By Alicia Victoria Lozano •
Updated on September 27, 2019 at 3:34 pm
What to Know
More than 80% of Philadelphia death row inmates are black men and 91% are non-white minorities, according to the Philly DA s office
72% of all capital punishment convictions involving Philadelphia inmates were later overturned during post-conviction appeals, the DAO says
Opponents of capital punishment say these numbers show the death penalty is arbitrarily applied and should be abolished
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a petition on behalf of two death row inmates to declare capital punishment unconstitutional in the commonwealth.
The one-page ruling, which came down Thursday but was made public Friday morning, squashed what some hoped would mark the formal end to capital cases in Pennsylvania because of what critics call the cruel and arbitrary way it s applied to poor and black defendants.
Letter to the editor: To be effective, law enforcement must be transparent
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Both your series on the Maine State Police sharing of records and Bill Nemitz’s column on April 22 (“Feeling, more than ever, the weight of a police badge,” Page B1) are illustrative.
The responsibility that comes with the badge is part of the power that one who wears it wields. Transparency is the currency of effective and fair law enforcement and prosecution.
PBS has a documentary titled “Philly DA” airing currently on local channels. Having toiled in the criminal justice arena for 42 years in this jurisdiction and five in Philadelphia in the Federal Defender Office, I believe this program should be required viewing for all law enforcement officers and prosecutors in Maine.