The evolution of capital punishment
The Indiana Lawyer takes a historical look at how the death penalty system has evolved during the past 40 years and how Indiana has amended its practices and procedures through the decades.
Death Penalty
Articles
Views shift on use of executions
What if 1976 hadn’t played out the way it did, and some of the jurists on the U.S. Supreme Court had held the view of capital punishment at that juncture that they did at the end of their judicial careers? The death penalty may never have been reinstated.
Mental aspect of capital cases can be challenging
When it comes to tallying the total price of capital punishment, the cost of those cases for the legal community is more than just expansive legalese and court procedures that span a decade or two.
State death penalty cases averaged 17 years
When the moment of death finally arrives, it ends what may be described as a long legal journey to justice within the capital punishment system.
Enduring legal process doesn’t change parents’ desire for justice
For 11 years, Dale and Connie Sutton’s lives as parents have been about ensuring what they see as justice for their murdered daughter.
Federal judge upholds death sentence
A federal judge in northern Indiana has denied a condemned inmate’s request to take him off death row, rejecting multiple claims that include one that would basically create a new rule prohibiting those who are severely mentally ill from being executed as is the standard for the mentally retarded.
Indianapolis attorney to represent accused USS Cole bomber mastermind
A week after the federal government announced it would seek the death penalty against the prime suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, the Department of Defense has appointed an Indianapolis attorney to represent the man who will face the first military tribunal under President Barack Obama’s administration.
Balancing philosophical with practical concerns regarding death penalty
Indiana Lawyer takes an in-depth look at the death penalty in the "Cost of Justice" series.
Prosecutors: money doesn’t trump other factors when considering death penalty
At a time when capital punishment requests are down and some state officials are questioning the cost and overall effectiveness of seeking a death sentence, the issue of what it’s worth to go after this ultimate punishment is getting more scrutiny in Indiana and nationwide. Read more in Indiana Lawyer's in-depth look at the death penalty and the cost of justice.
DNA expert to discuss wrongful convictions
A forensic geneticist who has worked on the exonerations of seven people will visit Indiana University April 15 to give a public lecture on how DNA is used to free people who have been wrongfully convicted and how informatics is being misused to pervert justice.
Federal judge upholds Evansville man’s death sentence
A federal judge in Indianapolis has upheld the death sentence of a condemned man who killed his wife and two young children in Evansville a decade ago.
Habeas proceeding stays execution
A federal judge has postponed the April execution of a St. Joseph County man convicted of killing his wife, her ex-husband, and her son.
Justices uphold Baer’s death penalty
The Indiana Supreme Court has unanimously affirmed the denial of a murderer’s petition for post-conviction relief, leaving his death sentence in place.
Last day for legislators to file bills
Today is the deadline for state senators to file Senate bills to be considered during the 2011 session. State representatives’ deadline for filing House bills was Tuesday and they have until today to file vehicle bills.
AG holds first criminal justice summit on death penalty costs
In what was the first of its kind in Indiana, the state Attorney General’s Office held a criminal justice summit at the University of Notre Dame this month to examine the critical issues the legal system faces from capital cases where the death penalty is utilized.
SCOTUS reverses 7th Circuit a second time on capital case
An Indiana case has prompted the nation’s highest court to reiterate that federal courts can’t issue any writ of habeas corpus to state prisoners whose confinements do not violate U.S. law.
Plea puts stop to federal death penalty trial
The first-ever federal death penalty trial for the Southern District of Indiana was set to start today, but a plea agreement means a trial likely won't be happening at all for a man connected to a violent killing spree four years ago.
Death penalty, election arguments Thursday
The Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday in a death penalty case, a dispute whether the elected mayor of Terre Haute was eligible to run for office, and whether an order for a mother's voluntary termination of parental rights should have been set aside.
Justices affirm cop killer’s death sentence
A man sentenced to die for fatally shooting a Morgan County sheriff's deputy in 2001 will remain on death row despite his appellate claims he's mentally ill and not eligible for execution.
Attorney spares client death sentence
An Indianapolis defense attorney who is nationally recognized as a death-penalty expert capped a two-month trial in New Hampshire this week, successfully keeping her client off death row and preventing him from becoming the first person to be executed in that state in 70 years.