Entries tagged with “Charles Burton”

Executions

Mar 16, 2026

The New York Times Editorial Board Condemns Secrecy, Arbitrariness of U.S. Death Penalty

The New York Times edi­to­r­i­al board pub­lished an arti­cle on March 13, 2026, con­demn­ing use of the death penal­ty in the coun­try as secre­tive, arbi­trary, and unjust. Relying heav­i­ly on research and data main­tained by the Death Penalty Information Center, the board describes the events of 2025, with its sharp increase in exe­cu­tions, as a​“dark new peri­od” in the nation’s his­to­ry. The board attrib­ut­es much of the surge to Florida, which alone car­ried out 19 executions in…

Upcoming Executions

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Mar 02, 2026

Alabama Governor Commutes Charles Burton’s Death Sentence After Calls from Broad Coalition of Supporters

**UPDATE:** On March 10, 2026, two days ahead of his sched­uled exe­cu­tion, Governor Kay Ivey grant­ed clemen­cy for Charles​“Sonny” Burton, com­mut­ing his death sen­tence to a sen­tence of life with­out parole. In a state­ment, Gov. Ivey said,​“I can­not pro­ceed in good con­science with the exe­cu­tion of Mr. Burton under such dis­parate cir­cum­stances. I believe it would be unjust for one par­tic­i­pant in this crime to be exe­cut­ed while the par­tic­i­pant who pulled the trigger…

Feb 02, 2026

Victim’s Daughter and Former Juror Oppose Execution of Alabama Man Who Officials Acknowledges Did Not Pull the Trigger

Two women inti­mate­ly con­nect­ed to a 1991 mur­der case in Alabama have pub­licly opposed the intend­ed exe­cu­tion of Charles​“Sonny” Burton, a man both the state and his attor­neys acknowl­edge did not fire the fatal shot. Priscilla Townsend, who served on the jury that sen­tenced Mr. Burton to death, and Tori Battle, whose father Doug Battle was killed dur­ing the rob­bery in ques­tion, have each writ­ten op-eds urg­ing Governor Kay Ivey to grant clemen­cy. On January 22, 2026, the…

Issues

Jul 26, 2019

ACLU Article Explores the Use of the Death Penalty Against Those Who Have Not Killed

The U.S. Supreme Court has said the death penal­ty must be reserved for the worst of the worst mur­ders and be imposed only on the worst of the worst offend­ers. But what of an accom­plice to a felony in which some­one was killed but the accom­plice nei­ther com­mit­ted the killing nor intend­ed that a killing would take place? Those co-defen­­dants are not even the worst of the worst par­tic­i­pants in the offense for which they are charged. Yet, as the American Civil Liberties…