Executed Today offers "each day the story of an historical execution that took place on this date, and the story behind it."
posted by Knappster on Aug 12, 2008 - 19 comments

Iranian man stoned to death for adultery after serving 11-year prison sentence. Unsuccessful, unofficial investigation here. Amnesty International pleads for life of his partner.
posted by shivohum on Jul 20, 2007 - 44 comments

This year, Maryland has been on a path to become the first state to abolish capital punishment, and a bill to repeal the death penalty will be voted on in committee within days. Exonerated death row inmates have been campaigning fervently in support of the bill (including Kirk Bloodsworth, a Marylander who was the first death row inmate ever to be proven innocent by DNA)--and the exonerated are joined by a gamut of other voices that one might not normally expect in the debate. Murder victim family members are vocally supporting abolition. Law enforcement officials, including prosecutors, wardens and police chiefs, are vocally supporting abolition. The Baltimore city council – which presides over the lion’s share of Maryland’s violent crime -- is unanimously in support of abolition. Even Maryland's governor, Martin O’Malley, has taken a bold stance in support of abolishing executions, going so far as to publish an op-ed, "Why I Oppose the Death Penalty," in the Washington Post on the day of the abolition bill’s hearings in Annapolis. And, last but not least, the public is more than 60% in support of replacing the death penalty with life without parole.

So why are so many legislators still supporting death penalty?
Even if the bill doesn’t pass in this session, it seems like Governor O’Malley has nothing to worry about for having come out ahead of the legislature on this issue. It’s the legislatures—in Maryland and elsewhere—that are falling behind, as the entire country backs steadily away from capital punishment.
posted by snortlebort on Mar 15, 2007 - 91 comments

At dawn on Friday Singapore time, young Australian Nguyen Tuong Van will be hanged by the State executioner, Darshan Singh. His sentencing has raised an extensive debate in Australia on the death penalty, on our regional relationships and the compassion of our fearless Rodent. Like virtually all advanced nations, Australia has generally held a principled stance against the death penalty, though filtered by realpolitik. Yet again, New Zealand is a bit more principled than us, of course. We would of course never protest to the US about its extensive use of the ultimate State sanction.
posted by wilful on Nov 29, 2005 - 100 comments

Man on death row wants to donate liver to dying sister. I think this opens up many questions and mucks up the waters if you are both pro life(viva Terri), and also support the death penalty. (first fpp)
posted by MrMulan on May 16, 2005 - 115 comments

The Lancet publishes a research letter that finds inadequate anaesthesia is used in executions by lethal injection
posted by magullo on Apr 15, 2005 - 40 comments

Convicted killer wins stay. The 9th Circuit Court feels that justice would be better served by being more sure that Cooper is actually guilty of the 4 murders he was sentenced to die for (followed from here). Considering the amount of controversy over evidence handling in this case, I think that they're right.
posted by Dipsomaniac on Feb 9, 2004 - 9 comments

(NYT) The death row trifecta: juvenile, retarded and ... proved innocent by DNA testing
But unlike other trifectas, this one will not necessarily get you off the hook. Never mind that the real perpetrator has been identified (due to his prison yard bragging initially and through a DNA perfect match later). One of the great problems of the American criminal justice system is that once an innocent person is trapped in the system, it's extremely difficult to get him — or her — extricated.
posted by magullo on Jul 14, 2003 - 29 comments

The Exonerated
Want to see some great theater and learn a bit about our great system of justice and capital punishment? Then The Exonerated may be the show for you.

The other night I went to see The Exonerated, which has been playing Off Broadway since last fall and is also appearing in theaters around the country this year. Composed wholly from court records and interviews by playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, this documentary drama recounts true tales of horror from the American criminal-justice system. The actors sit downstage and read their parts as the stories of six innocent citizens condemned to death row unfold. If this sounds like a worthy endeavor, it is; if it sounds dull or didactic, it isn’t.
posted by nofundy on Jul 3, 2003 - 2 comments

"Mr. Banks, a man with no prior criminal record, is most likely innocent of the charge that put him on death row. Fearing a tragic miscarriage of justice, three former federal judges (including William Sessions, a former director of the F.B.I.) have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block Wednesday's execution.

"So far, no one seems to be listening." [via atrios]
posted by donkeyschlong on Mar 11, 2003 - 15 comments

A report commissioned by outgoing Maryland governor Parris Glendening has found interesting racial disparities in the death penalty: although it appears the race of the defendant is irrelevant individually in the application of capital punishment, such is is not the case when one weighs in the race of the victim of a crime, in which the killing of a white person by a black person nearly doubles the likelihood of the defendant receiving the death penalty, "primarily because they are substantially more likely to be charged by the state's attorney with a capital offense."
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Jan 7, 2003 - 33 comments

Three Supreme Court Justices publicy oppose executing teenage criminals. In a rare move, Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Stevens made a public statement in a delay request to state their opposition to executing someone who committed murder before the age of 18. With the Court already banning the execution of the mentally retarded this year, is this another sign of a soon-to-be next step in the abolishment of the death penalty? Or does the average American still believe that regardless of what time, when you do the crime you walk the line?
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Aug 30, 2002 - 49 comments

A U.S. District Court judge rules that the federal death penalty is unconstitutional. In related news, the Washington Post reports that everyone's favorite cabinet member, Mr. Ashcroft, has been pushing for the death penalty in federal cases and "frequently overruling his own prosecutors in the process". Here we go...
posted by gimonca on Jul 1, 2002 - 68 comments

God's Justice and Ours. Justice Antonin Scalia writes on capital punishment in First Things: "In my view, the major impetus behind modern aversion to the death penalty is the equation of private morality with governmental morality. This is a predictable (though I believe erroneous and regrettable) reaction to modern, democratic self–government."
posted by Ty Webb on Jun 12, 2002 - 28 comments

Even if it works, using the detah penalty as deterrent is morally flawed The mere fact that an orthodontist in Cleveland feels more anxious about crime shouldn't make the state more "right" to take a life. And, if you are in favor of the death penalty, the mere fact that the same orthodontist feels comfortable leaving his door unlocked shouldn't mean that a murderer should pay less of a price for killing a child.
posted by magullo on May 24, 2002 - 45 comments

"The Texas conveyor belt of death rolls on. Against international law, three Texas inmates face imminent execution for murders committed when they were children. Since 1998, Texas has killed five child offenders - people who were under 18 at the time of the crimes. If Napoleon Beazley, TJ Jones and Toronto Patterson are put to death on 28 May, 8 August, and 28 August respectively, Texas will have executed as many child offenders in a four-month period as Iran, the next worst perpetrator outside the USA, has carried out in the whole of the past decade."

Ha! Yet another area where them loser Axis of Evil® fellas ain't up to the standards of the good ol' U.$. of A.
posted by fold_and_mutilate on May 20, 2002 - 124 comments

England vs. USA Over the death penalty. Initially I felt like saying "butt out" but America tends to get involved in other countries when our citizens are in trouble (like that kid in Singapore way back).
posted by owillis on Sep 10, 2001 - 7 comments

Drop in US Executions -- I wonder if Dubya's distraction last year (the campaign) and his subsequent move to the White House has had anything to do with this. Then again, some of it may be attributable to DNA evidence.
posted by fpatrick on Sep 6, 2001 - 18 comments

Policy or Parody? A group calling itself "Citizens for Capital Punishment" ran an ad in the Terre Haute paper (both the NYT and the WP rejected it) showing a family watching the McVeigh execution on television and cheering. This seems too far over the top to be a real pro-death-penalty piece, but if it's satire, the creators are playing it straight. [via Media News]
posted by harmful on Jun 19, 2001 - 9 comments

botched executions:
warning: gruesome descriptions of bungled executions ahead.

also: the execution tapes - audio recordings in real player format.

whether for or against the death penalty, take a look.
posted by bwg on May 13, 2001 - 20 comments

"..this vengeance, this rage, isn't helping us one bit." The father of one of the victims of the Oklahoma bombing speaks out about why he's forgiven Tim McVeigh. The article also talks about the social pressure on Oklahomans who are against the death penalty and a Colorado politician who's upset because the killer of his aunt failed to apologize before his execution.
posted by jeannepickering on May 7, 2001 - 16 comments

Execution for Dummies, special McVeigh edition. The Bureau of Prisons has thoughtfully printed up a 56-page how-to guide for those in charge of putting Tim McVeigh to death. Now you can follow along in the comfort of your own home!
posted by aaron on Apr 11, 2001 - 4 comments

U.S. Supreme Court to review death penalty for retarded. Regardless of what you think of the death penalty for people of normal(?) mental capacity, can you believe that they are just starting to reconsider this now?
posted by jasonshellen on Mar 26, 2001 - 1 comment

Judge oks McVeigh execution request
I understand the ACLU is fighting to keep him alive, but I cannot find a link.
posted by thirteen on Dec 29, 2000 - 22 comments

Long, closely-argued explanation of how America went back to the death penalty.
posted by Mocata on Oct 2, 2000 - 2 comments

Pregnant women on death row. I don't understand why this is an issue. I'm not commenting on capital punishment here, a problem in itself, but what's the rush? Why not just wait until the child is born?
posted by evilmaryellen on Jul 26, 2000 - 70 comments

Final meal requests . Is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice a bit sadistic or what?
posted by tremendo on May 30, 2000 - 18 comments