Three states, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama, have recently given the go-ahead to execute prisoners using nitrogen gas, a new, untested, untried method of killing women
Just how old, how sick, or how mentally ill does a death row prisoner have to be for the government to opt not to execute
Stating that there’s “a major gap in resources for lawyers who defend capital cases,” the American Bar Association is launching The Capital Clemency Resource Initiative,
A new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University finds that American voters choose life without parole over the death penalty 51-37 percent, the first time a
In Georgia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit declined to hear an appeal by Keith Tharpe that he was sentenced to death
A collection of the writings of the late Rabbi Leonard Beerman, edited by David N.. Myers, can be found in The Eternal Dissident: Rabbi Leonard
One year ago, we wrote about the case of Walter Ogrod, a man whom many believe was wrongfully convicted of killing four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn
It’s no secret that there are some very talented men and women on death rows around the country. We’ve published some of their works here
Saying there were “fundamental flaws” in his sentencing, Ohio Gov. John Kasich commuted Raymond Tibbetts’ death sentence to life without parole late last month. The governor was referring to the fact that jurors never heard about Tibbetts’ horrific childhood during his trial for the 1997 murders of his 42-year-old wife, Judith Crawford, and landlord, 67-year-old Fred Hicks. Tibbetts was sentenced to death for the murder of Hicks, and life without
In St. Louis, six civil rights organizations filed an amicii brief with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals last week on behalf of Charles Rhines arguing that the homophobia openly displayed by his South Dakota jury in 1993 was proof that he was sentenced to death because he is gay. Courthouse News reports that organizations including the ACLU, Lambda Legal, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for
In his book, Making Habeas Work: A Legal History, Eric Freedman analyzes how essential the writ of habeas corpus is to a free society, going back to this country’s earliest cases, “and explores the lessons this history holds for some of today’s most pressing problems including terrorism, the Guantanamo Bay detentions, immigration, Brexit, and domestic violence.” In the Texas Tribune, Jolie McCullough examines the Texas clemency process in the wake of last
On Sunday, September 23, in Los Angeles, Death Penalty Focus will honor the Reverend James Lawson, a civil rights icon whom Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called “The leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” DFP will present Rev. Lawson with its Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong dedication to civil rights, criminal and social justice, and the abolition of the death penalty. Rev. Lawson helped coordinate the Freedom
From the team behind the award-winning One For Ten comes a feature documentary to lift the lid on the human cost of the death penalty in the United States. One of America’s most divisive issue – capital punishment – is running into some trouble. With drug supplies for lethal injections drying up and public support at an all-time-low, the struggle to keep executing is taking its toll. The Penalty follows
Pope Francis today, in what could be a decisive turning point for the future of the death penalty in not just the United States, but in many of the 53 countries where it is still in place, declared that it is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and said the church will work for its “abolition worldwide.” The Pope’s statement is now
Britain Home Secretary Sajid Javid is being accused of taking “the power of life and death into his own hands” over his plan, made in secret, to allow the United States to bring to trial and potentially sentence to death two terrorism suspects who were British citizens. The Guardian reports that Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are Islamic State members who authorities believe committed war crimes of kidnap and torture,
A state commission appointed to study Pennsylvania’s death penalty system released its report late last month, almost five years after its original deadline. The 280-page report was the result of a seven-year effort by the Joint State Government Commission, which was composed of four senators and an advisory committee of prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and at least one victim’s family member. Among the findings: As in most, if not