Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Jun 27, 2023
Florida’s New Non-Unanimous Capital Sentencing Law Faces Retroactivity Challenge in State Supreme Court
The resentencing hearings of several death-sentenced men in Florida came to an abrupt halt last week as the Florida Supreme Court considers the effect of the state’s new capital sentencing law. Earlier this year, the Florida legislature passed a new capital sentencing law to allow juries to impose a death sentence if at least 8 out of 12 jurors vote in favor. But several death row defendants who were scheduled to be resentenced objected that the new law unfairly…
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Jun 26, 2023
New DPIC Podcast: DPIC’s New Report on the Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty
In the June 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center Managing Director Anne Holsinger and Data Storyteller Tiana Herring discuss the latest Racial Justice Storytelling Report, Doomed to Repeat: The Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty. The report examines the history of Tennessee’s capital punishment system, documenting the continued impact of racial discrimination and racial violence on the administration of the…
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Jun 23, 2023
Lamont Hunter Released From Death Row on Plea Agreement Amid Review of New Evidence
On June 15, 2023, Ohio death-sentenced prisoner Lamont Hunter (pictured) was released after serving nearly 18 years for allegedly causing the death of his 3‑year-old son, Trustin Blue. To obtain his freedom, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Prosecutors agreed to offer a plea deal after Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian A. Jenkins set bond for Mr. Hunter and dismissed prosecutors’ request to…
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Jun 22, 2023
DPIC Releases New Report on How the History of Racial Violence and Discrimination Have Shaped the Death Penalty in Tennessee
The Death Penalty Information Center’s new report on race and the death penalty in Tennessee places the state’s death penalty system in historical context, documenting how racial discrimination and racial violence continue to influence the administration of the death penalty. Doomed to Repeat: The Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty, released June 22, 2023, notes that as the Tennessee Department of Correction…
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Jun 21, 2023
70 Years After Their Executions, Rosenberg Sons Still Looking to Clear Mother’s Name
Seventy years after the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, their sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, have renewed their efforts to clear their mother’s name. Just ten and six years old when their parents were executed for federal charges of conspiracy to commit espionage, both men grew up believing in their parents’ innocence. The Rosenbergs remain the only individuals put to death for peacetime espionage in…
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Jun 20, 2023
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty Celebrates Juneteenth and Highlights the Continued Fight for Equality and Justice
Juneteenth is a celebration and remembrance of the end of slavery in the United States following the Union’s victory in the Civil War. In June 2021, President Joseph Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday, formally commemorating the end of slavery. According to President Biden,“Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and the promise of a greater morning to come.” Among the many groups…
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Jun 16, 2023
Barry Jones Freed from Arizona’s Death Row after 29 Years
On June 15, 2023, Arizona death-sentenced prisoner Barry Jones was freed after serving 29 years for a crime that the Arizona Attorney General agreed he did not commit. Mr. Jones was sentenced to death in 1995 after being convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s four-year-old daughter in 1994. Medical evidence that was readily available at the time of trial showed that the child did not sustain her fatal internal injuries during the time while she was in Mr. Jones’s care. But…
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Jun 15, 2023
Scientists, Physicians, Retired Federal Judges, and Innocence Groups File Amicus Briefs in Support of Robert Roberson, Texas Man Convicted and Sentenced to Death in “Shaken Baby Syndrome” Case
Robert Roberson with daughter Nikki. Courtesy of the…
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Jun 14, 2023
Mass Filing for Clemency Highlights Longstanding Systemic Problems with Louisiana’s “Broken” Death Penalty
On June 13, 2023, 51 of the 57 people on Louisiana’s death row filed clemency applications with the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, asking Governor John Bel Edwards to commute their sentences to life without parole. The clemency applications describe flaws in the individual cases – including mental illness and intellectual disability, innocence claims, and official misconduct – but cumulatively portray a death penalty system marked by…
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Jun 13, 2023
BOOKS: “Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy”
In Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy, author Alex Mar presents an in-depth account of a violent homicide and its impact on a racially divided community and the individuals involved. Mar not only discusses the fears associated with modern crime and punishment but also addresses the human capacity for compassion and forgiveness. In the prologue, Mar writes that“this is a story that asks what any community is willing to accept…
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