Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

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…

The Chair of Connecticut’s Judiciary Committee has called for enact­ment of death penal­ty reforms to pro­tect against wrong­ful con­vic­tions. Of the six reforms rec­om­mend­ed after a 13-month spe­cial com­mis­sion on Connecticut’s death penal­ty, only one has been enact­ed. Members of the commission noted, ​“Experiences in oth­er states through­out the coun­try sug­gest that Connecticut can­not be complacent and ​‘best prac­tices’ should be the watch­word.” Among the rec­om­men­da­tions are video taping of…

In a 7 – 2 deci­sion in Banks v. Dretke, the Supreme Court over­turned the death sen­tence of Delma Banks Jr., con­clud­ing that he was denied a fair tri­al because pros­e­cu­tors in Texas failed to dis­close key infor­ma­tion. Last year, Banks was just min­utes from his sched­uled exe­cu­tion in Texas when the Supreme Court inter­vened. Today’s deci­sion remands the case back to a low­er court so that new evi­dence may be con­sid­ered. Read DPIC’s Press Release. Also, Read the…

In a report filed by the Kansas Judicial Council Death Penalty Advisory Committee, retired Kansas Supreme Court Justice Fred N. Six not­ed that cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment cas­es pose immense bur­dens on judges. He…