Death Penalty

Supreme Court strikes down Texas mental disability standards for death-penalty eligibility

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the standards used by the state of Texas to determine whether an inmate has a mental disability that makes him ineligible for the death penalty.

Mar 28, 2017 9:14 AM CDT

Death row inmate with vascular dementia is incompetent for execution, 11th Circuit rules

A death row inmate who has vascular dementia and no memory of committing a murder is incompetent for execution, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday in the case of 66-year-old Vernon Madison, report the Montgomery Advertiser and AL.com. Madison…

Mar 17, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Supreme Court rules for inmate whose expert said race could predict violence

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 6-2 on behalf of a death-row inmate whose own expert witness testified he is statistically more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is black.

Feb 22, 2017 9:26 AM CST

Defense lawyers may obtain lethal drugs on their own for clients, Arizona execution protocol says

Defense lawyers who object to Arizona’s execution drugs may obtain drugs on their own to execute their clients, according to an execution protocol announced last month. That kind of “do-it-yourself execution” appears to be unique in the United States, the Arizona Republic reports. The new protocol, which authorizes the use…

Feb 14, 2017 8:00 AM CST

ABA brief supports lawyer groups challenging US rule on habeas counsel appointment procedures

The ABA has filed an amicus brief arguing supporting two legal groups that claim a final rule governing the appointment of lawyers in capital habeas appeals fails to adequately protect the right to competent counsel. The ABA brief (PDF) argues that the two groups—the Habeas Corpus Resource Center and the…

Feb 13, 2017 2:48 PM CST

Obama’s overlooked last-minute commutation lifts death sentence for disabled inmate

President Barack Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence for leaking classified information got the most interest from the media on Tuesday, but a commutation in a capital case is getting the attention of lawyers advocating for better administration of the death penalty. Obama commuted the death sentence of Abelardo Arboleda…

Jan 18, 2017 8:47 AM CST

Jury sentences Dylann Roof to death for Charleston church massacre

A South Carolina jury sentenced mass shooter Dylann Roof to death late Tuesday, the Post and Courier reported. Roof, 22, killed nine people at a Bible study meeting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June of 2015. Shortly after he was taken into custody, he confessed to law…

Jan 10, 2017 5:25 PM CST

California measure to limit time for capital appeals is blocked by state supreme court

The California Supreme Court Tuesday granted a motion to block a recently approved measure that limits capital appeals to five years. Currently, it takes more than 20 years for a California death row inmate to exhaust his or her appeals, the Associated Press reports. Opposition to the measure includes fears…

Dec 21, 2016 11:50 AM CST

Breyer dissent calls for death penalty review, says capital defendants are ‘chosen at random’

Returning to a subject he addressed last year, Justice Stephen G. Breyer on Monday complained that death sentences are arbitrary and said that their constitutionality should be examined. Breyer called for a constitutional review of the death penalty in a dissent to a cert denial (PDF) in a Florida case.…

Dec 12, 2016 2:49 PM CST

Alabama inmate ‘heaved and coughed’ during execution

An Alabama inmate who was executed on Thursday night appeared to struggle during the execution, causing one of his lawyers to remark that he had warned prison officials a contingency plan was needed if the execution didn’t go smoothly. The inmate, Ronald Bert Smith Jr., was executed after the U.S.…

Dec 9, 2016 9:48 AM CST

Prosecutor’s ‘racially coded references’ require reversal of death sentence, 4th Circuit rules

A South Carolina inmate’s death sentence must be reversed because the prosecutor compared the defendant to King Kong and used other “racially coded references,” a federal appeals court has ruled. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) on Monday in a habeas appeal by Johnny Bennett,…

Nov 21, 2016 4:06 PM CST

Inmate’s 43-minute execution didn’t violate clearly established law, 10th Circuit rules

A botched execution that continued for 43 minutes, causing the condemned man to writhe and grimace in pain, didn’t violate clearly established law regarding cruel and unusual punishment, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the Oklahoma inmate, Clayton Lockett, suffered…

Nov 17, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Voters in three states back capital punishment in ballot initiatives

Voters in three states on Tuesday passed ballot initiatives supporting capital punishment. In California, voters rejected a measure to repeal the death penalty and passed a measure that seeks to speed up the appeal process, report the Los Angeles Times and the Marshall Project. The measure to speed up executions…

Nov 9, 2016 9:52 AM CST

Roberts provides fifth vote to halt execution of Alabama inmate

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the execution of an Alabama death-row inmate convicted in a 1982 murder-for-hire shooting death. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in the Supreme Court order (PDF) that he was voting to stay the execution of Tommy Arthur as a courtesy to four…

Nov 4, 2016 10:07 AM CDT

Executions fall along with support for the death penalty; is capital punishment nearing an end?

Only 17 people have been executed so far this year, a 32 percent decline from the number of executions in the same period last year. The drop in the number of executions comes as support for the death penalty wanes, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req. ) reports. Last year…

Oct 24, 2016 11:49 AM CDT