San Quentin

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October 7, 2010 | 12:13 PM | By

No executions (likely) for now

We reported earlier today that the state has obtained sodium thiopental–a drug used in California’s lethal injection procedure. Word from Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office is that the state isn’t planning on going ahead and trying to get executions scheduled, however. In an email, Christine Gasparac, Press Secretary for Attorney General Jerry Brown, sent this response:

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has informed us that it has procured an additional supply of sodium thiopental, the drug used in its execution procedure.  The Attorney General’s Office, however, will not recommend that county district attorneys seek immediate execution dates until the current federal and state court orders that ban executions are lifted.

FILED UNDER: Corrections, Courts, Attorney General of California, Capital Punishment, Jerry Brown, San Quentin
October 7, 2010 | 9:04 AM | By

The state restocks lethal injection supplies

CDCR

There's a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, but California managed to obtain 12g, presumably enough for an execution

The state has replenished their supply of sodium thiopental, one of three drugs used in California’s current lethal injection procedure. The drug became a major issue last month when the scheduled execution of Albert Greenwood Brown was called off. During the legal tangle leading up to the stayed execution, it came out that the state’s supply of the drug expired on Friday, October 1–about five hours after the execution was supposed to happen.

Late yesterday, the attorney general’s office filed papers saying the state has a new supply–12g (3g are called for in California’s lethal injection procedure, though more needs to be on hand in case the first doses don’t work). The new stock expires in 2014.

Does this mean new execution dates can be set? That’s unclear: Judge Jeremy Fogel, who (along with the California Supreme Court) halted Brown’s September execution, said on Tuesday that he expects that no execution dates will be set until after he’s ruled in the case before him that claims California’s lethal injection procedure amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. (That wouldn’t be until at least January.) But then, he based that assumption on the fact, at the time, that California lacked lethal injection drugs. What happens next? I’ll let you know when I do. (Attorney General’s filing after the jump.)

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, Courts, Albert Greenwood Brown, Attorney General of California, Capital Punishment, Jerry Brown, San Quentin
October 5, 2010 | 10:27 AM | By

Dispatch from prison: What makes a prison riot

Stephen Worrell

Richard Gilliam is currently serving time at San Quentin State Prison, where he works on the paper, The San Quentin News. In the wake of a riot at Folsom State Prison that left seven hospitalized, we asked Gilliam to talk about the causes of prison riots. Here’s what he wrote:

Every so often, we hear about a riot or uprising in this prison or that. Such was the case recently at Folsom Prison near Sacramento. News reports stated that up to 400 black and Hispanic inmates clashed, injuring dozens and prompting prison officials to institute a lockdown at the facility. When these disturbances occur, the Department of Corrections invariably places the blame on racial tensions. But this type of specious reasoning doesn’t begin to address the real causes of these disturbances.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, Dispatch from San Quentin, Prison Overcrowding, Prisons, San Quentin
September 30, 2010 | 1:23 PM | By

What we learned about the death penalty in California

CDCR

The mad legal scramble that has been the last few weeks ended in the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown being indefinitely delayed about 17 hours after it was first scheduled to happen. As anyone who’s followed executions in the past will tell you, there’s always a certain level of frantic legal wrangling before an execution as lawyers make final appeals. But the other day, appearing on KQED’s Forum, SF Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan, who has witnessed seven executions and covered more, said in this case, the frenzy level was a bit higher than usual–court opinions flying, new methods of execution being contemplated, heated accusations between attorneys and judges. Needless to say, a lot of laundry was aired during the process and questions raised. So what did we learn (and what remains a mystery)?

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, Courts, Politics, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Capital Punishment, Jerry Brown, San Quentin
September 30, 2010 | 9:28 AM | By

How the media takes part in an execution

CDCR

San Quentin state prison houses California's death row and its execution chambers.

Last week, I took a media tour of San Quentin’s new lethal injection facility with a number of reporters. Which got me thinking about the role of the press in an execution–by law, members of the media are at every single execution that takes place in the US as witnesses, a practice derived from the public’s right to be at any government procedure. Reporters who witness executions are therefore tasked with describing what happened to the rest of the world. And I could feel, during the media tour of the lethal injection facility, that reporters there were preparing themselves and their colleagues for what to watch for should they ever witness an execution–trying to take in information that would help them understand what’s going on during an execution, which from reports, seems to not always be easy. In fact, the very difficulty of reporters in understanding what’s happening during an execution is at issue in the current triangle of lawsuits against California’s lethal injection procedure. For more info, listen to the story above.

FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Capital Punishment, San Quentin
September 29, 2010 | 5:26 PM | By

Evening LinkUp: The state reacts to a halted execution

California calls off first execution in four and a half years. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says they’re confident their lethal injection procedure will prevail in court. (cdcrtoday.blogspot.com)

Governor Schwarzenegger says Albert Greenwood Brown will be executed. As soon as the state has the legal and logistical means to do so. (gov.ca.gov)

Three decades on, Calif. family awaits execution A moving article: Family of Susan Jordan, 15-year-old girl killed by Albert Greenwood Brown, was hoping that execution would go ahead. (google.com)

Reporter’s Notebook: My death row interview A CNN reporter visits a death row inmate in prison. (ac360.blogs.cnn.com)

FILED UNDER: Corrections, Courts, Albert Greenwood Brown, Capital Punishment, San Quentin
September 29, 2010 | 3:24 PM | By

Breaking: Attorney General will not fight stay on execution

In from the ACLU of Northern California:

“Following developments in federal and state court, the Attorney General conceded that the execution scheduled to occur at 9:00 pm on September 30 cannot go forward. This came just 30 hours before the scheduled execution. Yet legal experts had predicted for weeks that the execution would not occur due to the many remaining legal challenges and uncertainties regarding the state’s method of execution, lethal injection.”

FILED UNDER: Corrections, Courts, ACLU, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Capital Punishment, San Quentin