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Death Penalty

1286 ABA Journal Death Penalty articles.

SCOTUS seems closely divided on new trial for Oklahoma death row inmate

The Supreme Court appeared closely divided Wednesday over whether to order a new trial for Oklahoma death-row inmate Richard Glossip, whose case has attracted support from across the political spectrum after independent investigations revealed prosecutorial misconduct.

Oct 9, 2024 3:50 PM CDT

Friend’s compassion—even in death—inspired my own ‘David’s Will’

Sometimes in life we are fortunate to meet someone who dedicates everything to a higher calling. For me, this person was David Breaux. While he had few financial resources, David was, by every measure that counts, a rich man.

Oct 2, 2024 2:11 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Will the Supreme Court have a role in the presidential election as it enters a new term?

As the justices return to the bench on Oct. 7 for the new term, the unknowable question is whether the U.S. Supreme Court will play a role in the outcome of the November 2024 presidential election. Will this year be like 2000, when a close election was effectively decided by the court’s ruling in Bush v. Gore? Or will it be like 2020, when a close election did not raise any issues for the justices to decide?

Oct 2, 2024 8:53 AM CDT

Melanie Kalmanson dedicates pro bono work to death penalty education

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the death penalty case Hurst v. Florida in January 2016, it effectively changed the course of Melanie Kalmanson’s career. “That’s when my passion for these issues started, when I was seeing it in real life, living these cases, working on these cases, seeing how it affected Florida,” Kalmanson says. “The thing that really hit me was how little society knows about the reality of the death penalty.”

Oct 1, 2024 1:00 AM CDT

Death row inmate held in solitary confinement for 26 years can sue, federal appeals court rules

A death row inmate with a known history of serious mental illness can sue Pennsylvania’s corrections chief for holding him in solitary confinement for 26 years, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Sep 26, 2024 9:22 AM CDT

Lawyer chooses lethal injection for inmate who didn’t want to make decision

A South Carolina lawyer has picked lethal injection as the execution method for a client who didn’t want to make the decision because of religious qualms.

Sep 10, 2024 8:50 AM CDT

Death-penalty case was epitome of ‘extreme judicial malfunction,’ 6th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has granted habeas to a death row inmate who challenged his sentencing, holding that an Ohio judge displayed an objective risk of bias partly because he enlisted the prosecutor to write the death-penalty opinion.

Aug 12, 2024 11:15 AM CDT

South Carolina’s execution menu is not cruel and unusual, state supreme court says

The South Carolina Supreme Court has upheld a state law that gives death row inmates a choice of three execution methods: electrocution, firing squad or lethal injection.

Aug 1, 2024 3:05 PM CDT

Sept. 11 defense lawyer, winner of ABA Journal’s 2024 Ross Writing Contest, recognizes humanity of reviled clients

Updated: A former public defender who represents a detainee at Guantanamo Bay is the winner of the 2024 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction.

Jul 9, 2024 11:08 AM CDT

Top elected justices are twice as likely to affirm death penalty in election years, 3-state study finds

Politics is apparently affecting the fate of people caught up in the criminal justice system, according to a study by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Jul 2, 2024 9:03 AM CDT

9th Circuit ‘all but ignored’ aggravating factors in death-penalty case, Supreme Court says

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Thursday against an Arizona death row inmate’s quest to change the sentence that he received by presenting additional mitigating evidence about his psychological problems and childhood abuse.

May 30, 2024 1:01 PM CDT

Another state approves death penalty for child rape

Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill last week that authorizes the death penalty for aggravated rape of a child by an adult.

May 16, 2024 2:14 PM CDT

Prosecutors excluded Jewish people from juries in one California county for decades, review suggests

Several prosecutors in Alameda County, California, excluded Jewish people from juries in past decades, according to the Alameda County district attorney.

May 14, 2024 3:16 PM CDT

Burdened prison staffers seeking more time between executions should ‘suck it up,’ top criminal court judge says

Judge Gary Lumpkin, a judge on Oklahoma’s top criminal appeals court, has said state prison officials seeking more time between executions have to “suck it up” and get the job done. Lumpkin said he’s not buying into the “sympathy stuff.”

Apr 3, 2024 8:48 AM CDT

DNA issues ‘cast a pall’ over murder conviction, warranting SCOTUS review, ABA amicus brief says

The U.S. Supreme Court should once again consider the case of a Texas death row inmate whose conviction was based on DNA evidence tested by a lab that “consistently and egregiously mishandled DNA evidence,” the ABA has said in an amicus brief.

Mar 28, 2024 9:02 AM CDT

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