Entries by Hayley Bedard

Sandra Hemme walked free from a Missouri prison in July 2024 after 43 years behind bars for a murder she did not commit; however, her release only came after a judge threatened state Attorney General Andrew Bailey with contempt of court for trying to keep Ms. Hemme incarcerated despite overwhelming evidence of her innocence. Now 65 years old, Ms. Hemme has filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Joseph, Missouri and eight police officers involved in her case for malicious prosecution, alleging…

On July 18, 2025, the Davidson County Chancery Court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) to ensure that Byron Black’s implanted heart device (cardiac implantable electronic device, or CIED) is switched off just ahead of his execution by a cardiac specialist or qualified technician working under such supervision. In June 2025, counsel for Mr. Black filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, explaining that because of his CIED, he faces a…

Recent reporting from the Houston Chronicle describes a pilot program begun in February of last year which has allowed a select group of prisoners on Texas’ death row the opportunity to experience loosened confinement conditions. About a dozen individuals on Texas’ death row are being allowed to mingle in a common room, share meals, and spend time outside of their cells without handcuffs or shackles. As the Chronicle reports, “instead of shouting to each other through cell vents and meal slots…

On July 16, 2025, Smith County District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson set an execution date of October 16, 2025 for Robert Roberson, a man with a strong innocence claim who has a habeas corpus petition pending at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA). Judge Jackson, after hearing arguments from both defense counsel for Mr. Roberson and attorneys from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, ruled that there was no legal basis for not signing an execution order. “It doesn’t seem like…

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is facing accusations that he broke a written agreement that would have freed former death row prisoner Richard Glossip from prison more than two years ago, according to court documents filed in mid-July 2025. The revelation centers on email exchanges from April 2023, where AG Drummond, in a thread with Don Knight, counsel for Mr. Glossip, agreed to a plea deal that would have resulted in Mr. Glossip’s immediate release after more than two decades on…

In June 2025, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman requested that Governor Andy Beshear set an execution date for death row prisoner Ralph Baze. In a late June 2025 reply, Gov. Beshear declined to do so because of an April 2025 Franklin County Circuit Court ruling that found part of Kentucky’s execution protocol unconstitutional. Gov. Beshear indicated that several steps must be taken by the Department of Corrections (DOC) to address the issues raised by the court before the state is…

Recent legislation signed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry drastically restricts the ability of prisoners to challenge their convictions, which those opposed to the law have argued could lead to the execution of innocent prisoners. HB 675, signed into law in June 2025, imposes strict time limits on post-conviction relief applications and introduces “abandonment” rules that cut off appeal options for prisoners who fail to meet the law’s strict deadlines. The law goes into effect on August 1…

On July 7, 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of former Virginia death-sentenced prisoner Justin Wolfe, vacating a lower court dismissal of his most recent habeas petition, and paving the way for a new hearing where Mr. Wolfe will have the opportunity to provide new evidence in support of his innocence. Mr. Wolfe was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002 for the 2001 murder-for-hire of his cannabis supplier in Northern Virginia. In his most recent petition, counsel for…

On June 26, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a rare 6 – 3 ruling in favor of a Texas death row prisoner, Ruben Gutierrez, holding that he may proceed with his lawsuit challenging Texas’s post-conviction DNA statute on constitutional grounds. Mr. Gutierrez was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder and robbery of an 85-year-old woman but has long maintained he did not know his codefendants would kill the victim. According to the decision, “Gutierrez has standing to…