Entries tagged with “Veterans”

Oct 11, 2019

100^th Execution or 30^th Exoneration? Florida Sets Execution Date for 73-Year-Old Military Veteran Who May Be Innocent

Florida has sched­uled the exe­cu­tion of 73-year-old James Dailey (pic­tured) for November 7, 2019, despite sub­stan­tial evi­dence that he had no involve­ment in the killing, includ­ing a state­ment by the admit­ted killer, Daley’s co-defe…

Feb 21, 2022

56 Prosecutors Issue Joint Statement Calling for End of ​‘Broken’ Death Penalty

Calling cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the U.S. ​“bro­ken,” 56 elect­ed pros­e­cu­tors from across the coun­try have issued a joint state­ment urg­ing sys­temic changes to end the death penal­ty nation­wide. As an ini­tial step, the pros­e­cu­tors pledged to not seek the …

Nov 12, 2018

A Veterans Day Review: Recent Cases Highlight Concerns About Veterans and the Death Penalty

As Americans become increas­ing­ly aware of the role of com­bat trau­ma in the devel­op­ment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and oth­er men­tal health dis­or­ders, the shift in pub­lic per­cep­tions towards vet­er­ans suf­fer­ing from these dis­or­ders has …

Nov 10, 2023

A Veterans Day Review: Uneven Progress Understanding the Role of Military Service in Capital Crimes

In 2015, DPIC’s

Nov 10, 2015

Battle Scars: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty

Jun 06, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 1, 2020

NEWS (6/​5/​20) — North Carolina: The North Carolina Supreme Court has struck down the state leg­is­la­ture’s attempt­ed retroac­tive repeal of the state’s Racial Justice Act, restor­ing the rights of approx­i­mate­ly 130 death-row pris­on­ers to seek …

May 23, 2019

Florida Executes Mentally Ill Vietnam Veteran Diagnosed with ​“Traumatic Brain Disease”

Florida has exe­cut­ed Bobby Joe Long (pic­tured), a men­tal­ly ill Vietnam vet­er­an with ser­vice-relat­ed trau­mat­ic brain injuries, after the U.S. Supreme Court on May 23, 2019 declined to review his ca…

Mar 01, 2022

New Poll Finds Bipartisan Opposition to Use of the Death Penalty as It is Actually Administered

A new nation­al poll has found that bipar­ti­san majori­ties of Americans oppose seek­ing the death penal­ty against vul­ner­a­ble groups of defen­dants who his­tor­i­cal­ly have been dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly sub­ject­ed to its use. The poll, con­duct­ed by the …

Feb 03, 2022

New Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Oppose Las Vegas DA Seeking the Death Penalty Against Vulnerable and Impaired Persons

Likely vot­ers in Clark County, Nevada over­whelm­ing­ly oppose the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment against broad cat­e­gories of vul­ner­a­ble and impaired per­sons whom coun­ty pros­e­cu­tors have been try­ing to exe­cute, a new poll…

Feb 05, 2020

News Brief — Texas Appeals Court Upholds Conviction and Death Sentence of Veteran With PTSD

NEWS (2/​5/​20): The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the con­vic­tion and death sen­tence of Marine Corps vet­er­an John Thuesen, who sus­tained com­bat-relat­ed PTSD from his ser­vice in the war in Iraq. In an unsigned, 

Jan 05, 2018

Retired Lt. General: Exclude Mentally Ill Vets from the Death Penalty

Saying that the death penal­ty should ​“be reserved for the ​‘worst of the worst in our soci­ety,’” retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General John Castellaw (pic­tured) has urged the Tennessee state leg­is­la­ture to adopt …

Mar 17, 2020

Texas Court Issues 60-Day Stay of Execution for John Hummel in Response to Coronavirus Crisis

Responding to esca­lat­ing health con­cerns caused by the COVID-19 coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has tem­porar­i­ly halt­ed the exe­cu­tion of John Hummel. In an order issued on March 16,…

Jun 30, 2021

Texas Executes John Hummel, Former Marine with Service-Related Trauma Whose Trial Lawyer Now Works for Prosecutor Who is Trying to Execute Him

Texas exe­cut­ed John Hummel on June 30, 2021, an hon­or­ably dis­charged for­mer Marine with ser­vice-relat­ed trau­ma whose tri­al lawyer now works for the pros­e­cu­tor who was try­ing to exe­cute him. Hummel had com…

Aug 07, 2018

Two Servicemen Suffering From Brain Trauma, PTSD Win Death-Penalty Relief

Two ser­vice­men — one a for­mer air­man on the U.S. mil­i­tary death row, anoth­er a dec­o­rat­ed Vietnam vet­er­an sen­tenced to death in Pennsylvania — have won relief from their cap­i­tal con­vic­tions or death sentences. 

Nov 06, 2020

Webinar Series Highlights Issues Faced by Veterans Facing the Death Penalty

The Death Penalty Information Center is part­ner­ing with the Veteran Advocacy Project to present a six-part webi­nar series on Veterans and the Death Penalty. The webi­na­rs, which are co-spon­sored by Advancing Real Change, Inc. and Witness to Innocen…