Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The Appellate Division of New Jersey’s Superior Court ruled today that the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC) must exam­ine its lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tion pro­ce­dures before it car­ries out any death sen­tences, there­by halt­ing exe­cu­tions in the state until such a review takes place. The rul­ing notes, “[B]ecause of the patent grav­i­ty of the life and death issues impli­cat­ed by the reg­u­la­tions, we have con­clud­ed that rather than sim­ply strik­ing down those…

Two new books on the death penal­ty offer read­ers an exam­i­na­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment law and America’s use of this pun­ish­ment. In ​“Understanding Capital Punishment Law,” a new book pub­lished as part of the LexisNexis Understanding series, law pro­fes­sors Linda Carter and Ellen Kreitzberg offer stu­dents in cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment cours­es an overview of this com­plex area of law. The book includes a thor­ough review of con­sti­tu­tion­al law and cur­rent issues related…

Hung Thanh Le, a Vietnamese for­eign nation­al, is sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on February 26^th in Oklahoma. Governor Brad Henry has so far reject­ed a unan­i­mous rec­om­men­da­tion from the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Paroles to reduce Le’s death sen­tence to life in prison. Le’s appeal notes that he was not informed of his right to con­tact the Vietnamese con­sulate when he was arrest­ed and may have been suf­fer­ing from post-trau­­­mat­ic stress dis­or­der stem­ming from the Vietnam…