep 20, 2023 8:21 pm

For several years now, it has seemed like the California Legislature had written the soft-on-crime advocates a blank check. It was passing one bill after another to reduce the consequences to criminals of committing crimes across the spectrum from relatively minor ones to the very worst. Legislators seemed to be competing among themselves to see who could put the most thugs back on the street.

This year, the folks who call themselves “progressive”* are lamenting that so many of their cherished bills failed to pass. Bob Egelko has this article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Continue reading . . .

Oklahoma Set to Execute Brutal Murderer

by · Sep 15, 2023 3:30 pm

A federal judge has refused to stay the September 21 execution of Oklahoma killer Anthony Sanchez for the 1996 rape and murder of 21-year-old Juli Busken.  Dylan Goforth of the Frontier reports that while detectives found DNA on the victims underwear and pajamas, they were unable to find a match until 2004 after a DNA sample was taken from Sanchez while he was in prison for a burglary conviction.   His sample matched the DNA found on the victim.  Two years later Sanchez was convicted on overwhelming evidence and sentenced to death.  On September 13, a federal district judge denied his request for a stay.  Last Spring Newsweek published an article claiming that years ago, Sanchez’s now-deceased father told his ex-girlfriend that he killed Juli Busken.  The odds of the DNA match being incorrect are 1 in 94 trillion for Southwest Hispanics.  Update:  Sanchez was pronounced dead at 10:19 am Thursday morning.

Continue reading . . .