In The News - 16 April

There has been a huge amount of news during my silence. I'll start with the most recent and move on.

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Death Penalty Ruled Constitutional

Today the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that lethal injection is constitutional and is not cruel and unusual punishment in the case of Baze v. Ress. 7 months ago a case was brought before the Supreme Court by two men sentenced to death in Kentucky. They claimed that lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment because a) there was a good chance it may not be administered properly, and b) it paralyzes you so you have no way of expressing the pain you are suffering. The death penalty in all states was put on hold, pending this decision. I wrote an entry on it earlier this year. The decision was split 7-2.

The decision is unambigious and it is certainly disappointing. There can be no doubt that, at the very least, it has sparked debate and raised doubt. At the most, it spared some lives for a least a little while and gave defense attorneys much needed time. Perhaps it even gave some inmates the rare gift of hope, but I didn't discuss it with the men that I visited.

Interestingly, one of the majority Judges, Stevens, said in obiter:

''I am now convinced that this case will generate debate not only about the constitutionality of the three-drug protocol, and specifically about the justification for the use of the paralytic agent, pancuronium bromide, but also about the justification for the death penalty itself''

The article states that a decision by the Supreme Court on the validity of the death penalty for child rapists is expected in June.

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Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection

A case that my office was working on has had a favourable outcome. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was successful in overturning the conviction of Allen Snyder based on the prosecutor striking off black jurors unfairly. Jury selection is a notoriously exploited means through which a trial can be tipped in the favour of prosecution, especially against black defendants.

This is an incredibly powerful message to all American trial judges and prosecutors to conduct proper jury selection. It's a small step in the right direction for reforming a dangerously corruptible system.

Allen Snyder's case will go to retrial.

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Three of Bali Nine Spared Death

Three members of the Bali Nine have had their death sentences commuted to life. The "Melasti Three", Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman, have successfully appealed against their death sentences that were upgraded from 20 years to death upon successful counter-appeal by the prosecution.

While Sukumaran and Chan, the two I have been working on, were appealing to the Constitional Court, these three made a direct appeal to the Supreme Court for a judicial review of their trial. There are 51 justices on the Supreme Court bench, and so the chances of getting a new batch of more favourable, less conservative judges was high.

It's a great success for Australia and the Bali Nine, however there are still three of on death row, Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. As you can imagine, the fight for these three is energised and positive. Exactly what impact this decision will have on the future of the final three on death row is unknown. Due to my work with the lawyers and the sensitive nature of the case I won't be able to write in too much detail about what I know, or what is going to happen next. Needless to say, it's a busy and exciting time.