• Death Penalty,  Michael Morales

    Lawsuit Seeks Drug Protocol Change to Resume Executions in California

    Michael Angelo Morales

    I am a few days late to this story, but at least someone (her brother) is trying to obtain justice for Terri Lynn Winchell.

    The killer of a woman brutally murdered more than 30 years ago still sits on death row. The victim’s brother is suing to resume executions in California. The lawsuit seeks to end the legal logjam that has put a hold on executions at San Quentin State Prison for six years. The delays involve questions over the use of lethal injections.

    More than 700 inmates sit on California’s death row. Not one has been executed in six years. Former governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian are on a team of lawyers seeking to help the families of murdered victims.

    “I get sick to my stomach,” said Bradley Winchell, the victim’s brother. “I am asking this court to set it right.”

    Bradley Winchell says he’s been waiting more than three decades for closure. His sister Terri was brutally murdered and raped in 1981 in a Lodi vineyard.

    Her convicted killer, Michael Morales, sits on San Quentin’s death row and is one of 14 inmates who have exhausted all their appeals.

    But just as Morales was about to be executed in 2006, a judge granted a reprieve, allowing Morales’s lawsuit to move forward after he claimed the three-drug lethal injection method was cruel and unusual punishment.

    Winchell just filed a lawsuit of his own, saying he’s waited long enough. He wants the state to resume executions by moving to a one-drug process currently used in other states.

    “I consider 31 years excessive delay, injury to not only myself but my family,” said Winchell.

    California’s death penalty has been criticized for many years. Delays often result in decades passing before an execution is carried out.

    “It’s a sad state of affairs when those officials with the duty to execute the law care so little about the rights of victims of crime,” said Kent Scheidegger, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.

    In the meantime, an initiative qualified yesterday and California voters yet again will be asked to vote on whether the death penalty will continue in the state. I, frankly, think that California voters will approve the death penalty – as they have each time.

    Here is a video of a news report that tells the story:

    This Californian demands justice for Terri Lynn:

    Terri Lynn Winchell

    The California Department of Corrections needs to speedily change its execution protocol and get on with it.

    Michael Morales would then be one of the first to go:

    Michael Angelo Morales current photo

    Justice for Terri Lynn!

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    The Death Penalty Archive

  • Al Qaeda,  Jyllands-Posten,  Muhammad Caricatures

    Two Convicted in Norway of Terror Plot Against Jyllands-Posten Newspaper Which Published the Muhammad Cartoons

    Courtroom sketch by artist Marco Vaglieri shows Mikael Davud in an Oslo court Monday Jan. 30 2012. Davud was sentenced to seven years in prison for planning to bomb the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, the first convictions under Norway’s anti-terror laws. The Oslo district court sentenced alleged ringleader Davud, to seven years in prison and co-defendant Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak to three and a half years.(AP Photo / Marco Vaglieri, Scanpix)

    The court handed down its decision yesterday.

    Two men were found guilty Monday of involvement in an al-Qaida plot to attack a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, the first convictions under Norway’s anti-terror laws.

    A third defendant was acquitted of terror charges but convicted of helping the others acquire explosives.

    Investigators say the plot was linked to the same al-Qaida planners behind thwarted attacks against the New York subway system and a shopping mall in Manchester, England, in 2009.

    The Oslo district court sentenced alleged ringleader Mikael Davud, to seven years in prison and co-defendant Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak to three and a half years.

    Judge Oddmund Svarteberg said the court found that Davud, a Chinese Muslim, “planned the attack together with al-Qaida.” Bujak was deeply involved in the preparations, but it couldn’t be proved that he was aware of Davud’s contacts with al-Qaida, the judge said.

    The third defendant, David Jakobsen, who assisted police in the investigation, was convicted on an explosives charge and sentenced to four months in prison — time he’s already served in pretrial detention.

    Defense lawyers for the three told the court they would study the verdict before deciding whether to appeal.

    Here is the photo of the other terrorist:

    Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak appears in the Oslo courthouse, Oslo, Norway Monday Jan. 30, 2012

    And, all for what?

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    The Muhammad Cartoons Archive

  • Al Qaeda,  Day By Day

    Day By Day August 27, 2011 – Cookin’ With Grease

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    American troops are cooking with gas today after knocking off Al Qaeda’s second in command.

    Al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat, U.S. officials said Saturday.

    The Libyan national had been the network’s operational leader before rising to al-Qaida’s No. 2 spot after the U.S. killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on his Pakistan compound in May.

    Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaida’s defeat was within reach if the U.S. could mount a string of successful attacks on the group’s weakened leadership.

    “Now is the moment, following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them,” Panetta said, “because I do believe that if we continue this effort we can really cripple al-Qaida as a major threat.”

    Since bin Laden’s death, al-Qaida’s structure has been unsettled and U.S. officials have hoped to capitalize on that. The more uncertain the leadership, the harder it is for al-Qaida to operate covertly and plan attacks.

    Those troops will be home soon and cookin’ with gas at their home BBQ’s – let us hope.

  • American Debt Linit,  Gabrielle Giffords,  Joe Biden,  Tea Party,  Terrorists

    Vice President Joe Biden Likens Tea Party Americans to TERRORISTS



    Good ol’ Slow Joe Biden put his foot in his mouth again.

    Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having “acted like terrorists” in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit.

    Biden was agreeing with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) at a two-hour, closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.

    “We have negotiated with terrorists,” an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. “This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.”

    Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: “They have acted like terrorists,” according to several sources in the room.

    Biden’s office declined to comment about what the vice president said inside the closed-door session.

    Earlier in the day, Biden told Senate Democrats that Republican leaders have “guns to their heads” in trying to negotiate deals.

    The vice president’s hot rhetoric about tea party Republicans underscored the tense moment on Capitol Hill as four party leaders in both chambers work to round up the needed votes in an abbreviated time frame. The bill would raise the debt limit by as much as $2.4 trillion through the end of next year and reduce the deficit by an equal amount over the next decade.

    Democrats had no shortage of colorful phrases in wake of the deal.

    Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) called it a “Satan sandwich,” and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) called seemed to enjoy the heat analogy, saying: “the Tea Partiers and the GOP have made their slash and burn lunacy clear, and while I do not love this compromise, my vote is a hose to stop the burning. The arsonists must be stopped.

    The Vice President of the United States should immediately apologize. This statement is just BULL.

    Rep. Mike Doyle should apologize as well.

    I thought President Obama and the Democrats called for “CIVILITY” after the Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shooting?

  • Barack Obama,  Osama Bin Laden,  Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama Approval Jumps 6 Points to 52% After Bin Laden Death

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Americans’ approval of President Barack Obama is up six points after the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid on the al Qaeda leader’s Pakistan compound. Obama averaged 46% approval in Gallup Daily tracking in the three days leading up to the military operation and has averaged 52% across the three days since.

    This increase in approval rating is not unexpected and is fairly typical, if not low.

    Presidents’ popular support often increases in response to major international events, commonly known as “rally events.” Thus, a jump in Obama’s approval after bin Laden’s death is not unexpected.

    The six-percentage-point increase in Obama’s approval rating is fairly typical for a rally event. Gallup has compiled data on changes in presidential approval after 48 different international or domestic crises since 1950 and finds a median increase of seven percentage points.

    The largest rally Gallup has ever measured was a 35-point increase for George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Other large rally effects include an 18-point increase for George H.W. Bush at the beginning of the 1991 Persian Gulf War; a 16-point jump for Richard Nixon after the Vietnam War peace accords were signed; and 14-point increases for George H.W. Bush after the U.S. sent troops to Kuwait following Iraq’s invasion of the country, and for Lyndon Johnson after he announced he was halting bombing in North Vietnam.

    When the U.S. in December 2003 found and captured another “high-value target” — former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein — George W. Bush’s approval rating rose seven points.

    So, will President Obama’s bounce in the polls be sustained? I, frankly, doubt it since most on the RIGHT understand he never supported the measures that brought hm success in this operation, including enhanced interrogation methods.

    The U.S. military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden is a major milestone in Obama’s presidency, and now a majority of Americans approve of the job he is doing, and more than at any time since May 2010. The question is whether Obama can sustain that higher level of support, or whether it will quickly dissipate. Most often, a president’s approval rating begins to decline fairly soon after the rally event occurs, with the increases in approval often disappearing in as little as one to four weeks.

  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day,  Osama Bin Laden

    Day By Day May 5, 2011 – License to Kill



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    There is little doubt that President Obama was LED to the correct decision by CIA director Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But, the correct decision was made and we have to thank Obama for it.

    With regards to the release of the photos, I am ambivalent about the issue. I can see both arguments and know that eventually some of the photos, plus video will leak out.

    This will remain cannon fodder for the conspiracy theorists for years to come – without the official sanction of the United States though.

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    The Day By Day Archive

  • Death Penalty,  Jerry Brown,  Kamala Harris,  Michael Morales,  Terri Lynn Winchell

    California Says NO Excutions in 2011

    The old San Quentin Prison Gas Chamber

    What a shocker and from anti-death penalty Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, too.

    California corrections officials have put off until at least next year any attempt to resume executions among the 713 condemned inmates on death row, according to court documents.

    The request by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to delay review of newly revised lethal-injection protocols until January at the earliest follows a decision last week by Gov. Jerry Brown to scrap plans to build a new death row facility at San Quentin State Prison.

    The steps have stirred speculation among death-penalty opponents that California might be drawn into the national trend away from seeking new executions.

    The most recent postponement was due to San Quentin warden Michael Martel’s decision to replace the execution team that had been assembled and trained last year. That team had been ready to carry out executions last September. Corrections officials have declined to say why Martel is assembling a new execution team.

    The internal corrections department revisions were disclosed during a meeting of the department’s lawyers last week with U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel. The San Jose judge overseeing a federal case that has halted executions for the last five years expressed frustration with the protracted process and concern that the public doesn’t understand why it has taken so long to correct flaws in the execution procedures.

    UC Santa Cruz professor Craig Haney, who opposes capital punishment and has tracked public attitudes on the death penalty for 30 years, said Brown’s decision to scuttle new death row construction to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and the corrections department’s slowing down of its efforts to resume executions are “examples of the increasing signs that the death penalty’s days are numbered in the United States.”

    I think it is time for California voters to ask why there has been such a protracted delay in enforcing the law. If there are problems with the lethal injection method, even after spending close to a $ million on a new execution chamber, then why not resume use of the gas chamber. Photo below:

    The newly renovated San Quentin Prison Death Chamber

    AP Photo

    If the California legislature needs to change the capital punishment law to facilitate a return to the gas chamber or hanging, so be it. My best guess is that Jerry brown would veto such legislation. The only recourse would be an initiative campaign by the voters of California – which of course, will take years or an election cycle.

    So, don’t count on any executions to be held in California any time within the next few years – at least while Jerry Brown is governor.

    .
    No justice yet for Terri Lynn Winchell.

    An attorney for death row inmate Michael A. Morales, whose February 2006 execution was called off by Fogel over concerns that the former procedures could inflict unconstitutional pain, said the latest delays reflect a more cautious approach in the exercise of capital punishment by Brown’s administration.

    “It appears that the state is attempting to be diligent in their obligations under the law, which would be in stark departure from what was the case with Governor [Arnold] Schwarzenegger,” said David Senior, one of Morales’ attorneys.

    Terri Lynn Winchell

  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day,  Osama Bin Laden

    Day By Day May 3, 2011 – Left Out

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, I say let the LEFT crow about their “Mission Accomplished.” After all, we got rid of Osama Bin Laden and that is a big win for the United States.

    But, lingering questions remain about President Obama’s competency to lead Americans forward. The economy continues to be poor, unemployment high and America is engaged now in three wars.

    One successful military mission, won’t a re-elected President make.

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    The Day By Day Archive

  • Mitch Daniels,  Osama Bin Laden,  President 2012

    President 2012 Video: Mitch Daniels on Osama Bin Laden

    Guess I was right about Jennifer Rubin’s comments about Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. He has an opinion, maybe his staff just didn’t wish to share them with an unfriendly journalist with the Washington Post.

    Here are Daniel’s comments from this morning’s Fox and Friends.

    STEVE DOOCY: This is a big story in Indiana? People really care about finally getting this guy?

    DANIELS: Sure. People care about the security of this country every day, but absolutely on an occasion like this.

    Again, let’s hope it’s not too temporary — the unity, the spontaneous unity we saw — always great.

    And we need it for other purposes in this country.

    And, what purposes might those be, governor?

    More on this later, as it is apparent that Daniels has the Presidency on his mind.