
In brief: March 2022
In Kentucky, a bill prohibiting the execution of people with serious mental illness passed last week. HB 269 adds mental illness to the list of
In Kentucky, a bill prohibiting the execution of people with serious mental illness passed last week. HB 269 adds mental illness to the list of
Last week, lawyers for Melissa Lucio submitted a clemency application to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole. And a
Alabama executed Matthew Reeves last night despite the fact he had an intellectual disability. His execution was the second state killing yesterday after Oklahoma executed
In her Nevada Independent op-ed, “Nevada is preparing to execute a man with significant organic brain damage,” Dr. Natalie Novick Brown, a licensed clinical psychologist who evaluated
In any case charged from this day forward, LADA will not seek the death penalty. In any case currently charged with special circumstances where the
Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a brief in support of the appeal of Don’te McDaniel, a man on death row convicted of murder. Newsom argued in
2020 demonstrates the random callous nature of the death penalty. Until July 7,2020, for 17 years, the federal government did not execute a single federal
Former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, a progressive prosecutor, has officially beat incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. This is a significant
Source: The Atlantic “Strapped to a gurney, two body lengths from where I sat behind thick glass and a curtain, Ricky Ray Rector groaned each
“Justice Thurgood Marshall was correct in 1972 when he predicted that if people were better informed about the death penalty, they would reject it. That
In his book, book, Six Amendments, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens called for revising six of the amendments to the Constitution, including the
Death Penalty Focus has filed an amicus letter in support of a motion filed last month by death penalty lawyer and DPF board member Robert
In Missouri, Carman Deck is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for the 1996 killings of James and Zelma Long. Deck’s 1998 death sentence had
In less than three weeks, Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed by Texas for the killing of her two-year-old daughter, despite overwhelming evidence her
Jury selection for the penalty phase of the trial for Nikolas Cruz began this week. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to killing 17 people and
Our Annual Awards Event last Thursday was a powerful reminder of how far we’ve come since we held our first event 30 years ago. And
On “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Oliver explains just how overwhelmingly difficult it is to be exonerated for a wrongful conviction even in the
In Kentucky, a bill prohibiting the execution of people with serious mental illness passed last week. HB 269 adds mental illness to the list of
Death Penalty Focus Presents: 30th Awards Event (Virtual) Originally Aired: March 24, 2022 Watch On-Demand Tribute Journal Donate About While 2021 was difficult in many
Last week, lawyers for Melissa Lucio submitted a clemency application to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole. And a
South Carolina plans to execute its prisoners by firing squad, the first time a state has used this method since 2010 when Utah killed Ronnie