Death Penalty

Joined by 2 other justices, Thomas rejects liberal colleagues’ criticism in case of death-row inmate

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says “there is nothing of substance” to four colleagues’ allegations of unfairness last month in the U.S. Supreme Court’s handling of a stay request. Thomas concurred Monday in the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case of Alabama inmate Christopher Lee Price. His opinion…

May 13, 2019 10:48 AM CDT

Solitary confinement conditions violated death-row inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights, 4th Circuit rules

Updated: A federal appeals court has ruled that the conditions of death-row solitary confinement that once existed in Virginia prisons violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a 2-1 decision filed Friday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, barred Virginia from returning…

May 6, 2019 11:00 AM CDT

Public defenders ask to step down from Parkland shooting case

Two public defenders representing Nikolas Cruz—the suspect in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 people dead and another 17 injured in 2018—unexpectedly requested to be removed from his case Wednesday.

Apr 25, 2019 3:44 PM CDT

ACLU challenges attorney over sexual relationships, time out of practice

The American Civil Liberties Union is trying to remove an attorney from a death penalty case in Kern County in California, arguing that his sexual relationships with a client’s daughters and lengthy leave of absence from the law could be detrimental to the client. Lawyer Gary Turnbull was appointed to…

Apr 23, 2019 9:25 AM CDT

DC Circuit says Guantanamo judge created ‘intolerable cloud of partiality’ and tosses his rulings

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court tossed every pretrial ruling issued in the last 3½ years by a Guantanamo judge in the case of an accused terrorist.

Apr 17, 2019 9:04 AM CDT

Supreme Court liberals criticize majority’s ‘middle of the night’ decision lifting execution stay

The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted a stay that blocked the execution of an Alabama man who sought to die by nitrogen hypoxia. The action prompted a dissent by the court’s liberals, who criticized the “middle of the night” decision that didn’t allow for discussion Friday morning.

Apr 12, 2019 9:20 AM CDT

Sleeping lead lawyer doesn’t justify overturning capital conviction, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Texas has rejected a habeas petition filed on behalf of a death-row inmate whose primary lawyer snoozed throughout the trial. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes ruled against inmate George McFarland, who was convicted in 1992 for killing and robbing a grocer carrying a bag with $27,000…

Apr 10, 2019 7:30 AM CDT

A ‘budding bromance’? These 2 justices mostly agree in SCOTUS decisions so far

The U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice, Brett M. Kavanaugh, has sided with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in all but one of 25 official decisions. USA Today notes the justices’ agreement and says the “budding bromance” has stalled the anticipated conservative takeover of the court. Roberts has been the…

Apr 8, 2019 2:20 PM CDT

SCOTUS majority focuses on execution delays in ruling against inmate with rare condition

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion Monday when a divided Supreme Court rejected a Missouri inmate’s claim that his rare medical condition would make execution by lethal injection a constitutional violation.

Apr 1, 2019 2:05 PM CDT

SCOTUS blocks execution of man denied Buddhist adviser; decision was different in Muslim case

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the execution of a Texas inmate who wasn’t allowed to bring his Buddhist spiritual adviser into the execution chamber with him.

Mar 29, 2019 9:30 AM CDT

Can states curtail insanity defense? Supreme Court to decide

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether the Constitution prevents the state of Kansas from curtailing the insanity defense.

Mar 18, 2019 10:40 AM CDT

Executions halt in California may lead to suits, though it hasn’t carried out death penalty in years

California Gov. Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on executions Wednesday, though the state hasn’t put an inmate to death since 2006. California is one of 11 states that have the death penalty but haven’t carried it out in more than a decade, according to an article by the Pew Research…

Mar 15, 2019 9:29 AM CDT

One-word error requires retrial of man convicted of double murder, judge rules

A Pennsylvania death-row inmate is entitled to a new trial because of a one-word error in a judge’s instruction on reasonable doubt, a judge has ruled. Judge Michael Bortner of York County granted the new trial to Noel Montalvo, who was convicted in 2003 in the 1998 stabbing deaths of…

Mar 13, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Late-revealed phone records lead to innocence declaration for former death-row inmate

A Texas man who spent nearly 10 years on death row was actually innocent of the double murder that sent him to prison, a Houston prosecutor announced at a press conference Friday. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said phone records never turned over to the defense backed up the…

Mar 4, 2019 4:30 PM CST

Supreme Court gives partial victory to inmate with dementia who seeks to avoid execution

The Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment bars the execution of an inmate with dementia if he is unable to form a rational understanding of the reasons for his death sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

Feb 27, 2019 11:55 AM CST