Word: rows
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...last week, in a far-reaching decision likely to hasten the execution of many death row inmates, the high court narrowed the ability of state prisoners to challenge the constitutionality of their convictions or sentences. The Justices ruled that federal courts are no longer obligated to grant a hearing on these appeals, even if the inmate can show that his lawyer failed to present important facts. This ruling seriously weakens an important aspect of habeas corpus (Latin for "you should have the body") law, long a prime target of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Such a change in habeas corpus...
Lawyers who know their way around death row argue that such an opinion could only have been written by someone seriously out of touch with the way justice is served up at the state level. Often those most in need of help -- the poorest and the least educated -- get the shoddiest representation. They may be defended by court-appointed lawyers who are either young and inexperienced or old and broken down; either way, these attorneys rarely have experience with the intricacies of habeas law -- perhaps the most complex part of criminal procedure. Where once the Supreme Court protected defendants from...
Coleman is not on death row because some witness claimed to see him murder Wanda McCoy. Or because someone saw him enter her house. Or because his fingerprints were found in the house, on her body or on a murder weapon. He is not even in trouble because someone offered a plausible motive for Coleman's wanting his sister-in-law dead. The case against Coleman is built solely on circumstantial evidence: bits of hair, blood, semen that may be his, but then again...
...clock ticks, the biggest consideration may be this: With so many questions still outstanding, what's the big rush to end Coleman's life? Yes, 10 years is a long time for a prisoner to sit on death row. But additional time is not too much to ask if there is a reasonable doubt that he is guilty. Coleman's uncle says, "I'm for capital punishment, but I believe you ought to have the right person involved." It seems a reasonable standard...
There were other hopeful signs: Factory orders rose 1.6%, the third jump in as many months. Similarly, the government's index of leading economic indicators was up for the third month in a row. Two surprising reports came from Detroit, where General Motors and Ford turned in their first profits in more than a year, though many analysts had expected the automakers to notch up another round of losses. Ford, which last posted a profit in the third quarter of 1990, reported a first-quarter profit of $338 million, buoyed by sales of cars and trucks at home...