Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 27, 2006 22:02:12 GMT -5
Tennessee's Death Penalty System
Tennessee to Kill 2 Men in 1 Night
In the past 46 years, the state of Tennessee has executed only 1 man. Now, in one day, it plans to execute 2. Both Sedley Alley and Paul Dennis Reid are scheduled to die in the early morning of June 28th and both cases reveal critical flaws in Tennessee's broken death penalty system. "This double execution unquestionably reveals more flaws with Tennessees administration of the death penalty," said Randy Tatel, Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK). "In the Alley case, we have a 20-year old unreliable conviction where the state is so afraid of the truth that it refuses to release physical evidence for DNA testing. In the case of Paul Reid, we are preparing to execute a severely mentally ill, delusional individual. It shows, yet again, that Tennessees death penalty system is broken."
Evidence, which was withheld from the defense at trial, shows that Sedley Alley was under police surveillance at the time of death, and that Alleys assertion of guilt bears all the marks of a false or coerced confession. Physical evidence exists that could be tested for DNA, providing certainty in the case, but the state has refused to allow the testing, even after Governor Phil Bredesen issued a temporary reprieve for Alley in May to allow the courts time to settle the matter.
"Refusing to test available evidence for DNA is irresponsible and
unreasonable," said Tatel. "The people of Tennessee deserve no less than the truth. Why is the state so afraid to give it to us?"
Paul Dennis Reid, convicted of seven murders at three fast food
restaurants in 1997, is severely mentally ill. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia - paranoid type, schizoaffective disorder, and left temporal lobe dysfunction. He suffers from chronic psychosis and believes that he is being tortured by the military government which has been manipulating his actions and controlling everyone in his life for the past twenty years. Reid has a long history of mental illness, having been found incompetent to stand trial twice in Texas, and having spent an extended period of time in a psychiatric correctional facility. Across the country, 25% of death row inmates, like Paul Reid, suffer from severe, debilitating mental illness.
"The death penalty unmistakably targets and pursues the mentally ill," said Tatel. "We should be treating the mentally ill, not killing them."
The cases of Sedley Alley and Paul Dennis Reid demonstrate specific problems with the administration of the death penalty in Tennessee. The capital punishment system targets the mentally ill and often relies on questionable convictions. Evidence in a number of states points strongly to executions of innocent people. By refusing to examine all available evidence and continually targeting the mentally ill for prosecution, Tennessee runs the risk of executing innocent or less than culpable people.
People of conscience will be gathering for an interfaith vigil in advance of the scheduled execution Tuesday evening. The service will be held at 7:30 the evening of June 27th at Holy Name Catholic Church, 521 Woodland Street in East Nashville.
A prison vigil will begin at 10 p.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison located at 7475 thingyrell Bend in West Nashville. Participants may begin arriving on-site at 9 p.m. TCASK will maintain its vigil until either the state stands down or carries out one or both executions.
The service and vigil are open to all who oppose executions for either moral or pragmatic policy reasons.
The Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing opposes all executions. Currently there have been 124 death row exonerations in the U.S. Paul House of Tennessee could become number 125. In a released statement from the organization, they say that "because the death penalty system has been repeatedly shown to be broken we call for an immediate halt to executions while a thorough, independent study of the states death penalty system is conducted."
(source: Tennessee Independent Media Center)
Tennessee to Kill 2 Men in 1 Night
In the past 46 years, the state of Tennessee has executed only 1 man. Now, in one day, it plans to execute 2. Both Sedley Alley and Paul Dennis Reid are scheduled to die in the early morning of June 28th and both cases reveal critical flaws in Tennessee's broken death penalty system. "This double execution unquestionably reveals more flaws with Tennessees administration of the death penalty," said Randy Tatel, Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK). "In the Alley case, we have a 20-year old unreliable conviction where the state is so afraid of the truth that it refuses to release physical evidence for DNA testing. In the case of Paul Reid, we are preparing to execute a severely mentally ill, delusional individual. It shows, yet again, that Tennessees death penalty system is broken."
Evidence, which was withheld from the defense at trial, shows that Sedley Alley was under police surveillance at the time of death, and that Alleys assertion of guilt bears all the marks of a false or coerced confession. Physical evidence exists that could be tested for DNA, providing certainty in the case, but the state has refused to allow the testing, even after Governor Phil Bredesen issued a temporary reprieve for Alley in May to allow the courts time to settle the matter.
"Refusing to test available evidence for DNA is irresponsible and
unreasonable," said Tatel. "The people of Tennessee deserve no less than the truth. Why is the state so afraid to give it to us?"
Paul Dennis Reid, convicted of seven murders at three fast food
restaurants in 1997, is severely mentally ill. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia - paranoid type, schizoaffective disorder, and left temporal lobe dysfunction. He suffers from chronic psychosis and believes that he is being tortured by the military government which has been manipulating his actions and controlling everyone in his life for the past twenty years. Reid has a long history of mental illness, having been found incompetent to stand trial twice in Texas, and having spent an extended period of time in a psychiatric correctional facility. Across the country, 25% of death row inmates, like Paul Reid, suffer from severe, debilitating mental illness.
"The death penalty unmistakably targets and pursues the mentally ill," said Tatel. "We should be treating the mentally ill, not killing them."
The cases of Sedley Alley and Paul Dennis Reid demonstrate specific problems with the administration of the death penalty in Tennessee. The capital punishment system targets the mentally ill and often relies on questionable convictions. Evidence in a number of states points strongly to executions of innocent people. By refusing to examine all available evidence and continually targeting the mentally ill for prosecution, Tennessee runs the risk of executing innocent or less than culpable people.
People of conscience will be gathering for an interfaith vigil in advance of the scheduled execution Tuesday evening. The service will be held at 7:30 the evening of June 27th at Holy Name Catholic Church, 521 Woodland Street in East Nashville.
A prison vigil will begin at 10 p.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison located at 7475 thingyrell Bend in West Nashville. Participants may begin arriving on-site at 9 p.m. TCASK will maintain its vigil until either the state stands down or carries out one or both executions.
The service and vigil are open to all who oppose executions for either moral or pragmatic policy reasons.
The Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing opposes all executions. Currently there have been 124 death row exonerations in the U.S. Paul House of Tennessee could become number 125. In a released statement from the organization, they say that "because the death penalty system has been repeatedly shown to be broken we call for an immediate halt to executions while a thorough, independent study of the states death penalty system is conducted."
(source: Tennessee Independent Media Center)