AltWeeklies Wire
Stuck With Secretsnew

As questions linger about Missouri's shadowy lethal-injection protocol, the state is days away from killing another inmate.
The Pitch |
Steve Vockrodt |
01-26-2014 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: death penalty
Killing Capital Punishmentnew

The final stop on the Indiana Journey of Hope Tour will feature murder victim family member and Journey co-founder, Bill Pelke - whose story is based in Indiana.; Bill Babbitt and Randy Gardner, who both had brothers executed; exonerated death row inmates Juan Melendez (from Florida) and Edward Mpagi (from Uganda); and Tracey Spirko, whose husband is on death row in Ohio.
NUVO |
Rebecca Townsend |
10-16-2013 |
Policy Issues
Death Row Inmate Hoping for Supreme Interventionnew

The Court of Criminal Appeals last week denied a stay of execution for Robert Wayne Harris, convicted in 2000 of killing two people during a shooting spree at the Mi-T-Fine Car Wash in Irving. Unless the federal courts intervene, on Sept. 20 he'll be the eighth man executed in Texas this year.
Austin Chronicle |
Jordan Smith |
09-18-2012 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Death Penalty, Death Row
Claims of Sexual Abuse by Former Priest Results in Calls to Stay Executionnew

The church of St. Clare’s in San Antonio, a symbol of faith and piety for some, has become an icon of the fear and shame others here have kept buried for decades.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
06-15-2011 |
Crime & Justice
Texas Still Executes Mentally Retarded Criminals ... For Nownew

Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ban, Texas has continued to send mentally retarded criminals to death row. Will Daniel Plata's case correct this injustice?
The Texas Observer |
Renée Feltz |
04-19-2011 |
Crime & Justice
Did Texas Execute An Innocent Man?new

DNA tests undermine key evidence in the 2000 death penalty case of Claude Jones.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
11-12-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Death Penalty, Claude Jones
Are Capital Punishment's Financial Costs Worth It?new

The ACLU is touting a new study suggesting that the death penalty is far more expensive than life in prison.
East Bay Express |
Charlie Mintz |
08-18-2010 |
Policy Issues
Tags: ACLU, Death Penalty
Survivor of Ohio's Latest Botched Execution Reveals Breathtaking Incompetencenew

Romell Broom achieved a macabre notoriety this past month when he became the first man to survive his date with the needle. The eyes of the world are on Ohio now, and many are questioning our death-penalty apparatus.
Cleveland Scene |
Damian Guevara |
10-07-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Cartoon: Can I Watch?new

A Texas court has ruled that a man can still be executed despite the fact that the prosecutor and judge were sleeping together.
'A Saint on Death Row' is an Intervention in Public Memorynew
Thomas Cahill catalogs every disgraceful aspect of Dominique Green's experience with the justice system. His larger mission, though, is to examine the changes Green underwent after receiving his death sentence -- his transformation from a troubled teenager into what Cahill calls "a fully achieved human being."
The Texas Observer |
Todd Moye |
08-12-2009 |
Nonfiction
California's Ex-Attorney General Calls for an End to Capital Punishmentnew
With more than 700 Death Row prisoners awaiting execution for decades and no money in sight for improving the integrity and efficiency of the failing capital punishment system, John Van de Kamp is publicly calling for an end to the death penalty. But unlike most of capital punishment's ardent opponents, he has actually sent men to Death Row.
Pasadena Weekly |
Joe Piasecki |
07-13-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Will the Church and the Connecticut Governor Dare to Bring in a Change to the Death Penalty?new
The Connecticut Senate passed a bill in favor of substituting the death penalty with life imprisonment. But Gov. Jodi Rell says she'll veto the bill, and some are saying the Catholic Church is not doing enough to voice their protest against the death penalty.
New Haven Advocate |
Nilanjana Bhowmick |
06-02-2009 |
Policy Issues
Missouri's Death Penalty May Not Outlive Dennis Skillicorn Very Longnew

Two bills in Missouri's Legislature have proposed a moratorium on the death penalty and a review board to examine issues such as cost, fairness and the risk of wrongful execution.
The Pitch |
Nadia Pflaum |
05-19-2009 |
Crime & Justice
A Bill to Repeal Capital Punishment in New Mexico Breathes New Life into a Fierce Debatenew
Albuquerque Rep. Gail Chasey’s bill to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole made it past the New Mexico House in 2005 and 2007. Chasey expects her legislation to clear the House again this year. Several new senators, Chasey says, should vote in favor of her bill.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
02-03-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: New Mexico, death penalty
The Nation's Oldest Death Row Inmate Will Never Be Executednew

Officially, the state of Arizona still wants to put Leroy Nash to death, but the odds of Nash actually ever being executed seem to be less than slim.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
12-09-2008 |
Crime & Justice