Executions and the Death Penalty

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When it comes to deciding on the death penalty, it’s not always a party line vote

Lawmakers in the 2023 session will make a weighty decision on the death penalty — and the vote may not be on a straight party line.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/03/15/when-it-comes-to-deciding-on-the-death-penalty-its-not-always-a-party-line-vote/?

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FL Senate on death penalty: 8 jurors, not 12, would be required to put someone to death

The Florida Senate passed legislation Thursday to get rid of a requirement for a unanimous jury recommendation before a death penalty can be imposed. The measure would require just eight jurors, not 12, to support a penalty of death.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/03/30/fl-senate-on-death-penalty-8-jurors-not-12-would-be-required-to-put-someone-to-death/?

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Texas man executed for 2001 killing of 5-year-old girl abducted from a store

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man convicted of strangling a 5-year-old girl who was taken from a Walmart store nearly 22 years ago and burning her body was executed Thursday evening.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-execution-el-paso-5b4d2f1a66e3050dcecfd2fd10e546f3?

Alabama inmate executed for the shooting death of man in 1993 robbery

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama inmate convicted of killing a man during a 1993 robbery when he was a teenager was executed Thursday by lethal injection.

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-death-penalty-lethal-injection-a491821db2a2a29e4e208ca127c071c7?

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Is the death penalty dying? Sentences, executions remain low

The number of states imposing or performing executions in 2023 was at a 20-year low, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that complies such statistics.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/12/18/is-the-death-penalty-dying-sentences-executions-remain-low/?

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Federal judge says Alabama can conduct nation’s 1st execution with nitrogen gas; appeal planned

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will be allowed to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas later this month, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, clearing the way for what would be the nation’s first execution using a new method the inmate’s lawyers criticize as cruel and experimental.

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-execution-nitrogen-gas-federal-judge-19a95340c8936c38e7c86cfc77a7c39c?

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Why are states like Alabama exploring new execution methods? An Alabama execution Thursday that would be the first to use nitrogen gas is the result of a long history of problems with lethal injections since Texas first used the method in 1982. Read more.

Why this matters: Three states — Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma — have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but no state has attempted to use the untested method until now.   Many states have had difficulty obtaining the lethal chemicals used to carry out executions. Many manufacturers of the drugs have prohibited the use of their products being in executions or stopped manufacturing them altogether.   Nitrogen gas isn’t the only method states are exploring. South Carolina passed a law allowing a firing squad in 2021 and electrocution, hanging and other forms of lethal gas also remain on the books in several death penalty states.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Alabama plans to carry out the first nitrogen gas execution. How will it work and what are the risks?   Vatican-affiliated Catholic charity makes urgent appeal to stop ‘barbarous’ Alabama execution   Report: Belief death penalty is applied unfairly shows capital punishment’s growing isolation in US

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Alabama executes a man with nitrogen gas, the first time the new method has been used

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama executed a convicted murderer with nitrogen gas Thursday, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again placed the U.S. at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment. The state said the method would be humane, but critics called it cruel and experimental.

https://apnews.com/article/nitrogen-execution-death-penalty-alabama-699896815486f019f804a8afb7032900?

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What happened at the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution: An AP eyewitness account

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — As witnesses including five news reporters watched through a window, Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to die in the 1988 murder-for hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett, convulsed on a gurney as Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas.

https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-nitrogen-gas-alabama-kenneth-smith-54848cb06ce32d4b462a77b1bb25e656?

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Could Ohio be the next state to use nitrogen gas in executions? A new method would end a 5-year halt

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s Republican attorney general put his weight behind a legislative effort Tuesday to bring nitrogen gas executions to the state, joining what could be a national movement in pro-death penalty states to expand capital punishment on the heels of Alabama’s first use of the method last week.

https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-ohio-attorney-general-c47ea9e0ef7e96c8e0264f50e6c15566?

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South Carolina wants to restart executions with firing squad, electric chair and lethal injection

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lawyers for four death row inmates who have run out of appeals argued to the South Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday that the state’s old electric chair and new firing squad are cruel and unusual punishments.

https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-south-carolina-39930569f7ed5182f6ce9866916714aa?

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Somebody’s Child

Donald Newson entered the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, with a mix of nerves and excitement. He had not seen his father, Nasih Khalil Ra’id, in almost 20 years. Born Odell Corley, Ra’id was sent to federal death row when Newson was just a teenager. Although he insisted he’d been wrongfully convicted, his hope of freedom faded over time, and he fell out of contact with his son. Now 35, Newson wondered if his father would even recognize him. The last time they were together, Newson was just a skinny kid. “I definitely didn’t have a beard.”

https://theintercept.com/2024/02/11/federal-death-row-family-visitation/?

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Idaho halts execution by lethal injection after 8 failed attempts to insert IV line

KUNA, Idaho (AP) — Idaho halted the execution of serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech on Wednesday after medical team members repeatedly failed to find a vein where they could establish an intravenous line to carry out the lethal injection.

https://apnews.com/article/idaho-execution-creech-murders-serial-killer-91a12d78e9301adde77e6076dbd01dbb?

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Botched execution of serial killer in Idaho puts focus on capital punishment secrecy laws

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — In 2012, two Idaho prison officials chartered a private plane and flew to Washington state with thousands of dollars in cash.

https://apnews.com/article/idaho-texas-execution-creech-cantu-lethal-injection-c1e3881ed4df4eec3bf1f2803152d61f?

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Man convicted of ex-girlfriend’s killing scheduled to be first Georgia inmate executed in years

JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man convicted of killing his former girlfriend three decades ago was scheduled to be put to death Wednesday evening in what would be the state’s first execution in more than four years.

https://apnews.com/article/georgia-death-penalty-lethal-injection-execution-willie-james-pye-d9e91b51c433667bcd58b6b39f0c32cd?

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“Little Home Market”: The Connecticut Company Accused of Fueling an Execution Spree

Evidence points to Absolute Standards as the source of a lethal drug the Trump administration used to restart federal executions after 17 years.

https://theintercept.com/2024/04/25/absolute-standards-execution-drug-pentobarbital/?

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Oklahoma death row inmate who killed a bank guard is incompetent for execution, judge says

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge has ruled that a death row inmate is incompetent to be executed after the prisoner received mental evaluations by psychologists for both defense attorneys and state prosecutors.

https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-execution-incompetent-wade-lay-f9e41ad60581cdfca57b0d4c108ae38e?

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DeSantis increased executions during presidential campaign, then slowed down

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed execution warrants for six Florida inmates, the most in any year in the state since 2014. He was also running for president.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/07/19/desantis-increased-executions-during-presidential-campaign-then-slowed-down/?

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Missouri executes a man for the 1998 killing of a woman despite her family’s calls to spare his life

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman’s home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim’s family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison.

https://apnews.com/article/missouri-execution-marcellus-williams-8be20e2f252992610a30fa0cfef4185a?

A Missouri man has been executed for a 1998 murder. Was he guilty or innocent? Questions are still swirling around the execution of a Missouri man convicted of fatally stabbing a woman in 1998. Marcellus Williams was put to death this week with a lethal injection. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and top judicial officials were convinced of his guilt. But advocates for Williams continue to insist he was innocent. Read more.

Why this matters: There have been no verified instances of an innocent person being executed in the U.S. since capital punishment was reintroduced in 1972, but there have been at least 21 people executed despite “strong and credible” claims of innocence, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The group said that tally includes Williams, who was added to the list Wednesday.   The Missouri execution, carried out at a prison in Bonne Terre, was one of five scheduled within a week in the U.S., renewing a long-running debate over how the death penalty is applied in the states.The executions mark another grim milestone — 1,600 executions since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Alabama puts man convicted of killing 3 to death in the country’s second nitrogen gas execution   Oklahoma executes a man for a 1992 killing despite board recommending his life be spared   5 executions have happened over a week’s span in the US. That’s the most in decades

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Judge grants Texas lawmakers’ unusual effort to pause execution in shaken baby case

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A last-ditch effort to stop Texas from executing an autistic man in a shaken baby case stretched into the final hours Thursday night as one judge granted an extraordinary maneuver by lawmakers to delay the lethal injection while the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it to proceed.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-execution-shaken-baby-syndrome-1ef99c052cc1630785ac5d6e2edfc9cb?

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Texas Supreme Court halts execution of man in shaken baby case The Texas Supreme Court halted Thursday night’s scheduled execution of Robert Roberson, a man who would have become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The ruling capped a flurry of last-ditch legal challenges and weeks of public pressure from lawmakers who say he is innocent and was sent to death row based on flawed science. Read more.

What to know: Roberson’s case has renewed debate over shaken baby syndrome, known in the medical community as abusive head trauma. Roberson, 57, was convicted of killing his 2-year-old  daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. His lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia.   It is rare for the state’s highest civil court to get involved in a criminal matter. But the all-Republican court wound up stopping Roberson’s execution in the final hours by issuing a subpoena for Roberson to testify before a House committee next week, days after he was scheduled to die.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Alabama executes man who killed 5 and asked to be put to death   What to know about shaken baby syndrome   Idaho will begin using deep veins as backup for lethal injection executions, officials say

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Texas Lawmakers’ Unprecedented Actions Halt Robert Roberson’s Execution — For Now

The Texas Supreme Court halted Robert Roberson’s scheduled execution late Thursday night, following an extraordinary series of legal twists and turns spurred by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers.

https://theintercept.com/2024/10/18/texas-execution-robert-roberson-shaken-baby/?

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Texas high court says execution in ‘shaken baby syndrome’ case can’t be halted by lawmaker subpoena

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a legislative subpoena cannot stop an execution after Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say Robert Roberson is innocent used the novel maneuver to pause his execution at the last minute.

https://apnews.com/article/roberson-texas-execution-1f9e4d991ca3b1fb6e4becf73e1947f5?

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Man convicted of quadruple homicide is put to death in Indiana’s 1st execution in 15 years

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana man convicted of killing four people including his brother and his sister’s fiancé decades ago was put to death early Wednesday, marking the state’s first execution in 15 years.

https://apnews.com/article/indiana-execution-joseph-corcoran-fc5f9c8fa9055e8fbc0aafd300e6d7ac?

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US carries out 25 executions this year as death penalty trends in nation held steady The number of executions in the U.S. remained near historic lows in 2024. It was mostly carried out in a small group of states, including Alabama, which became the first state to use nitrogen gas as an execution method, according to an annual report on capital punishment. The report also found that four states — Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas — carried out 76% of executions this year. Read more.

Key points: While support for the death penalty remains entrenched in Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, some conservative lawmakers and prosecutors in those states publicly supported efforts to stop several executions. In Texas, a bipartisan group of lawmakers used an unconventional strategy to delay Robert Roberson’s execution: issuing a subpoena for him to testify after his execution date. Meanwhile,  state prosecutors and lawyers for Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court to ask that his conviction and death sentence be overturned.   The Supreme Court continued to retreat from the role it has historically played in regulating and limiting use of the death penalty, said Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2024, the Supreme Court granted just three out of 117 inmate requests to stay an execution or review claims in a case, the report said.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Oklahoma man dies by lethal injection in the nation’s final execution of 2024   Missouri’s death row had nearly 100 inmates in the 1990s. Now, it has 8   Indiana law shrouds executions in secrecy, prompting new pushes for public oversight

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Death row sentences

President Joe Biden announced today that he is taking 37 people off federal death row to serve out life sentences behind bars — a decision that leaves only three federal prisoners awaiting execution when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. Notably, Biden did not commute the sentences of three whose crimes included mass shootings or acts of terrorism: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers responsible for the deadly Boston Marathon bombing in 2013; Dylann Roof, a White nationalist who massacred nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. The majority of the 37 individuals whose death row sentences were commuted were convicted for less high-profile offenses, such as murders tied to drug trafficking or the killings of prison guards or other inmates.