Civil Liberties
Related: About this forumThe new court's absurd inhumanity: To preserve procedure, an innocent man must die
That is a decision released last month, Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez, which is likely to result in the execution of an innocent man. For the wrongfully convicted, it sets a precedent that shatters the hope that they can get new evidence of innocence examined by a federal court.
And not because the court has weighed the evidence for and against guilt and come to the conclusion that the man is guilty. (The latest court to review the evidence in the case concluded he probably couldnt be found guilty of anything.)
The court is pushing to execute him because it says the evidence showing he is innocent should not be considered at all.
The ruling is especially significant for Idaho because it reversed a ruling of the federal Ninth Circuit, the final stop for an Idaho appellant before the U.S. Supreme Court. As Kevin Fixler reported, theres likely one Idaho case already affected by the ruling.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/court-absurd-inhumanity-preserve-procedure-100000629.html
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)This is an interesting take:
"The court is pushing to execute him because it says the evidence showing he is innocent should not be considered at all."
It's the law which excludes consideration of that evidence. The court was asked to stop that and declined. To say the court is "pushing to execute him" narrowly assigns blame for this provision, which 91 US Senators approved and Bill Clinton signed:
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1041/vote_104_1_00242.htm
Only eight senators voted against this obscenity:
Feingold (D-WI)
Hatfield (R-OR)
Moseley-Braun (D-IL)
Moynihan (D-NY)
Packwood (R-OR)
Pell (D-RI)
Simon (D-IL)
Wellstone (D-MN)
But if you want to know who is "pushing to execute him", here are their names:
Abraham (R-MI)
Akaka (D-HI)
Ashcroft (R-MO)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Bradley (D-NJ)
Breaux (D-LA)
Brown (R-CO)
Bryan (D-NV)
Bumpers (D-AR)
Burns (R-MT)
Byrd (D-WV)
Campbell (R-CO)
Chafee (R-RI)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cohen (R-ME)
Coverdell (R-GA)
Craig (R-ID)
D'Amato (R-NY)
Daschle (D-SD)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dole (R-KS)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Exon (D-NE)
Faircloth (R-NC)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Ford (D-KY)
Frist (R-TN)
Glenn (D-OH)
Gorton (R-WA)
Graham (D-FL)
Gramm (R-TX)
Grams (R-MN)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heflin (D-AL)
Helms (R-NC)
Hollings (D-SC)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (R-VT)
Johnston (D-LA)
Kassebaum (R-KS)
Kempthorne (R-ID)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerrey (D-NE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Mack (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nickles (R-OK)
Nunn (D-GA)
Pressler (R-SD)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV)
Robb (D-VA)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Roth (R-DE)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Shelby (R-AL)
Simpson (R-WY)
Smith (R-NH)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thompson (R-TN)
Thurmond (R-SC)
Warner (R-VA)
It was to stop "all those criminals getting off or having their punishment delayed by 'technicalities'".