Today is the last day before the paywall goes up at The New Yorker, which I read and adore, so I encourage you to subscribe, but either way, you must immediately read this brilliant thing by Paige Williams on Alabama’s use of a judicial override to sentence an eighteen-year-old to death OVER THE WISHES OF THE JURY:
Most states with the death penalty require a unanimous vote of twelve in order to impose capital punishment. Alabama requires ten. In this case, the jury unanimously rejected the state’s request to send Jackson to the electric chair. The jurors were reluctant to condemn a teen-ager to death, especially in a case with such conflicting evidence. “I had concerns about whether Shonelle Jackson was the shooter,” a juror named Jan Burkes later said, in a sworn deposition, adding, “Other jurors also had concerns about whether Mr. Jackson was responsible.”
Judge Gordon thanked the jurors and sent them home.
In Alabama, though, a capital case doesn’t necessarily end there. The state’s judges can exercise an unusual power: they can “override” a jury’s collective judgment and impose the death penalty unilaterally.
It’s horrifying, the piece is incredible, and I’m really grateful the New Yorker has been so stalwart in their exposure of death penalty misconduct cases. Unlike Cameron Todd Willingham, Shonelle Jackson is still alive and on death row, a fact which doesn’t seem to overly perturb the judge who put him there:
In a later conversation, the Judge told me that his position on override is to “let the jury decide.” He said, “If you’re going to have the jury system, you’ve got to put all your faith in it.”
Then why had he lacked faith in the Jackson jury? And why had he overridden the jury despite his explicit acknowledgment that Jackson might not be the killer?
“I’m not going to go beyond what I wrote,” he said. “That was a long time ago.”
WELL THEN.
Tags: journalism, politics, racism, the death penalty, the new yorker
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The sad/enraging thing is that this isn’t really a death penalty “misconduct” case (unlike Willingham), it’s just how the system works in a state that loves to execute poor people of color.
Eh, so I killed a kid, water under the bridge guys, let it rest! Except for you. You die.
“Sometimes you just have to put ’em down”
put ’em down
PUT ‘EM DOWN
PUT.
‘EM.
DOWN.
I can’t form any other thoughts right now because I am incoherent with rage.
Also my pop-up ad right now is for “20 Spine-Chilling Creatures Humans Have Found On Earth” IS ONE OF THEM JUDGE GORDON I MEAN FUCK.
HOW IS THIS PERSON ALLOWED TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE???
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.
He is an actual, proven by his own proud admission, premeditated murderer. He is guilty of the crime that he’s sentencing poor black men to death for, and he gets paid handsomely by the state to do it. What a fucking atrocity. >:(
In 2000, a judge ordering the death of a white defendant noted that if he hadn’t overridden the jury he’d have “sentenced three black people to death and no white people.” The comment has been interpreted as an attempt to cover up racial disparities in the death penalty. Race is “a real consideration here,” Douglas Johnstone, a retired Alabama Supreme Court justice, told me. Some judges, he said, “want to make sure they put enough white people to death to hang on to the prerogative” of override.
Excuse me while I go scream at the sky about how SUPREMELY FUCKED UP EVERYTHING IN OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS.
My jaw actually dropped at that. Not that I’m surprised that that’s his logic, but that he is EXPLICITLY NOTING THIS IN HIS PAPERS??! Christ on a fucking cracker that is awful.
oh my god, the part at the very end where he talks about stealing food for his sisters. where he says, “You talking about killing me for something you ain’t even sure that I did? That’s crazy.”—HINT, JUDGE BUTTFACE: if a man whose IQ tests barely above the threshold for mental retardation can figure that out, you sure as fuck should be able to.
ughhh, trying not to cry angry frustrated tears at my desk.
I am a lawyer who represents people on death row — it was so great to see this article linked to and to read all the comments here. Although this judicial override system is only present in a couple jurisdictions (but for those of you who live in this jurisdiction and find it outrageous, PLEASE agitate against it through legislation), for those of you who are outraged by some of the other injustices touched on by this article, such as the many ways the defendant’s race matters in potentially-capital cases and the way political pressures drive decisions to sentence a human being to death, PLEASE keep those issues in mind during elections for District Attorneys and judges. So many DAs and judges run on “tough on crime” platforms and tout their ability to have obtained the death penalty in cases that were “close calls,” and they need to start hearing from those members of the electorate who find those to be sources of major concern, rather than reasons to pat oneself on the back.
You should write about your job for the Toast! I would love to read that.
Having just read the article on criminalizing pregnancy and the comments recommending organizations that are doing good work to fix that, I want to offer Equal Justice Initiative (eji.org) as a great place to donate if this article made you rage at the Alabama legal system. EJI is based in Alabama and is tackling mass incarceration, the death penalty, and so many other injustices, and their director, Bryan Stevenson, is truly amazing. So, if you feel so inclined, that's a great place to send a donation.
If you’re ever unsure about something, it’s ok to err on the side of not killing someone.
With an attitude like that, you’ll never be a highly-paid legal professional!
As an aside — I subscribed to the NYker last week, and, while I didn’t get a free tote bag or anything, they gave me a year at $1/issue, without a special promo code or anything, which may be a better deal than usual?
I can’t even begin to enumerate all the horrifying things in that piece, but this sentence encompasses a lot of them
“But too often, Stevenson said, judges are “imposing the death penalty b/c the death penalty is good for your brand.””
YOUR BRAND. You are a fucking JUDGE not dishwashing detergent or shoes or granola bars. Even without the HOLY SHIT RACISM AND CLASSISM AND AND AND that is indicative of a fucking terrible system.
Burn it the fuck down, start again with at least a glimmer of humanity.
Let’s not forget that corporations are people and have religious beliefs, and our judicial system has BRANDS.
Throw it all away.
“In an 8–1 decision, the Court declined to require Alabama to adopt Florida’s “great weight” standard. Such a ruling would constitute “micromanagement,” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote. In capital cases, she declared, the Court “trusts the judge” to level the correct punishment.”
…okay but i’m pretty sure you should micromanage the fuck out of murderous bigots in positions of authority