In brief: April 2019
April 12, 2019
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
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The U.S. Supreme Court’s cruel and unusual opinion
April 12, 2019
“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
Six former governors tell CA Gov. Newsom “he isn’t alone”
April 12, 2019
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
“The moratorium is a seminal moment for our effort and for our country.”
April 12, 2019
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.
Majority of Californians favor life in prison over death penalty according to new polls
April 12, 2019
“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 CA Supreme Court justices weigh in on the death penalty
April 12, 2019
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,
SCOTUS hears oral argument on racist jury selection
April 12, 2019
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,
SCOTUS to consider anti-gay bias case
April 12, 2019
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
SCOTUS rules in favor of Alabama man suffering from dementia
March 8, 2019
If Alabama were to go ahead with its plan to execute 68-year-old Vernon Madison, he wouldn’t know why. Because of several strokes over the past
Racism in the Keith Tharpe case
March 8, 2019
The headlines say it all. “The Stench of Prejudice in Keith Tharpe’s Death Sentence,” in the New York Times. “A juror used the N-word. Did
Two California death row prisoners released
March 8, 2019
In the space of one week last month, two men walked out of prison, each of whom had spent decades on death row. Freddie Lee
CA Gov. Newsom orders additional DNA testing in Cooper case
March 8, 2019
“Yay Gavin Newsom. I’m very thankful to him for having the courage, the guts, to stand up and say before California murders anyone on my
Two criminal Justice Reform Bills on Hold in CA Legislature
September 7, 2021
Two bills that would go a long way toward reforming California’s seriously flawed criminal justice systems are on hold until January.
CA Supreme Court upholds flawed death penalty system
September 7, 2021
When the California Supreme Court, late last month, upheld a state law that does not require a unanimous jury vote when sentencing a defendant to death, it not only disappointed many criminal justice advocates it surprised them as well.
California Supreme Court Upholds Flawed Death Sentencing System
August 27, 2021
“We are disappointed the Court didn’t take this step to address one of the many serious flaws in California’s capital punishment system,” Death Penalty Focus Board Chair Sarah Sanger stated. “The Court could have taken a big step toward confronting a deeply biased death penalty system.”
Read DPF’s statement here regarding the disappointing decision announced by the CA Supreme Court today.
DPF welcomes an Interim Executive Director
August 11, 2021
“After the execution of 13 federal prisoners by the Trump administration last year, we knew we had to redouble our efforts to abolish the death
While we’re on the subject . . .
August 9, 2021
In “The Trump Executions,” in a University of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper, Lee Kovarsky analyzes the Trump Administration’s killing spree from July 2020 to January
In Brief: August 2021
August 9, 2021
In California, a 22-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a fatal shooting at a San Diego synagogue in April 2019 will be sentenced to life
Pew Poll shows decline in support for the death penalty
August 9, 2021
Support for the death penalty declined to 60% from 2020 when 65% were in favor, although a majority of Americans still support capital punishment “despite
A call for international guidelines in interrogations and investigations
August 9, 2021
“Everyone has a breaking point. Anyone can be convinced to confess, to lie. And it’s not only that they can but they do it at
California’s judicial “Golden Rule”
August 9, 2021
It’s called the Golden Rule argument because it’s used by prosecutors to put jurors in the shoes of the victim. And according to Pepperdine Caruso
