When Justice Paul Pfeifer undertook a crusade to restore the death penalty in Ohio in the early 1980s, he was a state senator. Now a state Supreme Court justice, Pfeifer wants to see it done away with altogether.
In light of Georgia’s plans to go through with the execution of Troy Davis at 7:00 p.m. EST tonight, despite the recantation of seven of the nine witnesses that originally testified against him and the worldwide appeals, death penalty opponents also cite the high cost of executing inmates More…
All eyes focused on Texas Gov. Rick Perry as he made his debate debut Wednesday evening at the fourth GOP showdown, this one hosted by Politico and NBC.
Florida’s Catholic bishops repeated their plea for Gov. Rick Scott to call off the execution of Manuel Valle, the subject of Scott’s first death warrant. #
Valle was convicted of the 1978 killing of a Coral Gables police officer, and first sentenced in 1981. More…
IQ test results are no longer enough to determine whether a convicted felon is fit for the death penalty, ruled the Tennessee Supreme Court Monday.
Tennessee law precludes executing people who are intellectually disabled, and, thanks to Monday’s ruling, an IQ a score of 70 or below is no More…
Correction, 5:00 EST: This story originally implied the stay placed on Foster’s execution by the U.S. Supreme Court was based on the use of pentobarbital. In fact, it was based on poor legal defense. An appeal on the use of pentobarbital has been rejected by appeals courts in Texas, More…
Last week, the North Carolina Independent News reported on the state’s Racial Justice Act — which allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences if they can demonstrate racial bias in their original trials — being upheld in court. The case comes at a time when the utility of More…
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan told Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) this afternoon that she believes the death penalty is now settled law and that she has “no moral qualms” about advocating for it as solicitor general.
“I do believe the constitutionality of the death penalty is settled precedent going More…
When Attorney General Eric Holder announced earlier this month that the suspected plotters of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would be tried in civilian court, he also promised to seek the death penalty for all of them. But the heated debate that followed over the supposed dangers of trying “the More…
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