DPIC In its new report, “Fool’s Gold: How the Federal Death Penalty Has Perpetuated Racially Discriminatory Practices Throughout History,” the Death Penalty Information Center makes
In Alabama, corrections officials executed Carey Grayson last week by nitrogen hypoxia, al.com reports. The 50-year-old Grayson was convicted of the killing of 37-year-old Vicki
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Racial Justice Act into law in 2020, its author, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, hailed it as “an historic foundational
A Sacramento jury deadlocked 11-1 earlier this month on whether to sentence Adel Ramos, who pleaded guilty to killing Sacramento police Officer Tara O’Sullivan in
Support for the death penalty in the U.S. is at its lowest level — 53% — since the early 1970s, Gallup reported this week. The
In his paper, “No Need to Wait: Congress has the Power Under Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment to Abolish the Death Penalty in the
In Florida, a jury recommended a life without parole sentence for Corey Binderim for the murder of 65-year-old Susan Mauldin in a 7-5 vote, one
When Gov. John Carney signed Delaware House Bill 70 late last month, he officially repealed Delaware’s death penalty, the final act in a process that
Eight states have killed 20 people so far this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/outcomes-of-death-warrants-in-2024 .* Seven more people are scheduled to
The State of Florida killed Louis Gaskin on Wednesday. The state has now killed more than 100 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1972. Gaskin had severe mental illness. He was born to a teenage mother addicted to drugs. Because of her inability to care for him, he was moved between various family members, subject to abuse and neglect, and never lived in a stable environment. He dressed
“After thorough and serious deliberation, I have concluded that I cannot stand behind the murder conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced Thursday. And he asked the state Court of Criminal Appeals “to vacate Glossip’s conviction and that the case be remanded to the district court.” Drummond filed the motion three days after he received a report from the special counsel he appointed in
For the third time since 2019, the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill barring the death penalty for people with severe mental illness. The bill now goes to the state senate, where two similar bills have been defeated. “I believe that the third time is the charm,” the Texas Tribune quoted the bill’s sponsor, Dallas Democratic Rep. Toni Rose, as saying on the House floor during debate. HB 727
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a motion with the state Court of Criminal Appeals to postpone Richard Glossip’s May 18 execution to August 2024, the Oklahoman reports. This is the second time this year and the ninth time since Glossip was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of Barry Van Treese that his execution has been postponed. According to the Oklahoman, Drummond stated that the delay
(Update: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Supreme Court ended a standoff over the execution of Aaron Gunches on Wednesday, after this story was posted. The Court issued an order stating that its role, according to a state statute, is to “issue a warrant of execution that authorizes the director of the state department of corrections to carry out the execution.” Since it authorizes, but doesn’t mandate, Gov. Hobbs
“It is not for nothing that some critics refer to it as the ‘criminal legal system.’ The word ‘justice’ must be earned, and too often, our system falls short,” the LA Times Editorial Board wrote earlier this month. The board highlighted four wrongful conviction cases as examples of how the system falls short, including Maurice Hastings’, who was imprisoned for 38 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Hastings, who
“I was haunted by Russ before I even knew him. I tried to wrap my mind around what it was like to sit across from a human being and communicate and interact with them knowing that in a few hours, they’re going to have 2200 volts of electricity shot through them,” says Todd Peppers. “Russ” is the Reverend Russ Ford, the former head chaplain on Virginia’s death row. (Virginia abolished
In Texas, corrections officials executed two men this month, Gary Green and Arthur Brown, Jr. Texas has killed five men this year. With last week’s withdrawal of the March 30 death warrant for Anibal Canales, Jr., its last execution scheduled for this year is set for April 26, when the state plan to kill Ivan Cantu. Brown was sentenced to death for killing four people in Houston in 1992. He
A state district judge withdrew the April 5 execution warrant for Andre Thomas earlier this month to give Thomas’s lawyers time to prepare for a hearing to determine his mental competency. Thomas’s lawyer, Maurie Levin, immediately issued a statement hailing the judge’s order. “The Court’s order gives Mr. Thomas the time necessary to make the threshold showing that his lifelong, profound mental illness, characterized by fixed auditory and visual hallucinations,