death penalty

Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is escalating his war on the Palestinian people, although for reasons almost entirely related to Israeli politics. He has just given the greenlight to a legislation that would make it easier for Israeli courts to issue death sentences against Palestinians accused of carrying out ‘terrorist’ acts.
Netanyahu’s decision was made on November 4, but the wrangling over the issue has been taking place for some time.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against five human rights activists from the kingdom’s Eastern Province currently on trial in a secretive terrorism court, groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
Among the detainees is Israa al-Ghomgham, whom Saudi activists said was the first woman to face the death penalty for rights-related work possibly. Charges against her include incitement to protest and providing moral support to rioters.

Admittedly, I am guilty of mixing a couple of apparently unrelated subjects here: but, as you’ll see, there’s probably good reason for doing so. There’s a big debate currently going on in the UK. The big debate is over two brutal jihadists – Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh – and their extradition to the […]

(TIM) Washington, D.C. – When Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to U.S. attorneys regarding seeking the death penalty for some drug traffickers, which was part of President Trump’s plan to combat the opioid epidemic released weeks ago, many pundits missed the potential implications for legal marijuana growers. The memo utilizes a little-known federal law that already allows for the death […]

The war mentality represents an unfortunate confluence of ignorance, fear, prejudice, and profit. … The ignorance exists in its own right and is further perpetuated by government propaganda. The fear is that of ordinary people scared by misinformation but also that of leaders who may know better but are intimidated by the political costs of speaking out on such a heavily moralized and charged issue.
— Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, 2009

Oklahoma will execute prisoners using an experimental method never before attempted anywhere in the world: nitrogen hypoxia.
Mike Hunter, the state’s attorney general, and Joe M. Allbaugh, the director of the department of corrections, announced Oklahoma will asphyxiate prisoners by locking them in a chamber that will fill with a physiologically inert gas, such as nitrogen. Such gases are not toxic but instead deplete blood oxygen levels.

(TMU Op-ed) — Although it appeared to perhaps be a flippant if wholly disturbing suggestion from President Trump this week, executing drug dealers as national policy and solution to the United States’ opioid addiction epidemic has not only gained momentum within the administration — which is reportedly actively evaluating the option — but may have legal grounds within the bounds […]

Secret babies, parole denied and the rap cult + this day in history w/the shooting at CIA headquarters and our song of the day by Luna on your Morning Monarchy for January 25, 2018.

Mashrou' Leila, a 5 piece alt-rock band from Beirut, is almost 10 years old. The sing about the some topics indie bands everywhere sing about-- like why stuff (like politics) sucks. But in their part of the world, those topics can mean trouble, especially now that they're hugely popular and draw gigantic crowds. Lead singer Hamed Sinno is openly gay-- which is dangerous in conservative Middle East societies.

Scott Panetti, diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been spared death after an appellate court intervened in his case.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case of a Texas death row inmate with schizophrenia back to district court in a sharp opinion Tuesday. The lower court will have to take another look at whether Scott Panetti’s mental illness makes him ineligible for execution.
Panetti’s case is well known in Texas. He is often the poster child for advocates who argue against the death penalty for the mentally ill.