News & Developments
Innocence
Jul 03, 2024
The 200th Exoneration Underscores Critical Flaws in the U.S. Criminal Legal System; Other Innocent Prisoners Remain on Death Row
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Furman v. Georgia (1972), 200 death-sentenced men and women across 30 states have been exonerated. Analysis from the Death Penalty Information Center reveals these individuals have collectively spent 2,621 years in harsh prison conditions for crimes they did not commit. On average, death row exonerees spent 13 years under the sentence of death before their exonerations, with some individuals spending more than 40 years fighting to prove…
Read MoreInnocence
Jul 02, 2024
Larry Roberts Becomes the 200th Person Exonerated from Death Row
Larry Roberts, the 200th exoneree, was wrongfully convicted in 1983 for the murder of a fellow prisoner and prison guard at the California Medical Center in Vacaville, California. The only witnesses to these stabbings were fellow prisoners who testified against Mr. Roberts; he was sentenced to death for both killings. Years later, the California Supreme Court overturned Mr. Roberts’ conviction for the death of the prison guard but left his death sentence in place. After 41 years, the…
Read MoreLethal Injection
Jul 02, 2024
Federal Execution-Drug Supplier Says It Will No Longer Produce Pentobarbital for Executions
Connecticut-based company Absolute Standards, which was identified as the source of lethal injection drugs used in 13 federal executions in 2020 and 2021, has said it will no longer produce the drug used in executions — pentobarbital. In a letter to two Connecticut lawmakers, John Criscio, president of Absolute Standards, said the company ceased producing pentobarbital in December 2020, and has “no intention to resume any production or sale of pentobarbital.” Mr. Criscio’s letter explains that…
Read MoreDPIC Reports
Jul 01, 2024
Death Penalty Information Center Releases New Report on Politicization of the Death Penalty
Today, July 1, 2024, the Death Penalty Information Center releases a new report, Lethal Election: How the U.S. Electoral Process Increases the Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty. Using new data and analysis on appellate rulings and grants of clemency, as well as individual stories and case studies from across the country, the report examines how electoral politics distort the fairness and accuracy of capital…
Read MoreLGBTQ+ People
Jun 28, 2024
New Resource: LGBTQ+ People and the Death Penalty
In honor of Pride Month and commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, the Death Penalty Information Center is pleased to present a new resource about how use of the death penalty affects LGBTQ+ people. We take a comprehensive look at topics ranging from America’s history of punishing queer sex with execution, to discriminatory comments made against queer defendants in capital trials, to the challenges of gender transition on death…
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