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Friday, December 29, 2023

Defining Presumption of innocence

Presumption of innocence
From:  Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom 

As detailed, below, there is no presumption of innocence with arrest, search warrants, bond or bail. Very often, just the opposite is the case.

The presumption of innocence, ONLY, exists (1) during the trial and (2) ONLY for the judge or jury, depending upon which one is the fact finder in the case.

A presumption is only a presumption, meaning, of course, it is not a fact.

Factually, the arrested party/defendant is either factually guilty or factually innocent of the crime, at the time of the crime and forward. Period. In all cases.

Only judges or jurors must presume innocence.

A "not guilty" verdict occurs with a factually guilty or factually innocent person, just as a "guilty" verdict can occur with a factually guilty or a factually innocent person.

A not guilty verdict is rendered by the judge or jury when the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and a guilty verdict is rendered when the prosecution has proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

A "hung jury" is one that cannot reach a verdict in any given jurisdiction.

There is no presumption of innocence with arrests, with search warrants, in bond, nor in bail, nor should there be.

Search warrant

A judge or magistrate will issue a search warrant only if an affidavit establishes probable cause, and the search warrant is sufficiently limited in scope. Exceptions to this rule, are emergency situations and items plainly visible to police officers.

Bond

Bond conditions are requirements imposed by the court that a defendant in a criminal case must follow in the time leading up to his or her trial. 

These conditions are typically put into place in order to protect the potential victims of a criminal act, even before the defendant has been tried or convicted. Not following bond conditions could mean an immediate return to jail, and these conditions adhere to a zero tolerance policy. The severity of bond conditions is typically measured by a defendant’s criminal history or lack thereof.

Bail

In certain serious cases, defendants are not entitled to bail based on their criminal charges (e.g., capital crimes, violent offenses, sex offenses).

In criminal law, there are four basic objectives that judges have in mind during the bail hearing: (1) Minimize risk to the community (2) Protect the integrity of the judicial process (3) Ensure the defendant appears in court (4) Reduce the likelihood that the defendant will commit new crimes.

The History and Character of the Defendant: Judges have access to the defendant's background and criminal history. Judges will consider the following when making a bail decision: (1) The sufficiency of the evidence against the defendant (2) Whether the defendant is already subject to bail conditions in a previous case (3) Whether they were on probation or parole at the time of the alleged offense (4) The seriousness of the charges (e.g., misdemeanor or felony domestic violence) (5) The defendant's criminal record (first-time or repeat offender) (6) The defendant's history of appearances at prior court proceedings (7) Family ties and length of residence in the community (flight risk) (8) Employment or financial resources (nature and value of any property offered as collateral) (9) Medical conditions or history relating to drug and alcohol abuse.

and much more

The Exoneration Frauds

Exoneration means to prove factual innocence.

With the death penalty, the exoneration frauds are somewhere between 71-83%, depending upon study, as detailed.  The error rate may be similar in non-death penalty cases, as media and academia seem to eschew fact checks and vetting in exoneration claims. 

The Death Row "Exonerated"/"Innocent" Frauds 
 71-83% Error Rate in Death Row "Innocent" Claims, 
Well Known Since 1998
 
======
600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victim's families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
====== 
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Research, w/sources, w/fact checking/vetting & critical thinking, as required of anyone within a public policy debate and which rebut all anti-death penalty claims.
 
Most will realize that the media has been using only anti-death penalty claims and, then, failed to fact check, vet, not use critical thinking, with that research, while avoiding all pro-death penalty research and experts. How do I know most will realize this? Because they wouldn't have seen any of this, prior:
 
The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
and
Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
(7 Pro-death penalty experts, with research and contacts)
======
 
Partial CV

Sunday, December 17, 2023

The Catholic Church's Anti-Death Penalty Disaster

The Catholic Church's Anti-Death Penalty Disaster
various version sent 1997-2024 and continuing

To: Throughout the world:
1)  Religious groups/media, primarily, Catholic institutions, worldwide,  
bcc, at bottom
2) Media -- Editors, producers, Bureau Chiefs, Directors, Managers and government/crime/political reporters, etc
3) Throughout the US
Victims Groups, Governors & staff, State Legislators & staff, Judges, Attorney Generals, District/Prosecuting Attorneys Orgs, Police/Sherrifs Orgs, State Corrections and many more
 
From: Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom
 
The Church has avoided fact checking, vetting and critical thinking, for, nearly, 30 years (1995 forward). This is not in dispute, as detailed below, with all sources provided and no Church rebuttal, for many, many years.
 
1)  The Catholic Church & The Death Penalty:
12 (14) Factual Errors: 2018 CCC 2267 amendment
 
2)  Catechism & State Protection: The Gross Negligence of the Holy See
 
3) “Capital Punishment and Magisterial Authority”
"Fastiggi on Capital Punishment and the Change to the Catechism, 
Part I," Edward Feser, 8/26/2023,
Part 2, 8/30/2023
 
4) Does Truth Matter?  Sr. Prejean, The Church & U of Notre Dame 

5) The Death Penalty:  Mercy, Expiation, Redemption & Salvation
 
6) 30 Examples: How Death Penalty Abolitionists Value Murderers 
More Than Their Innocent Victims:
AKA - Full Rebuttal of Sir Richard Branson & 
His Death Penalty Comments
 
7) BISHOPS HIDE TRUTH FROM THEIR FLOCK: DEATH PENALTY
 
8) Catholic Bishops: So Wrong on Death Penalty
 
9) What Did Jesus Teach about Violence and Turning the Other Cheek? 
J. Daryl Charles, Timothy J. Demy, Crossway, 
May 16, 2014,
 
 
11) Sister Helen Prejean: Her Lies, Deceptions . . . and/or 
Astounding Willful Ignorance? - A Compilation
 
12) All Anti-Death Penalty Claims Rebutted:
With no fact checking nor vetting, The Church has depended upon anti-death penalty frauds, for decades. With all sources, those frauds are corrected, here:
 
  a) The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
and
  b) Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
     (7 pro-death penalty experts & contact info)
 
 
======
600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victims' families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
====== 
======
 
Research, with sources, fact checking, vetting & critical thinking, as required of anyone within a public policy debate and which rebut all anti-death penalty claims.
 
Most will realize that the media has been using only anti-death penalty claims and, then, failed to fact check, vet, not use critical thinking, with that research, while avoiding all pro-death penalty research and experts, for decades. How do I know most will realize this? Because they wouldn't have seen any of this, prior:
 
The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
and
Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
(7 pro-death penalty experts listed)
  
BCC: Biblical & Theological Scholars, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Word on Fire, The Tablet, First Things, National Catholic Reporter, America, Our Sunday Visitor, American  Society of Religion, Oxford Academic, Board of Directors-Catholic Media Association, Jesuits-Global, Vatican News, Crux, Catholic News Service (Rome), Global Sisters Report, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, The Catholic Herald (UK), Glenmary Challenge Magazine, SIGHT, World Evangelical Alliance (Leadership Team), Catholic Review, Archdiocese of Boston, The Compass, The Sentinal, Roman Catholic Communicators of Canada, Novalis Publishing Archdioces of St.Louis & St.Louis Review, Our Northland Diocese & Diocese of Crookston, Catholic New York, Archdiocese of Detroit & Detroit Catholic. ONE Magazine, Religion Unplugged (The Media Project), Archdioces of Lousiville, Global Pulse, Nebraska Catholic Conference (NCC), Tom Venzor, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference (NCC) Nebraska Catholic Bishops, staff and parishes, UCA NEWS, Twenty-Third Publications, Archdiocese of Detroit, Eureka Street,  The Acton Institute, The Word On Fire, Holy See Mission, The Witherspoon Institute, University of the Incarnate Word, Diocese of Fort Worth, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Churches throughout Oklahoma, Oklahoma Baptist Convention, Oklahoma Faith Network,OKLAHOMA STATE COUNCIL FELLOWSHIP OF CHURCHES, Catholic News Agency (CNA),Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma,Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, Hope For Generations, Young Israel, Torah in Motion, World Mizrachi, Jewish Federation (Tulsa, Oklahoma), The Synagogue Congregation B'nai Emunah (Oklahoma) Temple B'nai Israel (Oklahoma), Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, Tulsa Metropolitan Ministries (Oklahoma), Family Promise of Tulsa County (Oklahoma),La Croix International, People of Praise, Nebraska Catholic Bishops (staff and parishes), Creighton U., Seton High School (Students & Teachers, Bladensburg, MD), The Catholic Weekly (Australia), Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, Diocese of Salt Lake City, Arizona Catholic Conference, Religious News Assoc., Diocese of Green Bay, Rev. Harry D. Gatewood, M.Div., Louisiana Catholic Diocese (Bishops and staff), The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), Catholic Digest,  Catholic Journal, Today's (SA) Catholic, US Catholic,  The Catholic Weekly, Crisis Magazine, FAITH Magazine,  Catholic Telegraph,  The Irish Catholic,  Archdiocese of Seattle, NW Catholic, Zenit, NZ Catholic, The Central Minnesota Catholic, The Catholic Network, The Universe Catholic Weekly, Broadview,  Angelus News, Duke Divinity School. REligion Unplugged, The Associated Church Press, The Christian Recorder, PCUSA.org, Prison Fellowship, Pennsylvania Prison Society, Archdiocese of Miami, Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor (ADROP), Order of Malta, Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition, Virginia Catholic Conference & Diocese of Richmond, All Students & Teachers St. Joseph's Academy (Baton Rouge) , Loyola U., Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Washington DC), Archdiocese of San Antonio, DeSales Media Group & Diocese of Brooklyn,  RENEW Intl., Angelus News, FloridaCatholic, Catholic Standard and Archdiocese of Washington DC, Oklahoma Diocese, Where Peter Is, The Wanderer, Nebraska Diocese, The Dialog & Diocese of Wilmington, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Catholic Herald, Catholic Philly & Philadelphia Archdiocese, Intermountain Catholic & Diocese of Salt Lake City, Opus Dei, Notre Dame Observer, Diocese of Raleigh, Diocese of Scranton, Renew Intl., Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Catholic League, The Sisters of Saint Dominic (Blauvelt, New York), The Catholic Telegraph,  Church Militant, The Catholic Sun, New Advent, The (Fordham U) Observer, St. Patrick Catholic Community (Scottsdale, Az.), Diocese of St. Cloud,  Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Diocese of Tucson,  Catholic Daughters of America,    The Record & Archdiocese of Louisville,  The Archdiocese of  Los Angeles,  Father Pablo Espinosa Matta, Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church, Alpine, Texas, Bishop Tom Brown, Word of Life Church, East El Paso,  Diocese of El Paso many more
 
U of Notre Dame Institutions
Exoneration Justice Clinic (Notre Dame Law School), Klau Institute of Civil and Human Rights, G. Marcus Cole, Dean, Notre Dame Law School, ND's de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, ND's Tocqueville Program for Inquiry into Religion and Public Life, ND's Program on Church, State & Society, All Professors, Notre Dame Law School, ND's Center for Social Concerns, Gallivan Journalism Program,  ND Debate Team, ND's Dept. Of Theology, Notre Dame Magazine, The (ND) Observer, Notre Dame News, WSND Radio-FM,
 
and South Bend Tribune and AWAKE

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Media Disaster: Journalists Refusing Fact Checking, Vetting & Critical Thinking

 12/12/2023

To: Rob Schofield, Editor, NC Newsline
All Leadership & National reporters States Newsroom
BOLTS
 
BCC: see below
 
Subject: Death Penalty - Journalists Refusing Fact Checking, Vetting & Critical Thinking
 
RE: Advocates push for extraordinary action on the death penalty, Rob Schofield, NC Newsline, Dec 12, 2023
 
From:  Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom   
 
Preface
 
Schofield's is a standard media anti-death penalty article:
 
1) No fact checking nor vetting nor critical thinking, regarding anti-death penalty claims:
2) No research, whatsoever, of pro-death penalty facts and defenses
 
Can that be done, accidentally? Of course not. Very common, throughout media, as detailed.
 
Schofield confirms that with this:
 
1) Schofield : "Abolition proponents have the best of the argument when it comes to a dispassionate review of the data."
 
Sharp: The reverse is true. Will States Newsroom care? The standard is that they will care, very much, and, because of that, do nothing. It is the preferred method. It is "journalism today". Yes? No? Let's look.
 
============
 
I rebut all of Schofield's points in his article, in order, with sources. 
 
2) No Deterrence
 
Sharp:
 
 
 
c) 30 Examples: How Death Penalty Abolitionists Value Murderers  More Than Their Innocent Victims:
AKA - Full Rebuttal of Sir Richard Branson & His Death Penalty Comments

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Media Disaster: C-Span & The Death Penalty Information Center
originally sent 3/5/2024, edits sent 3/23/2024, 7/22/2024
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3)  racist and blatantly unfair
 
Sharp: See Race, Gender & Class in three separate articles, here
 
 
4) Regularly convicts innocent people
 
Sharp: The Death Row "Exonerated"/"Innocent" Frauds 
 71-83% % Error Rate in Death Row "Innocent" Claims, 
Well Known Since 1998
 
5) brutal and horrific executions
 
 
6) autocratic regimes
 
Sharp: The USA, South Korea, Japan
 
7)  Schofield: "it’s still easy to feel the presence of injustice and unfairness in the notion that someone might brutally end another’s life and yet still live to a ripe old age — especially in the case of a murderer who has acted multiple times."
 
Sharp: Thank you, but . . . If you cared you would have fact checked, vetted and used critical thinking. Did you avoid that, by accident? Of course not.
 
8) Schofield "this debate can readily become a quagmire of misinformation and prejudice in the world of modern sound bite politics, where anonymous forces – particularly on the political right – are happy to expend millions on ads designed to mislead and manipulate emotions."
 
Sharp: Schofield, look in the mirror. 
 
9) Polling and reduced death penalty support
 
a) August 16, 2021      
86% Death Penalty Support, Depending Upon Crime Committed
New Evidence of Broad Support for Death Penalty | RealClearPolicy
Joseph M. Bessette & J. Andrew Sinclair, RealClearPolicy August 16, 2021 
 
These polls, above and below, reflect well known polls, for the last 15 years, showing much higher death penalty support than by the oft quoted, much less accurate Gallup, as even, Gallup shows (see Gallup's Mcveigh poll (below) vs their standard poll)
 
b)  Death Penalty Polling
 updated 3/2023
 
c) 86% Death Penalty Support: Highest Ever - April 2013
World Support Remains High
95% of Murder Victim's Family Members Support Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/11/86-death-penalty-support-highest-ever.html
 
10) Schofield: "As NC Newsline reporter Kelan Lyons detailed in a recent special report (“In NC, one man — Gov. Roy Cooper — has the power to empty death row. But will he do it?”)
 
Sharp: Lyon's article may, even, have been worse than Schofield's. A huge article. not, once mentioning the innocent murder victims and comparing the death penalty, today, to the past's lynching   . . .  without noting  . . .
 
White murderers are twice a likely to be executed as are black murderers and are executed at a rate 41% higher than black death row inmates (3 above).
 
11) This is, particularly, foul:
 
Lyons: " (Anti-death penalty) advocates are now hoping Cooper will offer clemency for the 136 people on death row en masse, regardless of the circumstances of the crimes of which they are convicted, because of the injustices of the death penalty and North Carolina’s criminal legal system at large."
 
Sharp: No matter how cruel, not matter how foul, not matter how racist, no matter the hatred of women, no matter how much of a continuing danger, no matter how perfect the trial, no matter no remorse, no matter how much the families of the children raped/tortured and murdered, finding that the death penalty the most just sanction, these anti-death penalty folks think that all death row inmates should be spared execution.
 
Not one bit surprising, as detailed:
 
30 Examples: How Death Penalty Abolitionists Value Murderers  More Than Their Innocent Victims:
AKA - Full Rebuttal of Sir Richard Branson & His Death Penalty Comments
 
12) Lyons: "(murderer) Basden stopped using alcohol and drugs and found God (while on death row)."
 
Sharp: it never occurred to Lyons or Basden's family members that all of that happened because he was on death row?
 
a) The Death Penalty: Mercy, Expiation, Redemption & Salvation
 
b) Jesus and the Death Penalty
 
13) If you would like to see a complete deconstruction of Lyon's article, let me know.
 
In Closing
 
Journalism is extinct and that is what "journalists" have chosen., as detailed:
 
Enter Media Disaster in the search box, here, and click
 
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bcc:  I will be sending an edited version of this, later
 
To: Gov. Roy Cooper and Staff
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Staff
Senate/House Committees and staff  -  Justice, Judicial, Public Safety, Corrections, Prisons
Attorney General Josh Stein and Staff
North Carolina Sheriff's Assoc.
NC Office for Victims of Crime
Parents of Murdered Children
Megan Smith, ArtSpace Charter School, staff and teachers
North Carolina Policy Watch
 
Media throughout North Carolina
 
======
600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victims' families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
====== 
======
 
Research, with sources, fact checking, vetting & critical thinking, as required of anyone within a public policy debate and which rebut all anti-death penalty claims.
 
Most will realize that the media has been using only anti-death penalty claims and , then, failed to fact check, vet, not use critical thinking, with that research, while avoiding all pro-death penalty research and experts, for decades. How do I know most will realize this? Because they wouldn't have seen any of this, prior:
 
The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
and
Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
(7 pro-death penalty experts listed)