Japan executed its first foreigner in 10 years on Thursday, a Chinese man convicted in the 2003 murder and robbery of a family of four. Wei Wei, 40, was hanged Thursday at a detention center in Fukuoka where he had been on death row for more than 16 years, Justice Minister Masako Mori said. Wei was convicted of robbing and…

A Mississippi man whose murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court for racial bias was released from custody Monday for the first time in 22 years. Curtis Flowers walked out of the regional jail in Louisville hours after a judge set his bond at $250,000. A person who wanted to remain anonymous posted $25,000, the 10% needed to…

Fewer than 30 people were executed in the United States and under 50 new death sentences were imposed for the fifth straight year, part of a continuing decline in capital punishment that saw only a few states carry out executions, a new report issued Tuesday said. But even as death row populations were dropping in most of the 29 states…

The Supreme Court on Friday blocked the Trump administration from restarting federal executions next week after a 16-year break. The justices denied the administration’s plea to undo a lower court ruling in favor of inmates who have been given execution dates. The first of those had been scheduled for Monday, with a second set for Friday. Two more inmates...

Indiana’s Roman Catholic bishops are calling for a renewed moratorium on executions at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute.

A perplexed prospective juror at the trial of a former graduate student charged with kidnapping and killing a University of Illinois scholar from China said during jury selection last week that she didn’t understand how a conviction could carry the death penalty in Illinois when the state struck capital punishment from its statutes years ago.

A perplexed prospective juror at the trial of a former graduate student charged with kidnapping and killing a University of Illinois scholar from China said during jury selection last week that she didn’t understand how a conviction could carry the death penalty in Illinois when the state struck capital punishment from its statutes years ago.

A prosecutor says he plans to seek the death penalty for a man arrested in the fatal shootings of five women at a Florida bank last month. State Attorney Brian Haas said at a news conference Friday that he had reached the “unquestionable conclusion” that he should seek the death penalty against 21-year-old Zephen Xaver. Haas also said a grand...

A bipartisan group of Illinois legislators have introduced a bill that would reinstate the death penalty for convicted mass murderers and killers of first responders.

Gov. Bruce Rauner is not demanding reinstatement of the death penalty in exchange for Democratic-favored gun restrictions in an all-or-nothing package, an aide said after testimony before a House committee Wednesday.

An Illinois House committee will take up Gov. Bruce Rauner’s plan to reinstate the death penalty in certain cases.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said in a statement Thursday that Gov. Bruce Rauner’s public safety proposals – including the reinstatement of the death penalty – will get a legislative hearing next week.

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday proposed the return of the death penalty in Illinois for certain cases. NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern reports.

Some drugs obtained for the first lethal injection in Nevada since 2006 will expire before the state Supreme Court decides whether to approve their use, officials said Friday.

Seth Meyers takes a closer look at the Republicans’ proposed tax cut bill, as well as President Donald Trump’s “death penalty tweet.”

An Ohio jury has recommended that a man be put to death for abducting his estranged girlfriend from Kentucky and killing her along an Ohio interstate.

A lawmaker from southwestern Illinois is pushing to restore the death penalty in certain cases, including when police officers are killed.

A bill inspired by the slaying of a Purdue University student would make a shooting at a school grounds for the death penalty in Indiana.