The state of Oklahoma has announced an unprecedented plan to execute 25 inmates over a two-year period beginning this month, about one execution per month. This plan will clear out more than half the current population on Oklahoma’s Death Row,…
Hearing from victims’ families changed the death penalty debate in Connecticut
Activists involved in the 2012 abolition of capital punishment in Connecticut say the perspectives of murder victims’ families was the key element in their campaign’s success. Even Michael Lawlor, the state’s criminal justice “czar” at the time, confirmed that those…
Ohioans make a pro-life argument to end capital punishment
An often-overlooked flaw of capital punishment is that it turns its supporters into de facto killers themselves, an opponent of the practice said during “Life Beyond the Death Penalty,” hosted by Ohioans to Stop Executions. Chicagoan Gail Rice, whose police…
How I came to oppose the death penalty
Do you have a book you can say changed your life? I do. I was a freshman in college when I read Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean. It had a profound impact on what I thought and believed…
Ohio’s death penalty opponents take their case to the court of public opinion
Activists seeking to abolish the death penalty in Ohio took their case to the court of public opinion April 7 with virtual testimony from the family and friends of homicide victims about the immorality and futility of capital punishment. “Even…
Supreme Court says Baptist pastor should be able to touch and pray over Death Row inmate as he is executed
In an 8-1 opinion, the United States Supreme Court March 24 ruled that a Texas Death Row inmate should be allowed to have his Baptist pastor accompany him into the execution chamber, lay hands on him and pray audibly over…
In Ohio, Republicans are leading the effort to abolish the death penalty
The anti-death penalty movement in Ohio is gaining traction with conservative support and leadership amidst a national rise in Republican opposition to capital punishment. Eight states currently have death penalty repeal bills sponsored by Republicans, according to Conservatives Concerned About…
For the first time, CPAC will feature a debate on the death penalty
Death penalty opponents are welcoming news that capital punishment will be debated today during the Feb. 24-27 gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla. “A death penalty discussion at CPAC is further evidence that conservatives are increasingly…
Utah bill to end capital punishment stalls in committee
A bill that would end capital punishment in Utah stalled in a state legislative committee Feb. 14, leaving death penalty opponents saddened but determined to carry on their fight for abolition. House Bill 147 was voted down 5-6 during a…