Three states inched closer to repealing their death penalty laws this year. Washington, Utah, and New Hampshire have been debating repeal bills in the most
In Ohio, Alva Campbell was found dead in his cell at Chillicothe Correctional Institution last Saturday, four months after he was removed from the state’s
In his article, “When Can You Buy a Gun, Vote, or Be Sentenced to Death? Science Suggests U.S. Should Revise Legal Age Limits”, in The
The State of Michigan is the only state to have a death penalty ban in its constitution. That ban was enshrined 116 years after the
February 14, 2018 The Honorable Edmund G. Brown Governor State of California State Capitol, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 Dear Governor Brown, We
A federal judge told Alabama prison officials on Tuesday to preserve all evidence related to last week’s botched execution of Doyle Lee Hamm, CNN reported.
Minutes before he was scheduled to be executed, Thomas Whitaker’s sentence was commuted to life without parole yesterday by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. In a
Today, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously to recommend clemency for Thomas Whitaker. Whitaker is scheduled to be executed on Thursday for
Washington’s state Senate voted to end the death penalty by a vote of 26-22 yesterday. The bill, which would repeal the death penalty and replace
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
There are a number of free events in Southern California celebrating the movement to exonerate the wrongfully convicted.
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 was, as the LA Times said in an editorial, “Terribly depressing.” California hasn’t executed anyone in more than 10 years, and to resume now is to revert to a method of punishment that is so barbaric, it is, as so frequently noted, no longer practiced
