May 2002 Issue 24

Political Frame-Up Of A Black Radical In Georgia

Free Jamil Al-Amin

In one of the most blatant political frame-ups in recent memory, a Fulton County jury sent Imam Jamil Al-Amin to jail for life without parole in March, after only two days of deliberation.

Al-Amin was convicted of murdering Deputy Ricky Kinchen and wounding Deputy Aldranon English in March 2000. They were shot while trying to serve a traffic warrant to the Imam (Muslim cleric) at his store. Three days later, Al-Amin was taken into custody, where he was held for almost two years before the trial.

Using Terrorism To Justify The Death Penalty

The federal government is seeking the death penalty against Zacharias Moussaoui, who is accused of conspiring with the September 11 attackers. In the face of a horrible tragedy, the federal government is using Moussaoui’s case to justify the death penalty.

Supreme Court Could Bar Execution Of Mentally Retarded

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to come out with its decision in June on whether the execution of the mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

In taking up this issue, the justices are reconsidering a shameful 1989 decision in which they upheld the practice of executing the mentally retarded by a 5-4 vote. Back then, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in the majority opinion that there was no "national consensus" against this practice.

Reports From Campaign Chapters Around The Country

Marching against the death penalty in Chicago

CALIFORNIA
by Stefanie Faucher
California abolitionists will be taking the Capitol by storm on May 1, when activists will present Governor Gray Davis with 75,000 signatures on petitions demanding a moratorium in our state. The petitions have been gathered as part of an extensive statewide effort to put pressure on local legislators to recognize that more than 70 percent of all Californians now favor a moratorium on executions.

Since the Illinois moratorium was declared just more than two years ago, we have witnessed a sea change in public opinion about the death penalty in the United States. With the release of the Illinois commission’s report on capital punishment in April, growing numbers are calling for the abolition of the death penalty, and the issue of the death penalty is once again in the national spotlight.

Here, Alice Kim has collected excerpts from editorials published in newspapers around the country that make the case for abolition.

Seventeen prisoners who were exonerated and freed from prison were honored at the Harvard Law School at a two-day conference on wrongful convictions in April. Diverse panels discussed the procedural problems of misidentification, false confessions, jailhouse snitches, ineffective assistance of counsel, and prosecutors’ failure to disclose evidence.

Illinois Death Row Prisoners Discuss Governor’s Plan For Reviews

Earlier this year, Illinois Governor George Ryan said that he would spend his last year in office reviewing the cases of all death row prisoners. He told reporters that he might commute the sentences of some, or even all, of those on death row.

But this raises questions. Should we be satisfied with commutations? What about the struggle for abolition of the death penalty? If Ryan commutes death sentences, will prisoners with claims of innocence be left with no help?

We asked Illinois death row prisoners what they thought.