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Executioners Downplayed Inmates' Reactions to Controversial Lethal Injection Drug
An Associated Press review of court filings shows executioners who put 13 inmates to death during the Trump presidency offered sanitized, incomplete versions of the executions to judges
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Alabama Seeks to Be 1st State to Execute an Inmate This Year
Alabama would be the first state to carry out an execution this year if it wins final court approval to go ahead with plans to put to death a man convicted of murder
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82 Advocacy Groups Are Calling on Biden to End Federal Executions
Dozens of civil rights and advocacy organizations are calling on the Biden administration to immediately halt federal executions after an unprecedented run of capital punishment under President Donald Trump
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Big Challenge: Biden Is Pressed to End Federal Death Penalty
Joe Biden is the first sitting president to openly oppose the death penalty, and officials say he’s discussed the possibility of instructing the Justice Department to stop scheduling new executions.
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Trump Administration Carries Out 13th and Final Execution
The Trump administration has carried out its 13th and final federal execution, five days before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in
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1st US Execution of Female Inmate in 67 Years Halted
A judge has granted a stay in what was slated to be the U.S. government’s first execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades — a Kansas woman who killed an expectant mother in Missouri, cut the baby from her womb and passed off the newborn as her own.
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Execution Rescheduled for Only Woman on Federal Death Row
The U.S. government now plans to execute the first female inmate in almost six decades just days before President-elect Joe Biden, an opponent of the death penalty, takes office
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Scott Peterson Death Sentence to be Retried: Prosecutors
Prosecutors in Stanislaus County said Friday they plan to retry the penalty phase in the case of convicted murderer Scott Peterson, who is on death row at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County.
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Feds to Execute Woman Who Killed Victim, Cut Baby From Womb
A woman convicted of fatally strangling a pregnant woman, cutting her body open and kidnapping her baby is scheduled to be the first female inmate put to death by the U.S. government in more than six decades.
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Death Penalty Cases Show History of Racial Disparity, Report Finds
A new report by a think tank examining executions in the United States says death penalty cases show a long history of racial disparity, from who is executed to where and for what crimes.
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Iran Executes Man Whose Case Drew International Attention
Iran’s state TV is reporting that the country’s authorities have executed a wrestler for allegedly murdering a man
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Japan Executes First Foreigner in 10 Years in Family Murder
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…
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Curtis Flowers, Tried 6 Times for Same Killings, Freed Months After Court Ruled Racial Bias
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…
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Report: 5th Straight Year With Under 30 Executions in US
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…
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Supreme Court Keeps Federal Executions on Hold
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...
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Indiana's Catholic Bishops Wanted Renewed Execution Freeze
Indiana’s Roman Catholic bishops are calling for a renewed moratorium on executions at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute.
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Why Death Penalty Trial Is Possible In Illinois After State Ended Capital Punishment
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.
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Why Death Penalty Trial Is Possible In Illinois After State Ended Capital Punishment
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.
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Prosecutor Seeking Death Penalty in Bank Massacre Case
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...
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Bipartisan Group File Legislation to Reinstate Death Penalty
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.