Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Mar 26, 2015
States Struggle with Determinations of Competency to Be Executed
A recent article in Mother Jones examines lingering questions in the determination of which inmates are exempt from execution because of…
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Mar 25, 2015
PUBLIC OPINION: Majority of Pennsylvanians Prefer Life Sentences, Support Moratorium on Death Penalty
According to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, a majority of Pennsylvanians find some form of a life sentence to be preferable to the death penalty, and more support the death penalty moratorium imposed by Governor Tom Wolf than oppose it. When asked what sentence they preferred for people convicted of murder, 54% of respondents selected some form of life sentence, while 42% preferred the death penalty. 50% were in favor of the…
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Mar 24, 2015
NEW VOICES: Lead Prosecutor Apologizes to Death Row Exoneree, Urges State to Offer Compensation
UPDATE: After Louisiana denied compensation to Mr. Ford — who is in hospice care, dying from Stage 4 cancer — Stroud gave an interview to the Huffington Post in which he says“death penalty prosecutions are a badge of showing how out-of-touch we are with other civilized societies.… We can’t trust the government to fix potholes. Why should we believe they can design a death penalty system that’s fair?” PREVIOUSLY: In a letter to the Shreveport…
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Mar 23, 2015
Pope Francis Calls Death Penalty Inappropriate “No Matter How Serious the Crime”
In a letter to the President of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty, Pope Francis expressed the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty, calling it“inadmissible, no matter how serious the crime committed.” He continued,“It is an offence against the inviolability of life and the dignity of the human person, which contradicts God’s plan for man and society, and his merciful justice, and impedes the penalty from…
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Mar 20, 2015
NEW VOICES: Murder Victim’s Widow Supports Clemency for Husband’s Killer
Mamie Norwood, whose husband, Amos, was killed by Pennsylvania death row prisoner Terry Williams (pictured), recently wrote a letter to two state officials asking them to“stop trying to execute…
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Mar 19, 2015
INNOCENCE: Debra Milke Exonerated from Arizona Death Row
UPDATE: On March 23, 2015, Judge Rosa Mroz officially dismissed the charges against Milke. Milke has been added to DPIC’s exoneration list. See Milke’s statement on her exoneration. PREVIOUSLY: On March 17, the Arizona Supreme Court denied a request by prosecutors that it review a lower court’s order that dismissed the charges against Debra Milke as a result of“egregious” police and prosecutorial…
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Mar 18, 2015
STUDIES: Most Likely Outcome of Death Sentence Is That It Will Be Reversed
A new study from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds that the most likely outcome for a capital case once a death sentence has been imposed is that the defendant’s conviction or sentence will be reversed on appeal. Execution is only the third most…
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Mar 17, 2015
Ohio Officials Say Death Penalty System Has Serious Flaws
Legislators in Ohio are seeking to enact death penalty reforms as the state grapples with problems in the application of capital punishment. Sen. Bill Seitz, a Republican, and Sen. Sandra Williams, a Democrat, are working on four bills to address some of the reforms recommended by the Ohio Supreme Court Death Penalty Task Force last year. The bills would prevent the execution of defendants with serious mental impairments, establish…
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Mar 16, 2015
Key Witness In Cameron Willingham Trial May Have Testified In Exchange for Reduced Sentence
A previously undisclosed letter written by jailhouse informant Johnny E. Webb, a crucial witness in the trial of Cameron Willingham (pictured) in Texas, indicates that Webb’s sentence may have been reduced in exchange for his testimony that Willingham had confessed to intentionally starting a house fire that killed his three daughters. The defense had never been informed of the existence of any deal between Webb and prosecutors in…
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Mar 13, 2015
Growing Number of Pharmaceutical Companies Object to Use of Drugs in Executions
On March 4, Akorn Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer of two drugs (midazolam and pentobarbital) that have been used in executions, released a statement announcing measures to block the sale of its products to prisons. Akorn joins at least two other U.S.-based drug companies and several European companies in expressing opposition to the use of their products in lethal injections. In 2014, Par Pharmaceuticals responded to Indiana’s…
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