Ohio executed its first inmate in three-and-a-half years late last month, using a new three-drug protocol, including midazolam, rocuronium bromide, and potassium chloride. Forty-five-year-old Ronald
“There is no justification for executing the insane, and no reasoned support for it, as only a glance at the brief of amici—filed by able
In Texas, TaiChin Preyor was executed late last month, after his appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court. Preyor, who was convicted of the
“To spend 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and emerge with his humanity and dignity intact … to spend 20 years, day in and day out, fighting for his freedom, it was just so extraordinary. It was totally compelling.”
“The execution of a man suffering from severe mental illness is an act of particular barbarism — especially if his condition may have been misdiagnosed
“We will now reverse the district court’s denial of appointed counsel and expert funding . . . vacate its factual findings relating to Panetti’s competency,
The U.S. Supreme Court sent a condemned Alabama inmate’s case back to a lower court late last month because he did not have access to
After a three-and-a-half-year hiatus, Ohio is again free to tinker with the machinery of death. Ohio has not executed anyone since January 2014, when Dennis
In Florida, the Palm Beach Post reports that Gov. Rick Scott has scheduled the first execution date for an inmate since the U.S. Supreme Court’s January
In her op-ed, “I will spend my life fighting against the death penalty and I’m proud to have Newsom with me,” in the Orange County Register, DPF Board Member Beth Webb, whose sister was killed and mother wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in Orange County history, writes of how her “life was forever altered that day.” She explains how the anguish of her loss was exacerbated by the district attorney’s
“Inchoate rage” is what compelled writer, director, producer Edward Zwick to co-produce and direct “Trial by Fire,” a feature film about the conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas in 2004. What sparked his rage was a 16,000-word New Yorker article “Trial by Fire,” in which David Grann painstakingly and movingly recounted Willingham’s case. It started with the fire that consumed Willingham’s ramshackle house within minutes, killing his three
Norman Lear, the legendary writer and producer known for such sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “One Day at a Time,” and “The Jeffersons,” is also a passionate social and criminal justice advocate who founded the People for the American Way. This lifelong commitment to progressive causes is why he will be presented with the 2019 Award for Social Justice in Action by the Leonard I. Beerman Foundation for Peace
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 says “charges more people with felonies than some DAs in counties twice Monroe County’s size,” as an example of a small-county prosecutor who, despite her enthusiasm for harsh sentencing and questionable tactics, wins reelection because reform-minded opponents don’t receive the funding or the support progressive
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 this week. The report found that the world’s top five executing countries were China (in the 1000s), Iran (at least 253), Saudi Arabia (149), Viet Nam (at least 85, releasing its total for the first time) and Iraq (at least 52). The U.S. was in
“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 Supreme Court,” was the Atlantic‘s headline. And the Baltimore Sun titled its editorial, “On death penalty, Supreme Court veering badly off course.” The opinion eliciting so much shock and outrage was last week’s 5-4 decision in Bucklew v. Precythe. Writing for the majority, Justice Neil
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 impose a moratorium on executions in his state, effective immediately, he kept both promises, and in so doing, cemented his legacy as a leader unafraid of making big decisions that will resonate for years to come. What he did last month took great courage, and the
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. He also dismantled the state’s death chamber, and withdrew its lethal injection protocol. Noting the National Academy of Sciences “conservative” estimate that four percent of the people on death rows around the country were wrongfully convicted, Newsom acknowledged that of the 737 condemned men and
“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 letter https://deathpenalty.org/?p=4073 in this issue. And a poll from the Public Policy Institute of California conducted just two weeks after Newsom’s announcement, bears this out. “A record high 62 percent of adults” in California, 58 percent of whom are likely voters, chose life in prison
