Ark. searches for execution witnesses
Compiled from news services
The state of Arkansas, which plans to execute eight inmates over 10 days next month, is struggling to overcome a logistical problem: There are not enough people who want to watch them die.
A state law requires that at least six people witness an execution to ensure that the state’s death penalty laws are properly followed. But so far, finding that many volunteer witnesses to cover all of the scheduled executions has proved difficult, prompting the director at the Department of Correction to take the extraordinary step of personally seeking volunteers.
A department spokesman declined to say whom the director, Wendy Kelley, has approached for help, but she has extended invitations at least to members of the Little Rock Rotary Club, according to news reports. Ms. Kelley made the request, which the members initially thought was a joke, after delivering a keynote address on Tuesday.
Under Arkansas state law, execution witnesses must be at least 21 years old and a resident of the state, cannot have a felony conviction and cannot be related to the death row inmate or a victim in the case.
Democrat’s address
WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Saturday implored President Donald Trump to be truthful, saying “presidential credibility, once squandered, may never be fully regained.”
Mr. Schiff, who had a busy week as ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, used the weekly Democratic address to lay out details of the committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, but ended with a plea to Mr. Trump.
Americans and U.S. allies need to be able to believe Mr. Trump if he says there is an international crisis, Mr. Schiff warned.
Debate over Rikers
NEW YORK — The latest in a string of brutality cases against Rikers Island guards has added fuel to a growing debate on whether New York City’s notoriously violent jail complex should be shut down.
At least 35 staff members at Rikers have faced criminal charges in the past three years, including 13 for assault or attempted assault.
The latest brutality case stems from security videotape that shows guard Rodiny Calypso attacking an inmate in February 2014, a criminal complaint says. After the pair exchanged words — Mr. Calypso claims the inmate spit on him — the guard handcuffed the victim and punched him several times, it says.
Concerns over Kushner
WASHINGTON — Five Democratic lawmakers are raising ethics concerns about a Chinese conglomerate’s potential investment in a Manhattan office building owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s sonin-law and a senior White House adviser.
The lawmakers asked the White House in a March 24 letter to explain whether Mr. Kushner was involved in any talks about the possible partnership with China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. They asked for additional details on Mr. Kushner’s divestment from his family’s company, Kushner Cos.