An Oklahoma judge today decided that probable cause exists to try Terry Nichols on 160 counts of murder in state court in Oklahoma.

Nichols is serving a life sentence without as a result of a federal trial on charges of conspiring to kill 8 federal officers in the OKC bombing. Our view: The state prosecution is a waste of time and recources and serves no purpose other than satisfaction of the victims' misguided desire for vengence.

Oklahoma is facing a $678 million budget shortfall. Teachers are being laid off, health care is in crisis mode. It has cost the state over 2 million to defend Nichols in state court to this point. No surprise that the the prosecution costs have not been released. But here's a guidepost: The feds spent $82 million investigating and prosecuting McVeigh. The defense spent $15 million ot defend him.

Re-trying Nichols will waste scarce state resources. This prosecution is an exercise in vengence, pure and simple. Some of the victims agree.

"We have teachers being laid off right and left. Our health care system is in shambles. And we're going to try someone who's going to spend the rest of his life in prison," said Jim Denny, whose two children were injured in the bombing.

All we can say is we hope journalists stay on top of the costs of this prosecution--we don't want one penny of our federal tax dollars going towards the state prosecution. In 1996, a federal judge removed the federal case from Oklahoma to Denver because Nichols couldn't get a fair trial in Oklahoma. Nothing has changed. The arrogance of a few local politicians deciding that Oklahoma's honor demands the ultimate penalty, regardless of a federal jury deciding otherwise, is deplorable.

A death verdict against Terry Nichols in Oklahoma state court carries no credibility in our view. Let's recognize it for what it really is--an attempt to commit state-sanctioned murder. Shame on Oklahoma and its district attorneys. Maybe if they used the money earmarked for prosecuting Nichols for disaster relief to repair damage from recent tornados, our precious federal dollars wouldn't have to go be directed there.

"Jan Arriens was so moved by a 1987 BBC film about a US death row prisoner, he wrote to the executed man's cellmates. The replies inspired him to found a group - now boasting 1,700 members - to correspond with condemned convicts."

We are reminded of Joseph Amrine, who sat on death row in Missouri for killing another prisoner from 1986 until until last week, when the Missouri Supreme Court vacated his death sentence and found that Amrine had shown "clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence that undermines confidence" in his conviction. When interviewed a few years ago for the Benneton anti-death penalty campaign, "We on Death Row," Amrine was asked what he would like people reading his interview to know.

"Could you put in there that I like to write? That if there's anybody out there that wants to write me, that I'll write him back."

[ed. note. Due to the controversy surrounding the Benneton campaign, it is no longer available on the Internet, to our knowledge. We have around ten hard copies of it left, which we use when we lecture on the topic of "Defending the Hated Defendant: Why We Do What We Do." About the size of an issue of Life Magazine, with similar full page pictures, it was included as a supplement to the now defunct Talk Magazine in January, 2000. If you can get your hands on a copy, we highly recommend it.]

Attorney General John Ashcroft is on the warpath again, trying to impose the death penalty in a state which doesn't allow for it. This time it's Minnesota.

Minnesota hasn't had an execution since 1906 when it hanged William Williams. The state doesn't have a death penalty law on the books. But that isn't stopping Ashcroft. Richard A. Oslund is awaiting trial in Minnesota state court on murder charges. Ashcroft's minions are considering stepping in to move the case to federal court where Oslund could be made to face the death penalty.

Oslund has a fairly routine murder case--the kind that is traditionally tried in state court. Ashcroft is using an interstate commerce connection to justify his attempt to remove the case to federal court.

Former Illinois Governor George Ryan is in Italy, campaigning for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. The Roman Colosseum was lit up in honor of his visit. From the Hands Off Cain newsletter:

The Italian capital city’s most famous landmark was brightly lit last night to mark a visit by former Illinois governor George Ryan. Rome has been illuminating the gladiator’s arena every time a positive development in the fight against the death penalty worldwide occurs since 1999. The Colosseum first shone for Ryan in January 2000 when he announced a moratorium on executions and a second time on January 11 this year after he announced the commutation of the death sentences of 167 people on the Illinois death row and pardoned four others.

Ryan, in Italy to campaign for a worldwide moratorium on executions, on Monday became an honorary president of Hands Off Cain, that first launched this campaign on an international level in 1993.

[Thanks to Rev. George W. Brooks, Director of Advocacy for Chicago's Kolbe House for the tip.]

An email is making the rounds asking people to sign onto a letter protesting the stoning death of Amina Lawal on June 3. If you receive it, please know it's not true. Here is the correct status of the Lawal case, according to this just published by Amnesty International:

Amnesty International today moved to correct misleading information falsely attributed to one of the web pages of the Spanish section of Amnesty International. Information has been widely distributed by email falsely claiming that Amina Lawal's execution had been set for 3 June 2003 and referring to Amnesty International as a source.

Contrary to this information widely circulated on internet, Amnesty International has consistently published accurate information about the case on all its official web pages.

Amnesty International regards Amina Lawal's case as of the highest priority and appreciates the support that members of the public have given the campaign. However, circulating emails with inaccurate information causes many problems for all the groups working hard to defend Amina Lawal and women's human rights in Nigeria.

The News And Observer editorializes Sunday on credibility issues inside North Carolina's legal system after another murder conviction is thrown out:

Jerry Lee Hamilton is for now off North Carolina's death row, thanks to a judge who recognized an appalling flaw in his prosecution. Superior Court Judge Michael Beale of Wadesboro ruled last week that evidence that should have been available to Hamilton's defense attorneys was withheld by prosecutors or police. The ruling echoes one from December, when another judge tossed out the death sentence of Alan Gell of Bertie County, criticizing prosecutors for withholding evidence that supported Gell's claim of innocence in a 1995 murder. The credibility of the system of justice rests on one principle: fairness. And that depends on prosecutors and police who understand that their duty is to find the truth, not to win a case. Justice is not a competition. Withholding evidence is withholding justice -- it is not akin to stealing a baseball catcher's signs.

Check out the paper's excellent series, Time of Death, examining the cases of Alan Gell and Jerry Lee Hamilton.

The Dallas Morning News opines that the stay of Delma Banks' texecution this week by the Supreme Court warrants a moratorium on the death penalty. The paper also provides this online guide to staying texecutions.

New Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich "said Wednesday he won't lift a moratorium on executions imposed by his predecessor "anytime soon"--and perhaps not at all during his current term."

Amnesty International issued a press release today calling for a halt to executions based on its new report evidencing discrimination in its application.

The death penalty in the United States of America remains an act of racial injustice as well as an inherently cruel and degrading punishment, Amnesty International said today as it issued a new report on the continuing role of race in capital cases in the USA."

While President Bush claimed Texas never executed an innocent man, consider this top story from today's Houston Chronicle:

Attorneys for a death row inmate believe problems at the Houston Police Department crime lab may be the reason their client never received evidence that could have cleared him before trial.

Kudos to Nevada criminal defense attorney Kenneth McKenna for convincing a jury in Reno, Nevada to return a life verdict and reject the death penalty after convicting his client of killing a police officer.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the texecution of Charles Ladd, set for later today, so his lawyers can raise the issue of mental retardation. Ladd would have been the 14th texecution this year.

Steve Bates of The Yellow Doggerel Democrat recounts his experience being summoned for jury duty in a Texas capital murder case. He's not at all happy with the system, particularly the requirement that jurors be "death qualified" before they can be selected--jurors say they have to be willing to impose death in the appropriate case. Persons who say they could not impose the death penalty no matter what are not allowed to serve.

Unfortunately, this is the law throughout the country. Prospective jurors should know this. [thanks to Body and Soul for the link]

Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty has unveiled a poster of Jesus Christ's crucifixion to oppose the death penalty. The poster will be displayed in churches, particularly during Easter week.

[The poster] depicts Jesus Christ's crucifixion as an example of how innocent people are executed in imperfect justice systems.

....The first church to display the banner, which shows the crucifixion with the words "Executions Have Always Been Wrong," is Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, 1402 N. El Rio Drive. "I felt safe putting it up there," said the Rev. Elwood McDowell, "because I know how the congregation feels about the issue."

Because these are the days preceding Easter, called Holy Week, the CAADP chose to unveil the poster Monday. This raises a theological question, because Christians believe Jesus died to save humanity.

"The intended message is that it's just unconscionable that we could execute people in a very fallible criminal justice system that makes mistakes," McDowell said. "And I don't understand how we can get a perfect system.

"And I hope that it makes people feel since he forgave his executioners, those of us who have been victimized, as painful and as horrible as it is, we can still find a way to forgive."

You can view the poster by clicking on the link to the article.

Via Paper Chase:

Amnesty International Friday released a report on use of the death penalty worldwide in 2002:

By April 2003, 76 countries and territories had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. A further 15 countries had abolished it for all but exceptional crimes such as wartime crimes. Twenty-one countries were abolitionist in practice: ie had not carried out any executions for the past 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions. At present there are 112 countries which are abolitionist in law or practice and 83 countries which retain and use the death penalty.

In 2002 at least 1,526 people were executed in 31 countries. At least 3,248 people were sentenced to death in 67 countries. These figures include only cases known to Amnesty International; the true figures were certainly higher. The vast majority of executions worldwide are carried out in a tiny handful of countries. In 2002, 81 percent of all known executions took place in China, Iran and the USA.

Here is the Press Release. Full Report is here.

Update: Arizona will let the 27 death sentences stand.

The Arizona Supreme Court will review 27 death sentences and decide if re-sentencing is required following last year's Supreme Court decision that juries, not judges, must decide aggravating facts supporting the death penalty.

Arizona has already re-written its capital punishment law. The 27 cases under review involve those in which aggravating factors were found by a judge and not a jury. Prosecutors allege this is "harmless error."