Publications & Testimony

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced today, November 5, 2026, that he is commuting the death sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row, granting the largest mass clemency in American history. In his statement announcing the decision, Gov. Newsom said, “I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes all of us.” Governor Newsom announced a moratorium…

Attorneys for death row prisoner Jeffrey Weisheit and a group of state lawmakers urged Indiana Governor Mike Braun to grant a temporary reprieve ahead of Mr. Weisheit’s November 5 execution date, arguing the state should not proceed until questions about its lethal injection drug supply were answered. After Gov. Braun rejected those calls, Mr. Weisheit was executed by lethal injection before sunrise on the 5^th at Indiana State Prison. He was convicted of killing two children, Alyssa and Caleb…

On October 29, 2026, five groups filed amicus briefs asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review Brenda Andrew’s death sentence, which they say was shaped by pervasive gender bias at her trial. Her petition, which was filed on September 25, argues that the prosecution’s reliance on prejudicial evidence denied her the due process guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. At trial, prosecutors portrayed her as a bad wife and mother and dwelled on intimate details of her sex life. In their arguments to the…

On November 5, three people will be put to death in a single day across the United States, all by lethal injection. Indiana officials will execute Jeffrey Weisheit; Florida officials will execute Jesse Guardado; and Alabama officials will execute Michael Taylor. All three cases raise serious questions regarding the fairness of their trials and the constitutionality of their executions. This is the second time this year that three people are scheduled to die on the same day; the same occurred…

One month after the state of Tennessee attempted to execute her, Christa Pike issued a statement, sharing in her own words how the experience has affected her. Ms. Pike says she was “prepared to die” and had “made [her] peace” as she entered the execution chamber on September 30. She describes waking up in a hospital “confused and in pain,” and says she has been in pain constantly. “My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just…

District Attorney Jason Walsh of Washington County, Pennsylvania, sought the death penalty in 11 of 18 murder cases in his first four years in office (61%). He has filed capital charges more often than prosecutors in neighboring Allegheny County, which is over five times larger and has a higher murder rate, and more often than his own predecessor, who sought death just five times in nine years. Advocates argue that DA Walsh has abused his discretion and sought to further his political career by…

Reporting from The Tennessean has revealed that since January 2023, Tennessee officials have spent nearly $1.2 million on drugs for lethal injection executions, despite failing to carry out two of its last three scheduled executions in 2026. Records obtained by the outlet indicate the Tennessee Department of Correction has made two payments since January 2023 related to lethal injection drugs: one payment for $525,000, and the other for $650,000. The records do not offer any information about…

Curtis Flowers, a Black Mississippi man who spent nearly 23 years imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, died at his home on October 7, 2026, at age 56. His case came to embody both the human cost of racial discrimination in jury selection and the endurance required to survive it. Over the course of six trials, Mr. Flowers received four death sentences, with two trials ending in mistrials. According to the Innocence Project, the district attorney failed to secure a conviction whenever more…