capital punishment

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Inmate Set to Die Thursday Asks for One Final Meeting

'Have a conversation with the guy you deemed one of the worst of the worst,' says Anthony Boyd

(Newser) - An Alabama death row inmate set to die in less than 48 hours asked the state's governor to meet with him "before an innocent man is executed." Anthony Boyd, 53, is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening by nitrogen gas at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility....

After 3 Decades on Death Row, Miss. Executes Student's Killer

Kristy Ray, 20, was abducted, raped, and killed in 1993

(Newser) - A Mississippi man convicted of kidnapping, raping, and killing a 20-year-old community college student in 1993 was executed Wednesday after spending more than 30 years on death row. Charles Crawford, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:15pm following an injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the AP reports....

Court in Texas Blocks 'Shaken Baby' Execution

Judges send Robert Roberson's case back to trial court for review

(Newser) - The nation's first execution over "shaken baby syndrome" won't take place next week after all. Texas' highest criminal court on Thursday granted an emergency stay in the case of 58-year-old Robert Roberson, reports NBC News . Roberson was set to be executed on Oct. 16 for the...

US Hoops Player Facing Death Penalty Over Edibles 'Mistake'

Jarred Shaw was arrested in Indonesia after being busted with gummies he says were for his Crohn's

(Newser) - American basketball player Jarred Shaw is facing the death penalty in Indonesia after being caught with a parcel of cannabis gummies he says were to treat his Crohn's disease. Shaw, a Dallas native and former Utah State standout, made a name for himself on Indonesian courts, helping the...

Tenn. Sets Execution Date for Its Only Death-Row Female

Christa Pike is scheduled to die on Sept. 26, 2026

(Newser) - The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday set execution dates for four people, including the only woman in the state on death row. Christa Pike received a death sentence at age 18 for the 1995 torture slaying of Colleen Slemmer, who was a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student. The Tennessean reports...

Trump: 'Capital City, Capital Punishment'

He directs Bondi, Pirro, to pursue death penalty to the maximum extent possible in DC

(Newser) - The city council of Washington, DC, abolished the death penalty more than 40 years ago but President Trump wants to make it part of his crackdown on crime in the capital. On Thursday, he signed a memo directing prosecutors to seek the death penalty in "all appropriate cases" in...

Alabama, Texas Carry Out Executions
Alabama, Texas
Put 2 Men to Death
Sep 26, 2025 12:00 AM CDT

Alabama, Texas Put 2 Men to Death

In Alabama case, son of victim had pleaded for killer's life to be spared

(Newser) - Two executions took place Thursday night, the 32nd and 33rd in the US this year:
  • An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman during a 1997 gas station robbery was put to death Thursday after apologizing to his victim's family and pleas from the woman's son to spare
...

Death Row Inmate Has Bizarre Take on Execution

Judge overrules Steven Bixby, who believes only treason is punishable by death

(Newser) - A South Carolina judge has ruled that Steven Bixby, a death row inmate convicted of killing two law enforcement officers in 2003, is mentally fit to be executed, despite his unconventional legal and religious beliefs. Judge R. Scott Sprouse's decision opens the way for Bixby, 58, to receive...

State May Be First to Mainly Use Firing Squads in Executions

Idaho is aiming for this method, using remote-control system

(Newser) - Idaho is preparing to make firing squads its main execution method, a first for any US state, as it works to build a new death chamber south of Boise, to be ready by next summer. Under a new state law, firing squad executions will take priority starting in July...

Utah: Prisoner With Dementia Won't Face Firing Squad

Lawyers argue Ralph Leroy Menzies can't understand why he's facing execution

(Newser) - The impending execution of a man by firing squad in Utah was blocked by the state's Supreme Court on Friday after his attorneys argued he should be spared because he has dementia. As the AP reports, Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to be executed Friday for abducting and...

On Alabama's Agenda: a Nitrogen Gas Execution

Gov. Kay Ivey has set an execution date of Oct. 23 for Anthony Boyd

(Newser) - Alabama has scheduled an October execution by nitrogen gas for an inmate who has an ongoing lawsuit challenging the new method as unconstitutionally cruel. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday set an Oct. 23 execution date for Anthony Boyd. Boyd, 53, is one of four men convicted in the 1993...

Tennessee Man Charged With Killing 4 Faces Death Penalty

Austin Robert Drummond ordered held without bond after first hearing

(Newser) - Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Tennessee man charged with killing the parents, grandmother, and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a home's front yard. Austin Robert Drummond, 28, appeared Thursday via a video feed from jail before a judge in Tiptonville, two days after...

Inmate's Path to Execution Is Unusually Complicated
Inmate Loses a Battle in
Complicated Execution Fight
the rundown
Jul 31, 2025 2:27 PM CDT

Inmate Loses a Battle in Complicated Execution Fight

There's a legal dispute in Tennessee over Byron Black's defibrillator and his intellectual ability

(Newser) - As of now, a 68-year-old death row inmate is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, but the case of Byron Black is unusually complicated one and could take more twists and turns before then. The main issue involving Black, who murdered his girlfriend and her two young daughters in 1988,...

Texas Death Row Lets Its Inmates Mingle

Program at Livingston's Polunsky Unit breaks the isolation of solitary, lets some share meals, chats

(Newser) - For the first time in decades, Texas death row inmates are experiencing a change in daily life: no handcuffs, no solitary, and—for a select group—a taste of community. After more than 25 years of near-total isolation sparked by a notorious 1998 escape, the Polunsky Unit in Livingston...

Man With Dementia Set for Execution by Firing Squad

Lawyers for Ralph Leroy Menzies file appeal as judge sets execution date for Sept. 5

(Newser) - A Utah judge on Wednesday set an execution date for a man with dementia who has been on death row for 37 years, even as his lawyers file appeals and argue his condition is worsening. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah...

Lawsuit: Firing Squad 'Intended to Miss'

Lawyers for condemned SC inmate say shots were meant to cause 'extreme suffering'

(Newser) - An inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection in South Carolina on Friday challenged the state's execution methods in a lawsuit, arguing that lethal injection, the electric chair, and the firing squad are all cruel and unusual punishments. Lawyers for Steven Stanko claimed that in the April firing squad...

Alabama Carries Out Its 5th Nitrogen Gas Execution

Gregory Hunt put to death for woman's 1988 murder

(Newser) - An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman in 1988 was put to death Tuesday evening in the nation's sixth execution by nitrogen gas, the AP reports. Gregory Hunt, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:26pm at a south Alabama prison, authorities said, one of four executions scheduled this...

US Execution Pace Is Fastest in a Decade

There may be 4 more taking place this week

(Newser) - It's another busy week in an unusually busy year for US executions: Four more are scheduled—in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, reports the Guardian . The latter has been blocked by a judge temporarily, though a challenge by the state attorney general could put it back on...

Lawyers Hit Indiana Execution as 'Finality Over Fairness'

State puts cop killer Benjamin Ritchie to death by lethal injection, in state's 2nd execution since 2009

(Newser) - In a rare move for Indiana, the state has executed Benjamin Ritchie, marking only its second use of the death penalty since 2009. Ritchie, 45, was executed by lethal injection early Tuesday at Indiana State Prison, after being convicted in 2002 for the 2000 shooting death of Beech Grove...

Florida Executes Man Who Was Eyed in OJ Simpson Case

Glen Rogers was convicted of 1995 murder; LAPD says he didn't kill OJ's ex, her friend

(Newser) - A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the OJ Simpson double-murder case was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, was pronounced dead at 6:16pm after receiving an injection at Florida State Prison near...

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