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    Spring 2013

    Volume I Issue 1   March 2013

    Death Penalty

    Maryland Legislature Votes to Repeal the Death Penalty

    On March 15, 2013, Maryland's legislature passed a bill to repeal the death penalty. After a 27-20 vote for repeal in the Senate, the House of Delegates approved the bill by a vote of 82 to 56. The repeal bill now heads to Governor Martin O'Malley, who introduced the legislation in January and has pledged to sign it into law.

    Featured Case

    Success Stories

    Supreme Court News

    ABA & Project Updates

    Death Penalty

    ABA President Releases Statements Regarding the Executions of John Ferguson, Warren Hill, and Duane Buck

    The ABA has recently issued statements regarding the scheduled executions of three death-sentenced prisoners: John Ferguson, Warren Hill, and Duane Buck. ABA President Laurel Bellows issued statements in support of stays of executions filed by Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Hill, both of whom were scheduled for execution on the day that the statements were released, and in support of a new sentencing hearing for Mr. Buck.

    Death Penalty News

    Civil Rights & Constitution

    Challenges to Lethal Injection Protocols Continue

    In 2011, Hospira Inc., the sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, announced that it would no longer produce that drug, and Lundbeck, the Danish manufacturer of pentobarbital, placed restrictions on the distribution of pentobarbital to prevent its sale to any prison or corrections department in the United States. Several states have reacted to the shortage of sodium thiopental by switching to a single-drug protocol, most commonly using large doses of pentobarbital. Other states have introduced legislation changing their protocols to use unknown and untested procedures and drugs.

    Events

    Litigation & Trials

    Section of Litigation Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright

    On January 18, 2013, the Project co-sponsored an event with the Section of Litigation commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 Supreme Court decision that held that indigent defendants have a right to counsel in felony criminal cases. While the event celebrated the importance of the right to counsel and its impact on the American criminal justice system, it also highlighted the challenges the legal community still faces in fulfilling Gideon’s promise of effective legal representation for all.

    About Project Press

    Project Press is the newsletter of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project. Each issue contains news about the Project, clients in need of pro bono assistance, death penalty cases and opinions, training opportunities, and much more!

    Issues in this Volume

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    End of Year

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