Around the Nation
Alarming News this week from Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC):
Mentally Ill Woman Dies After 20 Years on Nevada's Death Row
Priscilla Ford, who suffered from a variety of mental illnesses and who was the lone woman on Nevada's death row for more than twenty years, died of apparent complications from emphysema on January 29, 2005.Kenneth Starr Calls for "Utmost Care" and "Absolute Certainty" in Death Cases
Kenneth W. Starr, a former federal judge and U.S. Solicitor General, recently represented Virginia death row inmate Robin Lovitt before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Though he supports capital punishment, Starr stated that "the death penalty has to be administered with the utmost caution and reserved for the gravest offenses. This is not that kind of case. Robin Lovitt maintains his innocence, and evidence that might prove his innocence has been destroyed. I'm very distressed by that.... Society had better be absolutely certain before they put someone to death who is maintaining his innocence. I feel very passionately about that."
Posted by katherine at 11:52 AM
