GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Connecticut is about to become the 17th US state to abolish the death penalty, with both houses voting for a bill to ban it and the governor announcing 11 April he will sign the bill. Five states have abolished it in the past five years, says Human Rights Watch: New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, and Illinois. The group, which has a worldwide campaign against the death penalty, notes that another 13 states that have the penalty on the books have not used it for at least five years.
Human Rights Watch applauds the new bill, but points out that 11 prisoners in Connecticut have still-valid death sentences because it will not apply retroactively. “The failure to make the change retroactive is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 15 states that if a law reduces a criminal penalty, all offenders should benefit from such a reduction, even those who committed their offense before the reduction. However, when the US ratified the treaty in 1992, it included a reservation that it would not adhere to this provision.”
US federal agents and police have taken a man into custody in relation to the attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City 2 May. Faizal Shahzad, a 30-year-old naturalized US citizen originally from Pakistan, was boarding a plane for Dubai when he was arrested. He recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, and a US Justice Department official said in an announcement that they had “gathered significant additional evidence”, which led to his arrest. The charges were not revealed. The man had recently paid cash for the Nissan Pathfinder that was used in the failed attack.
Links to other sites: New York Times, US Justice Department
The US Senate banking committee has proposed a significant change to the US bank regulatory system, calling for a single body to regulate banks. The move would diminish the powerful role of the Federal Reserve in this area and would replace overlapping regulation by several groups, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and smaller regulators, with one new agency. The proposed legislation would also create a consumer financial protection agency. The powerful banking committee, under the direction of Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, has pushed into the open a struggle that has been going on behind the scenes to reform the US banking system: Dodd Tuesday 10 November presented the committee’s reform proposal, which goes substantially further than President Barack Obama’s suggested reforms. Initial reactions indicate that opposition from several corners, but especially from the Federal Reserve, will make it a tough fight.
Links to other sites: Financial Times, New York Times, NPR, US Senate banking committee site
The US town of Fairfield Connecticut filed a lawsuit against Bernard Madoff to recoup some of its 42 million Dollar loss in pension funds. Connecticut Superior Court Judge Arthur Hiller filed an order Monday 13 April to secure 25 million in cash escrow accounts and properties owned by Madoff’s relatives and business partners. According to the town’s lawyer, Fairfield is the first party suing Madoff to obtain orders securing pledges of cash or property. Reuters, Connecticut Post
