The State of Texas plans to execute 34-year-old Christopher Young next month. He was sentenced to death in 2006 for the murder of 55-year-old convenience
In a unanimous vote, the San Francisco Labor Council, which is affiliated with 150 unions, and represents more than 100 thousand union members and their
The DPF Board of Directors announced this week that longtime social and criminal justice advocate Magdaleno Rose-Avila has been appointed to the position of Executive
Bobby James Moore will not be leaving Texas’ death row any time soon. On Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Moore is
When the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled to overturn the death sentence of Robert Lewis Jr. late last month finding “substantial evidence” that he is
“In 34 years at the New York Times, I’ve never come across a case in America as outrageous as Kevin Cooper’s,” Nicholas Kristof wrote in
The ACLU of Northern California won a round in court late last month when a Marin County Superior Court judge ruled that its challenge to
In Texas, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel said yesterday it will consider parts of an appeal that lawyers for death row prisoner Andre
Scott Turow notes that “Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner seems to be one of the few people in Illinois who misses the death penalty” in an
In California, the Los Angeles Times reports that Los Angeles County officials “mistakenly destroyed the evidence” that Scott Pinholster says would prove him innocent of the double murder that sent him to death row in 1984. The Times says Pinholster’s attorney has requested a hearing on how this happened, and will also ask for a new trial. According to state law, evidence in a death penalty case cannot be destroyed
In its editorial, “Capital Punishment Deserves a Quick Death,” the New York Times refers to the recent attempted execution of Alva Campbell by the State of Ohio that had to be called off when executioners were unable to find a viable vein to inject the lethal injection cocktail into 69-year-old Campbell. “The pathetic scene was a fitting symbol of the state of capital punishment in America in 2017, a vile
“I have hope. And because I have hope I have life.” For Kevin Cooper, who has been on San Quentin’s death row since 1985, it is a hope that survives because of “the number of people I have helping me, who believe in my case, my innocence, and in me.” Those people include Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William A. Fletcher, who wrote in the New York University Law
“Unchained Artists,” an exhibition featuring some 50 pieces of artwork, poetry, and handcrafted art objects made by men and women incarcerated in the United States, including prisoners on San Quentin’s death row, will open this Monday, January 15, in Marin County, California. The exhibit is a first-time collaboration between ArtReach, which was founded by UK artist Nicola White to provide a platform for prisoners on San Quentin’s death row to
On Monday, January 15, an art exhibit featuring the work of prisoners around the country, including those on San Quentin’s death row, will open in the Bank of Marin lobby in Mill Valley, California. “Unchained Artists” features some 50 pieces of artwork, poetry, and handcrafted art objects. Many of the pieces will be available for purchase. The exhibit is a first-time collaboration between ArtReach, which was founded by UK artist
Public support for the death penalty dropped to its lowest level in 45 years in 2017, and the number of death sentences and executions is the second-lowest in a generation, succeeded only by last year’s record lows. That’s according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which released its annual report this week, highlighting the continuation of the long-term decline of the death penalty in the United States. Eight states carried
Twenty years ago, Lucy Wilke was the prosecutor who sent Jeff Wood to Texas’ death row, even though he never killed anyone. Now, according to the Texas Tribune, Wilke, along with several other state officials, is asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that Wood’s death sentence be reduced to life in prison. “The penalty now appears to be excessive,” the Tribune says Wilke wrote in a
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide soon whether to accept Hidalgo v. Arizona, which not only challenges Arizona’s death penalty statute, but the death penalty nationwide. Lawyers for Abel Hidalgo argue that there are so many aggravating circumstances for which a defendant can be sentenced to death in Arizona, the sentence is unconstitutional based on the conditions the high court laid out in Gregg v. Georgia. There are 14 factors,
Late last month, federal prisoner Ulysses Jones, Jr. was sentenced to life in prison for the 2006 murder of another inmate at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mis-souri. It was a huge defeat for the U.S. government, which had tried for 11 years to have Jones sentenced to death. Why it took 11 years for Jones to come to trial is just one of the many
