Media Issues
The Amadou Diallo case: The social and political roots of police violence
By the Editorial Board, February 28, 2000
The four New York City police officers acquitted February 25 in the shooting death of Amadou Diallo may still face departmental trial and could be removed from the force if it is found that the shooti...
Acquittal of New York City police: court sanctions murder of Amadou Diallo
How the trial was rigged
By the Editorial Board, February 28, 2000
The not guilty verdicts announced February 25 in the police killing of Amadou Diallo were both outrageous and predictable.
Texas executes 62-year-old great grandmother Betty Lou Beets
By Jerry White, February 26, 2000
The state of Texas executed Betty Lou Beets, a 62-year-old great grandmother, Thursday evening at Huntsville prison. Beets was the second woman to be put to death in Texas in the last two years—...
Cops take stand to defend shooting of immigrant worker
Amadou Diallo murder trial drawing to a close
By Fred Mazelis, February 22, 2000
After only three weeks, the trial of the four police officers accused in the killing of Amadou Diallo last year is moving rapidly toward its conclusion.
True to form: Clinton rejects moratorium on death penalty
By Kate Randall, February 19, 2000
At a press conference on Wednesday, President Bill Clinton rejected calls for a national moratorium on capital punishment. Clinton had been urged by death penalty opponents to call a halt to federal e...
California's "three-strikes" law boosts prison population-two cases in point
By Kim Saito, February 15, 2000
As a result of its “three-strikes-and-you're out” law, the state of California has one of the fastest growing prison populations of any state in the US. The law imposes an automatic 25-yea...
US executions continue at record pace despite revelations of wrongful convictions
By Kate Randall, February 11, 2000
Michael Roberts, 42, died by lethal injection in McAlester, Oklahoma at 12:21 a.m. Thursday morning. His death brings to 13 the number of executions so far this year, including 7 in the state of Texas...
Trial begins in New York police killing of Amadou Diallo
By Joseph Tanniru, February 9, 2000
The trial of the four New York City police officers accused in the shooting death of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo began last week in the state capital of Albany. Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon,...
Illinois governor calls temporary halt to executions
By our reporter, February 2, 2000
Illinois Governor George Ryan announced Monday that he would call a temporary halt to executions in the state. A spokesman for Ryan said the Republican governor is convinced the death penalty system i...
Two million incarcerated in the US
By Helen Halyard, February 1, 2000
Two million people are expected to be incarcerated in US prisons and jails by February 15 of this year, according to data released by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) last month. Over the last decad...
Paranoid schizophrenic executed in Texas
By Kate Randall, January 24, 2000
Larry Keith Robison, 42, was put to death on Friday, January 21, despite pleas to Texas Governor George W. Bush to spare the life of the mentally ill man. He died by lethal injection in Huntsville Fri...
Florida legislature approves bill to speed executions
By Kate Randall, January 13, 2000
Florida lawmakers passed a bill overhauling the state's death penalty laws last Friday, effectively speeding up the state's execution process. The legislation would streamline the appeals process by r...
