Death Penalty News

California: In the face of evidence that more than 121 people who sat on death rows around the country were actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted, a non-partisan group of 40 law enforcement officers, current and former prosecutors, and state and federal judges are urging California lawmakers to enact a temporary halt to executions in the state while a commission examines the accuracy and fairness of the death penalty.  Story. . .

Virginia: State legislators, who have lost family members to murder, spoke out in opposition to the death penalty during a state senate committee hearing on a bill to impose a moratorium on executions. Story. . .

NAACP: In a recent interview with The Washington Post, NAACP president Bruce C. Gordon called for a halt to executions, in every state, while questions of accuracy and fairness are addressed--specifically disparate statistics such as African Americans representing 10 percent of the general population and 42 percent of the population on death row. Story. . . [Mark Godsey]