Why are firing squads for US executions being debated?
The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison into the chest of a condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era. But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback.
Death Penalty
Articles
What’s the status of the US death penalty?
The first federal capital case tried under President Joe Biden ended with a split among jurors that means the life of an Islamic extremist who killed eight people in a New York City will be spared. It came at a rare federal death penalty trial in a state without the death penalty.
SCOTUS rules for Arizona inmate in death penalty case
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Wednesday for a man on Arizona’s death row who wants a new sentencing hearing because jurors in his case were wrongly told that the only way to ensure he would never walk free was to sentence him to death.
Florida could end unanimous jury requirement for executions
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers proposed legislation making it easier to send convicts to death row by eliminating a unanimous jury requirement in capital punishment sentencing.
EXPLAINER: Biden inaction, mixed signals on death penalty
President Joe Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing federal capital punishment but has taken no major steps to that end.
US Supreme Court won’t hear appeals from ‘Wichita massacre’
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the appeals of two brothers who were sentenced to death for four fatal shootings on a Kansas soccer field in December 2000 known as “the Wichita massacre.”
Suspect in killing of Richmond police officer seeks to represent himself
A man facing a death penalty charge in the fatal shooting of an Indiana police officer has asked a judge to represent himself, and his appointed attorney wants to withdraw from the case.
Buffalo gunman pleads guilty in racist supermarket massacre
The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded guilty Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, guaranteeing he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Death sentence sought for man accused of killing Richmond officer
A prosecutor wants the death penalty for a man charged with killing a Richmond police officer.
US Supreme Court denies Oklahoma death row inmate’s appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a last-minute appeal filed by Oklahoma death row inmate Benjamin Cole, paving the way for him to receive a lethal injection Thursday.
Parkland school shooter to get life sentence for killing 17
Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed.
US argues Supreme Court shouldn’t review Dylann Roof case
Dylann Roof’s death sentence and conviction in the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation should be upheld and don’t merit review by the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for the federal government wrote in a filing Wednesday.
Prosecutors seek death penalty in Indiana officer’s slaying
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a man accused of fatally shooting a young Indiana police officer last month during an early morning traffic stop, officials announced Wednesday.
Death row inmate wins habeas relief on robbery conviction, sentence
A federal death row inmate convicted in an Arkansas murder and robbery has secured habeas relief against his robbery conviction and one of his death sentences.
Man charged with killing Terre Haute cop won’t face death penalty charge
Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against an Indiana man charged in the fatal shooting of a Terre Haute police detective who was also an FBI task force officer.
SCOTUS rules against inmates in right-to-counsel case
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled along ideological lines Monday against two Arizona death row inmates who had argued that their lawyers did a poor job representing them in state court. The ruling will make it harder for certain inmates sentenced to death or long terms in prison who believe their lawyers failed them to bring challenges on those grounds.
Texas death row inmate to get Supreme Court review
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed, who claims untested crime-scene evidence will help clear him.
Parkland, Florida, school shooter’s jury selection begins
Jury selection in the deadliest U.S. mass shooting ever to go to trial began Monday with preliminary screening for the panel that will determine whether Nikolas Cruz will be put to death for murdering 17 students and staff members at a Parkland, Florida, high school.
High court: States must allow prayer, touch in executions
The Supreme Court said Thursday that states must accommodate the wishes of death row inmates who want to have their pastors pray aloud and even touch them during their executions.
Firing-squad executions get the green light in South Carolina
South Carolina has given the green light to firing-squad executions, a method codified into state law last year after a decadelong pause in carrying out death sentences because of the state’s inability to procure lethal injection drugs.