Entries tagged with “Leonard Taylor”
Executions
Religion
,Feb 03, 2026
Restrictions on Spiritual Advisers in Execution Chambers Persist Despite Supreme Court Ruling
When Lance Shockley was executed in Missouri in October 2025, he requested the presence of his daughter, an ordained minister, in the execution chamber as his spiritual adviser. The Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC) denied his request, and Mr. Shockley was executed. His case represents one example of how states have applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Ramirez v. Collier, a decision that acknowledged the religious rights of death-sentenced prisoners at the time of their…
State & Federal Info
Military
,Nov 10, 2023
A Veterans Day Review: Uneven Progress Understanding the Role of Military Service in Capital Crimes
In 2015, DPIC’s Battle Scars report brought worldwide attention to the issue of military veterans on death row. DPIC found approximately 300 veterans incarcerated under a sentence of death, representing at least 10% of death row, and many more who had been executed. Since that report, research and understanding about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), substance use disorders, and mental illness among veterans has only grown. A 2023 survey of members of the…
Issues
Religion
,Aug 07, 2023
Religious Leaders Explain Why They Minister to Death-Sentenced Prisoners During Executions
Reverend Melissa Potts-Bowers, the spiritual advisor to Michael Tisius, recently described her experience ministering to him during his execution as “quite horrifying — as it’s intended to be.” Mr. Tisius was executed by the state of Missouri on June 6, 2023. Rev. Potts-Bowers’ relationship with Mr. Tisius began when she was his minister and pen pal and continued after she became a hospice chaplain. At the time of his execution, she had been his spiritual advisor for more than twenty years. In…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,Feb 03, 2023
POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: New Evidence Regarding Missouri Man Facing Execution
Leonard Taylor (pictured) is a Missouri death-row prisoner who was convicted in 2008 of a quadruple murder that occurred in St. Louis in December 2004. His execution is scheduled for February 7, 2023. Taylor has consistently maintained his innocence. Although Taylor’s attorneys have discovered new evidence to substantiate his claim, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell announced that he would not ask a judge to hold an evidentiary hearing in the case. Taylor claims that he was not…