Darius Kimbrough, who raped, beat and murdered 28-year-old Denise Collins in her Orlando apartment in 1991, is being executed by lethal injection at Florida’s Starke prison at 6 p.m. Tuesday, after 19 years on death row. He is being killed on his mother’s birthday. He becomes the fifth inmate executed in Florida this year.
Eighth Amendment
Fast-Tracking Executions Proves Slower than Expected Under “Timely Justice Act”
The new law designed to fast-track executions in Florida, called the Timely Justice Act, will not spark a flurry of executions after all even as 132 convicts have been certified as being partially “warrant ready” to be killed, perhaps dashing some lawmakers’ expectations.
Only in Florida: Attorney General Bondi Reschedules Execution to Avoid Conflict With Her Fundraiser
Marshall Lee Gore was to be executed the evening of Sept. 10 until Attorney General Bondi rescheduled the killing so it wouldn’t conflict with her “campaign kickoff” fundraiser in Tampa. She now says she shouldn’t have done that.
After Two Stays, Supreme Court Clears Marshall Lee Gore For Year’s Fourth Execution
Rejecting arguments that he should avoid lethal injection because he is insane, the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the execution of Marshall lee Gore, convicted of killing two women in 1988 in Miami-Dade and Columbia counties.
Stand Your Ground Special Session: Florida Democrats Invoke Unique Tactic in Hunt for Votes
Vastly outnumbered Democrats have a week to convince enough Republicans lawmakers to support a special session of the Legislature on the Stand Your Ground law. The Secretary of State’s office has to find 96 lawmakers to trigger such a session.
Eric Holder Takes on the “War on Drugs,” Mandatory Sentences and Epidemic Imprisonment Rates
Attorney general Eric Holder on Monday delivered a seminal speech outlining a plan to revamp federal drug policy and incarceration rates of non-violent and elderly offenders, and urging Congress to review mandatory sentencing in light of a “war on drugs” that has not worked. The full speech.
Cabinet Passes, for Now, on Pardoning Marissa Alexander, Pending Stand Your Ground Appeal
Alexander, a 32-year-old mother of three, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year after firing a shot into a wall during a dispute with her abusive husband, a case that stands in sharp contrast with George Zimmerman’s not-guilty verdict after he shot and killed an unarmed teen.
It Ain’t Texas: Florida Supreme Court Reverses Two Death Sentences, Citing Mental Issues
In two separate decisions that illustrate the fallibility of death sentences, the Florida Supreme Court this week overturned the death sentences of Michael Shellito, 37, and Ralston Davis, 28, ruling in both cases that the murderers’ mental state at the time of the killings should have played a larger role in theirs sentences.
Supreme Court Denies Gregory’s Death-Penalty Appeal for 2007 Murders in Flagler Beach
William Gregory, now 30, was sentenced to death in 2011, for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Skyler Dawn Meekins, then 17, and her boyfriend Daniel Arthur Dyer, then 22, as they slept, and Skyler’s 1-year-old daughter was in a nearby room.
Emergency Lawsuit Charges Law Fast-Tracking Death Row Inmates Is Unconstitutional
The suit alleges that the law, which goes in effect July 1, would violate the separation of powers by imposing obligations on lawyers that conflict with judicially-determined rules, and that it would alter the court’s authority to govern capital post-conviction litigation and would violate due process and equal protection.
The Cruel and Unusual Justice Thomas
The cruelties of the self-loathing, self-pitying Clarence Thomas were on display again this week when he provided the deciding vote that had the Supreme Court managing to turn the right to remain silent against the accused, and using that silence as evidence of incrimination.
Scott Signs Fast-Track Execution Bill, Making 13 Death Row Inmates Immediately Eligible
In signing the so-called “Timely Justice Act,” Scott went against the tide of calls, letters and emails urging him to veto it. As of Thursday, his office had received 447 phone calls, with 438 opposed to the bill; 14 letters, with 13 opposed; and 14,571 emails, with 14,565 opposed.
Van Poyck, Third Florida Inmate Executed This Year, Leaves Stark Word Trail Behind
William van Poyck had spent nearly 26 years on death row after his conviction in 1987 in the murder of a prison guard. He spent many of those years writing books and maintaining a public blog, which chronicled in the last weeks his last days on death row. Excerpts are included.
Elmer Carroll To Be Killed at 6 p.m. as Stay Is Denied; Exonerated Men Will Deliver Petition to Scott
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the last appeal by Elmer Leon Carroll to stay his execution, On Thursday, Herman Lindsey and Seth Penalver – the 23rd and 24th men exonerated from Florida’s Death Row – will deliver a letter to Gov. Rick Scott, asking him to veto the Timely Justice Act, which will fast-track executions.
Fast-Track Kill Bill Aside, Scott Speeds Death Warrants, Slating 3 Executions in 26 Days
Gov. Rick Scott is not waiting to sign a bill that would accelerate the pace of capital-punishment executions in Florida. The death warrants he’s signed since April lead to the fastest-paced series of executions since four inmates were killed in March 1998, when Lawton Chiles was governor.
Bill Speeding Up Executions in Florida Passes Despite Disturbing Rate of Exonerations
Florida lawmakers gave final approval to fast-tracking executions and reducing Death Row stays, with supporters saying they want justice for victims’ families — but critics warning about executing innocent people, 24 of whom have been exonerated in Florida since 1976.
Duping Court Ruling, Florida Replacing Life Juvenile Sentencing With 50-Year Minimum
Legislation aimed at putting Florida in line with a U.S. Supreme Court ban on automatic life sentences for juvenile murderers cleared a House panel Tuesday, but with a 50 year minimum sentence that opponents say may keep the state’s law at odds with the court’s aim.
Invitation to an Execution
Larry Eugene Mann was executed at Starke state prison Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. by lethal injection. I traveled to Starke with a Catholic Church group to witness the vigils–pro and con–outside the prison grounds.
Exonerated Death Row Inmates Tell Flagler Beach Group of an Enduring Florida Injustice
In turns moving, startling and informative, a day-long workshop on the death penalty in Flagler Beach, featuring two exonerated men, urged an assembly of 60 to more actively get involved in a movement to abolish capital punishment in Florida.
The Death Penalty Comes to Flagler Beach: Saturday Workshop Takes On “Broken System”
The workshop between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Santa Maria Del Mar’s Community Hall, will feature former death row inmates Herman Lindsey (exonerated in 2006) and Seth Penalver (2012), along with several other death penalty experts and advocates for the repeal of Florida’s capital punishment.
Lawmakers Want to Speed Up Executions of Florida’s 404 Death Row Inmates
The proposed constitutional amendment would shift power from the courts system to lawmakers to set rules about what are known as “post-conviction” appeals in death-penalty cases.
Three-Year Effort to Abolish Death Penalty in Florida Fails in 9-4 Justice Committee Vote
The rare vote to kill a bill in committee, rather than just bottling it up never to be heard, gave death penalty opponents their first chance to extensively argue for a repeal, following several years in which the measure’s sponsor, Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, has been unable to persuade Republican leaders to put the bill before a committee.
Abuse of Girls at Milton Detention Facility Exposes Flaws in Florida’s Juvenile Justice
The Florida juvenile prison for girls got a 100 percent satisfactory rating from the state a year ago, though two staffers have been accused of abusing girls there, and one was caught on video.
Supreme Court Denies Last Appeal by Manuel Pardo, Cop Turned Executioner Scheduled to Die Dec. 11
Manuel Pardo, 56, is scheduled to die Dec. 11 at Florida State Prison in Starke. Pardo was convicted in 1988 after admitting to nine execution-style murders. He said he should avoid culpability because he believed all the victims to be drug dealers who he said “have no right to live.”
In Juvenile Detention for Girls, Health Care Is Shoddy, Absent or Geared Only to Boys
Incarcerated girls are “one of the most vulnerable and unfortunately invisible populations in the country,” and up to 90 percent have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, yet the health care provided to children, and girls in particular, in juvenile detention is often ill-equipped to deal with their complex health needs.
Do Prisoners Have a Constitutional Right to Dental Floss?
In Florida, five inmates have separately sued Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw in federal court, claiming deprivation of federally protected civil rights through the denial of dental floss. The sheriff is denying it to them. Angel Castillo argues the sheriff is wrong.
Corporal Punishment: When a Religious Exemption Becomes a License to Brutalize
A harrowing recent series in the Tampa Bay Times detailed how for 30 years a handful of homes for troubled youth have used a misguided exemption in Florida law to get away with all manner of abuses by using religion as a shield.
The News-Journal’s Predatory Sensationalism On Sex Offenders Near Local Schools
A News-Journal article on 445 registered sex offenders living near Flagler and Volusia elementary schools was dangerously alarming and misleading, argues George Griffin, and perpetuates numerous myths about sex offenders, encouraging bad laws.
As Florida and Other States Privatize Prison Health Services, Care Standards Suffer
Florida and other states, in an attempt to cut costs, are increasingly outsourcing health care for inmates to for-profit companies, but the trend is raising concerns among unions and prisoners’ rights groups.
Florida Professors Still Can’t Travel to Cuba On State’s Dime; Low IQ Execution Cleared
Three Florida cases are the many the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear, which means a ban on Florida university faculty’s travel to Cuba stands, as does Florida’s authority to execute a Daytona Beach murderer with an IQ of 70.