News & Developments
Lethal Injection
Jul 30, 2021
Nevada Press Association Sues State for Full Access to Witness Executions
The Nevada Press Association has filed a federal lawsuit against Nevada state officials and the Nevada Department of Corrections challenging limitations the state’s execution protocol places on the media’s ability…
Innocence
Jul 29, 2021
DNA Exonerates Georgia Man Who Had Waived His Appeals to Avoid Wrongful Execution
When Dennis Perry stood with his defense team on the steps of the Brunswick, Georgia courthouse (pictured) after a trial judge dismissed all charges against him, he was a free man, exonerated of the racially motiv…
Representation
Jul 28, 2021
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Grant of New Trial for Pennsylvania Death-Row Prisoner Denied Counsel of His Choice
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision granting a new trial to a Pennsylvania death-row prisoner whose retained lawyer was prevented from representing him at trial. In a unanimous decision issued on Ju…
International
Jul 26, 2021
Sierra Leone Becomes 23rd African Country to Abolish the Death Penalty
The parliament of Sierra Leone voted unanimously on July 23, 2021 to abolish the death penalty, making the West African nation of 7.8 million people the 23rd country on the continent and the 110th worldwide to end capital punishme…
Innocence
Jul 23, 2021
Texas Court Holds Innocence Hearing for Rodney Reed, as Advocates Rally in Support
Lawyers for Texas death-row prisoner Rodney Reed (pictured) presented four days of testimony in a Bastrop County courthouse in an attempt to establish his innocence of the murder of Stacy Stites,…
Arbitrariness
Jul 22, 2021
In Posthumously Released Video, Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Calls for End to Death Penalty
In a video interview posthumously released on the anniversary of the first modern exoneration of a Florida death-row prisoner, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kogan has called for abolition of th…
Military
Jul 21, 2021
At Odds with Biden Administration’s Concern Over Use of Statements Obtained by Torture, Chief Guantánamo Prosecutor Retires
After clashing with Biden administration officials over the propriety of using statements obtained through torture from Guantánamo detainees, Army Brigadier General Mark S. Martins (pictured), the chief prosecutor…
Arbitrariness
Jul 20, 2021
California Supreme Court Rules that Voter Initiative Does Not Bar Death-Row Prisoners From Filing Additional Appeals Based on Newly Discovered Facts or New Court Decisions
In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court has limited the reach of a controversial voter initiative that was intended to accelerate judicial review of death-penalty cases. In
Innocence
Jul 19, 2021
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Descendants of Ida B. Wells Call for Freedom for Pervis Payne
As the first court hearing on Pervis Payne’s claim that his death sentence must be vacated because of his intellectual disability was about to get underway, prominent civil rights leaders and relatives of a civil rights icon added…
