Publications & Testimony
Latest
Jan 23, 2025
Arizona’s Handling of Lethal Injection Drugs Raises Transparency and Viability Concerns
According to investigative reporting from the AZ Mirror, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry (ADCRR) is storing the state’s supply of pentobarbital salt, the active ingredient used in a compounded form in lethal injection executions, in eight unmarked glass containers in a prison refrigerator, raising doubts about the drugs’ authenticity and efficacy. ADCRR has refused to reveal how long it has been in possession of these…
Read MoreJan 22, 2025
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Only Woman on Oklahoma Death Row, Confirming Admission of Prejudicial, Gendered Evidence Can Violate Due Process Rights
At Brenda Andrew’s 2004 trial in Oklahoma for the murder of her husband, the prosecutor called witnesses to testify about her“provocative” clothing and her previous sexual relationships, and questioned“whether a good mother would dress or behave” the way she had. Jurors heard Ms. Andrew called a“hoochie” and a“slut puppy.” In his closing argument, the prosecutor opened a suitcase and showed the jury Ms. Andrew’s underwear, asking,“The grieving widow…
Read MoreJan 21, 2025
Among Flurry of First-Day Executive Orders, President Trump Issues Order on the Death Penalty
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed more than two dozen Executive Orders, including a call to“restore” the federal death penalty. The Order, while lacking many important details, instructs the Department of Justice’s Attorney General to“pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” including the killing of a law enforcement officer or“a capital crime committed by an illegal alien present in this country” and to encourage…
Read MoreJan 17, 2025
DOJ Report Shines a Harsh Light on the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, Illuminating a History of Racial Violence in Oklahoma
On January 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice released its Review and Evaluation of the Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31-June 1, 1921. The department characterized the report as“the federal government’s first thorough reckoning” designed to acknowledge, illuminate, and preserve for history the“horrible ordeals of the massacre’s victims” even if they found no legal avenue for prosecution of the crimes committed over…
Read MoreJan 16, 2025
Department of Justice Withdraws Federal Execution Protocol and Keeps Moratorium on Executions in Place
Three and a half years after announcing its investigation into the federal death penalty protocol, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on January 15, 2025 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is rescinding the federal government’s single-drug pentobarbital lethal injection protocol. The DOJ’s decision was based on what AG Garland called“significant uncertainty” about whether executions by pentobarbital caused unnecessary pain and suffering. The…
Read MoreJan 15, 2025
Idaho Reckons with High Costs of the Death Penalty
A recent op-ed in the Idaho Statesman highlights a number of difficulties that are a result of historic underspending on capital defense as the state prepares for its first execution since 2012. Idaho’s public defense system is transitioning to statewide oversight as part of an effort to address longstanding inequities in county-funded legal representation. With the consolidation of the public defender system came pay increases for most of Idaho’s…
Read MoreJan 14, 2025
New Analysis: Marion Bowman’s Scheduled Execution in South Carolina Raises Concerns About Youth Culpability, Fits Pattern of Disproportionate Executions of Young Black Men
When Marion Bowman was arrested at age 20 for the murder of Kandee Martin, society did not consider him mature enough to drink alcohol, rent a car, or enter a casino. Yet he was deemed old enough to be sentenced to death. Now 44, he has spent over half his life on South Carolina’s death row and is scheduled for execution on January 31. “Retribution is not proportional if the law’s most severe penalty is imposed on one whose culpability or blameworthiness is diminished, to a substantial degree…
Read MoreJan 13, 2025
Connecticut Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Prohibit the Production and Manufacturing of Lethal Injection Drugs and Other Materials for Executions
On January 10, 2025, three Connecticut lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal to manufacture and sell any drugs or medical devices in the state meant to carry out the death penalty. In 2024, Connecticut-based company Absolute Standards was identified as the source of lethal injection drugs used in 13 federal executions in 2020 and 2021. In a letter to the bill’s sponsors, John Criscio, President of Absolute Standards, said the company ceased production…
Read MoreJan 09, 2025
Worldwide Monthly Roundup: Abolition in Zimbabwe, Global Moratorium Gains Support; Known Executions Rise in Limited Number of Countries
Progress towards global abolition of the death penalty continues with Zimbabwe’s end-2024 decision to nearly eliminate the practice, only preserving the right to impose death when the country is under a declared public emergency. Zimbabwe’s last execution…
Read MoreJan 07, 2025
Aaron Gunches Asks for February Execution Date, Raising New Concerns About Arizona’s Lethal Injection Protocol and the Execution of “Volunteers”
No jury has ever learned about Aaron Gunches’ life history and experiences, nothing about his childhood, mental and physical health, or trauma — the mitigation evidence that the Supreme Court has said is essential to a constitutional death sentence. Arizona courts judged Mr. Gunches competent to represent himself in two separate trials for the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s husband, and he presented no defense in either proceeding. Jurors twice sentenced him…
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