Missouri killed Kevin Johnson on Tuesday evening. He was sentenced to death for killing Kirkwood police officer Sgt. William McEntee in 2005, a crime he
A judge’s order late last month means a man on Tennessee’s death row, who slit his wrists before severing his penis in early October, will
In one week, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied two petitions filed by Richard Glossip for an evidentiary hearing to consider new evidence of
In a bizarrely-worded statement, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey called for a temporary halt to executions last week. She announced the decision after corrections officials botched
For the second time in two months, Alabama botched an execution. Corrections officials ended their attempt to kill Kenneth Smith on November 17 after trying
The problems with Alabama’s July execution of Joe Nathan James, Jr., during which it took the execution team three hours to kill him because of
The U.S. Supreme Court shot down an attempt by three California district attorneys to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s lethal
When the jury in the death penalty trial of Nikolas Cruz, who pled guilty to killing 17 students and teachers and wounding 17 others at
In California, a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice describes how the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department
The State of Texas plans to execute Andre Thomas on April 5. Throughout his life, Thomas sought treatment for his severe mental illness symptoms, including up to two days before the murders of his estranged wife, Laura Boren, his four-year-old son, and her one-year-old daughter in Sherman, Texas, in 2004. No one responded to his increasingly desperate pleas for help, and the jury that sentenced him to death never heard
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced earlier this month that he will not sign any execution warrants while he is in office; he will continue the moratorium on executions that former Gov. Tom Wolf declared in 2015 and called on the state General Assembly to abolish the death penalty. Shapiro made the announcement at West Philadelphia’s Mosaic Community Church because, he said, six months ago, before he was elected, it was
A poll commissioned by Oklahoma Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, released last week, shows that 78% of Oklahoma voters support a moratorium on the death penalty. The poll, conducted last month, also found that replacing capital punishment with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is supported by 51% of those surveyed, “strong enough to be the starting point for a campaign,” according to Cole Hargrave Snodgrass
In an effort to “remedy cases where there have been miscarriages of justice,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced earlier this month that he is creating a Post-Conviction Justice Unit — a first for California — to investigate past criminal convictions. The unit will work with local district attorneys to review and investigate cases to “resolve wrongful or improper criminal convictions, including matters where there may be evidence of significant
On Thursday, February 23, 2023, DPF presented a discussion about “Lethal Injection Lies,” the myth that there is a painless, humane way to kill a human being. Death Penalty Chair Mike Farrell moderated the discussion with three lethal injection experts, all of whom have unique experiences with the death penalty and can eloquently attest to the barbarity of the execution process in the United States. References: 1) Dr. Hansten’s Lethal Injection
The news media may be permitted to visit and interview individuals imprisoned in California prisons and jails for the first time since the mid-1990s, under a bill introduced by state Sen. Nancy Skinner. “The news media plays a vital role in providing information to the public and policymakers about how our government operates. California used to allow the news media much greater access to state prisons, enabling us to learn
A group of faith leaders is asking Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to appoint an independent review board to investigate the state’s execution protocol, AL.com reports. “Our beliefs are varied and our communities diverse, but we all agree that the unnecessary pain and suffering at the hands of the state where we live and worship demands our response,” the interfaith group of about 170 leaders wrote in a letter hand-delivered to
Four men sentenced to death in Texas have filed a class-action lawsuit against the state corrections department alleging that subjecting the 185 men on death row to “mandatory and indefinite solitary confinement [is] a psychologically and physically damaging practice that violates the[ir] federal and state constitutional rights.” Mark Robertson, George Curry, Tony Egbuna Ford, and Rickey Cummings filed the lawsuit against Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Executive Director Bryan Collier,
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals granted a motion filed by newly-elected Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond to slow down the state’s frenzied plan to execute seven men in seven months between February 16 and August 3, 2023. The new execution dates are scheduled for every 60 days between May 18 and June 6, 2024. Richard Glossip, whose February 16 date has been changed to May 18, his ninth execution
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