“Texas remained an unfortunate outlier as just one of five states to carry out executions in 2023, leading the nation with eight people put to
Our conversation on “Making a Murderer: False Confessions, Wrongful Convictions” was such an enlightening discussion between DPF President Mike Farrell and Dr. Richard Leo, Professor
2023 was the ninth consecutive year that fewer than 30 people were executed in the United States, and fewer than 50 people were sentenced to
Earlier this week, the Alabama Department of Corrections released additional details about its plan to become the first state to use nitrogen hypoxia in state
Alabama executed Casey McWhorter earlier this month. He was convicted and sentenced to die in 1994 for the robbery and murder of Edward Lee Williams
“Whether you support capital punishment or oppose it, one thing is clear. Oklahoma’s system is so fundamentally flawed that we cannot know that someone who
In South Carolina, executions are on hold until at least February, when the supreme court will hold a hearing over a lawsuit filed by four
Late last month, Pennsylvania House Bill 999 to repeal the death penalty passed out of the Judiciary Committee on a vote of 15-10. It was
Texas killed 53-year-old Brent Ray Brewer by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville on November 9. And one week later, on November 16,
Stating that Arizona’s recent history of executions by lethal injection “has caused many, including courts, to express concerns regarding whether executions are being carried out constitutionally, humanely, and in compliance with the State’s own laws and procedures,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has ordered an independent review of the state’s execution procedures and protocols with a final report and recommendations to be made to her and the attorney general. Attorney General
2022 was the “year of the botched execution,” according to the Death Penalty Information Center. And now, a 166-page report from a law firm commissioned by Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee to analyze that state’s execution protocol could help explain why. Released late last month by the governor, it was authored by former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton, whose law firm was tasked with conducting an independent investigation into the Tennessee Department
The California Supreme Court granted review earlier this month on whether people serving life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed when they were between the ages of 18 and 25 should be entitled to parole hearings after they’ve spent 25 years in prison. That right already exists for those sentenced to life for crimes committed when they were 18 – 25. The review will not include those in that age range who
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order in May 2021, calling for an investigation into Kevin Cooper’s 1985 death penalty conviction for a quadruple murder in San Bernardino County in 1983. The order tasked the Los Angeles law firm Morrison Foerster to “conduct a full review of the trial and appellate records in this case, and of the facts underlying the conviction, including facts and evidence that do not
In Oklahoma, Scott Eizember was killed last week. Eizember was sentenced to death in 2003 for the murders of A.J and Patsy Cantrell. His execution was almost delayed because of his request to have his spiritual advisor in the execution chamber with him. The Oklahoma State Department of Corrections had denied the request, citing his advisor’s social activism, but reversed its decision after a discussion with the Cantrell family, whom
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is moving ahead with its plan to dismantle its death row in San Quentin State Prison and move the 671 individuals to various prisons throughout the state. CDCR made its announcement on the two-year anniversary of the launch of its pilot program in which the transfer of those on death row was on a voluntary basis. Approximately 160 people volunteered in that period.
“The death penalty is beyond redemption. It is unfair and unfixable, and it turns states into killers in the name of vengeance against killers,” the LA Times writes in a recent editorial, “Death penalty’s retreat is excruciatingly slow.” The editorial board cites the courage of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who commuted the sentences of the 17 men on death row in December, “the most expansive instance of death penalty clemency
“2022 can be called ‘the year of the botched execution,’” the Death Penalty Information Center stated in its annual report on capital punishment in the United States. Of the 20 executions scheduled, seven were problematic, “an astonishing 35%,” DPIC said, “a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves.” In all,18 men were killed in six states. Two Alabama executions, Alan Miller’s in September
After Alabama corrections officials botched their third execution in four months on November 17, Gov. Kay Ivey called a hiatus, saying it wasn’t the fault of law enforcement or corrections departments, but ” I believe that legal tactics and criminals hijacking the system are at play here.” So she’s now gone to the state Supreme Court, asking it to extend the length that an execution warrant is in effect, giving
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