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.
Louisiana’s special session also included bills that included restricting parole eligibility, harsher penalties for some crimes and publicizing some juvenile court records
The jury voted 11-1 in favor of the death penalty after convicting the 24-year-old man in the death of Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder
South Carolina’s current execution law requires inmates to be sent to the electric chair unless they choose a different method
Several senators have urged Obama to declassify the 6,770-page investigation so the public can have a full accounting of past torture practices
The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals from death row inmates in four states that raised different questions about the fairness of capital punishment
Romell Broom is only the second inmate to survive an execution in U.S. history and the only via lethal injection
Officials have paid a secret compounding pharmacy $66K to obtain lethal injection drugs for its next two executions
The inmate coughed repeatedly and his upper body heaved for at least 13 minutes during an execution
Critics of a lethal injection drug that led to an inmate heaving his chest, coughing and appearing to move bolstered their argument that the drug should not be used in lethal injections
Problems include delays in finding suitable veins and needles becoming clogged or disengaged
Attorneys asked the board to spare the inmate, calling the case tragic but arguing that Ronald Phillips is not among the worst of the worst offenders
A jury recommended a life sentence, but a judge overrode the decision and sentenced Ronald Bert Smith to death
The court rejected arguments that attorneys wasted time challenging evidence against the killer and should have focused on sparing him from capital punishment
Attorneys told the jury to decide whether Dylann Roof “should be sent to prison with no possibility of release ever or should he be executed”
A jury convicted Ronald Bert Smith Jr. of capital murder in 1995 and recommended life imprisonment by a 7-5 vote
Justices are considering whether to apply their earlier ruling declaring the state’s death penalty law unconstitutional to the cases of a dozen men already sentenced to death
This year’s tally also marks the most executions Georgia has carried out in a calendar year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976
Dylann Roof’s lawyers have offered to plead guilty if federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty
The state has rejected a proposal to temporarily delay the January execution of a man set to die for the 1993 rape and killing of his girlfriend’s daughter
The 50-year-old inmate, who was convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of John Lee Moore in March 1990, is set to receive a lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday
The killing of the CO was a calculated slaying, federal prosecutors said
A federal judge agreed Monday to let a white man accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners rehire his attorneys until a verdict is reached
Authorities said he killed the girls to get back at his ex-wife
An inmate scheduled to be executed is asking the governor to stop it because a judge imposed a death sentence over the jury’s recommendation of life imprisonment
Defense attorneys dismissed by Charleston church shooting defendant Dylann Roof strongly condemned his decision to represent himself
Attorneys asked the board to spare Ronald Phillips, calling the case tragic but arguing that he is not one of the worst of the worst offenders
Lawyers say the state’s process for setting and carrying out executions denies a death row inmate due process
The court has yet to decide whether recent rulings apply to all death row inmates or only to the ones going through their first rounds of automatic appeals
The Court seems likely to side with an inmate who claims he is intellectually disabled and thus ineligible to be executed
SCOTUS is set to examine whether Texas is trying to put to death a convicted killer who’s intellectually disabled
The court ruled that a law updating Ohio’s definition of a wrongfully imprisoned person could be applied retroactively
Dale Johnston was convicted for a 1982 murder before winning his freedom on appeal due to prosecutorial misconduct and the withholding of evidence
The court upheld Terrance Phillips’ two murder convictions, but found his two death sentences were “disproportionate”