Latest news with #Ingram
2 hours ago
- Health
COVID-related agreement continues to shield some on Georgia's death row from execution
ATLANTA -- The fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is not available for newborn babies is shielding a group of prisoners on Georgia's death row from execution. Executions in Georgia were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state attorney general's office entered into an agreement with lawyers for people on death row to set the terms under which they could resume for a specific group of prisoners. At least one of those conditions, having to do with the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, has not been met, and seeking an execution date for a prisoner covered by the agreement would breach the agreement, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram ruled. The agreement includes three conditions that had to be met before executions could be set for the affected prisoners: the expiration of the state's COVID-19 judicial emergency, the resumption of normal visitation at state prisons and the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine 'to all members of the public.' Once those conditions were met, the state agreed to give three months' notice before pursuing an execution warrant for one of the prisoners covered by the agreement and six months' notice for the rest. The state has argued that the agreement should no longer apply, contending the conditions have been met. But defense attorneys say it's still valid because the vaccine isn't yet available to infants under 6 months old, and visitation at state prisons has not returned to normal. Ingram's ruling, issued Friday, addressed only the vaccination question. She plans to handle the visitation issue separately. Ingram wrote that the state's arguments 'all boil down to an attempt to rewrite the Agreement.' The state is '(u)nhappy with the language it drafted' and wants to change it so that the condition would be satisfied once vaccines are available to 'most members of the public.' 'But courts cannot rewrite contracts to relieve a party of their regrets,' she wrote. She ruled that the agreement is 'binding and enforceable,' that the vaccination condition hasn't been met and that seeking an execution warrant before the requirements have been met would breach the agreement. The state attorney general's office plans to appeal, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Ingram noted that the Food and Drug Administration has approved clinical trials for infants under 6 months old, and newborns receive other vaccines. That shows it is possible for the COVID-19 vaccine to ultimately be available for that age group, and the state should have foreseen that that could take years, she wrote. Experts for both sides had testified that it was probable that the COVID-19 vaccine would eventually become available to babies under the age of 6 months, Ingram wrote. That was before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed U.S. health secretary. Kennedy last week announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. A few days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, which had said those groups should get the shots, was revised to say the vaccinations 'may' be given to those groups. The agreement covers fewer than 10 of the 34 people currently on Georgia's death row. While Georgia stopped carrying out executions during the pandemic, death penalty cases continued to wind their way through the court system, and as people exhausted their appeals, they became eligible for execution. A committee of a judicial task force on COVID-19 in early 2021 instructed lawyers for people on death row and the state attorney general's office to come up with terms under which executions could safely resume. The two sides reached the agreement in April 2021. The agreement only applied to people on death row whose requests to have their appeals reheard were denied by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while the judicial emergency was in place. The agreement was to remain in effect through Aug. 1, 2022, or one year from the date on which the conditions were met — whichever was later. The legal fight arose from a lawsuit filed when officials set a May 2022 execution date for Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. The Federal Defender Program, which represents Presnell, said the state had violated the agreement because the conditions hadn't all been met. Based on that argument, a Fulton County Superior Court judge halted the execution less than 24 hours before it was to take place, and the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in December 2022 that the agreement was a binding contract.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
COVID-related agreement continues to shield some on Georgia's death row from execution
ATLANTA (AP) — The fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is not available for newborn babies is shielding a group of prisoners on Georgia's death row from execution. Executions in Georgia were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state attorney general's office entered into an agreement with lawyers for people on death row to set the terms under which they could resume for a specific group of prisoners. At least one of those conditions, having to do with the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, has not been met, and seeking an execution date for a prisoner covered by the agreement would breach the agreement, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram ruled. The agreement includes three conditions that had to be met before executions could be set for the affected prisoners: the expiration of the state's COVID-19 judicial emergency, the resumption of normal visitation at state prisons and the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine 'to all members of the public.' Once those conditions were met, the state agreed to give three months' notice before pursuing an execution warrant for one of the prisoners covered by the agreement and six months' notice for the rest. The state has argued that the agreement should no longer apply, contending the conditions have been met. But defense attorneys say it's still valid because the vaccine isn't yet available to infants under 6 months old, and visitation at state prisons has not returned to normal. Ingram's ruling, issued Friday, addressed only the vaccination question. She plans to handle the visitation issue separately. Ingram wrote that the state's arguments 'all boil down to an attempt to rewrite the Agreement.' The state is '(u)nhappy with the language it drafted' and wants to change it so that the condition would be satisfied once vaccines are available to 'most members of the public.' 'But courts cannot rewrite contracts to relieve a party of their regrets,' she wrote. She ruled that the agreement is 'binding and enforceable,' that the vaccination condition hasn't been met and that seeking an execution warrant before the requirements have been met would breach the agreement. The state attorney general's office plans to appeal, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Ingram noted that the Food and Drug Administration has approved clinical trials for infants under 6 months old, and newborns receive other vaccines. That shows it is possible for the COVID-19 vaccine to ultimately be available for that age group, and the state should have foreseen that that could take years, she wrote. Experts for both sides had testified that it was probable that the COVID-19 vaccine would eventually become available to babies under the age of 6 months, Ingram wrote. That was before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed U.S. health secretary. Kennedy last week announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. A few days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, which had said those groups should get the shots, was revised to say the vaccinations 'may' be given to those groups. The agreement covers fewer than 10 of the 34 people currently on Georgia's death row. While Georgia stopped carrying out executions during the pandemic, death penalty cases continued to wind their way through the court system, and as people exhausted their appeals, they became eligible for execution. A committee of a judicial task force on COVID-19 in early 2021 instructed lawyers for people on death row and the state attorney general's office to come up with terms under which executions could safely resume. The two sides reached the agreement in April 2021. The agreement only applied to people on death row whose requests to have their appeals reheard were denied by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while the judicial emergency was in place. The agreement was to remain in effect through Aug. 1, 2022, or one year from the date on which the conditions were met — whichever was later. The legal fight arose from a lawsuit filed when officials set a May 2022 execution date for Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. The Federal Defender Program, which represents Presnell, said the state had violated the agreement because the conditions hadn't all been met. Based on that argument, a Fulton County Superior Court judge halted the execution less than 24 hours before it was to take place, and the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in December 2022 that the agreement was a binding contract. People on death row who are not covered by the agreement have since become eligible for execution. One of them, Willie James Pye, was put to death in March 2024.
Hamilton Spectator
6 hours ago
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
COVID-related agreement continues to shield some on Georgia's death row from execution
ATLANTA (AP) — The fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is not available for newborn babies is shielding a group of prisoners on Georgia's death row from execution. Executions in Georgia were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state attorney general's office entered into an agreement with lawyers for people on death row to set the terms under which they could resume for a specific group of prisoners. At least one of those conditions, having to do with the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, has not been met, and seeking an execution date for a prisoner covered by the agreement would breach the agreement, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram ruled. The agreement includes three conditions that had to be met before executions could be set for the affected prisoners: the expiration of the state's COVID-19 judicial emergency, the resumption of normal visitation at state prisons and the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine 'to all members of the public.' Once those conditions were met, the state agreed to give three months' notice before pursuing an execution warrant for one of the prisoners covered by the agreement and six months' notice for the rest. The state has argued that the agreement should no longer apply, contending the conditions have been met. But defense attorneys say it's still valid because the vaccine isn't yet available to infants under 6 months old, and visitation at state prisons has not returned to normal. Ingram's ruling, issued Friday, addressed only the vaccination question. She plans to handle the visitation issue separately. Ingram wrote that the state's arguments 'all boil down to an attempt to rewrite the Agreement.' The state is '(u)nhappy with the language it drafted' and wants to change it so that the condition would be satisfied once vaccines are available to 'most members of the public.' 'But courts cannot rewrite contracts to relieve a party of their regrets,' she wrote. She ruled that the agreement is 'binding and enforceable,' that the vaccination condition hasn't been met and that seeking an execution warrant before the requirements have been met would breach the agreement. The state attorney general's office plans to appeal, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Ingram noted that the Food and Drug Administration has approved clinical trials for infants under 6 months old, and newborns receive other vaccines. That shows it is possible for the COVID-19 vaccine to ultimately be available for that age group, and the state should have foreseen that that could take years, she wrote. Experts for both sides had testified that it was probable that the COVID-19 vaccine would eventually become available to babies under the age of 6 months, Ingram wrote. That was before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed U.S. health secretary. Kennedy last week announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. A few days later , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, which had said those groups should get the shots, was revised to say the vaccinations 'may' be given to those groups. The agreement covers fewer than 10 of the 34 people currently on Georgia's death row. While Georgia stopped carrying out executions during the pandemic, death penalty cases continued to wind their way through the court system, and as people exhausted their appeals, they became eligible for execution. A committee of a judicial task force on COVID-19 in early 2021 instructed lawyers for people on death row and the state attorney general's office to come up with terms under which executions could safely resume. The two sides reached the agreement in April 2021. The agreement only applied to people on death row whose requests to have their appeals reheard were denied by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while the judicial emergency was in place. The agreement was to remain in effect through Aug. 1, 2022, or one year from the date on which the conditions were met — whichever was later. The legal fight arose from a lawsuit filed when officials set a May 2022 execution date for Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. The Federal Defender Program, which represents Presnell, said the state had violated the agreement because the conditions hadn't all been met. Based on that argument, a Fulton County Superior Court judge halted the execution less than 24 hours before it was to take place, and the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in December 2022 that the agreement was a binding contract. People on death row who are not covered by the agreement have since become eligible for execution. One of them, Willie James Pye, was put to death in March 2024 .
Winnipeg Free Press
7 hours ago
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
COVID-related agreement continues to shield some on Georgia's death row from execution
ATLANTA (AP) — The fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is not available for newborn babies is shielding a group of prisoners on Georgia's death row from execution. Executions in Georgia were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state attorney general's office entered into an agreement with lawyers for people on death row to set the terms under which they could resume for a specific group of prisoners. At least one of those conditions, having to do with the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, has not been met, and seeking an execution date for a prisoner covered by the agreement would breach the agreement, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram ruled. The agreement includes three conditions that had to be met before executions could be set for the affected prisoners: the expiration of the state's COVID-19 judicial emergency, the resumption of normal visitation at state prisons and the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine 'to all members of the public.' Once those conditions were met, the state agreed to give three months' notice before pursuing an execution warrant for one of the prisoners covered by the agreement and six months' notice for the rest. The state has argued that the agreement should no longer apply, contending the conditions have been met. But defense attorneys say it's still valid because the vaccine isn't yet available to infants under 6 months old, and visitation at state prisons has not returned to normal. Ingram's ruling, issued Friday, addressed only the vaccination question. She plans to handle the visitation issue separately. Ingram wrote that the state's arguments 'all boil down to an attempt to rewrite the Agreement.' The state is '(u)nhappy with the language it drafted' and wants to change it so that the condition would be satisfied once vaccines are available to 'most members of the public.' 'But courts cannot rewrite contracts to relieve a party of their regrets,' she wrote. She ruled that the agreement is 'binding and enforceable,' that the vaccination condition hasn't been met and that seeking an execution warrant before the requirements have been met would breach the agreement. The state attorney general's office plans to appeal, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Ingram noted that the Food and Drug Administration has approved clinical trials for infants under 6 months old, and newborns receive other vaccines. That shows it is possible for the COVID-19 vaccine to ultimately be available for that age group, and the state should have foreseen that that could take years, she wrote. Experts for both sides had testified that it was probable that the COVID-19 vaccine would eventually become available to babies under the age of 6 months, Ingram wrote. That was before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed U.S. health secretary. Kennedy last week announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. A few days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, which had said those groups should get the shots, was revised to say the vaccinations 'may' be given to those groups. The agreement covers fewer than 10 of the 34 people currently on Georgia's death row. While Georgia stopped carrying out executions during the pandemic, death penalty cases continued to wind their way through the court system, and as people exhausted their appeals, they became eligible for execution. A committee of a judicial task force on COVID-19 in early 2021 instructed lawyers for people on death row and the state attorney general's office to come up with terms under which executions could safely resume. The two sides reached the agreement in April 2021. The agreement only applied to people on death row whose requests to have their appeals reheard were denied by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while the judicial emergency was in place. The agreement was to remain in effect through Aug. 1, 2022, or one year from the date on which the conditions were met — whichever was later. The legal fight arose from a lawsuit filed when officials set a May 2022 execution date for Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. The Federal Defender Program, which represents Presnell, said the state had violated the agreement because the conditions hadn't all been met. Based on that argument, a Fulton County Superior Court judge halted the execution less than 24 hours before it was to take place, and the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in December 2022 that the agreement was a binding contract. People on death row who are not covered by the agreement have since become eligible for execution. One of them, Willie James Pye, was put to death in March 2024.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pocket watch from Great Lakes' deadliest shipwreck returned to family
The Great Lakes have claimed thousands of lives and ships. The exact total will never be known, but historians estimate that 25–30,000 people have drowned on around 6,000 vessels since the 17th century. Despite this uncertainty, experts do know the single deadliest documented shipwreck: the Lady Elgin. On September 8, 1860, the sidewheel steamer crashed into another boat while sailing north of Chicago on Lake Michigan. Over 300 people died as a result, etching the tragedy into cultural memory and even inspiring at least one folk song. But while the Lady Elgin's deteriorating wreckage remains interred across a mile of Lake Michigan lakebed, one remarkably preserved artifact has made it back to the surface. After nearly 165 years, a solid gold pocket watch has been returned to the family of one of the steamer's victims—a man famous for his own reasons. Herbert Ingram was born on May 27, 1811, to a butcher's family in Lincolnshire, England. After starting his career as a printer's apprentice and journeyman, Ingram began noticing newspapers often sold more copies when they included illustrations. Before he could do anything about that, however, he needed money. As luck would have it, Ingram started to amass a small fortune in 1842 thanks to his newly patented 'Parr's Life Pills.' Ingram claimed his supplements were based on a recipe created by the legendary Thomas Parr, a man who supposedly lived to the age of 152. Parr's Life Pills offered no actual medical benefits, but the proceeds did help finance an endeavor with real results. Less than a year after his foray into pharmaceuticals, Ingram launched The Illustrated London News. Unlike its competitors, the London News featured prominent illustrations and images in every weekly issue. Its success paved the way for imitators, and Ingram is now regarded as the father of pictorial journalism. By 1860, Ingram wasn't just a prominent businessman, but a member of the British Parliament. Unfortunately, none of that exactly matters to the Great Lakes. While traveling the US to obtain new material for The Illustrated London News, Ingram and one of his sons were among the hundreds of Lady Elgin passengers to drown in the shipwreck. It would take another 129 years before maritime archeologists rediscovered the wreck of the Lady Elgin. Experts traveled to the location to document the ship's remains, including Holland-based historian Valerie Van Heest in 1992. But unbeknownst to her, another group of divers had also recently visited the Lady Elgin—and they returned to land with a keepsake. 'The location had leaked, and a trio of divers… came upon a pocket watch. A gold pocket watch, an extraordinary discovery,' Van Heest told the local Michigan news outlet Fox 17. For over 30 years, the artifact remained hidden away in storage. After working to restore it, the watch's finders reached out to Van Heest to help identify its owner. Luckily, the timepiece offered a solid lead—the initials 'H.I.' engraved on its watch fob. Additional research indicated Herbert Ingram's descendents still lived in England. After reaching out to them and confirming the watch's provenance, Van Heest learned his hometown's museum was coincidentally in the process of building an exhibit dedicated to him. 'They didn't have any physical artifacts, and here I was offering not only an artifact, but Herbert Ingram's personal watch,' Van Heest explained to Fox 17. 'It was an extraordinary, serendipitous occurrence.' With the watch in the care of museum curators in Ingram's hometown of Boston, Lincolnshire, England, both his family and the public can now visit a tangible relic representing both historical triumphs and tragedies. 'Returning this watch is the right thing to do,' said Van Heest. 'This is reminding people that shipwrecks affected people, affected families, and this shows that 165 years later, we care. People care about the individuals lost.'
