Convicted Murderer: “Homosexuals Are A Disease To Mankind And Must Be Put Down"

Peter Avsenew

 A 33-year-old Florida man, who was convicted of the 2010 double homicide of a gay couple in the gay-centric neighborhood of Wilton Manors, will receive the death penalty.

While a court-appointed lawyer asked for mercy saying Peter Avsenew had been sexually abused by his stepfather as child and lost his sister to murder, Broward County Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes upheld the unanimous recommendation of the jury that he be put to death.

Avsenew was convicted last fall of the murders of Kevin Powell and Stephen Adams, a gay couple who had been together for 30 years.

According to prosecutors during the trial, Avsenew met the men through a sexually suggestive ad on Craigslist. After killing the couple, he stole their car, belongings and money.

At his sentencing hearing in January, the convicted killer flipped off members of the family in the court room after hearing the jury’s recommendation for the death penalty.

He told the judge at the time of sentencing he had no regrets and he was “proud of the decisions” he’d made in his life, according to the local ABC news affiliate.

While the judge could have spared his life, Avsenew sealed his own fate by writing a letter to the Holmes saying “It is my duty as a white man to cull the weak and timid from existence.”

“Homosexuals are a disease to mankind and must be put down,” he added. “These weren’t the first and won’t be the last.”

Missy Badget, a family member of one of the victims, said at the time, “After what happened in that courtroom just now, I'm happy that he's being put to the death penalty.”

Avsenew is the first convicted felon to receive the death penalty since a new law went into effect requiring a jury to be unanimous in its recommendation for execution.

(h/t Sun-Sentinel)

Nebraska Repeals Death Penalty

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Death penalty repeal wins final approval in Nebraska Legislature with veto-proof majority.

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) May 20, 2015

Zeke Miller of Time.com tweets that the state legislature of Nebraska has voted 32 to 15 to repeal the state's death penalty. Gov. Pete Ricketts had promised to veto such legislation, but the lawmakers appear to have a veto proof majority.

Nebraska would become the first conservative state to repeal the death penalty since North Dakota in 1973.

Check the map below to see how many inmates (if any) are on death row in your state, and how many have been put to death since 1976.

California Man Files "Death Penalty For Sodomites" Ballot Initiative

A California lawyer has filed a proposed ballot initiative which would legalize the death penalty for gays in the Golden state.

According to Wonkette, a man listed as Matt McLaughlin of Huntington Beach, California, has paid his $200 filing fee to begin what he hopes would see death and million dollar fines for "sodomites" via his "Sodomite Suppression Act."

Excerpt from McLaughlin's filing:

"Seeing that it is better that offenders should die rather than that all of us should be killed by God’s just wrath against us for the folly of tolerating-wickedness in our midst, the People of California wisely command, in the fear of God, that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method."

In addition, McLaughlin would like to see gays fined $1 million for each "sodomistic propaganda" incident and possible expulsion from California. Plus, none of the "sodomites" may be allowed to hold public office.

McLaughlin now needs 366,000 signatures via petition to get his legislation on the next ballot.
See a copy of the wording above.

(h/t JMG)

Arizona execution goes very wrong

After beginning his execution over an hour ago, Joseph Wood is still alive and gasping, according to a filing made by his lawyers.

His lawyers have filed a motion for a stay of execution and asked that life-saving provisions be utilized, saying the execution has violated his Eight Amendment rights and that this botched execution is violating the Eight Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Wood was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for a 1989 double murder.

Originally, the Arizona Supreme Court stayed his execution to consider a Petition for Review:

“The Arizona Supreme Court has stayed Mr. Wood’s execution so that it can consider the Petition for Review that is now before it. We are hopeful that the Arizona Supreme Court will give the necessary time and consideration to the constitutional claims raised in Mr. Wood’s petition, including review of the experimental combination of drugs to be used in the execution.”

(via Buzzfeed)

UPDATE: The execution lasted over two hours.  Witnesses saw it was excruciating to watch. See report below:

United Nations to US: Stop death penalty after botched Oklahoma execution

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the United States to place a moratorium on all executions:

The suffering of Clayton Lockett during his execution in Oklahoma on Tuesday 29th April, may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment according to international human rights law. It also appears to run counter to the 8 th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states that “…nor cruel and unusual punishment [shall be] inflicted.” We note that the execution of a second man in Oklahoma, scheduled later on Tuesday, was stayed by the Governor, who has ordered a review of execution procedures and protocols.

The prolonged death of Clayton Lockett is the second case of apparent extreme suffering caused by malfunctioning lethal injections reported in 2014 in the United States. The other case was that of Dennis McGuire, executed by the State of Ohio on 16 January 2014 with an allegedly untested combination of drugs.

The UN Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture have both previously called on the United States to review its execution methods in order to prevent severe pain and suffering. Most recently, in March 2014, the Human Rights Committee recommended the US ensure that lethal drugs used for executions originate from legal, regulated sources, and are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The apparent cruelty involved in these recent executions simply reinforces the argument that authorities across the United States should impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty and work for abolition of this cruel and inhuman practice. Thirty-two out of 50 states in the US still have the death penalty in their laws (in addition to the US government and the US military). Eighteen states in the US have abolished the death penalty, most recently Maryland in 2013 and Connecticut in 2012.

The UN opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

Nigeria: Eleven men face stoning to death for homosexuality

The BBC reports on the citizens' arrest and upcoming "trial" of 11 men in Nigeria:

An Islamic court in Nigeria's northern state of Bauchi has put on trial 11 Muslim men accused of being homosexuals in violation of their religion, a religious leader has told the BBC.

A 12th person arrested - a Christian - would be tried under secular law, a BBC reporter says.

Under Islamic law, a person can be sentenced to death by stoning if convicted of homosexuality.

It is also illegal to have gay sex in Nigeria, according to its secular laws.

Jibrin Danlami Hassan, the commissioner of Bauchi state's Sharia Commission, said the alleged homosexuals were arrested by residents of Bauchi city. They were handed to the Islamic police force, which interrogated them, he said. "They accept that they are doing that dirty game," Mr Hassan said.

Ms Aken'Ova said some of those arrested had been beaten up and tortured, but Mr Hassan denied this.

One day after the strict anti-LGBT bill — dubbed the “Jail the Gays” law — was signed into law in Nigeria, police arrested dozens of gay men, The Associated Press reports.

Police allegedly based the arrests on a list of 168 suspects purportedly obtained through torture.

Maryland: State legislature votes to repeal death penalty

The Associated Press is reporting the Maryland General Assembly has approved a measure to repeal the death penalty.

The House of Delegates voted 82 to 56 Friday to pass a bill already approved by the Senate.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to sign it the bill into law.

Maryland would become the 18th state to abolish the death penalty.