- February 13, 2021
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Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Friday struck down the state law governing how death-penalty inmates are executed by lethal injection. ———. 72201. Bill Clinton returned from campaigning in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary in 1992 in order to sign the warrant for Rickey Ray Rector’s execution. As recently as June 2012, the state Supreme Court ruled that the current execution law is unconstitutional. Arkansasâ initial plan to carry out eight quick-fire executions in less than two weeks has never before been attempted in the modern era of the US death penalty. Shortly thereafter, the state purchased ninety-two acres for $12 per acre and authorized $80,500 to construct the prison. The southern U.S. state of Arkansas executed two people in the span of about three hours late Monday, as authorities work to carry out death sentences on a number of inmates before a ⦠Parker favored the abolition of the death penalty but felt he had to adhere strictly to the letter of the law. Though the pace of the Arkansas schedule would set a record in the modern death penalty era, officials at the death chamber in Huntsville, Texas, executed three men on consecutive days in ⦠1967 â Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller declares a moratorium on executions 1970 â Governor Rockefeller grants clemency to all 15 men on death row 1972 â The Supreme Court strikes down the death penalty in Furman v. 1976 â The Supreme Court reinstates the death penalty when it upholds⦠According to Marlin Shipman, “The decade of the 1930s produced more state-sanctioned killing in Arkansas than any other decade during the twentieth century. Swindler was also the first execution since 1964. This change in the law occurred in large part due to public reaction to the execution of Rickey Ray Rector on January 24, 1992. Unfolding Misconceptions: A Study of the Arkansas Prison System, 1836–1986. Little Rock, AR. Arkansas is one of 32 states that currently have the death penalty, while 18 states ban the practice. Governor Hutchinson later scheduled eight executions to occur within a ten-day period starting on April 17, 2017, on account of the imminent expiration of the state’s supply of midazolam, a drug that has been employed in executions. Not all states reinstated the death penalty, but most did. Winthrop Rockefeller’s Death Sentence Commutations.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 74 (Summer 2015): 130–146. Or, sign up for Kroger Rewards and a portion of your purchases at Kroger will be donated to the CALS Foundation. The law specified that electrocution was to be used to carry out the death sentence. Leflar, Robert A. However, on April 20, the state executed Ledell Lee after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his last appeals, marking the first execution in Arkansas since 2005. Jory Worthen is accused of allegedly killing his ex girlfriend, Alyssa Cannon, and her son in 2019. T he day before Ledell Lee was executed on 20 April 2017, he talked to the BBC from death row. The first Arkansas penitentiary was authorized in 1838. The Arkansas criminal code provides for the death penalty or life without parole upon conviction of capital murder or treason. The most egregious was in 1880 when twenty percent of the convicts died while on contract. Arkansas had used lethal amounts of barbiturates in its executions until drug companies stopped making them available for capital punishment, under pressure from death penalty abolitionists. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday kicked a death penalty appeal back to a lower court, citing a procedural hang up. In two of the cases, victim family members supported the r…, In its unprecedented rush to execute eight prisoners over an eleven-day period in April 2017, Arka…, A two-week federal trial on the constitutionality of Arkansas’s lethal-injection protocol came to a close May 2, 2019, as the parties presented legal arguments to the court after eight days of testimony. Shipman, Marlin. Washington Post: With lethal injection drugs expiring, Arkansas plans unprecedented seven executions in 11 days â "Though the death penalty has been dormant in Arkansas ⦠PRIMARY OBJECTIVE : Ease the load on the Executive Director, while boosting the visibility and effectiveness of the state coalition and the broader movement. “In Matters of Life and Death.” Arkansas Times, November 5, 2015, pp. The last execution by hanging occurred at the Paris (Logan County) jail on July 15, 1914. A Florida man and an Arkansas woman, convicted of murder in separate cases involving junk science and prosecutorial misconduct, have been exonerated, decades after being wrongfully capitally prosecuted. Records kept since 1913 show that 195 inmates have been executed in Arkansas: fifty-seven white males, one white female, 134 black males, one Hispanic male, and two male Native Americans. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2001. On April 12, 2019, the Texas Supreme Court reversed an e…, Death Penalty Information Center | 1701 K Street NW Suite 205 Washington, DC 20006, Phone: 202-289-2275 | Email: [email protected], Privacy Policy | ©2021 Death Penalty Information Center, Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. T he Arkansas government is preparing to execute eight death-row prisoners in a ten-day span, before one of its lethal-injection drugs expires. Why abolish the death penalty? Additional support provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Isaac Parker, a two-term Republican congressman from Missouri, was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as the federal judge for the Western District of Arkansas in 1875. Ledell Lee was put to death late Thursday, and three more men are scheduled to be executed. The state's highest ⦠In August 2015, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced that the state had purchased drugs to carry out the death penalty, and on September 9, 2015, Governor Asa Hutchinson set the execution dates for eight inmates. According to the Arkansas Department of Correction, as of January 16, 2019, a total of 29 men were under a sentence of death in the state. The court ruled 5-2 ⦠On "Charlie Rose," a conversation about the Arkansas death penalty. 4 talking about this. The trial is conducted in two phases—guilt/innocence and penalty. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He said that while he could not prevent the state of Arkansas ⦠Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include federal and military executions): Number of Innocent People Freed from Death Row: Date of Reinstatement (following Furman v. Georgia): Can a defendant get death for a felony in which s/he was not responsible for the murder?. In fact, the 2009 Arkansas General Assembly established a Legislative Task Force on Criminal Justice to study critical issues regarding major felonies including capital punishment. Donations made to the CALS Foundation are tax-deductible for United States federal income tax purposes. Grossman, Mark. Arlington, TX: Liberal Arts Press, 1986. Capital punishment, or the "death penalty," was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 (Gregg v. Georgia) after a four-year prohibition. 14–18, 20–22. The Arkansas Gazette reported on June 30, 1972, that “Old Sparky,” the chair used for electrocutions in Arkansas, had been found stored in a closet at Tucker Intermediate Reformatory, saying, “The diesel engine used to produce the high voltage for electrocutions is stored in the prison garage.” The death penalty was reenacted in Arkansas in 1977 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976 affirmed the new procedures adopted by the State of Georgia. The Arkansas Supreme Court today reversed the death penalty given Kenneth Reams by a Jefferson County jury in the 1993 shooting death of Gary Turner during a robbery at an ATM machine. The court ruled that the legislature had to set the quantity and type of drugs used. All Rights Reserved. Leave your legacy with a planned gift that can help ensure quality materials, programming, and services for our libraries. “Arkansas Men and Media Celebrities: Arkansas Newspaper Coverage of Condemned Delta Defendants in the 1930s.” Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies 31 (August 2000): 110–124. During his twenty-one-year tenure, Judge Parker tried 344 capital cases and sentenced 160 men to death by hanging. However, over the years, a number of scandals arose over the treatment of convict labor. This is a complete list of all inmates executed in Arkansas since the reinstatement of the Death Penalty in 1976. Arkansas has not yet studied the costs associated with the death penalty, but other states have found capital punishment to be a costly government program that diverts millions of dollars from programs and agencies that protect the public and save lives. The district had jurisdiction over the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Crosley, Clyde. Prison should serve as a place to be rehabilitated, and no matter how heinous the crime, everyone deserves the chance to become a better person. The last prisoner to be electrocuted was John Edward Swindler on June 13, 1990. It is applied arbitrarily 3. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker on June 1, 2020 denied a challenge brought by Arkansas death-row prisoners to the use of the controversial drug midazolam in carrying out executions. Additional support provided by the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation Inc. The death penalty was practiced in Arkansas even before the state was admitted to the Union in 1836. Palmer, Louis J., Jr. Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment in the United States. Convict labor was used to build it. Only seventy-nine were actually hanged; the rest died in jail, had their sentences overturned on appeal, or were pardoned. Fifty-three men were electrocuted in the state’s electric chair.” As of late 2016, thirty-four men were on death row, which is located at the Varner SuperMax Prison south of Grady (Lincoln County). A week ago, Arkansas planned to execute seven men in 11 days. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1991. Give a donation in someone’s name to mark a special occasion, honor a friend or colleague or remember a beloved family member. Arkansas' controversial plan to execute eight men halted by courts. Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment. Your monthly donation provides ongoing and predictable support we can count on to fund educational and cultural programming for the patrons, communities, and neighborhoods being served by CALS. Creating an account gives you access to all these features. The death penalty was eventually reinstated on April 23, 1994. Various court rulings canceled the first three executions scheduled for April 2017. Arkansas Death-Penalty Offenses. U.S. District Judge Kristi…, Three southern states have taken action to limit the public’s access to information relating to executions by increasing secrecy surrounding lethal-injection drug suppliers. Additional support provided by the Arkansas Community Foundation. The jury must vote unanimously to impose the death penalty. The Arkansas Department of Correction on Friday afternoon released documents that outlined the hours leading up to and during death-row inmate Kenneth Williams' execution Thursday. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Inc., 1998. The system not only paid for the cost of the penitentiary but also provided a surplus to the state treasury most years. Conviction will result in one of two sentences: death by lethal injection or life in prison without possibility of parole. The prosecutor must prove that a person with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of sixty-five or less knows the difference between right and wrong. On April 24, 2017, the state executed Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, the first time any state had carried out a double execution since 2010. Clemency has been granted to a death row inmate only once since the death penalty was reestablished in 1977. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/23/us/arkansas-justices-strike-down-death-penalty.html?_r=1, http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/in-matters-of-life-and-death/Content?oid=4154017, http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/why-arkansas-plans-to-kill-eight-men-in-11-days/Content?oid=5989357, Fairchild, Barry Lee (Trial and Execution of). Online at http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/in-matters-of-life-and-death/Content?oid=4154017 (accessed August 27, 2020). Still, few dispute that there is an undeniable politics of death, particularly in the South, where the vast majority of executions have occurred since the death penalty was reinstated. Previously, prisoners were sentenced to death in the county where they were convicted. “‘Synthetic Civility’: Why Arkansas Plans to Kill Eight Men in 11 Days.” Arkansas Times, April 6, 2017, pp. “Arkansas and the Death Penalty: Responses to Governor Winthrop Rockefeller’s Commutation of Fifteen Death Sentences in 1970.” MA thesis, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2012. Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Arkansas.. Rosenberg, Jacob. The Arkansas governor could also issue a moratorium on all executions. Founded in 1977, the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ACADP) is a non-partisan, non-sectarian coalition of religious and civic organization and concerned citizens working together to end capital punishment in Arkansas. On June 1, 2020, a federal judge rejected a claim, filed on behalf of seventeen inmates, that use of midazolam violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In 1983, the Arkansas General Assembly adopted lethal injection as the method of execution. In "God's Law," Fuqua's 2012 book, the candidate wrote that while parents love their children, a process could be set up to allow for the institution of the death penalty for "rebellious children," according to the Arkansas Times.Fuqua, who is anti-abortion, points out that the course of action involved in sentencing a child to death is described in the Bible and would involve judicial ⦠Spreading your gift out through monthly contributions is a great solution for your budget and ours. Read our Privacy Policy. On June 23, 2016, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the state law keeping confidential information on lethal injection drugs. BENTONVILLE -- Mauricio Alejandro Torres will face his third jury next year. The governor has the power to grant clemency. However, Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen soon thereafter issued an order temporarily halting the executions in the wake of a lawsuit seeking information on the drugs the state had obtained. Urwin, Cathy Kunzinger. “I had rather face the anger of the people than the wrath of God,” Huckabee said of his decision. Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, who declared a moratorium on executions when he took office in 1967, granted clemency to all fifteen men on death row on December 29, 1970. Atkins, Jerry. Why abolish the death penalty? (KTVE/KARD) 3/12/21 â The man charged in the murder of a mother and her young son in Camden is now facing the death penalty. Due to a shortage of one of the drugs used in lethal injection, sodium thiopental, and legal challenges surrounding the execution methods, Arkansas had not executed an inmate since 2005. But Arkansas's capital murder law is still on the books. In 1993, the criminal code was amended to create a mitigating circumstance for mental retardation in capital murder cases. Major funding provided by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. Jackson, Bruce. It is applied arbitrarily 3. Amid repeated constitutional challenges, no one has been executed in Arkansas since 2005. Worthen is charged with two counts of capital murder for his alleged involvement in the deaths of 25 year old Alyssa Cannon and her four-year-old son Braydon Ponder. Kenneth Williams was executed three days later. According to the Arkansas News, “during the American Revolution several members of the garrison at Arkansas Post were convicted of having plotted on behalf of the English to massacre all the soldiers at the Post. The State of Arkansas is seeking the death penalty for Jory Worthen, according to documents filed with the circuit court of Ouachita county. Editor's Note: The video above is from July, 2018. The compressed schedule drew criticism from across the nation, including from a group of former and current corrections officials; also at issue was the state’s intended use of midazolam as the initial sedative, given that the drug had failed to render condemned prisoners completely unconscious in previous executions. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the stateâs death penalty law on Friday, faulting a provision that permitted the Corrections Department to ⦠Governor Mike Huckabee commuted the death sentence of Bobby Ray Fretwell on February 5, 1999. The ruling followed a, The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has found that a former prosecutor now serving as a justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court deliberately destroyed exculpatory evidence in a case in which he had sought the d…, NEWS (3/21/20): Arkansas — Arkansas capital defendant Mauricio Torres will get a third trial in the child-abuse murder of his six-year-old son after a Benton County trial judge declared a mistrial during the penalty-phase of his second tri…, NEWS (3/12/20): The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled on March 12, 2020 that death-row prisoner Jerry Lard, who lawy…, NEWS (3/13) — North Carolina: The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission voted 5 – 3 to empanel a three-judge review committee to determine whether four men c…, The last three men scheduled for execution in Georgia said they did not commit the killing and that DNA testing that was not available at the time of trial could prove it. There were relatively few beds because most of the convicts were leased to plantation owners, farmers, manufacturers, mining companies, and others who were responsible for their housing, food, healthcare, and security. On June 22, 2012, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down Arkansas’s death penalty law because of a provision that said the Department of Correction could choose the drugs used in executions. The first time you log in to our catalog you will need to create an account. According to the Arkansas News, âduring the American Revolution several members of the garrison at Arkansas Post were convicted of having plotted on behalf of the English to massacre all the soldiers at the Post. Little Rock, AR. Of states that still allow the death penalty, Kansas was the last to reinstate the death penalty in the modern era. 1. “‘Purely Personal and Philosophical’: Gov. Those convicted of rape were also subject to the death penalty until January 1, 1976, prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Coker v. Georgia that a death sentence for rape of an adult woman was disproportionate to the crime and violated the Eighth Amendment. Ringer, Andrea. When a tribute gift is given the honoree will receive a letter acknowledging your generosity and a bookplate will be placed in a book. He's accused of killing his 6-year-old son. 14–19. If you would like to make a donation by check, print this donation form, fill it out and mail it with your check to: Central Arkansas Library System Hangin’ Times in Fort Smith: A History of Executions in Judge Parker’s Court. Generally, death sentences are reserved for those convicted of first-degree murder and other particularly heinous crimes. It wastes money 2. On January 8, 1997, under Governor Mike Huckabee, the state executed Paul Ruiz, Earl Van Denton, and Kirt Douglas Wainwright. However, that support had begun to decline at the start of the twenty-first century as questions arose about fairness in regard to race or ethnicity and the possibility of executing an innocent person. Killing Time: Life in the Arkansas Penitentiary. Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller as Governor of Arkansas, 1967–1971. The first man to die under the new law calling for electrocution to be used was Lee Sims from Prairie County. The Arkansas law provides that capital murder charges are to be tried in Circuit Court with mandatory review by the Arkansas Supreme Court. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 or [email protected]. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 or [email protected]. Rate and review titles you borrow and share your opinions on them. “Arkansas Court Upends Death Penalty.” New York Times, June 23, 2012. © 2019 Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Simply go to krogercommunityrewards.com, click “Create an Account” to sign in, and select CALS Foundation as your organization to support. Torres, 51, of Bella Vista is charged with capital murder and battery. Sources: Arkansas Department of Correction, âDeath Row,â arkansas.gov (accessed Apr. The means by which the state had acquired the drugs for execution also proved controversial—one supplier later filed suit against the state, insisting it had been misled as to the intended use of the drug, while the state’s supply of potassium chloride was “donated” anonymously in a parking lot. 72201. 1. Charles Singleton was the last inmate with that choice. The death penalty is simply not serving its intended purposes while also unnecessarily draining resources in the process. 7, 2017) We are joined by Damien Echols who spent 18 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of ⦠Online at http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/why-arkansas-plans-to-kill-eight-men-in-11-days/Content?oid=5989357 (accessed August 27, 2020). 100 Rock Street Death Penalty Action was on the ground in Little Rock within days, assisting the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The Arkansas Supreme Court has granted a petition to remove Judge Wendell Griffen from presiding over all capital-murder and death-penalty cases. Online at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/23/us/arkansas-justices-strike-down-death-penalty.html?_r=1 (accessed August 27, 2020). For additional information: Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. Little Rock: Butler Center Books, 2012. The Arkansas General Assembly passed a new death penalty law in 2013; it faced immediate legal challenges but was ruled constitutional by the Arkansas Supreme Court on March 19, 2015. Brown, Robbie. It began operation in 1841 on the site of the current state capitol, a location that was then west of the Little Rock (Pulaski County) city limits. But perhaps most important is the inherent immorality of the death penalty. 3 talking about this. Anyone convicted before that law was enacted could choose electrocution or lethal injection. Otherwise, the trial judge must impose life without parole. He chose lethal injection and died on January 6, 2004. Encyclopedia of Arkansas The death penalty was practiced in Arkansas even before the state was admitted to the Union in 1836. “Arkansas Criminal Law Reform Movement in 1934–36.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 5 (Spring 1946): 1–25. Another aspect of this reform was the centralization of executions at the State Penitentiary in Little Rock. They were executed by a firing squad in New Orleans.” These executions mark the first recorded death sentences for crimes committed in Arkansas. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. 100 Rock Street Major support provided through a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. Since 1820, a total of 505 individuals have been executed. Two court decisions have brought a stop to what would have been the fastest pace of executions since the death penalty ⦠The CALS Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. On November 1, 2018, the Arkansas Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law that allowed the state prison director the authority to determine the competency of death-row inmates prior to execution. John Arthur Tillman had been convicted of killing his girlfriend, then putting her body in a well and filling the well with stones. CAMDEN Ark. It wastes money 2. Bayless, Garland E. “The Arkansas Penitentiary under Democratic Control, 1874–1896.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 34 (Autumn 1975): 195–213. The practice finally ended in 1913, when the Arkansas General Assembly undertook a penitentiary reform effort. Apparently not understanding his situation, Rector left a piece of pecan pie from his last meal and remarked that he would eat it later, after the execution. Arkansas executed convicted killer Kenneth Williams on Thursday, who was the fourth inmate put to death in the state in a little more than a week. The death penalty continues to draw support from both political parties and a majority of the citizens of Arkansas. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has found that a former prosecutor now serving as a justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court deliberately destroyed exculpatory evidence in a case in which he had sought the death penalty. Updated | The state of Arkansas has executed its fourth death row inmate in eight days. Koon, David. Death Row inmate at the Arkansas ⦠In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled capital punishment as practiced in Georgia to be unconstitutional (Furman v. Georgia), a ruling that effectively suspended capital punishment laws throughout the United States.
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