In Texas, 47-year-old Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, a Mexican citizen, was executed on Wednesday for the 1997 killing of his 16-year-old cousin, Mayra Laguna. He was
“We have lost one of the best among us, but each day when we do something good for a client, we are renewing our connection
In an op-ed in AZ Central, Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice president Amy Kalman explains why she and more than 20 former Arizona judges, former
Jack Greene was granted an emergency stay by the Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday, two days before he was scheduled to be executed. Greene’s attorneys
“Plagued by wrongful convictions, high costs, and delays, the death penalty has proven to be ineffective and incompatible with a number of core conservative principles.
Americans’ support for the death penalty is now at 55 percent, the lowest number since 1972, according to a poll released by Gallup late last
Death Penalty Focus is partnering with CharityBuzz to bring you two new charity auctions–your chance to meet Ed Asner and Ed Begley, Jr.–all while supporting our
Last night, members of the Bay Area death penalty community gathered to honor the late Scharlette Holdman, a woman who, as SF attorney Andy Love
Americans’ support for the death penalty is now at 55 percent, the lowest number since 1972, according to a poll released by Gallup today. The
There has been a lot of interesting writing about criminal justice published in the last few weeks that we thought you might want to know about. Here’s a small sampling. Stephen Cooper, a former federal public defender in Alabama, explains in a column for the LA Post Examiner that his opposition to the death penalty would have included even Hitler if he had been captured alive. A study in the
It passed by the slimmest of margins in November’s election, but Prop 66 has been stayed by the California Supreme Court since a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality was filed in the aftermath of the election. DPF board member and death penalty attorney Aundre Herron brings us up to date on the latest developments in the legal challenges facing this problematic initiative.
William Morva suffers from delusional disorder, a disease that makes him believe things that aren’t true. It’s a serious mental illness, similar to schizophrenia, and it caused him to commit two murders for which the state of Virginia now wants to execute him. He is scheduled to die on July 6. William Morva was a sweet, sensitive, and compassionate boy. He was well-loved by his group of friends, interested in
Sen. Bernie Sanders, Joan Baez, legendary defense attorneys Judy Clarke and Thomas H. Speedy Rice were honored last weekend at the Death Penalty Focus 26th Annual Awards Dinner in Beverly Hills. The sold-out event began with 13 exonerees, all of whom had been sent to prison for murders they did not commit, and who were subsequently exonerated based on evidence of their innocence, stepping on to the stage and announcing
”Many of the findings of the Commission’s year-long investigation were disturbing and led Commission members to question whether the death penalty can be administered in a way that ensures no innocent person is put to death.” That was the conclusion of the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission when it issued the results of its year-long study of the state’s death penalty scheme last month. Their recommendation: ”Due to the volume
“Excessive bail shall not be required, or excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” says the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You will find similar language in the Japanese constitution, included at the order of the United States government after it defeated Japan in World War ll. Japanese Article 36 says “The infliction of torture by any public officer and cruel punishments are absolutely forbidden.” These restrictions
The state’s high court announced Thursday that it will hear oral argument in Briggs v. Brown, the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 66, which passed by the slimmest of margins last November. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m (PDT), Tuesday, June 6, in the Supreme Court courtroom in Los Angeles. (The oral argument can be livestreamed.) The lawsuit brought by former California Attorney General John Van de
Three events in the last few weeks are indicative of the turmoil still surrounding the death penalty in Florida. When the Florida Supreme Court acquitted Ralph Daniel Wright, Jr. of the murder of his ex-girlfriend and their son last week, he became the 159th person exonerated from death row in the United States since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The court’s unanimous decision said the case was
