Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a motion with the state Court of Criminal Appeals to postpone Richard Glossip’s May 18 execution to August
(Update: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Supreme Court ended a standoff over the execution of Aaron Gunches on Wednesday, after this story was
“It is not for nothing that some critics refer to it as the ‘criminal legal system.’ The word ‘justice’ must be earned, and too often,
“I was haunted by Russ before I even knew him. I tried to wrap my mind around what it was like to sit across from
In Texas, corrections officials executed two men this month, Gary Green and Arthur Brown, Jr. Texas has killed five men this year. With last week’s
A state district judge withdrew the April 5 execution warrant for Andre Thomas earlier this month to give Thomas’s lawyers time to prepare for a
Declaring that he wants to “literally transform this place,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that San Quentin State Prison will convert from a
Bucking a trend of decreasing support for the death penalty in the United States, Republican-dominated legislatures in South Carolina and Florida are attempting to expand
Florida corrections officials killed Donald Dillbeck last Thursday. They did so despite the extensive evidence of his horrific sexual and physical abuse as a child,
For the third time since 2019, the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill barring the death penalty for people with severe mental illness. The bill now goes to the state senate, where two similar bills have been defeated. “I believe that the third time is the charm,” the Texas Tribune quoted the bill’s sponsor, Dallas Democratic Rep. Toni Rose, as saying on the House floor during debate. HB 727
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a motion with the state Court of Criminal Appeals to postpone Richard Glossip’s May 18 execution to August 2024, the Oklahoman reports. This is the second time this year and the ninth time since Glossip was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of Barry Van Treese that his execution has been postponed. According to the Oklahoman, Drummond stated that the delay
(Update: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Supreme Court ended a standoff over the execution of Aaron Gunches on Wednesday, after this story was posted. The Court issued an order stating that its role, according to a state statute, is to “issue a warrant of execution that authorizes the director of the state department of corrections to carry out the execution.” Since it authorizes, but doesn’t mandate, Gov. Hobbs
“It is not for nothing that some critics refer to it as the ‘criminal legal system.’ The word ‘justice’ must be earned, and too often, our system falls short,” the LA Times Editorial Board wrote earlier this month. The board highlighted four wrongful conviction cases as examples of how the system falls short, including Maurice Hastings’, who was imprisoned for 38 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Hastings, who
“I was haunted by Russ before I even knew him. I tried to wrap my mind around what it was like to sit across from a human being and communicate and interact with them knowing that in a few hours, they’re going to have 2200 volts of electricity shot through them,” says Todd Peppers. “Russ” is the Reverend Russ Ford, the former head chaplain on Virginia’s death row. (Virginia abolished
In Texas, corrections officials executed two men this month, Gary Green and Arthur Brown, Jr. Texas has killed five men this year. With last week’s withdrawal of the March 30 death warrant for Anibal Canales, Jr., its last execution scheduled for this year is set for April 26, when the state plan to kill Ivan Cantu. Brown was sentenced to death for killing four people in Houston in 1992. He
A state district judge withdrew the April 5 execution warrant for Andre Thomas earlier this month to give Thomas’s lawyers time to prepare for a hearing to determine his mental competency. Thomas’s lawyer, Maurie Levin, immediately issued a statement hailing the judge’s order. “The Court’s order gives Mr. Thomas the time necessary to make the threshold showing that his lifelong, profound mental illness, characterized by fixed auditory and visual hallucinations,
Declaring that he wants to “literally transform this place,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that San Quentin State Prison will convert from a maximum-security prison to a “one-of-a-kind facility focused on improving public safety through rehabilitation and education.” In a news conference inside the prison, Newsom said it will be renamed the “San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.” Under “the direction of an advisory group composed of state and world-renowned
Bucking a trend of decreasing support for the death penalty in the United States, Republican-dominated legislatures in South Carolina and Florida are attempting to expand their states’ use of capital punishment. In South Carolina, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would make women who have an abortion subject to the death penalty. The “South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023” removes all exceptions, including rape, the health of the
