Not even the unprecedented presence of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who attended the hearing to advocate for clemency for Richard Glossip, was enough to
SB 94, which would allow judges to review death penalty and life-without-parole sentences for people who have been imprisoned for at least 20 years, passed
In his guest essay, “San Quentin Could Be the Future of Prisons in America,” in the New York Times, Bill Keller writes that “there are
“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
Former Death Penalty Focus board member Donald Spoto died earlier this month. He was 81. His death from a brain hemorrhage was announced by his
Three months after a series of botched executions caused Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to call for a pause in state killing to allow time for a “top-to-bottom review,” of the state’s broken execution protocol, the state is ready to try again. In a letter to state Attorney General Steve Marshall last Friday, Ivey said it “is time to resume our duty of carrying out lawful death sentences,” AL.com reports. According
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, the brain damage he suffered from his mother’s alcohol abuse during her pregnancy, and his serious mental illness. They did so despite the pleas of 29 evangelical Christian leaders, and hundreds of people around the country who signed petitions, called the governor, and marched in
Former Death Penalty Focus board member Donald Spoto died earlier this month. He was 81. His death from a brain hemorrhage was announced by his husband, Danish artist, and school administrator Ole Flemming Larsen. The couple lived near Copenhagen in Denmark. A prolific writer, whose dozens of books included biographies of prominent men and women from the fields of politics, show business, and religion, he was as complex and brilliant
“Justice Department standards on federal death penalty called confusing,” was the headline in a recent Washington Post article. The paper interviewed federal defense lawyers and legislators about President Biden’s and Attorney General Merrick Garland’s inconsistent policy on the issue of the death penalty and the cases in which the DOJ decides to seek it. The paper notes that “Garland has deauthorized 25 death penalty cases that were started under previous
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that the first state killing this year occurred on January 3, when Missouri executed Amber McLaughlin. Texas followed one week later with the execution of Robert Fratta, and Oklahoma two days later with the killing of Scott Eizember. Texas killed Wesley Ruiz and John Balentine this month, Missouri executed Leonard Taylor, and Florida killed Donald Dillbeck last week. Four more executions are scheduled for
The State of Texas plans to execute Andre Thomas on April 5. Throughout his life, Thomas sought treatment for his severe mental illness symptoms, including up to two days before the murders of his estranged wife, Laura Boren, his four-year-old son, and her one-year-old daughter in Sherman, Texas, in 2004. No one responded to his increasingly desperate pleas for help, and the jury that sentenced him to death never heard
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced earlier this month that he will not sign any execution warrants while he is in office; he will continue the moratorium on executions that former Gov. Tom Wolf declared in 2015 and called on the state General Assembly to abolish the death penalty. Shapiro made the announcement at West Philadelphia’s Mosaic Community Church because, he said, six months ago, before he was elected, it was
A poll commissioned by Oklahoma Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, released last week, shows that 78% of Oklahoma voters support a moratorium on the death penalty. The poll, conducted last month, also found that replacing capital punishment with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is supported by 51% of those surveyed, “strong enough to be the starting point for a campaign,” according to Cole Hargrave Snodgrass
In an effort to “remedy cases where there have been miscarriages of justice,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced earlier this month that he is creating a Post-Conviction Justice Unit — a first for California — to investigate past criminal convictions. The unit will work with local district attorneys to review and investigate cases to “resolve wrongful or improper criminal convictions, including matters where there may be evidence of significant
