Entries tagged with “DNA Testing

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Recent Legislative Activity

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Mar 30, 2020

After Unanimous House Passage, Florida Senate Fails to Enact DNA Reforms

After receiv­ing unan­i­mous sup­port in the Florida House of Representatives, a bill that would have expand­ed access to post­con­vic­tion DNA test­ing failed in the Florida Senate when the leg­isla­tive body adjourned its 2020 leg­isla­tive ses­sion with­out t…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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United States Supreme Court

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Aug 03, 2022

Amicus Groups Ask Supreme Court to Overturn Texas Appeals Court Refusal to Grant New Trial to Death-Row Prisoner Convicted Based on DNA Testimony Prosecutor and Trial Court Agree Was False

Three groups of fair jus­tice advo­cates have filed friend-of-the-court briefs ask­ing the U.S. Supreme Court to review and over­turn a Texas appeals court rul­ing that denied a new tri­al to a death-row pris­on­er who pros­e­cu­tors and the…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Race

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Representation

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United States Supreme Court

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Lethal Injection

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Apr 26, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of April 192021

NEWS (4/​21 – 4/​23/​21) — Texas: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled against Texas death-row pris­on­ers in three sep­a­rate cap­i­tal appeals. On April 23, a split pan­el of the court …

Policy Issues

Representation

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United States Supreme Court

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Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Jun 19, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 152020

NEWS (6/​19/​20) — California: In one of the few cap­i­tal tri­als to move for­ward dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, a San Jose jury acquit­ted Manuel Anthony Lopez of charges that he had raped and mur­dered his girlfriend’s two-year-old son.

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Intellectual Disability

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Race

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Upcoming Executions

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Nov 09, 2020

Citing COVID-19, Governor Grants Reprieve to Tennessee Death-Row Prisoner Pervis Payne

Citing the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has grant­ed a tem­po­rary reprieve to death-row pris­on­er Pervis Payne, halt­ing his sched­uled December 3, 2020 exe­cu­tion. The exe­cu­tion was the last schedu…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jun 28, 2023

First Death Row Exoneration Involving DNA Evidence Happened 30 Years Ago

June 28, 2023 marks the 30th anniver­sary of the exon­er­a­tion of Kirk Bloodsworth (pic­tured), the first per­son exon­er­at­ed from death row with DNA evi­dence. In the three decades since he was exon­er­at­ed from Maryland’s death row, Mr. Bloods…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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United States Supreme Court

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May 05, 2022

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case of Texas Death Row Prisoner Rodney Reed

In a case legal experts say could redress a mis­car­riage of jus­tice or insti­tu­tion­al­ize it, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Texas fed­er­al courts’ refusal to per­mit DNA test­ing of crime-scene evidenc…