Nearly 100 years had passed since nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner's "great-uncles, Thomas Griffin and Meeks Griffin were wrongfully executed in South Carolina. On Wednesday, a board voted 7-0 to pardon both men, clearing their names in the 1913 killing of a veteran of the Confederate Army. ...It marks the first time in history that South Carolina has issued a posthumous pardon in a capital murder case." [more inside]
posted by darkstar on Oct 15, 2009 - 8 comments

Expert tells Texas state-sanctioned review that they killed an innocent man. If the commission reaches the same conclusion, it could lead to the first-ever declaration by an official state body that an inmate was wrongly executed. Cameron Todd Willingham was accused of killing his three children in a house fire. There have been doubts about the case for years, thoroughly outlined in this 2004 Chicago Tribune article and this 2005 NPR interview (summarized in this Daily Kos diary). [more inside]
posted by desjardins on Aug 25, 2009 - 92 comments

Dennis Skillicorn was sentenced to die in 1996 for the murder of businessman/good Samaritan Richard Drummond and two other deaths in connection with a 1994 crime spree. Yesterday morning, local news outlet Missourinet, with a slight time delay, tweeted his execution. Elyria, Ohio's Chronicle Telegram is discussing plans to tweet an upcoming execution, but they are not sure if they should.
posted by cashman on May 21, 2009 - 42 comments

The Supreme Court today issued a one line statement refusing to hear Troy Davis' appeal. Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of a police officer in Savannah, GA, and sentenced to death solely on eyewitness testimony. No murder weapon or any physical evidence linked him to the crime. Since the conviction, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted or changed their stories, and one of the two who haven't changed their stories is the other suspect in the case. Things were looking good for Davis when the Supreme Court issued a stay two hours before his execution last month. Justice may really be dead in this country.
posted by x_3mta3 on Oct 14, 2008 - 60 comments

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

A Conversation with Stanley Tookie Williams - Amy Goodman had a conversation with Stanley Williams days before he was executed using lethal injection at San Quentin's death chamber. It was good to listen to the audio and following along with the transcript. In listening I kept in mind Williams' violent past, his long incarceration, and his "redemption". I learned something from this. And it was redemption which Ahnold said [PDF] was the reason for no slack. In the end it was Conan the Barbarian who singularly determined Tookie's fate.
posted by rmmcclay on Dec 14, 2005 - 99 comments

Woman stoned to death for adultery ... ... in Afghanistan.
posted by magullo on Apr 26, 2005 - 63 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

"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

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

Supreme Court says no to executions of mentally disturbed people. Wow.
posted by dwivian on Jun 20, 2002 - 72 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

Novelist Vidal to watch McVeigh die McVeigh “put his reason (for the bombing) upon a sense of justice,” Vidal said. “This guy’s got a case — you don’t send the FBI in to kill women and children,” he said, a reference to the government’s deadly raid on the Davidians’ complex at Waco. Vidal said, however, he wants people to know how horrified he is by the bombing. The author said he told McVeigh in a letter that if the bomber had blown up FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., “at midnight when no one was in it, ‘you’d be a national hero.’”
posted by matteo on May 5, 2001 - 25 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

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

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

The United Killers of Benetton It seems that the italian clothing company Benetton recently used death row inmates in a rather distasteful ad campaign that featured death row inmates and thier clothing. Check it out. Quite a groundswell of protest is mounting against this. The matter seems to be equally offending to both pro and anti death sentence folks.
posted by Dean_Paxton on Mar 18, 2000 - 20 comments