The California Supreme Court’s decision last month to uphold Proposition 66, possibly green-lighting the resumption of executions in the state, was not surprising, but it
In two weeks, Scott Dekraai, who confessed to killing eight people and wounding another in October 2011, in the worst mass killing in Orange County
Mark James Asay was executed in Florida late last month, the first execution in the state since January 2016, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens issued a stay of execution late last month for Marcellus Williams based on new DNA evidence. The stay was issued hours
In Ohio, 45-year-old Gary Otte is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday for two murders in 1992. Otte’s lawyers are challenging both the state’s lethal
John T. Thorngren is 76 years old, and has had three heart attacks and two open heart surgeries. But he had one last item on
In a guest editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Stephen Cooper calls on Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who late last month stayed the execution of
The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 66, which will radically change the state’s current death penalty law, and will most likely open the door
A Kentucky Circuit Judge ruled last week that it is unconstitutional to sentence to death a defendant who is under the age of 21. He
In Texas, 38-year-old Robert Pruett was executed last night, convicted of murdering a prison guard in 1999. He had been in prison since he was 15 years old, sentenced to 99 years in prison simply for being with his father when his father stabbed a neighbor to death. That conviction was the result of the state’s “law of parties” rule, which allows a person to be charged with murder, even
In “Fighting an Oncoming Train,” in the September 29th issue of “Slate,” Susannah Sheffer, a clinical mental health counselor and researcher, reveals what she learned after interviewing 20 death penalty attorneys who had each lost at least one client, about the emotional toll the work exacts on them. “The task is at once urgent and protracted—months or even years of low-grade anxiety punctuated by sudden crises and intense deadlines—so that
When Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals sentenced the man who killed her sister, wounded her mother, and killed seven others in the worst mass shooting in the county’s history to life in prison without parole last month, Bethany Webb said she at first “didn’t feel anything. I was feeling pretty beat up. I couldn’t find what I was looking for.” But after getting a good night’s sleep, better
John Thompson died early this month of a heart attack at the age of 55. He had spent 14 years on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a crime he didn’t commit, an additional four years in prison for an armed robbery he didn’t commit, and after finally being acquitted, spent the last 14 years helping others who had been wrongly accused and imprisoned. Thompson was
October 2 was the fourth annual International Wrongful Conviction Day. Around the world, exonerees, attorneys, and activists spoke out about wrongful convictions, their impact on the innocent, and the causes that lead to people being sent to prison for crimes they did not commit. Here in California, Death Penalty Focus worked with the California Innocence Project and the Loyola Project for the Innocent to raise awareness about the issue. The
Death Penalty Focus is partnering with CharityBuzz to bring you two new charity auctions–your chance to meet Paula Poundstone and Elliott Gould, all while supporting our work. Meet Paula Poundstone & Receive 4 Guest List Tickets to a Show of Your Choice 25 years ago Paula Poundstone climbed on a Greyhound bus and traveled across the country — stopping in at open mic nights at comedy clubs as she went. A high
October 10 is the 15th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty. This year we are teaming up with All Saints Church in Pasadena, California, for an evening discussion on the harms the death penalty inflicts exonerees, victims families, and our society at large. All Saints will be hosting a free panel discussion with DPF President Mike Farrell, California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Member Bethany Webb,
Tomorrow evening, Keith Tharpe is scheduled to be executed in Georgia for the murder of his sister-in-law 27 years ago. If it happens, this will be Georgia’s second execution this year, after a record-setting nine executions last year. But what makes Tharpe’s case different is that one of the (white) jurors in his trial referred to the defendant with a racial slur, and told Tharpe’s lawyers that there were “two
The man responsible for the worst mass killing in Orange County history was formally sentenced to life in prison without parole today. Scott Dekraai, who killed eight people, and shot a ninth person in October 2011, was sentenced to eight terms of life in prison without parole, with an additional 232 years to life for attempted murder and other charges. The Orange County Register reports that Superior Court Judge Thomas