Entries tagged with “Due Process”

Jul 29, 2025

Defendants Petition the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Alleging Washington County District Attorney Abused His Discretion in Death Penalty Cases

On July 22, 2025, attor­neys with the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation filed a peti­tion on behalf of two crim­i­nal defen­dants — Jordan Clarke and Joshua George — alleg­ing Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh has demon­strat­ed a pat­tern of improp­er­ly threat­en­ing or seek­ing death sen­tences in vio­la­tion of the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. The attor­neys are ask­ing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to use its​“extra­or­di­nary…

Jul 14, 2025

New Louisiana Legislation Will Limit Post-Conviction Appeals, Endangering Innocent Prisoners in an Attempt to Expedite Executions

Recent leg­is­la­tion signed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry dras­ti­cal­ly restricts the abil­i­ty of pris­on­ers to chal­lenge their con­vic­tions, which those opposed to the law have argued could lead to the exe­cu­tion of inno­cent pris­on­ers. HB 675, signed into law in June 2025, impos­es strict time lim­its on post-con­vic­­tion relief appli­ca­tions and intro­duces​“aban­don­ment” rules that cut off appeal options for pris­on­ers who fail to meet the law’s strict dead­lines. The…

Jun 23, 2025

In Unusual Move, Texas Attorney General Requests Execution Date for Robert Roberson Before a Court Has Heard New Evidence of His Actual Innocence

On June 16, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion in the Anderson County District Court request­ing a new exe­cu­tion date for Robert Roberson, despite the fact that a motion from defense coun­sel with new evi­dence in sup­port of Mr. Roberson’s actu­al inno­cence remains pend­ing. As the *Dallas Morning Editorial Board* notes, it is​“unusu­al” that “\[AG\] Paxton’s office is involved” in request­ing the exe­cu­tion date. AG Paxton has active­ly sought Mr. Roberson’s…

Jun 12, 2025

Counsel for Ralph Menzies Appeal Competency Ruling as State Moves to Set Execution Date

On June 6, 2025, District Judge Matthew Bates issued a rul­ing find­ing Utah death-sen­­tenced pris­on­er Ralph Menzies men­tal­ly com­pe­tent to be exe­cut­ed despite con­cerns pre­sent­ed by Mr. Menzies’ attor­neys about his vas­cu­lar demen­tia. In his rul­ing, Judge Bates agreed that Mr. Menzies suf­fers from vas­cu­lar demen­tia but said Mr. Menzies had failed to show​“by a pre­pon­der­ance of the evi­dence that his men­tal con­di­tion pre­vents him from reach­ing a rational…