Watch Now: How We Decrease Death Row & Abolish the Death Penalty
October 28, 2021
How we Decrease Death Row & Abolish the Death Penalty: A Conversation with the California Committee on Revision of the Penal Code Watch the recap
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Watch Now: Women on Death Row Webinar
October 18, 2021
Watch a recap of the first of our fall webinar series with “Women on Death Row,” moderated by Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director of the National Coalition To Abolish the Death Penalty, in conversation with two women who wrongfully spent time on death row.
Voices: Bethany Webb
October 11, 2021
“Ten years seem so long, but when I think about the shooting, about losing Laura, it seems both like it happened yesterday and a million
While we’re on the subject . . .
October 11, 2021
In his op-ed, “Oklahoma’s rush to execute harms culture of life,” in the Oklahoman, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley writes that a court case pending in
In brief: October 2021
October 11, 2021
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last week a bill that expands another criminal justice reform bill that became law two years ago.
Oklahoma Executions Loom
October 11, 2021
When the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against clemency for John Grant last week, it cleared the way for the state to resume
Oregon Supreme Court ruling likely to clear death row
October 11, 2021
The Oregon Supreme Court issued a ruling last week which will likely overturn the death sentences of all 23 prisoners on death row. In State v.
“In the extreme: Women serving life without parole and death sentences in the United States”
October 11, 2021
“The circumstances that lead women to commit violent crimes are often complicated by a history of sexual and/or physical trauma….We know, for instance, that almost
While we’re on the subject…
September 7, 2021
In her Nevada Independent op-ed, “Nevada is preparing to execute a man with significant organic brain damage,” Dr. Natalie Novick Brown, a licensed clinical psychologist who evaluated
In brief: September 2021
September 7, 2021
In California, the Los Angeles Daily News reports that Stanley Bernard Davis, sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of Los Angeles college students Michelle Ann Boyd
Ed Asner
September 7, 2021
Death Penalty Focus lost a dear friend and one of its most loyal supporters last week. Actor, activist, and all-around good guy, Ed Asner, died late last month at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91.
Oklahoma seeks execution dates for seven men
September 7, 2021
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor has tentatively scheduled executions for seven men in five months, starting in October and continuing into February. If carried out, they will be the first executions in the state since 2015.
Rev. Caroll Pickett Dies
April 25, 2022
The Rev. Caroll Pickett, who, as prison chaplain on Texas’s death row, witnessed 95 executions, died earlier this month. He was 88. He told the
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issues temporary reprieve for Oscar Smith
April 22, 2022
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a temporary reprieve for Oscar Smith on Thursday, WKRN.com reports. “Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the
In brief: April 2022
April 19, 2022
In Missouri, Carman Deck is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for the 1996 killings of James and Zelma Long. Deck’s 1998 death sentence had
Bipartisan group of Texas legislators meets with Melissa Lucio on death row
April 12, 2022
In less than three weeks, Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed by Texas for the killing of her two-year-old daughter, despite overwhelming evidence her
Jury to determine life or death for Parkland school shooter
April 5, 2022
Jury selection for the penalty phase of the trial for Nikolas Cruz began this week. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to killing 17 people and
Thank you for making our Annual Awards Event a success!
March 29, 2022
Our Annual Awards Event last Thursday was a powerful reminder of how far we’ve come since we held our first event 30 years ago. And
While we’re on the subject . . .
March 29, 2022
On “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Oliver explains just how overwhelmingly difficult it is to be exonerated for a wrongful conviction even in the
In brief: March 2022
March 29, 2022
In Kentucky, a bill prohibiting the execution of people with serious mental illness passed last week. HB 269 adds mental illness to the list of
2022 Virtual Awards Event (On-Demand)
March 24, 2022
Death Penalty Focus Presents: 30th Awards Event (Virtual) Originally Aired: March 24, 2022 Watch On-Demand Tribute Journal Donate About While 2021 was difficult in many
