News & Developments
Intellectual Disability
Jul 15, 2024
Disability Pride Month Series: “National Treasure” Professor James W. Ellis
This July, in honor of Disability Pride Month, the Death Penalty Information Center is posting a weekly feature highlighting issues related to the death penalty and disability and profiles of individuals who have played key roles in changing the laws to protect prisoners with…
Read MoreCrimes Punishable by Death
Jul 12, 2024
Articles of Interest: Op-ed says new Tennessee law that expands the death penalty to child rape “creates more problems than it solves.”
A July 7, 2024 op-ed in the Tennessean argues that the recent enaction of SB 1834, which makes the rape of a child punishable by death, “does more harm than good.” Sarah McGee (pictured), coordinator for Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, explains that during her work as a victim-witness coordinator for Davidson County District Attorney’s Office, probation officer, and assistant public defender, she “learned that when child service providers and experts, the people…
Read MoreLethal Injection
Jul 11, 2024
NPR Investigation Reveals Supplier of Texas Execution Drugs Has Multiple Drug Enforcement Agency Violations; Questions Remain Regarding Drug Acquisition in Other States
A July 10, 2024, National Public Radio (NPR) investigation has revealed that Rite Away, a small chain of pharmacies located around San Antonio and Austin, Texas, compounded and provided pentobarbital for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) between 2019 and late 2023 to carry out lethal injection executions. During the same time period, records at the Texas Board of Pharmacy and federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) indicate the pharmacy was cited for multiple safety and…
Read MoreHuman Rights
Jul 10, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Tanzania
On June 21, 2024, China announced that courts, prosecutors, public, and state bodies should use the death penalty against Taiwan separatists. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the new guidelines recommend “severely punish[ing] Taiwan independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession crimes in accordance with the law, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.” Critics say that the vagueness of the legal language in the new…
Read MoreMental Illness
Jul 09, 2024
Disability Pride Month Series: Serious Mental Illness Exemptions and Legislation
This July, in honor of Disability Pride Month, the Death Penalty Information Center is posting a weekly feature highlighting issues related to the death penalty and disability, as well as individuals who have played key roles in changing the laws to protect prisoners with…
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