Suffolk lawyer reflects on 40 years opposing US death penalty
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 17 Oct, 07:02 · Archive
Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, born in Newmarket, has spent over four decades representing over 400 people facing execution in America.
Clive Stafford Smith, who grew up in Newmarket, has spent over four decades as a human rights lawyer working to end the US death penalty. His commitment to the cause began in childhood when a picture of Joan of Arc's execution in a school textbook prompted him to travel to America to stop the practice. He has since represented over 400 people facing execution and witnessed six death-row inmates die.
One case that particularly affected Mr Stafford Smith involved Nicholas Ingram, a British national who was born at the same Cambridgeshire hospital as Mr Stafford Smith and was executed in Georgia in 1995. Mr Stafford Smith has said that he can still vividly recall the image of Ingram in the electric chair.
His work comes at a time when the American death penalty is again under scrutiny. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has proposed a live-streamed firing squad execution for Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood. Hasan is scheduled to be executed in December. Mr Stafford Smith has questioned how children could be prevented from watching such a broadcast.
How it is being reported
- 'I still see him in the electric chair' - Suffolk lawyer on ending the death penaltyNewmarket-born lawyer Clive Stafford Smith reflects on 40 years opposing the US death penalty, wrongful convictions and execution failures in America.East Anglian Daily Times · 17 Oct, 06:00
- 'I still see him in the electric chair' - Suffolk lawyer on ending the death penaltyNewmarket-born lawyer Clive Stafford Smith reflects on 40 years opposing the US death penalty, wrongful convictions and execution failures in America.Ipswich Star · 17 Oct, 06:00
In this story: Clive Stafford Smith · Nicholas Ingram · Pete Hegseth · Nidal Hasan · Newmarket · Georgia · Fort Hood
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