Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Aug 12, 2021
Senators, Members of Congress Urge Attorney General to Stop Seeking Death Sentences
Seventeen U.S. Senators and four Members of Congress who are leading the effort to abolish the federal death penalty have called on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (pictured) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop seeking the death penalty in pending and future federal murder…
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Aug 11, 2021
Alabama, Mississippi Take Preparatory Steps to Resume Executions
Alabama and Mississippi have undertaken preparatory steps towards resuming executions in the face of continuing legal challenges to their methods of…
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Aug 10, 2021
NEW RESOURCES: Capital Punishment and the State of Criminal Justice 2021
The American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section has released its annual report, The State of Criminal Justice 2021, examining major issues, trends, and significant changes in America’s criminal justice…
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Aug 09, 2021
Alabama Appeals Court Reverses Lower Court Ruling and Restores Death Sentence in Case in Which 10 of 12 Jurors Voted for Life
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has reversed a lower court ruling and ordered the court to reinstate the death penalty against a Birmingham man whose trial judge had sentenced him to death even though the jury had voted 10 – 2 to recommend a life…
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Aug 06, 2021
DPIC Analysis: 13 Exonerated in 2020 From Convictions Obtained by Wrongful Threat or Pursuit of the Death Penalty
A Death Penalty Information Center analysis of data from the National Registry of Exonerations has found that law enforcement use or threat of capital prosecution against suspects or witnesses contributed to the wrongful convictions of 10% of the people exonerated in the United States and more than one-fifth of all murder exonerations in…
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Aug 05, 2021
Presidential Commission Hears Recommendations for Reforms to Supreme Court’s Death-Penalty Practices
Legal reform advocates and a committee of high-profile Supreme Court practitioners have urged the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States to recommend changes in the way the Court handles emergency applications for stays of executions in death-penalty…
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Aug 04, 2021
As Biden Administration Mulls Federal Death-Penalty Policy, Study Finds U.S. Support for Capital Punishment at Lowest Point Since 1960s
As President Biden considers his administration’s policy on the federal death penalty, his expressed opposition to the punishment may be buoyed by a new study that has found that “Americans support capital punishment less than they have at any time since the modern death penalty system was established in…
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Aug 03, 2021
Equal Justice Initiative Releases Report on Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection
Racial bias in jury selection is compromising the “credibility, reliability, and integrity of the legal system,” and its effects are especially pronounced in death penalty cases, a new report from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) has…
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Aug 02, 2021
Lawsuit Alleges Unwritten Policy to Wrongfully Deny Parole to Former Ohio Death-Row Prisoners
Two Ohio civil rights organizations have filed suit against the state’s parole board, alleging that the board has an illegal policy of automatically denying parole to anyone who was formerly sentenced to…
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Jul 30, 2021
Nevada Press Association Sues State for Full Access to Witness Executions
The Nevada Press Association has filed a federal lawsuit against Nevada state officials and the Nevada Department of Corrections challenging limitations the state’s execution protocol places on the media’s ability to witness and report on…
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