Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Feb 24, 2015
Mike Farrell: Troublesome Case in Ohio Points to Broader Problems
Mike Farrell, actor and human rights leader, argued in an op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the case of Anthony Apanovitch in Ohio demonstrates several significant problems with the death penalty. Apanovitch was recently granted a new trial, 30 years after he was convicted. Evidence in Apanovitch’s case was withheld from his defense, and a DNA test was not performed until decades after the trial. “[W]hen the state seeks the penalty of death –…
Read MoreNews
Feb 23, 2015
Oregon’s New Governor Plans to Continue Death Penalty Moratorium
In her first press conference since taking office on February 18, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said she will continue the moratorium on executions that former Governor John Kitzhaber imposed in 2011. “There needs to be a broader discussion about fixing the system,” Brown said. “Until that discussion, I will be upholding the moratorium imposed by Gov. Kitzhaber.” When the former governor announced the moratorium, he also called for a statewide discussion about…
Read MoreNews
Feb 20, 2015
Death Penalty Repeal Bill Advances with Bi-Partisan Support in Montana
On February 18, the Montana House Judiciary Committee voted (11 – 10) to advance HB 370, a bill to replace the death penalty with a maximum sentence of life without parole. The same committee had rejected similar bills several times in recent years. The bill will now move to the full House. Republican bill sponsor Rep. David Moore (pictured) said he thought the bill had a decent chance of passing in the House. Rep. Clayton Fiscus, one of two Republican members of the Judiciary…
Read MoreNews
Feb 19, 2015
BOOKS: One Woman’s Journey After Her Sister’s Murder
Jeanne Bishop has written a new book about her life and spiritual journey after her sister was murdered in Illinois in 1990. Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy, and Making Peace with My Sister’s Killer tells Bishop’s personal story of grief, loss, and of her eventual efforts to confront and reconcile with her sister’s killer. She also addresses larger issues of capital punishment, life sentences for juvenile offenders, and restorative justice. Former Illinois Governor…
Read MoreNews
Feb 18, 2015
Eric Holder Advocates for a Hold on Executions
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recommended that all executions be put on hold while the Supreme Court is considering Glossip v. Gross, a case involving Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedure. Speaking for himself, rather than the administration, at a press luncheon on February 17, Holder said, “I think a moratorium until the Supreme Court makes that decision would be appropriate.” Holder has previously criticized state…
Read MoreNews
Feb 17, 2015
UPCOMING EXECUTION: New Evidence Raises Doubts About Texas Inmate’s Guilt
Attorneys for Rodney Reed, a death row inmate in Texas, have filed a petition in a county court with new evidence supporting an alternate theory of the crime that led to Reed’s conviction. Reed is scheduled to be executed on March 5 for the murder of Stacy…
Read MoreNews
Feb 16, 2015
LAW REVIEW: Lethal Injection Secrecy and Due Process
A recent article by Prof. Eric Berger of the University of Nebraska College of Law argued that defendants facing execution have a fundamental right to know important information about the lethal injection drugs they will be given. Berger wrote, “Judicial recognition of this due process right would both protect Eighth Amendment values and also encourage states to make their execution procedures more transparent and less dangerous.” After discussing the history…
Read MoreNews
Feb 13, 2015
Pennsylvania Governor Announces Moratorium on Executions
On February 13, 2015 Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania announced a moratorium on all executions in the state. He said no executions will take place at least until he has “received and reviewed the forthcoming report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment, established under Senate Resolution 6 of 2011, and there is an opportunity to address all concerns satisfactorily.” The legislature…
Read MoreNews
Feb 12, 2015
STUDIES: Lynchings in America Related to Racial Bias in Death Penalty
A new report from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) of Alabama has documented more lynchings in American history than previously reported, particularly of African Americans in the South, and has drawn parallels between this practice and the modern death…
Read MoreNews
Feb 11, 2015
American Bar Association Calls for Unanimous Juries and Greater Transparency in Execution Process
On February 9, the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association unanimously passed two resolutions calling for unanimous juries in capital sentencing and greater transparency in lethal injection procedures. Resolution 108A stated: “Before a court can impose a sentence of death, a jury must unanimously recommend or vote to impose that sentence,” and, “The jury in such cases must also unanimously agree on the existence of any fact that is a prerequisite for eligibility…
Read More