Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment is a profoundly complex and controversial aspect of the criminal justice system. This section provides articles that explore the history, legal frameworks, and ethical debates surrounding Capital Punishment in various jurisdictions. Correctional professionals can gain insights into the procedures, implications, and ongoing discussions about using the death penalty. Understanding Capital Punishment is crucial for those involved in its administration and those engaged in broader criminal justice reform efforts. For further context, explore related topics on supermax prisons.
Ramiro Gonzales was executed at the Texas State Penitentiary on June 26 for killing Bridget Townsend, the same day that Bridget would have turned 41
Gov. Mike Parson declined to grant clemency the day before the scheduled execution, citing the inmate’s “lack of remorse” for the 2009 killings
The Alabama attorney general issued a statement that said the inmate’s “actions were cold and calculated, and his assigned punishment has never been more deserved”
One by one, Denver Simmons recalled, he and his partner lured inmates into his cell
The justices ruled 5-4 that Erick Davila could not bring a claim that his appeals lawyer was ineffective for failing to challenge the work of his trial lawyer
Robert Pruett was serving a 99-year murder sentence when he was condemned for fatally stabbing CO Daniel Nagle in 1999
The state stopped Romell Broom’s execution after two hours when executioners couldn’t find a usable vein
Attorney Todd Lancaster said the state’s death penalty is racially and geographically discriminatory
The court ruled that James McWilliams was deprived of an independent mental health expert to help him try to stave off a death sentence at his trial
“I can’t imagine the pain that my wife went through when she was shot. I want him to feel some pain.”
The agreement contains provisions to address arguments that the state’s execution procedures violate inmate rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment
Officials are asking a federal judge to block an effort to subpoena records related to the autopsy of Kenneth Williams, who lurched and convulsed 20 times during his execution
According to DOC spokesman Solomon Graves, the state hasn’t had a full set of execution drugs since its supply of midazolam expired April 30
Attorneys for Ohio’s only condemned female killer are asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider a ruling upholding her death sentence for the third time
The execution was the state’s second of the year
Questions were raised in a court case about whether Arkansas improperly used a doctor’s name and license to purchase one of the drugs
Robert Bryant Melson, 46, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison
Robert Melson is scheduled to be executed Thursday for the killing of three restaurant employees during a 1994 robbery
The ballot initiative was designed to “mend not end” capital punishment in California, where nearly 750 inmates are on Death Row and only 13 have been executed since 1978
The state attorney general asked SCOTUS to let an execution proceed this week, arguing that questions about a lethal injection drug have been settled by the courts
Death penalty opponents are challenging a ballot measure that aimed to reform a dysfunctional system that hasn’t executed a condemned killer in more than a decade
The state has been unable to carry out executions on more than two dozen condemned killers because of court challenges to its proposed three-drug method
Robert Melson is one of several inmates who filed lawsuits arguing that the state’s execution method is unconstitutional
In 2014, the Ind. DOC chose a three-drug process of methohexital, potassium chloride and pancuronium bromide for lethal injections. The combination has not been used for a U.S. execution
An Alabama inmate is asking an appellate court to halt his upcoming lethal injection using a sedative that his lawyers say has “failed to work properly in four states”
The appeal argued that the state’s source of execution drugs should be disclosed under Missouri’s open-records laws
A man convicted of killing four people in Omaha in 2013 has been given Nebraska’s first death sentence since the state’s voters reinstated the punishment in November
Justice Bob Pemberton said prison officials could point to no more than isolated, vague threats against suppliers of execution drugs
Tommy Arthur had a total of seven execution dates postponed
Tommy Arthur is scheduled to be put to death Thursday evening for the 1982 murder-for-hire slaying of Troy Wicker
Tommy Arthur has had his execution postponed seven times since 2001, so many delays that victims’ rights advocates derisively call him the “Houdini” of death row
The state stopped Romell Broom’s execution after two hours in September 2009, when executioners failed to find a usable vein following 18 attempts to insert needles
Without access to the lethal injection drugs, DOC spokesman Ken Pastorick says, “the state will not conduct executions”
