For those who want to see the end of the death penalty, there have been some troubling developments in 2021.  50 years ago, the US Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia held that the death penalty as applied was “cruel and unusual” and therefore in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. The Court plurality found it inconsistent with “the evolving standards of decency that mark the

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At least one in seven death-row prisoners put to death in the United States since executions resumed in 1977 had legal claims in their cases that would render their executions unconstitutional, a new Cornell University Law School study shows.The study, Dead Right: A Cautionary Capital Punishment Tale, by Cornell Law School professors Joseph Margulies, John Blume, and Sheri Johnson was published

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As 2021 came to a close, editorial writers in four death penalty states called for legislative and executive action to end capital punishment or further limit its use.Editorial boards for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Idaho Statesman took note that as the death penalty declines in usage and public support, it remains arbitrary and inhumane in its application and

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Last year saw even more diminishment of the death penalty, a non-partisan group that tracks the issue reported late last month.In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine continued to delay executions as he has since he took office at the beginning of 2019. The governor has cited difficulty finding death drugs as the reason for the delays.DeWine last year also signed a law making it illegal to execute people with

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Ohio is getting as close as it’s come in years to abolishing the death penalty. Two bills making their way through the legislature represent a new lease on life for some and endless pain to others.Derrick Jamison, now in Florida, described to us his 20 years on Ohio’s death row for a 1985 murder in Cincinnati for which he was cleared in 2005 after nearly getting the needle 6 times.“It was awful,

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Ernest Johnson became the latest American to be executed on US soil when he was killed on 5 October by lethal injection in a Missouri prison.The technique – in Johnson’s case using pentobarbital – is the most common form of capital punishment in the US, despite medics having repeatedly sounded the alarm over how painful the method of death can be. It came hours after the Pope pleaded for mercy in

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A man exonerated after nearly a decade in prison will receive more than $400,000 from the Maryland Board of Public Works.Kirk Bloodsworth was convicted of rape and murder in 1985 before DNA evidence exonerated him nine years later. The now 60-year-old will be the 1st to receive a payment as part of a new program that began in July and targets people who were wrongly convicted, according to The

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If Biden meant what he said, neither he nor the Justice Department can pick and choose exceptionsThe US Supreme Court heard argument from the Biden administration in support of reinstating the death sentence of Dzhokar Tzarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, who was 19 years old when he and his 28-year-old brother Tamerlan committed the horrific attack that killed 3 people.The argument before the

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Through a diplomatic representative, Pope Francis beseeched Gov. Mike Parson to halt the upcoming execution of Ernest Johnson. The letter from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio (a Vatican diplomat), said the pope asked Parson to consider Johnson’s “humanity and the sacredness of all human life” rather than the specifics of the case. “Governor Parson, the State of Missouri has

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With a parole board recommending Julius Jones’ commutation from death to life in prison with the possibility of parole, Oklahoma’s history of executions has come to light.The state that was the first to allow more than one way to execute someone has a storied and complicated history, including last-minute exonerations and botched deaths. Oklahoma legalized the current death penalty law in 1976,

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TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Ohio’s governor continues to issue reprieves of execution for inmates on death row in the state as lawmakers reconvene in Columbus to consider banning the punishment in the future.Earlier this month, Gov. Mike DeWine pushed back the dates of four executions scheduled to take place in the first half of 2022. He previously issued reprieves for all executions scheduled in 2021.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Accused Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz virtually went before a judge on Wednesday as his attorneys prepare to defend his violent actions.Multiple attorneys for both the defense and prosecution went back and forth during the pre-trial hearing on several motions filed regarding Cruz and his upcoming trial.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Cruz, who confessed to

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For more than 3 decades, Donald Allen Jones, 60, lived on death row.He was never executed, but died Saturday, Aug. 21, in a Columbia hospital from a stroke, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford.Jones had been on death row since 1984 and was the state’s 2nd-longest serving inmate on death row.He was convicted in the 1983 shooting death of Ned Plyler in Lancaster County. Along with

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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill to abolish the death penalty in Utah has been unveiled on Capitol Hill.The forthcoming legislation, sponsored by Rep. Lowry Snow and Sen. Dan McCay, would not be a flat-out repeal of capital punishment. Instead, it would "repeal and replace" the death penalty.Instead of execution, Utah would offer 45-years-to-life in prison, in addition to life without parole and

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If convicted of capital murder, Yovahnis Roque could face life in prison or the death penalty.ORANGE, Texas — Jury selection for the trial of an Orange County father accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter is expected to begin Monday.More than two years after the murder of Savanna Roque, 2, took place, 28-year-old Yovahnis Roque is preparing to stand trial. Police said Roque used a hammer

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Sabrina Butler-Smith, 50, from Mississippi, was branded a ‘child killer’ and had to fight other inmates in prison before she was finally exonerated of killing her son WalterA mother spent almost 3 years on death row before she was finally exonerated of killing her baby son.Sabrina Butler-Smith was just 17-years-old when she came back from a run to find her boy Walter dead in their apartment in

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Stephen Barbee was sentenced to death for the killing of Lisa Underwood and her son, Jayden. Following an appeal, Barbee is now set to be executed on Oct. 12.A Fort Worth man convicted of killing a pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son — who had his first execution date delayed in 2019 — is now scheduled to be executed on Oct. 12.Stephen Barbee, 54, was found guilty of the murders of Lisa

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Taliban will ‘weed out and exterminate’ LGBT+ people in Afghanistan, warns exiled gay authorGay Afghan author Nemat Sadat has warned that the Taliban will “weed out and exterminate” the LGBT+ community in Afghanistan following their seismic takeover.There has been significant concern for the safety and wellbeing of women, girls and LGBT+ people in Afghanistan after the extremist militant group

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A group of Senate Democrats on Monday urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop seeking federal executions, writing in a letter that “it’s time to end the federal death penalty.”The 17 lawmakers, led by Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, asked Garland to withdraw all pending death notices and forbid issuing new death notices while the

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Death penalty sentences are rare in the state. There are only 40 prisoners currently on death row in Georgia from cases dating back to 1976.ATLANTA — Robert Aaron Long was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday for the killings four people at a Cherokee County spa in March.The sentencing came as part of a plea deal. Long’s attorneys approached the Cherokee County

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Most U.S. adults support the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to an April 2021 Pew Research Center survey. At the same time, majorities believe the death penalty is not applied in a racially neutral way, does not deter people from committing serious crimes and does not have enough safeguards to prevent an innocent person from being executed.Use of the death penalty has

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An Oklahoma death row inmate who was fighting to overturn his death sentence for a 1999 killing in Oklahoma City has diedOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma death row inmate who was fighting to overturn his death sentence for a 1999 killing in Oklahoma City has died.Jimmy Dean Harris, 64, died June 29 at a hospital from long-term health problems, The Oklahoman reported.Harris was sentenced to death

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