Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

Governors Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming have signed into state law bipar­ti­san leg­is­la­tion ban­ning the exe­cu­tion of those who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes. Of the 38 death penal­ty states, 19 for­bid the death penal­ty for juve­niles. The fed­er­al gov­ern­ment also for­bids the prac­tice. Twelve addi­tion­al states do not allow the death penal­ty at all. The U.S. Supreme Court will con­sid­er the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of the juvenile death…

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent rever­sal of Delma Banks’ death sen­tence in Texas because of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, the Dallas Morning News has called for a halt to exe­cu­tions while state offi­cials review seri­ous prob­lems in the…

In a recent study exam­in­ing death sen­tenc­ing trends around the coun­try, researchers report­ed sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ences between the rates at which black defen­dants who kill white vic­tims are sen­tenced to death, as com­pared to the rate at which black defen­dants who kill black vic­tims are sen­tenced to death. In every one of the sev­en states for which data was avail­able, blacks who kill whites were far more like­ly to receive a death sen­tence than blacks who killed blacks.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper is call­ing on pros­e­cu­tors to open their files to defense attor­neys in first-degree mur­der cas­es to avoid wrong­ful con­vic­tions like that of for­mer death row inmate Alan Gell, who was exon­er­at­ed and freed in February. Cooper called Gell’s first trial a ​“trav­es­ty” and stat­ed that the prosecutors committed ​“inex­cus­able neglect” in their han­dling of the trial. ​“The orig­i­nal pros­e­cu­tors in this case owe every­one an apol­o­gy: the defen­dant, the victim’s…

“Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment?,” a new book edit­ed by Hugo Bedau and Paul Cassell, brings togeth­er judges, lawyers, pros­e­cu­tors and philoso­phers to debate the death penal­ty in a spir­it of open inquiry and exchange. The book dis­cuss­es issues such as deter­rence, inno­cence, life in prison with­out parole, and race. In addi­tion to the edi­tors, those who have chap­ters in the book inl­cude: Judge Alex Kozinski, Stephen Bright, Joshua Marquis, Bryan…

Wyoming leg­is­la­tors in both the House and Senate have passed a mea­sure to ban the death penal­ty for those who are under 18 at the time of their crime, mark­ing the sec­ond time in one week that a leg­isla­tive body in the United States has passed a ban on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for juve­nile offend­ers. The bill now goes to Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal for his sig­na­ture to become law. (Feb. 27, 2004). Earlier in the week, South Dakota’s leg­is­la­ture vot­ed to out­law the prac­tice (read more). The…

Shortly before the sched­uled 6 p.m. exe­cu­tion of Hung Thanh Le, a Vietnamese for­eign nation­al on Oklahoma’s death row, Governor Brad Henry grant­ed a stay of exe­cu­tion in def­er­ence to Vietnamese offi­cials who request­ed more time to review Le’s file. Le, who suf­fers from post-trau­­mat­ic stress dis­or­der result­ing from flee­ing Vietnam, was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed despite a unan­i­mous rec­om­men­da­tion for clemen­cy from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. More than 1,700 mem­bers of Oklahoma City’s…

In a recent col­umn, Marc H. Morial, the cur­rent President of the National Urban League and for­mer President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, praised recent efforts to halt exe­cu­tions while ques­tions about inno­cence and fair­ness are addressed by leg­is­la­tors. Morial…

Legislation ban­ning cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for crimes com­mit­ted by those younger than 18 has passed both the South Dakota House and Senate. The bill will now go to Governor Mike Rounds for sig­na­ture into law. Republican Representative Hal Wick of Sioux Falls sup­port­ed the bipar­ti­san mea­sure, stating, ​“I do have con­cerns about heinous crimes, but I don’t think it’s our place to destroy or for­get the sanc­ti­ty of life. Violent respons­es by the state beget more vio­lence. The state must lead by…

Legislation ban­ning cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for crimes com­mit­ted by those younger than 18 has passed both the South Dakota House and Senate. The bill will now go to Governor Mike Rounds for sig­na­ture into law. Republican Representative Hal Wick of Sioux Falls sup­port­ed the bipar­ti­san mea­sure, stating, ​“I do have con­cerns about heinous crimes, but I don’t think it’s our place to destroy or for­get the sanc­ti­ty of life. Violent respons­es by the state beget more vio­lence. The state must lead by…