Tag Archives: torture

A Disturbing Ruling

A Sixth Circuit appeals court panel ruled this month that Ohio’s three-drug execution protocol does not violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments. The panel’s decision is at odds with federal magistrate Judge Merz’s conclusion earlier this … Continue reading

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The US Supreme Court’s Exceptional Barbarity

While we were still celebrating increased conservative opposition to the death penalty, the US Supreme Court last month shunted the American death penalty into new, shocking levels of brutality. The opinion is described by various legal analysts as “bloodthirsty”, “exceptionally … Continue reading

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A Time of Elevated Torture

Robert Van Hook has been on Ohio’s death row longer than Jeffrey Wogenstahl. The state plans to kill Van Hook on Wednesday, July 18. He has extended family and friends who will mourn his death; they are the unintended victims … Continue reading

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The Pursuit of Torture

On Wednesday this week, Jeffrey Wogenstahl’s fellow inmate, Alva Campbell, is set to die. As a child, Alva Campbell was forced by his father to play games of torture. One was the electrical current game: all the children held hands … Continue reading

Posted in Alva Campbell, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, executions, Jeffrey Wogenstahl, lethal-injection drugs, lethal-injection protocol, midazolam, Ohio, torture, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An Unseemly Spectacle

Alva Campbell is next in line to be executed by the State of Ohio.* For the last month of his life, Campbell will have been intensely monitored: two corrections officers watch him round the clock to ensure there is no … Continue reading

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A Dirty Secret

It is a “dirty secret”, known by few, that the American death penalty system is “specifically engineered to ensure that those who are convicted stay convicted, guilty or not.”[i] This is how it works. Death sentences routinely result from poor defense … Continue reading

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Burning at the Stake

Ohio has introduced a lethal injection protocol as cruel and unusual as “burning at the stake, crucifixion, and breaking on the wheel” (examples of punishments which the US constitution forbids as cruel and unusual). The state is emboldened by a … Continue reading

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President Trump

President Obama has misgivings about the application of the death penalty; President Trump will have no such qualms. In 1989 Trump funded full page ads in four New York newspapers, calling for the return of the death penalty. The ads referred … Continue reading

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‘Indiana’ Claim in Ohio Supreme Court

Last week the Ohio Supreme Court granted Jeffrey Wogenstahl’s motion to ‘vacate execution date and to re–open direct appeal’. A further court announcement came today: Jeff’s case will not have to go back to the lower court. Instead, it will be considered … Continue reading

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Execution Date Stayed!

Wonderful news! The Ohio Supreme Court has today issued the following announcement about Jeffrey Wogenstahl’s case: 1995-0042. State v. Wogenstahl. Hamilton App. No. C-930222. On motion to vacate execution date and to reopen direct appeal. Motion granted. Appellant’s execution date … Continue reading

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