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Articles by Dale Gardner

Lethal Gas Execution Cruel and Unusual

Derek Humphry, President of the Hemlock Society, and Judge Marilyn Hall Patel have differing views on the virtues of inhaling lethal gas. Humphry, in his how-to-suicide-it manual Final Exit, recommends the use of potassium cyanide as a quick and "humane", although not entirely peaceful, way of dying with dignity, which ...

Death Penalty Challenged by Philadelphia Public Defenders

Philadelphia's Public Defenders, Bar Association and Institutional Law Project Committee challenged the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's death penalty this October (1994), filing legal challenges in 78 murder cases including their clients.

The Defender Association of Philadelphia contends the law is "broadly drafted" and the state supreme court has "expansively interpreted" it, ...

PA Limits Suits Against Defense Attorneys

The malpractice suit against her was "a mere buzzing fly," said Patricia Dugan, a criminal defense lawyer in Philadelphia, PA.   So rather than contact her insurance company and watch her rates rise she asked a friend to handle the case.

Her instincts were correct: the Common Pleas Judge swatted away ...

New York Police Falsify Evidence

Like any organized criminal enterprise, the New York State Police relied on the code of silence to protect them from exposure. The silence was broken in 1991 when a former state trooper, David Harding, applied for a job with the CIA. Harding apparently wanted to impress his prospective employers with ...

Juries Tougher on Prisoner Litigators in Big Law Suits

In this land of big lawsuits, the growth of multimillion dollar jury awards may have been halted. Juries nationwide have become tougher on people who sue doctors, insurance companies, and prison officials--siding less often with the plaintiffs. There is evidence that the size of the awards has leveled off, too. ...

Statistics Under Attack: F.B.I. Director Speaks out in Support of DNA Profiling

By Dale Gardner

The method used by the FBI to calculate the frequency of a DNA match has been questioned in a recent paper. It is reported that the FBI calculates match probability based upon a database of large pools of "Caucasians" or "Blacks". In an article in Science, Volume ...

On Taking DNA Samples

[The following letter was written in response to our article "Taking DNA Samples Violates Ex Post Facto Clause" in the September 1992 issue of the newsletter.]

My name is Dale Gardner. I am currently incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution; Huntingdon, PA. I am writing in response to your article ...