Two criminal Justice Reform Bills on Hold in CA Legislature
September 7, 2021
Two bills that would go a long way toward reforming California’s seriously flawed criminal justice systems are on hold until January.
News & Updates
Share:
Filter & Search
Read More »
CA Supreme Court upholds flawed death penalty system
September 7, 2021
When the California Supreme Court, late last month, upheld a state law that does not require a unanimous jury vote when sentencing a defendant to death, it not only disappointed many criminal justice advocates it surprised them as well.
California Supreme Court Upholds Flawed Death Sentencing System
August 27, 2021
“We are disappointed the Court didn’t take this step to address one of the many serious flaws in California’s capital punishment system,” Death Penalty Focus Board Chair Sarah Sanger stated. “The Court could have taken a big step toward confronting a deeply biased death penalty system.”
Read DPF’s statement here regarding the disappointing decision announced by the CA Supreme Court today.
DPF welcomes an Interim Executive Director
August 11, 2021
“After the execution of 13 federal prisoners by the Trump administration last year, we knew we had to redouble our efforts to abolish the death
While we’re on the subject . . .
August 9, 2021
In “The Trump Executions,” in a University of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper, Lee Kovarsky analyzes the Trump Administration’s killing spree from July 2020 to January
In Brief: August 2021
August 9, 2021
In California, a 22-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a fatal shooting at a San Diego synagogue in April 2019 will be sentenced to life
Pew Poll shows decline in support for the death penalty
August 9, 2021
Support for the death penalty declined to 60% from 2020 when 65% were in favor, although a majority of Americans still support capital punishment “despite
A call for international guidelines in interrogations and investigations
August 9, 2021
“Everyone has a breaking point. Anyone can be convinced to confess, to lie. And it’s not only that they can but they do it at
California’s judicial “Golden Rule”
August 9, 2021
It’s called the Golden Rule argument because it’s used by prosecutors to put jurors in the shoes of the victim. And according to Pepperdine Caruso
“We’re executing people who probably are innocent”
August 9, 2021
“I now believe that the death penalty should absolutely not be a punishment delivered by the state of Florida or for that matter, any place in the
Voices: Donna Doolin Larsen
July 7, 2021
Donna Doolin Larsen is tired. She hasn’t rested since 1995, when she, her mother-in-law, and her then 22-year-old son Keith walked out of her doctor’s
While we’re on the subject . . . .
July 7, 2021
In his new book, A Descending Spiral: Exposing the Death Penalty in 12 Essays, Marc Bookman, the co-founder and executive director of the Atlantic Center for Capital
Melissa Lucio appeals to Texas governor and pardons board for clemency
March 23, 2022
Last week, lawyers for Melissa Lucio submitted a clemency application to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole. And a
South Carolina plans to execute by firing squad
March 22, 2022
South Carolina plans to execute its prisoners by firing squad, the first time a state has used this method since 2010 when Utah killed Ronnie
SCOTUS reinstates death penalty for Tsarnaev
March 15, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month reimposed the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who set off one of the bombs at the 2013 Boston
New Hampshire’s Abolition Architect Robert “Renny” Cushing Dies
March 8, 2022
The criminal justice community has lost a giant and Death Penalty Focus has lost a dear friend with Robert “Renny” Cushing’s passing. Cushing died Monday
57 prosecutors pledge to work to eliminate the death penalty
March 8, 2022
Fifty-seven elected prosecutors from around the country, holding “varied opinions surrounding the death penalty,” issued a joint statement last month, declaring that they have arrived
The death penalty doesn’t make police or public any safer, DPIC reports
March 1, 2022
Legislators anxious to reinstate the death penalty in their states hope their trump card will be police and public safety issues. But the facts stand
While we’re on the subject . . .
February 21, 2022
CBS News’ “48 Hours” reporter Erin Moriarty updates the Kevin Cooper case in an interview and article, noting that “It’s very difficult to believe that
50 Years Ago, California Abolished the Death Penalty
February 18, 2022
Fifty years ago this month, on February 18, 1972, California abolished the death penalty. But it didn’t stay abolished. The lesson for us is that
The Texas case of Melissa Lucio is a terrible miscarriage of justice
February 16, 2022
Texas has executed at least five men who were very likely innocent, according to a recent report by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death
