By: Olivia Li “The right to die is not synonymous with the right to kill”; “to allow a defendant to choose his own sentence introduces unconscionable arbitrariness into the capital punishment system” -Judge Harry Pregerson, Dissent in Comer v. Schriro In November 2022, Aaron Brian Gunches, a prisoner on Arizona’s death row, volunteered to be … Continue reading Seek (death) and you shall receive? The right to die vs. the right to kill: A Closer Look at the Aaron Gunches’ execution request
What is a Juvenile?
By: Travis Henderson The United States Supreme Court should broaden the protections of the Eighth Amendment and make it unconstitutional to sentence a person to death who committed their offense under the age of twenty-five. The Supreme Court, in 2005, made it illegal to sentence a juvenile[1] to death who was under eighteen at the … Continue reading What is a Juvenile?
Review is Not Enough: A Call for Death Penalty Abolition in Arizona
By: Erika Galindo This past month, Arizona’s governor Katie Hobbs suspended all executions pending a review of current proceedings and processes. After a botched execution in 2014, Arizona paused executions until 2022. Facing the end of his term, then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich began seeking execution warrants. He was successful in the death of three people … Continue reading Review is Not Enough: A Call for Death Penalty Abolition in Arizona
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in the Face of Shinn v. Ramirez, 142 S. Ct. 1718 (2022).
By: Jaidyn Rumpca Shinn v. Ramirez,[1] decided in May 2022, thwarts federal courts’ abilities to consider evidence on ineffective assistance of counsel claims in death penalty cases. The Court in Ramirez held that a federal district court may not review evidence beyond a state-court record for ineffective assistance of counsel claims unless an exception under … Continue reading Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in the Face of Shinn v. Ramirez, 142 S. Ct. 1718 (2022).
THE 25 TO LIFE DEATH SENTENCE
By: Isabel Ranney A death sentence is a clear punishment. Anyone who receives the sentence is well aware of the end goal. As they begin the laborious appellate process, they have a distinct idea of what is at stake. A natural life sentence is similar (and is, effectively a death sentence all the same, though … Continue reading THE 25 TO LIFE DEATH SENTENCE
Law Journal for Social Justice 