WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange “lives to fight another day” according to his brother Gabriel, as the UK High Court halted his potential transfer to the US on Tuesday due to inadequate assurances on his treatment if extradited to the US. The pause came following the court’s directive that the US government furnish assurances that Assange [...]
Search Results for: capital punishment
The Cost of Revenge: A Cantor's Critique of Israel's Response to Hamas
In the wake of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, many of Israel’s supporters, myself included, have succumbed to the understandable impulse for violent retribution. Israel is a land that I love, both culturally as a Jew — and third-generation Holocaust survivor — and spiritually as an ordained cantor. It follows that [...]
Georgia to go forward with first execution in more than 4 years after parole board denies clemency
The Georgia Parole Board denied clemency for inmate Willie James Pye on Tuesday, making him soon to be the first inmate executed in the state since 2020. Pye was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 after the murder of Alicia Lynn Yarbough, with whom he was involved in a relationship. During the clemency meeting [...]
As Georgia Prepares to Execute Willie Pye, a Deceased Lawyer’s Incompetence Looms
It is hard to imagine a man much more marginalized than Willie Pye, who Georgia plans to execute on Mar. 20. Undeniably, the 1993 murder that landed him on death row was heinous. But as his death march nears, it bears considering whether the converging histories of poverty and abuse that defined his youth, paired [...]
DR Congo reinstates death penalty after 21 years amid escalating violence and militant attacks
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Friday revealed it was lifting a 21-year-moratorium on executions in response to escalating violence and militant attacks, to stop its citizens, as well as active duty military and police, from cooperating with M23 rebels in the country’s eastern regions. The decision to lift the moratorium and reinstate [...]
Breaking Barriers: A Global Review of Legislative Reform on Women's Rights
The plight of women’s rights in various countries reflects a complex interplay of legal, cultural and societal norms that significantly disenfranchise women and girls, threatening their human rights and dignity. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Nigeria present challenging environments where women’s rights [...]
Rethinking 'An Eye for an Eye': A Journey Towards Death Penalty Abolition
At its core, the death penalty feeds one of the basest desires known to humankind: the craving for revenge. The 3,200+ members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” — a group I co-founded — along with millions of other death penalty abolitionists across the world have demonstrated time and again in recent years how [...]
ACLU claims South Carolina prison policy banning interviews violates First Amendment
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ACLU of South Carolina filed a lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) on Thursday, claiming the department’s ban on news media interviews for incarcerated people violates the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The department’s policy explicitly prohibits “personal contact interviews” with inmates, and in [...]
The Unconscionable Nazi Legacies of Executions by Gas and Lethal Injection
Alabama’s experimental use of gas to torture to death Kenneth Smith on January 25th — like all executions by lethal injection — has perpetuated a horrific Nazi legacy in the United States and is a traumatizing affront to many in the Jewish community. The fact that this torment was blindly carried out just ahead of [...]
Zimbabwe government agrees to abolish death penalty 19 years after last execution
Zimbabwe’s cabinet agreed on proposed legislation Tuesday which will abolish capital punishment, 19 years after the last state execution took place. The decision came following months of debate in parliament, and the country will instead impose life imprisonment sentences for aggravated murders. The Zimbabwean cabinet passed a private member’s bill which was introduced at the [...]