Entries by Hayley Bedard

According to records requested by The Tennessean, between 2017 and 2025 the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) spent nearly $600,000 of taxpayer funds obtaining drugs for lethal injection executions. Specific information about the drugs’ sources and origins remains unknown because of the state’s secrecy provisions. During this time period seven executions were carried out: five by electrocution, two by lethal injection. The TDOC initially refused to respond to The Tennessean’s February…

In this month’s podcast episode of 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context, DPI’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Sabrina Butler-Smith (pictured), who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death at age 17 for causing the death of her nine-month-old son. After two years and nine months on death row, Ms. Butler-Smith’s conviction was overturned. At a second trial, it was determined that her son died from a serious medical condition, polycystic kidney disease, and she was acquitted.

On March 14, 2025, a group of nine death row prisoners in Tennessee filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s sole use of pentobarbital in its revised lethal injection protocol, arguing it creates a “high risk of a torturous death.” In December 2024, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) completed a multi-year lethal injection protocol review and announced that instead of the previous three-drug protocol, the state would shift to rely on just one drug: pentobarbital. Earlier this month…

On March 12, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little (pictured) signed House Bill 37 into law, making the firing squad the state’s primary method of execution. In a statement to Catholic News Agency, Gov. Little said, “I have long made clear my support of capital punishment…My signing of [this bill] is consistent with my support of the Idaho Legislature’s actions in setting the policies around methods of execution in the state of Idaho.” The bill, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, passed both…

On March 11, in separate decisions, a federal court in Louisiana and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) stayed the upcoming executions of David Wood (scheduled for execution in Texas on March 13) and Jessie Hoffman (scheduled for execution in Louisiana on March 18). In Mr. Wood’s case, the TCCA granted a stay of execution to allow the state more time to address the eight claims Mr. Wood asserted in his state habeas claim. In Mr. Hoffman’s case, the U.S. District Court for the Middle…

South Carolina law requires Brad Sigmon to “elect” how the state will kill him on March 7, 2025 — and he opted for death by firing squad. His choices were lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad, with electrocution the default method of execution if no election is made. According to Mr. Sigmon’s attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, Mr. Sigmon chose the firing squad out of concern about problems with the state’s lethal injection protocol. Since Mr. Sigmon’s decision on February 21, 2025, his…

On February 19, 2025, in new filings, Robert Roberson returned to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) with a request for relief, presenting substantial new evidence that supports his claim of actual innocence. Mr. Roberson’s latest habeas application incorporates new expert opinions and references scientific advancements that have emerged since October 2024, when the CCA acknowledged in a similar case that the scientific foundation for “Shaken Baby” Syndrome (SBS) convictions lack…

In a 5 – 3 decision issued in Glossip v. Oklahoma on February 25, 2025, the United States Supreme Court threw out Richard Glossip’s 2004 conviction for arranging the murder of Barry Von Treese and ordered a new trial because prosecutors allowed a key witness to lie in court and withheld crucial information about the same witness. Justice Sonya Sotomayor, writing for the majority, said that prosecutors in Mr. Glossip’s case “violated [their] constitutional obligation to correct false testimony,”…

A new report from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), Unreliable Verdicts: Racial Bias and Wrongful Convictions, explores the history of racial bias in jury selection in the United States, including the last 40 years of racially-discriminatory preemptory jury strikes, and highlights the growing body of research showing that jury bias is reduced and the deliberative process enhanced when juries are more diverse. Looking at the pool of documented death penalty…

On February 10, 2025, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced his decision to end a 15-year pause on executions, saying the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections is ready to carry out executions under a new nitrogen gas execution protocol. In a press release following his announcement, Gov. Landry said, “For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promises made to victims of our State’s most violent crimes; but that failure of leadership by previous administrations is…