Publications & Testimony

The Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky’s second-largest newspaper, announced it was ending its long-held support for the death penalty, and now believes the state legislature should abolish capital punishment. Describing its previous position as “keep it but fix it,” the editors stated, “we must now concede that the death penalty is not going to be fixed and, in fact, probably cannot be fixed at any defensible cost to taxpayers.” Citing the 2011 American Bar Association assessment of Kentucky’s…

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision on March 7 granting a new trial to Louisiana death row inmate Michael Wearry as a result of multiple acts of misconduct by prosecutors in his case. No physical evidence linked Wearry to the murder. His conviction was based largely on the testimony of an informant, Sam Scott, who came forward two years after the crime with an account that did not match the details of the crime. Scott altered his story over the course of four different…

UPDATE: Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law on March 7. Previously: The Florida legislature passed a bill on March 3 to restructure its death penalty statute in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Hurst v. Florida, which declared the state’s death penalty procedures unconstitutional. The bill modifies Florida’s practice of permitting judges to impose death sentences without the unanimous agreement of jurors by requiring that at least ten jurors recommend death before the judge…

Jefferson County, Alabama Circuit Judge Tracie Todd (pictured) ruled on March 3 that Alabama’s capital sentencing procedure violates the U.S. Constitution. Judge Todd barred the death penalty for four capital murder defendants, saying that Alabama’s use of judicial override violates the Sixth Amendment. Under Alabama’s system, at least 10 jurors must agree in order to recommend a death sentence, but a judge can override the jury’s recommendation and impose death even if the jury recommended a…

Delaware public defenders have filed a brief in the Delaware Supreme Court arguing that the state’s death sentencing procedures are unconstitutional. In their brief, the defenders describe “multiple constitutional problems” that they say “require Delaware’s death penalty scheme to be substantially restructured.” These include several procedures that they say are unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 8 – 1 decision in Hurst v. Florida. Delaware allows juries to render…

Stephen Urquhart (pictured), a Republican state senator in Utah, supported the death penalty until about a year ago, when a friend convinced him that capital punishment didn’t fit his conservative beliefs. Now Urquhart sees the death penalty as inefficient, costly, and wrong and is the lead sponsor of a bill to repeal the state’s death penalty. He said concerns about the cost of the death penalty and the risk of executing an innocent person changed his stance on the issue. In discussions with…

On February 29, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Williams v. Pennsylvania, a case challenging former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille’s participation in the state’s appeal of a death penalty case involving Terry Williams (pictured), whose capital prosecution Castille personally authorized in his earlier role as Philadelphia District Attorney. A lower court judge overturned Williams’ death sentence in 2012 finding that Philadelphia prosecutors had withheld…

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the Court’s most ardent proponents of capital punishment, has died at age 79. Justice Scalia succinctly summarized his opinion of the constitutionally of the death penalty at a book signing at the American Enterprise Institute in 2012. He said: “The death penalty? Give me a break. It’s easy.” As he was with other issues, Justice Scalia was often ascerbic in his critique of opposing views about the death penalty. In response…

A Wake County North Carolina jury voted on February 22 to sentence capital defendant Travion Devonte Smith to life without parole, making Smith’s case the sixth consecutive Wake County death penalty trial to end with a life sentence. Though Wake County was among the 2% of counties responsible for a majority of inmates on U.S. death rows as of 2013, the county has not produced any new death sentences since 2007. District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said that her office pursued the death penalty in…

Former Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Terry J. Collins (pictured) says the death penalty is “a failed public policy” that “isn’t worth fixing.” With 30 years of experience as a warden, regional corrections director, assistant director, and then corrections director, Collins participated in 33 executions. He says, “With each execution I asked myself: Did the extensive process of appeals ensure we got it right? I often wondered if we made a mistake. My curiosity arose…