The Las Vegas D.A. Is Seeking The Death Penalty More Than Nearly Any Other Steven Wolfson, the Clark County DA, says the death penalty is reserved for ‘very rare’ circumstances, but advocates and public defenders say his actions show otherwise. Sam Mellins
Victims’ Families Want Virginia to End The Death Penalty Virginia may soon become the 23rd state to abolish capital punishment. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Terry McAuliffe’s Record on the Death Penalty Is Out of Step With National Trends McAuliffe is running to become Virginia governor a second time. If he wins, he would be the only active Democratic governor to have carried out executions in office. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Brandon Bernard’s Death Sentence Should Be Commuted Immediately By President Trump A reasonable society does not meet trauma with more trauma in the name of justice. Ayanna Pressley
Missouri Set To Execute Walter Barton Tonight Despite Claims That He May Be Innocent If the U.S. Supreme Court or the state’s governor doesn’t step in, Barton’s would be the first execution carried out in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lauren Gill
Alabama Officials Executed Nathaniel Woods Despite Claims of Innocence. Then, Against His Religious Beliefs, They Autopsied His Body ‘It was almost like they were going to do whatever they could to demean him and take away his dignity,’ Woods’s spiritual adviser said. Beth Shelburne
Texas Court Issues Temporary Stay Of Execution Amid Coronavirus ‘Health Crisis’ John Hummel was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday. The court, citing the current health crisis, has postponed the execution for 60 days. Lauren Gill
Alabama Executes Nathaniel Woods Despite Claims That He Was An ‘Innocent Man’ ‘I think everyone involved— the governor, the attorney general, the DOC commissioner—everyone knew it,’ his lawyer said. Lauren Gill
Tennessee Man Could Be The First Person In Nearly A Century To Be Executed After Being Forced To Represent Himself At Trial Across the country, the death penalty is in steep decline. But in September, the state’s attorney general sought execution dates for nine men, and its Supreme Court set dates for two of them. Steven Hale
Five Jurists Said Donnie Lance Deserved a New Sentence. Georgia Executed Him Anyway. Three Supreme Court justices and others said competent counsel could have saved his life. Kyle C. Barry
Arkansas Executed Ledell Lee. Posthumous Testing Will Most Likely Prove He Was Innocent, Lawsuit Says Lee’s family wants officials in Jacksonville, Arkansas, to turn over evidence that was used to convict and sentence him to death. The family says that evidence could posthumously exonerate him. Lauren Gill
Man Spared From Execution After Rare Clemency Grant It’s the first time since 2014 that someone on Georgia’s death row has been granted clemency. Braden Goyette
Why Are Prosecutors Still Seeking to Execute People Who Have Innocence Claims and Untested DNA? In these last two months of 2019, one man has been executed and two others are facing execution despite claims that they can show they don’t belong on death row. Lauren Gill
The Appeal Podcast: States Turn To Nitrogen Gas For Executions, Despite Serious Concerns With Appeal staff reporter Lauren Gill Adam H. Johnson
Using Nitrogen Gas For Executions Is Untested and Poorly Understood. Three States Plan to Do It Anyway. Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama have all authorized the practice in capital punishment. So what happens now? Lauren Gill
Missouri Executes Russell Bucklew Despite Threat of Botched Execution His legal team had pushed for clemency, arguing that Bucklew’s previous attorneys mishandled his capital murder case. Lauren Gill
Philadelphia D.A. Asks Court to Declare Death Penalty System Unconstitutional Larry Krasner says the punishment is ‘really about poverty’ and race. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
