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David R. Dow

David R. Dow is the Cullen Professor at the University of Houston Law Center and the Rorschach Visiting Professor at Rice University. His most recent book is a memoir, The Autobiography of an Execution.

articles/2013/04/02/death-penalty-is-the-wrong-punishment-for-james-holmes/130402-james-holmes-dow-tease_s4c9uz

Don’t Kill James Holmes

By seeking death, the Colorado D.A. is ensuring Holmes’s victims’ loved ones agonizing years of trials and appeals with no clear end, writes David Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/12/14/remove-a-stain-on-the-supreme-court-by-impeaching-justice-scalia/impeach-scalia-dow-tease_yeaqfo

Impeach Scalia Now

He’s been off the rails for years, but the justice’s latest outburst regarding homosexuality should be the last straw: it’s time for Congress to kick him out, writes David Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/11/09/death-penalty-survives-in-california-but-three-strikes-law-cut-back/dow-calif-prop34-tease-embed_p54yx4

Death Penalty Lives In California

Why did the state’s voters choose to soften a notoriously harsh punishment while upholding an even harsher one? It’s the difference between economics and morals, writes David Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/08/27/norway-did-the-right-thing-by-giving-breivik-21-year-sentence/breivik-sentence-dow_hunzms

Vengeance Doesn’t Make Us Safer

Americans are happy to see convicts receive life sentences at the drop of a hat, but we refuse to understand that our vengeance doesn’t make us any safer, writes David Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/08/14/supreme-court-outlawed-executing-mentally-retarded-but-texas-does-it-anyway/texas-execution-against-supreme-court-tease_ndv5zh

Who Cares What The Court Says?

How do you openly flout a landmark Supreme Court ruling and not suffer any consequences? David Dow writes: Ask Texas!

David R. Dow

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articles/2012/07/24/we-stop-the-next-aurora-not-with-gun-control-but-with-better-mental-health-treatment/colorado-gun-control-dow_qpy0jv

It’s Not About The Guns

What these mass slaughters have in common has less to do with the ease of getting weapons than with our society’s reaction to monstrous acts perpetrated by those with mental illness, writes David Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/07/08/after-health-care-ruling-time-to-reconsider-supreme-court-s-power/fix-supreme-court-dow_p111hi
Broken Bench

Fixing The Supreme Court

In the social-media age—when millions of Americans can instantaneously express their views to our elected officials—courts shouldn’t be policing the boundaries of political power, writes David Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/06/25/don-t-believe-the-hype-supreme-court-decision-on-juvenile-life-without-parole-is-weak/juvenile-life-without-parole-dow_qyvbop

Court Misses Big Opportunity

In a tepid ruling, the court failed to do anything morally important, writes David R. Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/06/09/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-unpopular/supreme-court-low-approval_d8hf2c
Unpopular

The 44% Supreme Court

It’s no surprise that a new poll found 75 percent of Americans believe Supreme Court justices are influenced by their political beliefs, writes David R. Dow.

David R. Dow

articles/2012/05/22/george-zimmerman-will-never-be-convicted-of-murdering-trayvon-martin/george-zimmerman-bail-hearing-cheat_yt7xyq

Zimmerman Convicted? Not a Chance

The new evidence released by prosecutors makes clear that Zimmerman is sure to get acquitted, writes David R. Dow.

David R. Dow

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