Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

Judge Boyce Martin, Chief Justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, recent­ly con­curred in a cap­i­tal case and stat­ed his con­clu­sion that the death penal­ty sys­tem is now bro­ken beyond repair. Writing in Wiles v. Bagley on April 14, Judge Martin said that the death penalty is ​“so fun­da­men­tal­ly flawed at its very core that it is beyond repair.” He continued, ​“Now in my thir­ti­eth year as a judge on this Court, I have had…

The Justice Project has released a new report entitled ​“Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review.” The report details some of the caus­es of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and makes rec­om­men­da­tions for reform. With a par­tic­u­lar focus on pre­vent­ing pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al errors that lead to wrong­ful con­vic­tions, the study explores how a lack of trans­paren­cy and account­abil­i­ty has allowed pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct to per­sist nation­wide. The report states that its recommendations…

The Virginia Senate upheld Gov. Tim Kaine’s vetoes of pro­pos­als to expand cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment on April 8. The Senate vote fell short of the two-thirds need­ed to over­ride Gov. Kaine’s vetoes of the bills that would have extend­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to mur­der accom­plices who were not the actu­al killer and to those who kill on-duty fire mar­shals and aux­il­iary police offi­cers. This marks the third con­sec­u­tive year that Gov. Kaine has vetoed bills to expand cap­i­tal punishment to…

A for­mer Illinois death row inmate, Nathson Fields, was acquit­ted on April 8 of a dou­ble homi­cide for which he spent eleven and a half years on death row. ​“I feel like my prayers have been answered,” said Fields after the judge issued the not guilty ver­dict in the retri­al. In Field’s orig­i­nal tri­al, the judge took a $10,000 bribe, but then returned the mon­ey when he dis­cov­ered he was under fed­er­al inves­ti­ga­tion. Fields and a co-defen­­dant were convicted and…

Across the state of Florida, pub­lic defend­ers and pros­e­cu­tors are fac­ing fur­loughs due to a bud­get short­fall, poten­tial­ly leav­ing the crim­i­nal court sys­tem at a stand­still dur­ing some of the next three months. ​“As we have hung to the cliff by our fin­ger­nails, this 15 per­cent [bud­get] cut is the boot stomp­ing our hands,” the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association wrote to Gov. Charlie Crist recent­ly. Public defend­ers say they will not be able to take any new cas­es, though…