The Washington Post, December 18, 2009 by Robert Barnes and Maria Glod
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/17/AR2009121704299_pf.html
To Berman and Elisabeth Semel, director of the death penalty clinic at the University of California at Berkeley’s law school, it makes sense that the court, divided on many aspects of capital punishment, takes the chance to present a united front when it sees examples of mistakes in death penalty cases that all justices agree on.
Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2009 by Carol J. Williams
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deathpenalty9-2009dec09,0,3074571.story
“It’s the historic problem with execution procedures, that they have always been conducted in secret,” said Semel, whose clinic offers opportunities for students to represent prisoners with capital sentences.
KALW News, November 18, 2009 by Rina Palta
http://kalwnews.org/blogs/rinapalta/inside-courts-day2-jurors-du-jour
“From a defense attorney’s standpoint, Semel said, “you end up with a jury that’s not only able to impose the death penalty, but people who are for the death penalty tend to be more pro-prosecution” and presumably, more likely to convict in the first place. In a society increasingly opposed to the death penalty, you’re excluding from juries some 40 or 50 percent of people who would be otherwise qualified,” she said.
Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2009 by Carol J. Williams
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lethal-injection14-2009nov14,0,2353684,print.story
“Ohio has taken an important step by abandoning the barbaric practice of paralyzing inmates before executing them,” said Elisabeth Semel, a law professor…. Semel added, however, that more medical information will be needed before courts can determine whether the one-drug method satisfies the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2009 by Demian Bulwa
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/crime/detail?&entry_id=51377
Elisabeth Semel, who directs the death penalty clinic at the UC Berkeley School of Law, added, “In my experience, individuals who want to represent themselves are often lacking the legal skill to do so and have profound emotional problems.”
San Francisco Chronicle, August 20, 2009 by Demian Bulwa
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/20/BAP219AP10.DTL&t
“Death penalty cases are the most challenging, complex cases,” said Elisabeth Semel, who directs the death penalty clinic at the UC Berkeley School of Law. “In my experience,” she said, “individuals who want to represent themselves are often lacking the legal skill to do so and have profound emotional problems.”
The New York Times, August 13, 2009 by John Schwartz
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/us/14dissent.html?_r=2
Jesse H. Choper, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the judge was hardly a fierce opponent of capital punishment. “I don’t see him as someone who is unexceptionally opposed,” Mr. Choper said.
Elisabeth A. Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic at Berkeley, which trains lawyers to defend people facing the death penalty, said many jurists had been shaken by the rise of exonerations due to DNA evidence. “I think it’s been shattering to judges who had a fair amount of confidence in the system,” she said.
The Sacramento Bee, July 3, 2009 by Phillip Reese
http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/1997409.html
Semel, a death penalty opponent and director of Boalt Hall’s Death Penalty Clinic, said prosecutors like Pacheco could reverse the pro-death stance of their counties if they wanted. “In some places,” she said, “it will take a small measure of courage.”
Orlando Sentinel, May 19, 2009 by Sarah Lundy
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/orl-florida-death-warrants-052009,0,4623436,full.story
“It’s the epitome of how arbitrary it is,” said Elisabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California- Berkeley.
The Sacramento Bee, May 17, 2009 by Elisabeth Semel
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/v-print/story/1866190.html
For decades, Democratic and Republican candidates for governor in California have stepped over each other to prove their capital punishment credentials. But public support for the death penalty has dropped dramatically in this state. When money is in short supply here, we would be well served if courage and leadership were not.
Los Angeles Times, April 17, 2009 by James Oliphant
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/17/nation/na-stevens17
Elisabeth Semelֽ a law professor and director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley who helped bring the challenge to Kentucky’s lethal-injection proceduresֽ said the court’s opinion made it clear that states can be forced to institute alternative lethal-injection procedures if they can be proven to alleviate a substantial risk of severe pain to the inmate.
The Times-Standard, March 1, 2009 by Thadeus Greenson
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_11812800
“It’s like a patchwork quilt,” said Elisabeth Semel, a clinical professor of law at U.C. Berkeley who directs the school’s death penalty clinic…. “Someone once said, ‘California has 58 counties and 58 death penalties,’ and that’s a very apt statement.”
The Press-Enterprise, February 20, 2009 by Duane W. Gang and Tammy J. McCoy
http://www.pe.com/politics/gang/stories/PE_News_Local_S_death21.467f3cd.html#
UC Berkeley law professor Elisabeth Semel said judicial resources should be considered when seeking the death penalty. “All decisions have to be made with greater restraint,” she said. “Under even normal circumstances, fiscal responsibility is an issue.”
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 17, 2008 by Andrew S. Ross
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/17/BUK514P25N.DTL&type=printable
Elisabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic … would not comment on the disposition of $796,000 worth of current grants dispensed by the JEHT (short for Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance) Foundation, except to say, without elaboration: “We will be able to continue our work in the lethal injection area, in which we were funded at the present time.”
The Forum at Grace Cathedral, Nov. 2, 2008, Hosted by Alan Jones
http://www.gracecathedral.org/mp3/forum/for_20081102.mp3
“There are any numbers of treaties which most nations have entered into—and the United States has entered into a number of them—treaties that have the goal of reducing racism, treaties that have the goal of upholding the dignity of human life, treaties that prohibit excessive punishment. And each of those treaties has led the majority of countries in the world to come to the conclusion, also over the course of time, that capital punishment … is not tolerable.”
San Jose Mercury News, September 18, by Howard Mintz
http://atlanticphilanthropies.org/news/news/appeals_court_to_consider_state_s_death_penalty_gridlock_small_step_in_battle_over_lethal_injection
“People should know and understand what the process is when we’re talking about the state taking a life,” she added. “Everyone benefits from knowing as much as possible.”
The Press-Enterprise, September 6, by Jessica Logan
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_E_injunction07.21c3dc0.html
Elisabeth Semel said the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled the death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst murders. She said prosecutors can pursue death on almost all first-degree murder cases in California because the laws are so broad. Semel said it is unfair for a person to face the death penalty for a crime in one county and life in prison a mile away in another county. She believes these rules should be uniform across the state.
Los Angeles Daily Journal, August 5, by Elisabeth Semel
www.dailyjournal.com [registration required]
From the perspective of citizens who continue to be excluded from jury service based on their race, it is well past midnight. Like Wheeler, the Lenix decision is another one of those “affirmative steps to ensure that race plays no part in jury selection.” The question remains whether California courts are watching the clock.
San Francisco Daily Journal, July 25, by Laura Ernde
www.dailyjournal.com [registration required]
The California Supreme Court Thursday removed any doubt about the use of a technique known as comparative juror analysis to make sure prosecutors aren’t improperly excluding blacks or other minorities from juries…. “It’s an acknowledgement by this court, which has been resistant, that it’s required to conduct comparative juror analysis,” said Elisabeth Semel…. “That’s the big message.”
The Daily News of Los Angeles, July 20, by Tony Castro
www.dailynews.com [registration required]
Elisabeth Semel said there is never an easy answer in pursuing death penalty cases…. “The fact that it is a death penalty case shows that the murder or murders were horrendous enough to warrant its consideration—but that does not mean that the death penalty is automatic,” said Semel. “A jury takes many things into consideration in its deliberations, and there is no question that there is often an uphill battle for the prosecution and that the death penalty is not a foregone conclusion.”