In Brief: July 2021
July 7, 2021
In Virginia, there is no death row anymore. The Virginia Mercury reports that last weekend, prison officials announced the last two prisoners facing death sentences were
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DPIC Looks at Two Death Penalty Trends in New Report
July 7, 2021
“The first half of 2021 spotlighted two continuing death-penalty trends in the United States. On one hand, the continuing erosion of capital punishment in law
William Richards is Found “Factually Innocent”
July 7, 2021
It’s taken 28 years, but William Richards is officially an innocent man. Three weeks ago, a San Bernardino Superior Court judge declared Richards “factually innocent”
American Bishops Join the Culture Wars
July 7, 2021
By Mike Farrell Sloughing off a warning from the Vatican, the American Conference of Catholic Bishops seem to have enlisted in the Culture Wars with
A BIG STEP TOWARD ENDING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN CALIFORNIA
July 7, 2021
by Stephen Rohde When the story is told about how the death penalty was abolished in California, the work of a little-known legislative committee will
US Attorney General Calls for a Moratorium on Federal Death Penalty
July 7, 2021
Stating that the Justice Department “must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution
US Attorney General Merrick Garland Calls for a Moratorium on Federal Death Penalty
July 6, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:Mary Kate DeLucco415-243-0143mary@deathpenalty.org US Attorney General Merrick Garland Calls for a Moratorium on Federal Death Penalty Sacramento (July 2, 2021) — Stating
In Brief – June 2021
June 9, 2021
In Arizona, corrections officials are preparing to execute death row prisoners with the same gas the Nazis used in mass killings at its concentration camps,
Voices: Philip Hansten
June 9, 2021
“I am confident there will come a day when we will have abolished the death penalty, and we will wonder how we could possibly have
A Former Death Row Prisoner Celebrates Virginia’s Abolition
June 9, 2021
For Joe Giarratano, Virginia’s abolition of the death penalty was a personal victory. He was on Virginia’s death row for 38 years before being released
California’s Racial Justice Act for All Passes Assembly
June 9, 2021
Last week, the California Racial Justice Act for All (AB 256), which addresses institutionalized and implicit racial bias in criminal cases, passed the state Assembly and
California Supreme Court Hears an Appeal that Could Change Death Sentencing
June 9, 2021
The California Supreme Court last week heard oral arguments from both sides on an appeal by a Los Angeles man who says his death sentence violated
California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Close Death Row
February 11, 2022
California’s death row, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, will be dismantled. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that a two-year-old pilot program will be
In brief: February 2022
February 9, 2022
In Alabama, Matthew Reeves was executed January 27, despite having an intellectual disability. Reeves was killed by lethal injection because he failed to choose a
Alabama Executes Matthew Reeves
January 28, 2022
Alabama executed Matthew Reeves last night despite the fact he had an intellectual disability. His execution was the second state killing yesterday after Oklahoma executed
Oklahoma Executes Donald Grant
January 27, 2022
Oklahoma executed Donald Grant this morning, less than 24 hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay on Wednesday afternoon. He was killed by
Teaser for a Kevin Cooper documentary is now streaming
January 10, 2022
“In his Defense,” a documentary on the Kevin Cooper case, is in the works right now, and California filmmaker Kenneth Carlson has released a teaser
While we’re on the subject . . .
January 10, 2022
In his editorial in Verdict, Austin Sarat says there is such significant “new progress in the effort to abolish America’s death penalty,” that it’s “not
In brief: January 2022
January 10, 2022
In Texas, the oldest person imprisoned on death row is scheduled to be executed on April 21. Carl Wayne Buntion, who is 77, has been
Executions and death sentences at near record lows in 2021, DPIC reports
January 10, 2022
“The death penalty in 2021 was defined by two competing forces: the continuing long-term erosion of capital punishment across most of the country, and extreme
Idaho governor denies commutation for Gerald Pizzuto, Jr.
January 10, 2022
Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. is 65 years old, dependent on a wheelchair, diabetic, and on hospice care because of advanced bladder cancer. He suffers from the
