In “Why We Can’t Let Rural Prosecutors Fly Under the Radar” in Filter, Rory Fleming uses Monroe County (Rochester, NY) District Attorney Sandra Doorley, who he
Global executions fell by almost 31 percent last year, the lowest figure in at least a decade, according to Amnesty International’s annual report, also released
“Gorsuch just handed down the most bloodthirsty and cruel death penalty opinion of the modern era” read the headline in ThinkProgress. “Unusual Cruelty at the
When Gavin Newsom assumed office just four months ago, he promised Californians his administration would “be bold” and would “aim high.” With his decision to
On March 13, California Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on the death penalty, ensuring there would be no executions while he is in office.
“Governor Gavin Newsom’s heroic act of declaring a moratorium on executions in our state has inspired us all,” DPF President Mike Farrell said in his
Two weeks after Gov. Newsom issued an Executive Order imposing a moratorium, two California Supreme Court justices issued their own critique of the death penalty system,
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a jury selection bias case last month in which Mississippi death row prisoner Curtis Flowers, an African-American,
On Thursday, the Supreme Court considered whether to take the case of a South Dakota death row prisoner who maintains he was sentenced to death
The Rev. Caroll Pickett, who, as prison chaplain on Texas’s death row, witnessed 95 executions, died earlier this month. He was 88. He told the New York Times in 2017, “People don’t realize that you never get over it, unless you’re just cold and calculated. I’ll never forget it. Not a day goes by. Not a day goes by. And I don’t expect it to. If it does, then I
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a temporary reprieve for Oscar Smith on Thursday, WKRN.com reports. “Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith will not move forward tonight. I am granting a temporary reprieve while we address Tennessee Department of Correction protocol,” Lee said. The statement was released just hours before Smith was scheduled to be killed and after he ate his last
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 been overturned three times, before a three-judge panel for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals restored his death sentence, KHQA reports. Supporters of Deck, including the Missouri ACLU, Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and two state legislators, one Democrat and one Republican, have
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 daughter died after a fall down the stairs. Last week, seven Texas legislators visited Lucio on death row to pray with her and assure her they were doing what they could to stop her execution, AP reports. State Rep. Joe Moody told AP that while
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 wounding 17 others inside Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in February 2018. The jury will decide whether to sentence Cruz, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, to life in prison without the possibility of parole or to death. A death verdict will
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 the accounts from those who were instrumental in getting Virginia’s and France’s death penalties abolished gave us renewed energy to continue our efforts to see it repealed not just here in California, but in all the remaining death penalty states in the country and around
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 face of overwhelming evidence of innocence. Focusing on cases including that of Joseph Amrine, exonerated in Missouri, Lamar Johnson and his 27-year fight to overturn his wrongful conviction, and Melissa Lucio, facing execution in Texas next month for a crime she didn’t commit, Oliver offers
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 disabilities preventing the state from executing those convicted of capital murder. In Tennessee, officials announced plans to execute five people this year, with the first killing scheduled for next month, the Tennessean reports. Seventy-one-year-old Oscar Franklin Smith’s execution has been set for April 21. He
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 ways, it was an important year in the ever-growing movement to abolish the death penalty, not just here in the U.S. but also around the world. And it’s why our Death Penalty Focus 30th (Virtual) Awards Event honored the people and organizations whose tireless efforts
