Corinna Lane, a former prosecutor, discusses the flaws in the US death penalty system, the pharmaceutical crisis that halted lethal injection, and the humanity of those on death row in her book Secrets of the Killing State.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals lifted a district court’s stay of execution for John Hanson, allowing his execution on June 12, despite unresolved allegations of bias and constitutional violations in his clemency hearing.
A leading Jewish anti-death penalty group, L’chaim, is calling on federal prosecutors to reject capital punishment for Elias Rodriguez, the man charged with the fatal shooting of Israeli Embassy staffers, arguing that executing him would only elevate his profile and incite further violence, and instead urging the U.S. to honor the memories of the victims by rejecting the death penalty and embracing life-affirming values.
Alameda County’s new district attorney, Ursula Jones Dickson, has withdrawn resentencing motions for 10 death row inmates, reversing the previous recommendations made by her predecessor, Pamela Price, who had found systemic prosecutorial misconduct in the cases.
Judge Timothy J. Kelly has declined to issue a ruling in the case of 21 men who were granted clemency by President Biden, but are now being transferred to the Supermax prison facility due to alleged political interference from the federal government.
The Utah Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court’s ruling vacating the conviction and death sentence of Douglas Carter due to extensive constitutional violations during his 1985 trial.
Attorneys for Texas death row prisoner Charles Flores have filed a motion to prevent an execution date, citing concerns over the integrity of his 1999 conviction, which was based on an eyewitness identification obtained through police hypnosis, a method now banned in Texas criminal trials.
The Death Penalty Information Center report reveals a disturbing pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in the death penalty system, resulting in individuals sentenced to death multiple times for the same crime, often due to racial bias and other constitutional violations, and costing millions of taxpayer dollars.
Florida Legislature has passed four bills expanding the state’s death penalty, some of which are unconstitutional, and all are now awaiting Governor Ron DeSantis’ signature.
The courts play a vital role in ensuring fairness and justice, as evidenced by the recent Fischer v. United States Supreme Court decision, which limited the federal government’s use of obstruction statutes, and the role of the judiciary in reexamining flawed trials and evidence to prevent wrongful convictions.
Richard Gerald Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate, has been scheduled for execution on June 25, 2025, after nearly five decades of litigation and failed appeals.
George Ryan, the former Republican governor of Illinois, died at the age of 91, leaving behind a legacy as a champion of clemency and a critic of the death penalty, who commuted the sentences of all 167 people on Illinois’ death row and pardoned four outright.
Under Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration, California has shifted its death row policy, transferring condemned individuals to rehabilitation centers and opening access to programs and educational opportunities, while victims’ rights groups have expressed anger and frustration at these changes.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has been criticized for his calculated regression, racial bias, and political opportunism in office, including reviving the death penalty, defending inflammatory language, and denying crime victims access to legally guaranteed services.
Sister Helen Prejean, a long-time anti-death penalty advocate, believes Ohio is on the verge of abolishing capital punishment due to growing support for repeal and the state’s own capital punishment task force calling the death penalty “more complex, more subject to constant change, and fraught with more mistakes”.
132 US military veterans have signed a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis urging him to halt the execution of Jeffrey “Ranger” Hutchinson, a decorated Gulf War veteran suffering from severe combat-related brain injuries, arguing that his execution would be a miscarriage of justice and a national betrayal.
Attorneys for Jeffrey Hutchinson, a 62-year-old Gulf War veteran scheduled for execution on May 1, have filed an emergency motion in Bradford County Circuit Court seeking a stay, arguing that Hutchinson is mentally incompetent to be executed due to a complex set of mental health conditions.
John Fitzgerald Hanson, a Black man facing execution on June 12, has filed a clemency petition with the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board arguing that he suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder, was manipulated by a more culpable co-defendant, and has demonstrated extraordinary rehabilitation during two decades in federal custody.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Florida Supreme Court has denied the first-filed appeal out of three currently pending…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Lance Shockley’s death sentence in late March,…