ABA Journal

Death Penalty

1248 ABA Journal Death Penalty articles.

Oklahoma seeks death penalty against former lawyer and client in triple murder

Prosecutors in Oklahoma are seeking the death penalty against a former criminal defense lawyer and her former client for allegedly murdering three people.

Supreme Court rules for inmate who wants hands-on, out-loud prayer at his execution

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Thursday for a Texas death row inmate who wanted his longtime Baptist pastor to lay hands on him and pray out loud during his execution.

South Carolina announces it can conduct executions by firing squad

South Carolina now has the ability to carry out executions by firing squad, the South Carolina Department of Corrections recently announced.

Convicted Boston Marathon bomber got a fair trial, Supreme Court rules in reinstating his capital sentence

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people, wounded 260 others and led to the fatal shooting of a police officer.

New Tennessee law helped inmate leave death row; judge’s ruling creates possibility of parole

A former death row inmate in Tennessee will get a chance to seek parole as a result of a resentencing following prosecutors’ concession that he can’t be executed because of an intellectual disability.

Barrett is among 4 justices who would have blocked execution of inmate seeking death by nitrogen hypoxia

An Alabama inmate who sought execution by nitrogen hypoxia was put to death by lethal injection Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed.

Justice Breyer, Supreme Court’s oldest member, will retire, reports say

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, according to media reports that rely on anonymous sources. The liberal Breyer, 83, is the oldest justice on the court.

Meet 12 ABA members who inspired us in 2021

The ABA Journal regularly profiles exceptional ABA members in its Members Who Inspire series. In the past year, we featured many in the legal field who are encouraging and energizing others with their good work, including advocating for inmates on death row, mentoring prospective law students of African descent and fighting to stop bullying in the workplace.

3 states accounted for most of this year’s low number of executions and death sentences, new report says

Death sentences and executions remain low and geographically isolated, according to a year-end report released Thursday by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Appeals court upholds admission of inmate’s Comedy Central interview at his death penalty trial

A trial judge didn’t err by admitting footage of an inmate’s conversation with a Comedy Central comedian during the penalty phase of the inmate’s murder trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled last week.

Check out our 9 favorite Instagram posts from 2021

It's been quite a year in the legal industry and for coverage here at the ABA Journal, and it's hard to believe that 2022 is right around the corner.

Alabama judge who criticized death penalty appeals as ‘ceremonial’ is suspended without pay for 90 days

An Alabama judge who criticized the state’s death penalty sentencing system has been suspended for 90 days without pay for abandoning her role as a neutral arbiter, making inappropriate comments and disregarding appellate decisions.

Supreme Court should reverse decision in Texas ineffective counsel case, ABA says

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ consideration of a Texas death row inmate’s case deviated from the U.S. Supreme Court’s prior instruction regarding ineffective assistance of counsel and conflicted with its precedents, the ABA told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Supreme Court grows ‘increasingly hostile’ to inmates seeking to delay executions

The U.S. Supreme Court is growing “increasingly hostile” to arguments made on behalf of death row inmates, according to a Sidebar column in the New York Times.

Executioner was convinced he would be condemned to hell; others also suffer long-term effects

After Craig Baxley connected a plastic tube to vials of drugs to stop the heart of a condemned South Carolina inmate, he asked God to forgive him.

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