On Nov. 30, 2022, 7-year-old Athena Strand was kidnapped and murdered by FedEx driver Tanner Horner. Horner was at Strand’s house delivering a package when he instead abducted and then later murdered the young girl. When arrested by police, he…
Death penalty abolitionists at work in Ohio and Tennessee
Death penalty abolitionists in Ohio and Tennessee are hard at work trying to prevent the executions of Death Row inmates in those states. More than 500 faith leaders signed a May 4 letter to the Ohio General Assembly pleading with…
Texas executes man who didn’t kill anyone
Texas executed James Broadnax April 30 despite DNA evidence and another inmate’s confession showing he did not kill two men in 2008. Broadnax, 37, died by lethal injection at the state prison in Huntsville for the shooting deaths of Matthew…
Alabama is about to execute a man who did not kill anyone
The state of Alabama is scheduled to execute Sonny Burton on March 12. An execution in Alabama is not unusual. Since 2016, the state has executed 73 people. Gov. Kay Ivey has granted clemency one time in almost 10 years…
Tennessee death penalty opponents urge halt to executions
Death penalty opponents in Tennessee got a jump on this year’s abolition efforts by urging the state to stop all executions including four already scheduled in 2026. Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty gathered with community and religious leaders…
Coalition forms to end capital punishment state by state
A coalition of anti-death penalty groups has united to end capital punishment state by state and just as U.S. executions are surging. The alliance of more than 50 organizations was launched earlier this month to coordinate nationwide abolition efforts led…
South Carolina executes another man by firing squad
South Carolina executed convicted serial killer Stephen Bryant by firing squad Nov. 14, making him the third inmate to die by that method in the state in 2025. Bryant died after being shot by Department of Corrections employees. He was…
Conservatives make case against death penalty
Conservatives should oppose capital punishment because it violates pro-life values and the principles of more transparent and limited government, death penalty abolitionists said during a recent panel discussion. “Do we trust the government to deliver our mail on time? I…
Panelists testify to unresolved pain in death penalty cases
Cynthia Vaughn spent years consumed with rage over her mother’s 1984 murder and felt no relief whatsoever when the killer — her stepfather — finally was executed in 2019. “I didn’t get the closure people think comes with an execution….
Trump orders death penalty restored in DC and nationwide
President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum reimplementing the death penalty in the District of Columbia, and the administration said it also will begin pushing capital punishment nationwide. Existing law permitting the federal government to conduct executions for “aggravated crimes”…
Death, politics and the private faith of public power
The decision by Utah prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has transformed a tragic act into something more than a criminal case. It has become a litmus test for politics,…
Newsom urged to eliminate death penalty in California
Death Penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean challenged California Gov. Gavin Newsom to eliminate capital punishment in the state once and for all. “Commute all the sentences on Death Row so that they will never be in danger of death again,…