death penalty

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Trump Vows to 'Vigorously' Pursue Death Penalty

He blasts Biden's decision to commute sentences of almost all federal death row inmates

(Newser) - President-elect Trump won't be able to undo President Biden's decision to commute the sentences of most of the inmates on federal death row, but he plans to expand the use of the death penalty when he takes office. "As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct...

The Three Inmates Left on Federal Death Row

Another four remain on military death row

(Newser) - President Biden commuted the sentence s of 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row to life without parole Monday. The three men whose lives he declined to spare were all sentenced to death within the past 10 years. All three were convicted of mass killings motivated by hate...

Biden Commutes 37 of 40 Federal Death Row Sentences

President converts them to life terms

(Newser) - President Biden announced Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment mere weeks before President-elect Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings,...

Man Who Killed 5 Women in Bank Sentenced to Death

'May God have mercy on your soul,' Florida judge tells Zephen Xaver

(Newser) - A former prison guard trainee who executed five women inside a Florida bank almost six years ago was sentenced to death on Monday as a judge called the slayings calculated, heinous, and cruel. Zephen Xaver, 27, appeared to gulp but otherwise showed no emotion as Circuit Judge Angela Cowden pronounced...

Missouri Is Running Out of Inmates to Execute

There are now just 8 condemned inmates in state, down from nearly 100 in 1997

(Newser) - Missouri's status as one of the most active death penalty states is about to change for one simple reason: The state is running out of inmates to execute. The lethal injection of Christopher Collings on Dec. 3 left just eight men on death row—a figurative term since condemned...

Indiana Preps for an Execution After 15-Year Pause

Joseph Corcoran's execution is scheduled for Wednesday

(Newser) - Indiana officials are preparing to execute the state's first death row inmate in 15 years, a man who was convicted a quarter-century ago of killing his brother and three other men, the AP reports. Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on Indiana's death row since 1999. If he is...

Pressure on Biden to Commute All Federal Death Sentences

Some fear the 40 inmates on federal death row risk hanging under Trump

(Newser) - No president has ever issued a mass commutation of federal death sentences, but that's exactly what advocates are asking of President Biden in his final days in office. Several letters asking Biden to commute the sentences of all 40 people on federal death row to life in prison without...

To Escape Execution, She'll Need to Find $9B

Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan loses initial appeal of death sentence, but hope remains

(Newser) - One of Vietnam's richest women, sentenced to death over what the BBC calls "the world's biggest bank fraud," has lost her appeal. But real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, found to have embezzled $12.5 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank, could still avoid execution—if she...

After 2-Year Pause, Executions Will Resume in Arizona

State plans to seek execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches

(Newser) - Executions will resume in Arizona following a two-year pause, the state's top prosecutor says. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement sent to the Associated Press on Wednesday that she will soon seek an execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches, who is on death row after being...

Alabama Prisoner Curses, Gives Middle Finger Before Execution

Carey Dale Grayson became the 3rd person put to death in the US using nitrogen gas

(Newser) - An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures with his hands shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas, the AP reports. Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was executed...

Nigeria Charges 29 Minors With Death Penalty Crimes in Protest

Four of the young defendants collapse in court

(Newser) - Twenty-nine children could be facing the death penalty in Nigeria after they were arraigned Friday for participating in a protest against the country's record cost-of-living crisis. Four of them collapsed in court due to exhaustion before they could enter a plea. A total of 76 protesters were charged with...

Richard Moore Executed, Despite Clemency Pleas

3 jurors, trial judge were among those who'd fought to save SC inmate's life, saying he'd changed

(Newser) - South Carolina put Richard Moore to death by lethal injection on Friday for the 1999 fatal shooting of a convenience store clerk, despite a broad appeal for mercy by parties that included three jurors and the judge from his trial, a former prison director, pastors, and members of his family....

Last-Minute Twists Delay Execution in Shaken Baby Case

Robert Roberson's execution was originally scheduled for Thursday night

(Newser) - The controversial execution of a Texas man convicted in a so-called " shaken baby syndrome " murder case was delayed with 90 minutes to spare before his scheduled lethal injection early Thursday night, though the eventual twists and turns into the case extended late into the evening. Robert Roberson has...

John Grisham: Texas May Kill an Innocent Man
John Grisham:
Texas May Kill
an Innocent Man
OPINION
Oct 15, 2024 4:31 PM CDT

John Grisham: Texas May Kill an Innocent Man

Writer makes his case for Robert Roberson, scheduled to be executed on Thursday

(Newser) - Texas plans to execute an inmate named Robert Roberson on Thursday, and crime novelist John Grisham begins an op-ed in the Washington Post by asking everyone to say a prayer for him. The reason? "Roberson has spent the past 22 years on death row for a crime that perhaps...

The State Said Miller's Death Was Humane. I Watched It

Lauren Gill describes jerking, shaking during Alabama execution

(Newser) - The state of Alabama executed Alan Miller using nitrogen gas on Sept. 26. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement afterward that the execution "progressed as planned," with Miller making "slight movements associated with the dying process. ... the State proved once again that nitrogen hypoxia...

Glossip Has Unusual Ally in SCOTUS Fight

Both he and Oklahoma are pushing for new trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct

(Newser) - Glossip v. Oklahoma, a highly watched case before the Supreme Court, isn't quite what its name suggests. Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip is pushing for a new trial, arguing the one that resulted in his murder conviction and death sentence was rife with errors. But Oklahoma is of...

Country's 2nd Nitrogen Gas Execution Goes Forward

Alan Eugene Miller is put to death in Alabama

(Newser) - Alabama used nitrogen gas Thursday to execute a man convicted of killing three people in back-to-back workplace shootings, the second time the method that has generated debate about its humaneness has been used in the country, the AP reports. Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:38pm local...

Oklahoma Executes Inmate Despite Parole Board's Vote

Gov. Kevin Stitt declined to intervene in Emmanuel Littlejohn's lethal injection

(Newser) - Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner after the governor rejected a recommendation from the state's parole board to spare his life. Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and was declared dead...

In Next 30 Hours, This Man Will Die by Nitrogen Gas

30-hour window to execute Alan Eugene Miller began Thursday morning

(Newser) - Alabama is readying its second execution using nitrogen gas. Alan Eugene Miller, sentenced to death in 2000 for the murders of three people in a pair of workplace shootings, is set to be put to death during a 30-hour window beginning Thursday morning, per CNN . The Montgomery Advertiser expects a...

Texas Executes Man Who Killed 3-Month-Old Son

Travis Mullis waived his right to appeal death sentence

(Newser) - A Texas man who had waived his right to appeal his death sentence received a lethal injection Tuesday evening for killing his 3-month-old son more than 16 years ago, one of five executions scheduled within a week's time in the US. Travis Mullis, 38, was pronounced dead at 7:...

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