ACLU’s report on Los Angeles DA Jackie Lacey’s shameful death penalty record
July 11, 2019
“In Los Angeles County, which is known as a bastion of progressivism, we have a system that is churning out more death sentences than any
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Mississippi DA says Flowers will be tried again
July 11, 2019
Three weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 2010 conviction of Curtis Flowers, who has been tried six times for a 1996 quadruple murder
1,500 executions; 166 exonerations
July 11, 2019
Two milestones were reached in June, starkly illustrating how broken the death penalty in the United States is. In North Carolina, prosecutors formally dismissed all
In brief: July 2019
July 11, 2019
New Mexico closed its death row late last month. The last two condemned prisoners, Timothy Allen and Robert Fry, had their sentences vacated by the
While we’re on the subject . . .
July 11, 2019
In his chapter, “Capital Punishment,” in the American Bar Association’s The State of Criminal Justice 2019, Ronald J. Tabak reviews significant developments through the past
“It’s not over”
June 14, 2019
Early last month, a small group of California district attorneys organized what it called a “Victims of Murder Justice Tour” in a few cities around
Study: The death penalty means higher taxes, fewer government services
June 14, 2019
“I have no reason to believe government officials are deliberately hiding the way they pay for capital trials, but I do believe taxpayers in death
New Hampshire repeals its death penalty
June 14, 2019
Twenty-one years after New Hampshire legislator Renny Cushing introduced his first bill to repeal the death penalty, he was finally successful last month when the
Four states, five executions
June 14, 2019
The machinery of death was in high gear in the South in May. Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida each killed a man, and Alabama executed two.
Florida SA Aramis Ayala won’t run for re-election
June 14, 2019
Stating that, “After the Florida Supreme Court’s decision on the death penalty, it became abundantly clear to me that the death penalty law in the
We’re building on the momentum
June 14, 2019
“I can’t think of a more exciting time to be part of the movement to abolish the death penalty,” new DPF Executive Director Nancy Haydt
In brief: June 2019
June 14, 2019
In Virginia, the Washington Post reports that progressive challengers defeated longtime incumbent prosecutors in Fairfax and Arlington counties on Tuesday. “The shift marks a stunning change:
South Carolina plans to execute by firing squad
March 22, 2022
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
SCOTUS reinstates death penalty for Tsarnaev
March 15, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month reimposed the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who set off one of the bombs at the 2013 Boston
New Hampshire’s Abolition Architect Robert “Renny” Cushing Dies
March 8, 2022
The criminal justice community has lost a giant and Death Penalty Focus has lost a dear friend with Robert “Renny” Cushing’s passing. Cushing died Monday
57 prosecutors pledge to work to eliminate the death penalty
March 8, 2022
Fifty-seven elected prosecutors from around the country, holding “varied opinions surrounding the death penalty,” issued a joint statement last month, declaring that they have arrived
The death penalty doesn’t make police or public any safer, DPIC reports
March 1, 2022
Legislators anxious to reinstate the death penalty in their states hope their trump card will be police and public safety issues. But the facts stand
While we’re on the subject . . .
February 21, 2022
CBS News’ “48 Hours” reporter Erin Moriarty updates the Kevin Cooper case in an interview and article, noting that “It’s very difficult to believe that
50 Years Ago, California Abolished the Death Penalty
February 18, 2022
Fifty years ago this month, on February 18, 1972, California abolished the death penalty. But it didn’t stay abolished. The lesson for us is that
The Texas case of Melissa Lucio is a terrible miscarriage of justice
February 16, 2022
Texas has executed at least five men who were very likely innocent, according to a recent report by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death
California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Close Death Row
February 11, 2022
California’s death row, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, will be dismantled. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that a two-year-old pilot program will be
