DPIC Analysis: Exoneration Data Suggests Non-Unanimous Death-Sentencing Statutes Heighten Risk of Wrongful Convictions

Arbitrariness

Apr 01, 2020

After ignor­ing health risks posed by lengthy court pro­ceed­ings dur­ing the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic and fac­ing crit­i­cism that that a cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tion fol­low­ing the state’s abo­li­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment would amount to a polit­i­cal­ly par­ti­san waste …

Mar 31, 2020

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has once again reject­ed the find­ings of a tri­al court that a death-row pris­on­er was enti­tled to relief from his con­vic­tion or death sen­tence. Applying a nar­row inter­pre­ta­tion of …

Innocence

Mar 30, 2020

After receiv­ing unan­i­mous sup­port in the Florida House of Representatives, a bill that would have expand­ed access to post­con­vic­tion DNA test­ing failed in the Florida Senate when the leg­isla­tive body adjourned its 2020 leg­isla­tive ses­sion with­out t…

Upcoming Executions

Mar 27, 2020

The pub­lic health cri­sis from the COVID-19 coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic has halt­ed exe­cu­tions in the United States and, legal experts say, is like­ly to con­tin­ue to do for the …

Representation

Mar 27, 2020

NEWS (3/​27/​20): California — A three-judge pan­el of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (pic­tured) has affirmed a California fed­er­al dis­trict court’s denial of habeas cor­pus relief for death-row prisoner 

International

Mar 26, 2020

In a deci­sion that exposed the deep divide between the United States and its European allies on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment issues, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unan­i­mous­ly ruled that the British gov­ern­ment unlaw­ful­ly pro­vid­ed i…

Intellectual Disability

Mar 26, 2020

NEWS (3/​26/​20): Kentucky — The Kentucky Supreme Court has issued deci­sions in two cas­es pre­sent­ing sig­nif­i­cant issues con­cern­ing the applic­a­bil­i­ty of the death penal­ty against defen­dants with intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty or under the age of 21.…

Military

Mar 26, 2020

NEWS (3/​25/​20): Guantánamo Bay — In an action that adds fur­ther uncer­tain­ty to the already tumul­tuous pro­ceed­ings in the Guantánamo Sept. 11 death-penal­ty tri­al, the mil­i­tary com­mis­sion judge pre­sid­ing over the case has announced that he w…

Representation

Mar 26, 2020

NEWS (3/​26/​20): Pennsylvania — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a tri­al court rul­ing grant­i­ng a new sen­tenc­ing hear­ing to death-row prisoner 

Intellectual Disability

Mar 25, 2020

Georgia death-row pris­on­er Billy Daniel Raulerson, Jr. (pic­tured) is ask­ing the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a state law that, he argues, is per­mit­ting Georgia to uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­ly exe­cute indi­vid­u­als with I…