Capital punishment

Former Alabama Governors: We Regret Overseeing Executions

As evidence mounts of the number of wrongful convictions in capital murder cases, one Democrat and one Republican former governor argue that it's time to stop capital punishment and reform the prosecutorial immunity that allows unfair prosecutions to proceed. 

Republican Push for More Capital Punishment Echoes Crime Panic of the 1980s

by Duncan Hosie

The Supreme Court decision in 1976 that allowed the states to resume executions coincided with a rise in anxiety over crime and pushed politicians to pledge more executions. 

Despite Popular Opposition, The Death Penalty Marches on Unabated

by Rick Halperin

A commitment to human rights cannot coexist with capital punishment. Political leaders must heed the growing public opposition to the death penalty and move to abolish it. 

50 Years Ago, a SCOTUS Decision Placed a Moratorium on Executions. It's Time to Revive it, Permanently

by Rick Halperin

Fifty years ago this week, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty violated the Constitution, opening a de facto moratorium as states legislated new capital punishment statutes. It's time to make this brief victory for human rights permanent. 

Why Firing Squads are Making a Comeback in 21st-Century America

South Carolina's proposed return to execution by firing squad reflects the facts that, while the Roberts Court is very protective of capital punishment, it is increasingly difficult for states to acquire the drugs needed to perform lethal injections. It remains to be seen if firing squads will turn public opinion against capital punishment. 

Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty

Governor Ralph Northam explained that the state could guarantee neither racial equity nor the indisputable guilt of condemned prisoners. Virginia had executed more prisoners than any American state or colony in 413 years of the death penalty.

Is Virginia's Move to Abolish the Beginning of the End of the Death Penalty in America?

by Rick Halperin

Virginia's move to abolish capital punishment is long overdue, and other states and the federal government should follow suit to restore American legitimacy on global human rights. 

“The Death Penalty Is Another Confederate Monument We Must Tear Down.”

A collaborative project examines the history of capital punishment in North Carolina, beginning with an introduction by death penalty litigator Henderson Hill. 

New Yorker profiles activist who's drawing attention to lynchings

by Jeffrey Toobin

In Alabama, Bryan Stevenson is saving inmates from execution and memorializing the darkest episodes of America’s past.

“It’s a Hell of a Thing, Killing a Man.”

by Anthony Galvin

George Stinney was one of the 4% of executed people who are completely innocent. His crime was being black in the forties. He was 14.

There's no such thing as a gentle execution

by Jonathan Zimmerman

We have spent two centuries trying to put people to death without putting them in discomfort. And it hasn't worked.