Publications & Testimony
Items: 51 — 60
Jan 05, 2024
2023 Legislation Activity
2023 — Proposed legislationStates with bills to abolish death penalty indicated with *Session dates via StateScapeState names link to state legislative homepage
Read MoreJan 04, 2024
Utah Judge Clears the Way for Use of the Firing Squad
On December 22, 2023, Judge Coral Sanchez of Utah’s Third Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by five men on the state’s death row that challenged Utah’s two execution methods and protocols. Ralph Menzies, Troy Kell, Michael Archuleta, Douglas Carter, and Taberon Honie sought an order vacating Utah’s current execution protocols for lethal injection and firing squad and enjoining their future use. The prisoners argue that both methods constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. In her decision to dismiss their lawsuit, Judge Sanchez wrote that the “plaintiffs…
Read MoreJan 03, 2024
Overwhelming Percentage of Florida’s Hurst Resentencing Hearings End in Life Sentences
According to new research by the Death Penalty Information Center, 82% of Florida death-sentenced prisoners who completed new sentencing proceedings under Hurst v. Florida (2016) have been resentenced to life in prison without parole. Hurst found Florida’s death penalty scheme unconstitutional, and the Florida Supreme Court subsequently held that new death sentences must be unanimous, necessitating new sentencing hearings. Of the 157 cases DPIC previously identified as Hurst-eligible — anyone sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury since 2002 — about two-thirds have been resolved and one-third remain. However, in April 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed…
Read MoreJan 02, 2024
NEW STUDY: Research Suggests the Arbitrariness of Facial Features Affects Jurors’ Sentencing Decisions in Death Penalty Cases
A new study from Columbia University researchers indicates that jurors’ perception of facial features in white defendants affects their sentencing decisions, much like the biases that affect every day social interactions and decision making. Through four experiments with 1,400 volunteers, “the researchers found that when real-world defendants have facial features that appear untrustworthy, they are more likely to be sentenced to death than life in prison.” Particular facial features, such as a heavy brow or down-turned lips, are known to cause others to view an individual as untrustworthy, despite these…
Read MoreDec 21, 2023
Former Death Row Prisoner Craigen Armstrong Pioneers “Vital” Mental Illness Treatment Program in L.A. Jail
A new story by the L.A. Times highlights former California death row prisoner Craigen Armstrong’s instrumental role in building a peer-prisoner mental health treatment program in the Los Angeles Twin Towers Correctional Facility, an effort which has helped hundreds of prisoners with severe mental illness. While awaiting retrial, Mr. Armstrong established the “mental health assistant” role to support and treat fellow prisoners, and has developed training materials for jails and prisons across the country to replicate his program’s success.
Read MoreDec 20, 2023
Batson Relief for Another Mississippi Prisoner Prosecuted by Doug Evans
On December 12, 2023 U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Terry Pitchford’s death sentence and ordered Mississippi to retry him in 6 months or release him from custody. Judge Mills found that the original trial judge failed to allow the defense to properly challenge the exclusion of Black jurors by now-retired District Attorney Doug Evans, the same prosecutor who prosecuted Curtis Flowers. “This court cannot ignore the notion that Pitchford was seemingly given no chance to rebut the state’s explanations and prove purposeful discrimination,” Judge Mills wrote.
Read MoreDec 19, 2023
Noel Montalvo Exonerated Twenty Years After Pennsylvania Sent Him to Death Row
On December 18, Pennsylvania dropped all homicide charges against Noel Montalvo, twenty years after he was convicted and sentenced to death in York County. Mr. Montalvo (pictured) pled guilty to one count of tampering with evidence in exchange for release and one year on probation. The Death Penalty Information Center has determined that Mr. Montalvo meets the criteria for inclusion on our exoneration list because the charges that placed him on death row have been dismissed.
Read MoreDec 18, 2023
Florida Prosecutors Seek First Death Sentence Under New Child Sex Abuse Law
On December 14, 2023, Lake County, Florida prosecutors announced they are seeking the death penalty for a man accused of committing the sexual battery of a minor under the age of twelve. A statement from the office of State Attorney William Gladson said the decision reflects the “severity of the crime and its impact on the community.” Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that expands death penalty eligibility to those convicted of sex crimes against children. This is the first case in which Florida prosecutors have sought a…
Read MoreDec 15, 2023
Supreme Court Agrees to Second Review of Arizona Death Penalty Case on Arizona’s Request
On Wednesday, December 13, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Thornell v. Jones, its first death penalty case to be heard at oral argument in the 2023 term. Unlike most death penalty cases that seek Supreme Court review, the petitioner here is the state of Arizona, which asks the Court to reverse the Ninth Circuit’s grant of relief for death-sentenced prisoner Danny Lee Jones (pictured). The Ninth Circuit held that Mr. Jones demonstrated ineffective assistance of counsel at his sentencing phase under Strickland v. Washington (1984). So far this…
Read MoreDec 14, 2023
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Releases its 2023 Year in Review Report
A new report released by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty highlights Texas’ continuing outlier practices in the administration of the death penalty. As one of just five states carrying out executions this year, Texas is responsible for a third of the 24 executions in 2023. Of the eight men executed, six displayed significant intellectual or mental health impairments, including brain damage, intellectual disability, and a range of mental illnesses. “The vast majority of individuals executed by Texas in 2023 had significant mental impairments. What is even more appalling…
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