US Supreme Court considers death row inmate’s case after witness said to have given false testimony
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether the murder conviction of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate in Oklahoma, should be set aside due to a witness having given false testimony in court and state prosecutors having failed to disclose key information about the witness. In 1997, a hotel maintenance worker named Justin Sneed [...]
The Dilution of 'Genocide': Why We Need a New Term for Mass Atrocities
In the Israel-Hamas war, accusations of an Israeli “genocide” against the people of Gaza have created fierce debate and, consequently, warrant a reappraisal of the meaning of the term. Far from the historical and legal definition of the word, accusations of genocide against Israel have transformed the very essence of the word. This is lexical [...]
Florida executes man after US Supreme Court rejects appeal over Parkinson's and past trauma
The state of Florida on Thursday executed Loran Cole, a 57-year-old Florida man who contended that lethal injection would cause him “needless pain and suffering” due to his Parkinson’s disease. The execution took place after the US Supreme Court denied a last-minute appeal to stop it. The appeal was submitted to Justice Thomas, the circuit justice [...]
In legend, Achilles, Greek warrior and hero of the Trojan War, fought Trojan prince Hector to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus. Hector had killed Patroclus, and he planned to cut off Patroclus’ head and give his body to the dogs for food. Before the fight, Hector waits for Achilles and then proposes that [...]
Utah officials declared on Saturday that they switched the execution method for death row inmate Taberon Dave Honie from an experimental three-drug lethal injection to a well-known single-drug injection, according to The Salt Lake Tribute. Honie was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for murdering Claudia Benn, the mother of his girlfriend at the time. [...]
The UN and Proportionality: In War, Shoot First and Ask No Questions
In early June, Israel carried out a daring rescue, freeing four hostages who had been taken and held for eight months by Hamas and, in flagrant violation of international law, embedding the hostages within families in housing full of civilians, including many children—also a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the laws of war. All major news [...]
Alabama inmate requests federal court to block scheduled nitrogen gas execution
Alabama inmate Alan Eugene Miller on Friday requested the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama block his scheduled nitrogen gas execution, which would be the second of its kind in US history. In 2000, Miller was sentenced to death for the murder of three people. Alabama law lets death row inmates choose [...]
From Gaza to Uvalde: The Complicated Moral Imperative to Rescue Our Own
In the aftermath of the recent rescue of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, an analysis of such extraction operations is warranted. To put this event in context, three things must be understood. First, hostage taking is a war crime. Second, hostage rescue is extremely logistically difficult. Third, the American public [...]
The Doctor’s Dilemma: Navigating Ethical Challenges in Treating Prisoners of War
Recently, medical workers at Israeli hospitals told BBC News that Palestinian detainees from Gaza were “shackled and blindfolded” while they received treatment. Physicians owe a duty to their patients based on well-established ethical principles. In truth, the doctor-patient relationship is aspirational, and at the bedside, circumstance reveals a much more complex exchange. At the core [...]
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” so taught civil rights campaigner and feminist Rita Mae Brown. There is no more fitting maxim for the broken American system that in 2024 has allowed Donald Trump to return as a major political party’s presumptive nominee for its highest office. [...]
