Death Penalty

Law prof stirs controversy with tweet calling Scalia ‘basically a klansman’

Updated: A professor at the Emory University School of Law is under fire after he tweeted that the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was “basically a klansman.”

Jan 18, 2023 12:35 PM CST

2022 could be called ‘the year of the botched execution,’ new report says

Seven of 20 execution attempts in 2022 were “visibly problematic” in 2022, according to a year-end report by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Dec 16, 2022 10:25 AM CST

Justice Jackson’s second SCOTUS opinion is also a dissent to court’s refusal in death-penalty case

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has issued a second U.S. Supreme Court opinion that, like the first, disagrees with the court’s refusal to get involved in a death-penalty case.

Dec 2, 2022 11:28 AM CST

Supreme Court declines to block 4 executions in 2 days; 1 inmate spared, for now, because of vein issues

The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to block four executions over the course of two days, rejecting petitions claiming incompetence for execution, difficulty inserting intravenous lines, lack of a clear policy on religious rights and new exculpatory evidence.

Nov 18, 2022 10:00 AM CST

Liberal Philadelphia DA is impeached by Pennsylvania House; what are the allegations?

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to impeach progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday in a vote that largely followed party lines.

Nov 16, 2022 3:54 PM CST

Justice Jackson writes her first Supreme Court opinion, says justices should have heard death-penalty case

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote her first Supreme Court opinion Monday—a dissent from the high court’s refusal to hear a death-penalty case.

Nov 7, 2022 3:38 PM CST

Lawyer’s son creates podcasts to shine a light on criminal injustice

When Jason Flom was a boy, his father, Joseph, a renowned mergers and acquisitions lawyer, gave him a piece of advice: “Do whatever you want for a living, but make the world a better place because that’s the only success that matters.”

Oct 1, 2022 1:30 AM CDT

Barrett joined dissenting liberal justices as Supreme Court allowed execution of inmate seeking nitrogen death

Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the high court’s three liberal justices to dissent Thursday, when it allowed the execution of an inmate who claimed that Alabama lost his request for execution by nitrogen hypoxia.

Sep 26, 2022 10:19 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: ABA supports marriage equality law; Stanford offers new model for legal ed loans

ABA president calls on Senate to support Respect for Marriage Act ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross is calling on members of the U.S. Senate to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed with significant bipartisan support in July. In a letter sent to senators…

Sep 16, 2022 3:03 PM CDT

Federal judge orders district attorney to write apology letters to families of murder victims

Updated: A federal judge has ordered Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner to write apology letters to the families of the victims of a double murder after concluding that supervisors in his office made misleading statements to the court.

Sep 14, 2022 12:06 PM CDT

ABA urges Supreme Court to hear case of inmate convicted based on faulty DNA evidence

The ABA is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of a Texas death row inmate who was convicted based on DNA evidence deemed to be “false, misleading and unreliable” by a state habeas court.

Aug 1, 2022 8:38 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Jan. 6 panel subpoenas ex-White House counsel; former Judge Alex Kozinski represents Trump

Ex-White House counsel subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone has been subpoenaed to testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. The subpoena follows testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson claiming that Cipollone had warned of being…

Jul 8, 2022 11:32 AM CDT

ABA project seeks more pro bono attorneys in wake of Supreme Court death penalty decision

The Death Penalty Representation Project offers varying opportunities for mid- to large-size firms, small firms and solo practitioners. Its staff is actively recruiting pro bono attorneys for about two dozen cases at any given time and will hire law students and undergraduate students for semester-long internships throughout the year.

Jul 6, 2022 3:14 PM CDT

SCOTUS rules against death row inmate seeking neurological test to show ineffective lawyering

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Tuesday that a federal court can’t order a state to transport a death row inmate to a medical facility for testing without a showing that the information sought would be useful in the prisoner’s habeas case.

Jun 21, 2022 2:38 PM CDT

Reed Smith’s pro bono report expresses ‘grave’ concerns about death row inmate’s conviction

A lawyer for an Oklahoma inmate plans to seek a stay of execution after Reed Smith released a report on its independent investigation of the case, undertaken pro bono at the request of a bipartisan group of more than 30 state lawmakers.

Jun 17, 2022 10:57 AM CDT