Entries tagged with “Ernest Johnson”

Facts & Research

Religion

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Jan 10, 2024

Catholic Organizers See ​“Renewed Momentum” for Death Penalty Abolition from Pope Francis’ Teachings

In 2018, Pope Francis for­mal­ly revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church — its core teach­ings — to oppose the death penal­ty. Characterizing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment as ​“an attack on the invi­o­la­bil­i­ty and dig­ni­ty of the per­son,” he wrote that the Catholic Church ​“works with deter­mi­na­tion for its abo­li­tion world­wide.” This revi­sion updat­ed a 1997 Catechism edit by Pope John Paul II that per­mit­ted the death penal­ty in rare cas­es where it was deemed ​“the only pos­si­ble way of effec­tive­ly defend­ing human…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Race

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Clemency

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Religion

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Oct 01, 2021

Missouri Moves to Execute Intellectually Disabled Death-Row Prisoner, As Former Governor, Court Justice, and Faith and Rights Leaders Seek Mercy

As the exe­cu­tion date nears for a Missouri man wide­ly regard­ed to be intel­lec­tu­al­ly dis­abled, a for­mer Missouri Governor, Supreme Court Justice, and papal envoy have joined faith and civ­il rights lead­ers, and the prisoner’s lawyers in efforts to spare his…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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United States Supreme Court

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Lethal Injection

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Native Americans

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May 31, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of May 24, 2021

NEWS (5/​24 and 5/​26/​21) — Washington, D.C.: The U.S. Supreme Court issued rul­ings in two death-penal­ty cas­es, deny­ing a defense peti­tion to review an ​“as-applied” chal­lenge to Missouri’s lethal-injec­tion pro­to­col and grant­i­ng a pros­e­cu­tion peti­tion to delay enforce­ment of a state-court rul­ing that had void­ed the con­vic­tion of an Oklahoma death-row…

Policy Issues

Representation

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United States Supreme Court

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Lethal Injection

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Apr 05, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of March 29, 2021

NEWS (3/​31/​21) — Florida: After find­ing that Florida death-row pris­on­er William Greg Thomas was enti­tled to present an untime­ly habeas cor­pus peti­tion because his pri­or lawyer had aban­doned him, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed but denied Thomas’ chal­lenge to his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence. The court held that Thomas was enti­tled to equi­table tolling of the habeas cor­pus statute of lim­i­ta­tions but ruled that his inef­fec­tive assis­tance claims were…