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'Death court' creates bottleneck of execution appeals, critics say
A newspaper account of the frustration felt by death penalty advocates at the slow appeals process, which they felt played into death row inmates motivation to extend their lives using drawn out appeals. The focus is on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of…
Death Row: Last Skirmish
A magazine article that discusses capital punishment in America and how lawyers are trying to get rid of it.
Lynch law justice
A magazine article that discusses the United States Supreme Court's decision on attorneys' usage of peremptory challenges for minority jurors when the defendant is also a minority.
Graham's gratitude
An article about Florida Gov. Bob Graham's speech at the dedication of the Vietnam memorial and how Graham ignored the last wishes of David Livingston Funchess, a veteran convicted to the electric chair.
Florida kills Viet Nam vet in electric chair
David Funchess was the first U.S. Vietnam Vet to be executed by a state.
Florida Challenged on Determining Sanity of Condemned Inmates
Determining whether a person is competent to be executed should be left to judges and not governors. Psychiatrists have no real guidelines for examining the competence of a death row inmate.
Escambia Cases Show Examples
News article describing the death penalty, judicial override, and examples from past cases that had examples of these issues.
Lawyers Argue Over Executing Young Slayers
An article on the execution of juveniles in the state of Florida by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Court Refuses to Grant Delay in Execution
This source is about a man named Aubry Dennis Adams, who was given the death penalty after being convicted of murder. Mike Mello was his defense attorney, and was attempting to get Adam's case reheard on the grounds that the jury was biased.
Future executions hinge on Supreme Court case
This newspaper clipping is an article detailing how the undecided nature of the Supreme Court case, Lockhart v. McCree, has allowed Mello to successfully appeal for stays of execution for two of his clients on death row.
Capital-Case Judges' Override Powers Trouble Lawyer
Attorney Jim Green supports a bill filed by Rep. James Burke that would overturn Florida's law which allows judges to issue death sentences against juries' recommendations.
Individual Rights and Responsibilities
An article about various bills and interests that the Committee on Individual Rights and Responsibilities in the Florida Bar supports.
NACDL Co-Sponsors Death Penalty Conference
The article describes the Annual Capital Punishment Conference and the issues it deals with. It also tells of the Conference's lack of funding and how the NACDL (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) stepped in to sponsor the event. The…
Panel: Jurors Should Decide the Fate of Killers
An article in support of juries having the final say in death penalty cases. Says that judges should not have the ability to overrule a jury decision.
Killer Loses Life-term Appeal
An article recounting the murder of Florida police officer John Kennedy, and the two trials and life-term sentencing of the accused murderer Willie Clayton Simpson.
Working for Free: Lawyers finding death row work demanding
The article describes how when looking to defend a inmate on death row a lawyer could be working around 18 hours a day for three to four weeks. It also alludes to how important it is that these lawyers continue to do this work as 50% of death row…
No One Should Die When the Jury Votes for Life
Newspaper article written by Michael A. Mello, discussing Florida's capital sentencing statute in 1985.
Death? let the jury decide.
An article by Michael A. Mello on the Legislation regulation and its importance of jury control.