Troy Anthony Davis almost certainly is innocent, but that has not stopped the State of Georgia from giving him a new execution date: September 23, 2008. A hearing on his case is scheduled before the State of Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. It is imperative that the board receive notes, emails and calls from people who want to try and stop this injustice.
A judge in North Carolina ruled that Guy LeGrande was not competent to be executed. LeGrande has suffered with mental illness for years. His illness was in full view of the jury when he represented himself in his capital trial. During the trial, LeGrande wore a Superman t-shirt and insulted the jury. LeGrande had an execution date scheduled in 2006 but a judge stayed the execution so that he could be examined by psychiatrists.
After a two-week visit to the United States, Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, expressed deep concern (PDF) about the way the country carries out capital punishment. During his visit, Alston met with officials in Austin, Texas; Montgomery, Ala.; New York and D.C., including ACLU national and state affiliate staff.
Capital Punishment Project (CPP) Director John Holdridge was interviewed on May 8, 2008, by Jacque Reid of the Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS). The TJMS is one of the most influential programs on urban radio. During the segment called "Inside Story with Jacque Reid," John discussed the inherent problems of racial biases and disparities in the United Stat
In the case of Snyder v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a trial judge in a Louisiana court allowed a prosecutor to strike a black juror, leaving an all-white jury to consider the fate of a black defendant in a capital trial. In the 7
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Baze v. Rees, a Kentucky death row inmate's challenge to the state's lethal injection protocol. Kentucky uses a three drug cocktail that is used in virtually all capital punishment jurisdictions.
Kenneth Foster Jr. was scheduled to be executed yesterday for a murder he did not commit or intend to commit. But in a remarkable turn of events, Texas Governor Rick Perry did something he rarely does: he commuted Foster's death sentence. In fact, Foster's is the only sentence he has commuted voluntari
During the last general election there was much discussion about the power of the executive branch. One great power that the executive branches of the federal government and most states have is the power to grant clemency.
The ability to examine a person's life and decide to grant him or her mercy is awesome. This ability is even more incredible in the capital punishment context. It gives the executive the chance to save a life. In 2003, Gov. George Ryan (R-Ill.) commuted the death sentences of all 167 death-row inmates and pardoned four men. He did so because he believed that the state's capital punishment system could no longer be trusted given the numerous exonerations and the documented cases of law enforcement misconduct.
Clemency can make things right when the complicated and convoluted procedures of the judicial system prevent justice from being done because, for example, a death-row inmate has missed a deadline. It can also make things right when a death-row inmate has shown that he has reformed and deserves the mercy of a life sentence without parole.
