Robert Badinter, Who Won Fight to End Death Penalty in France, Dies at 95
Robert Badinter, a French lawyer and former justice minister known for his fight against the death penalty, has died at the age of 95.
Badinter played a key role in enacting the 1981 law that abolished capital punishment in France, despite strong public support for the death penalty at the time. [ more ]
Poverty, climate, regional stability on agenda as Saudi crown prince visits France
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris as part of an official visit, during which he will also participate in a global financing summit aimed at fighting poverty and climate change.Macron and the prince sat down for a one-to-one working lunch at the Elysee presidential palace.
UK condemns appalling' Ugandan anti-gay legislation
The Government has condemned Uganda's new anti-gay legislation calling it appalling and deeply discriminatory.The Bill was signed into law by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday, sparking international condemnation.The new law does not criminalise those who identify as LGBTQ but still prescribes the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people.
Global executions surge, with China, Iran leading the way, Amnesty says
A member of the Muslim Brotherhood waves his hand from a cage in a courtroom in Torah prison, southern Cairo, Egypt.According to Amnesty International, Egypt is among one of the countries where state-sanctioned killing sprees surged in the past year.Amr Nabil, AP/ File picture Recorded executions worldwide reached 883 last year, the highest level since 2017, according to an Amnesty International report published on Tuesday that decried the Middle East and North Africa in particular.
Undecided in the L.A. D.A.'s race? Here's where candidates stand on key issues
More than half of voters undecided in LA County DA race. Challengers struggle to stand out. Strongest opinions on sentencing enhancements and death penalty. [ more ]
Missouri Governor Says Execution Will Proceed After Jurors Waver on Death Sentence
Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri said on Monday that he would not intervene to stop the execution of Michael Tisius, a 42-year-old who murdered two jail guards in 2000.In a clemency petition sent to Mr. Parson last month, several jurors who had voted to sentence Mr. Tisius to death said they now believe life imprisonment was appropriate.
Chief Justice Says Supreme Court Is Working to Address Ethics Questions
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said on Tuesday night that he and his colleagues on the Supreme Court were continuing to take steps to address questions about the justices' ethical standards amid a barrage of allegations of misconduct and a push by some lawmakers to tighten the rules.I want to assure people that I am committed to making certain that we as a court adhere to the highest standards of conduct, he said.
MO Senate Proposes Bill That Would Allow Murder Charges for Getting an Abortion
The bill does not explicitly mention whether it would criminalize out-of-state travel for abortion care.A supporter of pro-choise holds a sign reading "My Uterus My Right" as activists protest outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center after the overturning of Roe Vs. Wade by the US Supreme Court, in St. Louis, Missouri on June 24, 2022.
Buffalo Supermarket Gunman Who Killed 10 Will Face Death Penalty in Federal Hate Crimes Case
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.
The decision to seek the death penalty was based on factors such as the selection of the supermarket to maximize the number of Black victims and the targeting of a vulnerable victim. [ more ]
Buffalo Supermarket Gunman Who Killed 10 Will Face Death Penalty in Federal Hate Crimes Case
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.
The decision to seek the death penalty was based on factors such as the selection of the supermarket to maximize the number of Black victims and the targeting of a vulnerable victim. [ more ]
Feds to seek death penalty in racist Buffalo massacre
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket.
The decision to seek the death penalty was based on the substantial planning that went into the shooting, including the choice of location to maximize the number of Black victims. [ more ]
DOJ to seek death penalty for gunman in Buffalo supermarket mass shooting
The Justice Department will seek the death penalty for the white gunman who killed 10 African Americans in a racially motivated massacre in Buffalo, NY in 2022.
This is the first time the Biden administration has sought the death penalty in a new case. [ more ]
Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on the unsealed indictment against Donald Trump at the Justice Department on Friday.Alex Wong/Getty Images Jack Smith, the special counsel announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year to oversee the criminal investigations into the retention of classified documents at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection, is a long-time prosecutor who has overseen a variety of high-profile cases during a career that spans decades.
Appeals Panel Is Examining Guantanamo Judge's Next Job on Ethics Grounds
An appeals panel on Friday limited the authority of the judge presiding in hearings in the U.S.S.Cole bombing case while it considers an ethics challenge, the latest obstacle in the slow-moving path to trial in the longest-running war crimes prosecution at Guantanamo Bay.At issue is whether Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr., the judge, had a duty to step down earlier this year when he lined up a civilian job at the Defense Department to follow his retirement from the Army on Sept. 30.
Buffalo Supermarket Gunman Who Killed 10 Will Face Death Penalty in Federal Hate Crimes Case
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.
The decision to seek the death penalty was based on factors such as the selection of the supermarket to maximize the number of Black victims and the targeting of a vulnerable victim. [ more ]
US seeks death penalty for Buffalo shooter who killed 10 at supermarket
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022.
The US Department of Justice has opted to ask for capital punishment for Payton Gendron, 20, for federal hate crimes, according to a new court filing. [ more ]
Feds to seek death penalty in racist Buffalo massacre
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket.
The decision to seek the death penalty was based on the substantial planning that went into the shooting, including the choice of location to maximize the number of Black victims. [ more ]
Feds to seek death penalty in racist Buffalo massacre
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket.
The decision to seek the death penalty was based on the substantial planning that went into the shooting, including the choice of location to maximize the number of Black victims. [ more ]
Gunman in racist mass shooting in Buffalo to face death penalty
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against white supremacist Payton Gendron for murdering 10 Black people in a New York supermarket in 2022.
Gendron had selected the supermarket to maximize the number of Black victims and targeted a vulnerable victim due to old age and infirmity. [ more ]
Gunman in racist mass shooting in Buffalo to face death penalty
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against white supremacist Payton Gendron for murdering 10 Black people in a New York supermarket in 2022.
Gendron had selected the supermarket to maximize the number of Black victims and targeted a vulnerable victim due to old age and infirmity. [ more ]
Whether or not defendants get death penalty is based on LOOKS: study
A new study suggests that facial features of defendants can influence whether they are sentenced to death or given life in prison.
The study found that certain facial features, such as downturned lips and heavy eyebrows, were judged to be more untrustworthy and more likely to receive the death penalty. [ more ]
Years ago, I received a voicemail from the neighborhood cobbler telling me my shoes were ready to pick up.The message was perfunctory, left by the shop owner, a usually grumpy guy who sounded like his usually grumpy self.But instead of ending with OK, bye or have a good day or some other cliche, he signed off with Enjoy your time.
Humza Yousaf urges PM to act over case of blogger jailed in India
Scotland's First Minister has written to the Prime Minister urging him to ask the Indian government to release a Scottish Sikh blogger who has been in jail there for more than five years.Humza Yousaf said that Jagtar Singh Johal has been wrongfully imprisoned and urged Rishi Sunak to take a direct approach to make progress in the case.
Accused in Missing Man's Grisly Killing: His Ex-Wife and Her Husband
Just before 4 p.m. on April 28, 2020, Steven Kraft did as he often did on Tuesday afternoons.He left his job at a deli in Marlboro, N.Y. and headed across the Hudson River to Beacon, where he picked up his two middle-school-aged children from his ex-wife's house.He caught up with them over a fast-food dinner before returning them to their mother's home around 7 p.m.
Wearing a T-shirt that read Free Bird, an Arizona man who spent nearly 28 years on death row was freed on Thursday after a judge overturned his conviction on charges that he had sexually assaulted and murdered his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter.Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by the man, Barry Jones, for relief.
'Big Evil' was 'programmed to kill' in L.A. Now he's eligible for parole after plea deal
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
A notorious Los Angeles killer from the 1990s known as "Big Evil" is eligible for parole after serving more than 25 years on charges that once landed him on death row.Cleamon "Big Evil" Johnson, 55, pleaded no contest and was convicted Thursday of a sole count of murder in a case stemming from five murders in the early 1990s, when he was the leader of a small but disproportionately violent subset of the Bloods - the 89 Family Swans - in South Los Angeles.
UK government to keep lobbying for jailed Sikh blogger's release from Indian jail
Scotland's first minister has vowed to keep lobbying for the release of a Scottish Sikh blogger who has been jailed in India for more than five years.Humza Yousaf made the pledge during a meeting with the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.Mr Singh Johal from Dumbarton was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in 2017 when his family say he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked car.
Binance Spars With U.S. Regulators Over Asset Freeze
A federal judge on Tuesday urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to strike a compromise with Binance that would allow the global cryptocurrency exchange to continue operating in the United States as it fights a civil fraud lawsuit filed by the regulator.Last week, the S.E.C. charged Binance and its U.S. affiliate with mishandling customers' deposits and lying to regulators.
The Red Sox took a stand Thursday. If only it was one that made them more watchable.
Red Sox COMMENTARYTwo notable storylines from Thursday: Alex Verdugo's benching, and the controversial decision to pitch Matt Dermody during Pride Month.Every day, we can all decide what we will and won't stand for.We can draw lines in the sand.We can make statements, in action or omission.Most aren't important, because most are fungible - the humans and the lines.
Singapore Hangs Man in Second Drug-Related Execution in Three Weeks
Singapore on Wednesday hanged a man for trafficking less than 3.5 pounds of marijuana, its second execution in three weeks for a crime that carries a much lighter sentence in most of the rest of the world.Capital punishment is part of Singapore's comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply, the country's Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement confirming the execution.
At Bike-Path Killer's Sentencing, Victims' Families Will Be Heard
A Manhattan jury has already decided that Sayfullo Saipov will be sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for carrying out a 2017 terrorist attack on a West Side bike path that killed eight people, including six foreign tourists.But before Judge Vernon S. Broderick imposes that sentence, about two dozen victims and family members, most traveling to New York from overseas, are expected to address the court in a solemn and grim ritual of the American justice system: victims addressing judges.
Alabama GOP Bill Aims to Charge People Who Get an Abortion With Murder
The bill also allows prosecutors to charge a person for having a miscarriage if they claim the person was negligent.The exterior of a state government building in Montgomery, the capital city of Alabama.Getty Images A Republican lawmaker in the Alabama House of Representatives has submitted a bill that would allow state prosecutors to charge people with homicide or assault for getting an abortion.
Lee Anderson tells anti-monarchy protesters to 'emigrate'
Senior Tory MP Lee Anderson has drawn ire for telling anti-monarchy activists to emigrate.The deputy chairman of the Conservative Party was commenting on the arrests of protesters from the Republic group ahead of the coronation on Saturday morning.Police have face criticism after a number of people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, a move described by human rights organisations as a dangerous precedent for us as a democratic nation.
This week UN experts denounced executions connected to Neom
This week on Dezeen, independent United Nations Human Rights Council experts urged Saudi authorities not to carry out planned executions of three people for reportedly opposing the Neom mega project.The three men were sentenced to death after being "forcibly evicted and displaced to make way for the Neom megaproject", according to Saudi Arabia and London-based ALQST.
A LaPorte County man's obsession with Taylor Swift escalated into violent messages, a stymied trip in Nashville and stalking charges when he continued to tag her online.Mitchell Taebel, 36, of Long Beach, Indiana, was charged May 31 with stalking, intimidation, misdemeanor invasion of privacy, and misdemeanor harassment.
Trial begins for Robert Bowers, accused of killing 11 in a Pittsburgh synagogue
The trial for the accused shooter in the 2018 synagogue shooting is underway.Eleven Jewish worshippers were killed and six more injured.The shooter could get the death penalty.
Judge enters not guilty plea for suspect in stabbing deaths of 4 University of Idaho students
A judge entered a not guilty plea Monday for a man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, setting the stage for a trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty.The Nov. 13, 2022, killings stunned the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester.
Who is Lord Pannick, Boris Johnson's Partygate barrister?
When Boris Johnson needed help in his battle with the Commons privileges committee over Partygate, he turned to the terrific and punchy advocate Lord Pannick KC.The esteemed barrister boasts an illustrious career, having represented a number of high profile clients including Queen Elizabeth, former BBC director-general Mark Thompson, Shamima Begum and an ally of Vladimir Putin.
Mississippi man charged with threatening to kill US senator
A Mississippi man is in jail after being charged with threatening to kill Republican Sen. Roger Wicker last week.William C. Sappington is charged with threatening to injure or kill a United States official, a federal offense, according to court documents, and was ordered by a US magistrate judge to be held in jail pending trial during a Wednesday detention hearing.
Bird collection once owned by notorious killer Nathan Leopold housed at Elgin museum and back on display
When author Erik Rebain discusses his book, "Arrested Adolescence: The Secret Life of Nathan Leopold," at the Elgin Public Museum Wednesday night, it will be against the backdrop of something once very personal to the notorious child killer.A new display features 16 taxidermy birds given to the museum by amateur ornithologist Leopold, donated either before he and fellow Chicagoan Richard Loeb made international headlines for the 1924 murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks or while he was in prison.
Here is a look at the life of Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland.Birth date: January 18, 1963 Birth place: Washington, DC Birth name: Martin Joseph O'Malley Father: Thomas O'Malley, attorney Mother: Barbara (Suelzer) O'Malley, receptionist for Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) Marriage: Catherine Katie Curran O'Malley (1990-present) Children: Grace, Tara, William, and Jack Education: Catholic University of America, B.A., 1985; University of Maryland School of Law, J.D., 1988 Religion: Catholic Longtime guitarist, singer, and songwriter.