capital punishment

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Last Meal of Holy Communion, Then Arkansas Executes Inmate

US Supreme Court voted 5-4 not to intervene

(Newser) - After 12 years and hundreds of hours of legal battles, the state of Arkansas has successfully taken a man's life. Ledell Lee, a convicted murderer who'd been on death row for more than 20 years, was executed late Thursday after the US Supreme Court decided not to intervene,...

Arkansas Court Blocks Another Planned Execution

Stacey Johnson can pursue his requests for enhanced DNA testing

(Newser) - The Arkansas Supreme Court has halted one of two executions planned for Thursday night, once again throwing a wrench in the state's plans to conduct several executions before the end of April, when one of its lethal injection drugs expires, the AP reports. The court ruled that Stacey Johnson...

2 Big Hurdles Lifted in Arkansas Execution Plan

But it's unclear whether first two executions will take place as scheduled

(Newser) - State and federal courts lifted the two primary obstacles Arkansas faced in its plan to execute eight inmates before the end of April, but the state backed away from legal efforts to carry out one of the first two lethal injections scheduled Monday night, the AP reports. The decisions from...

Courts Halt Arkansas Multiple Execution Plan

State running out of time for 7 executions

(Newser) - Arkansas' goal of executing seven inmates in 11 days before its supply of lethal injection drugs expires may be a dead plan walking after two court rulings Friday. In the first ruling, the state Supreme Court temporarily stayed the execution of convicted killer Bruce Earl Ward, NPR reports. Attorneys for...

US No Longer Among World's Top 5 Executioners

Amnesty International releases new rankings, hails death penalty's decline

(Newser) - The US is no longer one of the top five executioners in the world, AFP reports. In 2016, both death sentences and executions dropped in the US; only 20 people were put to death, which dropped the US to the No. 7 spot globally, per US News & World Report...

Judge Might Block Arkansas' Plan to Execute 7 Inmates

Opponents warn of risk of botched executions

(Newser) - Arkansas is preparing to execute seven death row inmates in 11 days because it wants to carry out the sentences before its supply of an execution drug expires May 1. Judge Kristine Baker, who was appointed to US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas by President Barack Obama,...

State to Hold Unprecedented 8 Executions in 10 Days
No One Wants to Watch
Arkansas' Executions
The Rundown

No One Wants to Watch Arkansas' Executions

The state is attempting to carry out 8 executions in 10 days next month

(Newser) - Arkansas hasn't carried out an execution since 2005 due to legal challenges and the availability of necessary drugs. It's apparently ready to make up for lost time. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has scheduled eight executions over 10 days in April. There will be two executions by lethal injection per...

Prosecutor Won't Seek Death Penalty, Fla. Governor Reacts

Gov. Rick Scott takes murder probe away from Aramis Ayala, hands it to Brad King

(Newser) - Orlando's police chief said this week he was "extremely upset" to hear prosecutors wouldn't be going for the death penalty in the case of a man accused of killing a cop and his own ex-girlfriend, the Orlando Weekly reports. Those feelings may be soothed after hearing Florida...

He Charged $2K for the Murder. It Cost Him His Life

Rolando Ruiz was executed Tuesday in Texas

(Newser) - A paid hit man was executed Tuesday night in Texas for gunning down a San Antonio woman in a life insurance scheme 25 years ago. Rolando Ruiz was given a lethal injection for fatally shooting Theresa Rodriguez, 29, outside her home in 1992 as she was getting out of a...

8 Men Are Set to Die in Arkansas. Here's Why That's 'Unprecedented'

8 are set to take place over 10 days

(Newser) - Arkansas hasn't executed anyone in 11 years—but between April 17 and April 27, eight men will be put to death, an "unprecedented" move in the US, according to a group that monitors executions in the country. Nine inmates had asked the US Supreme Court to review the...

Arizona Suggests 'Do-It-Yourself' Executions

Lawyers for death row inmates need only bring the drugs

(Newser) - It's "unprecedented, wholly novel and frankly absurd," a lethal injection expert says of Arizona's new death penalty plan, which includes a provision for what one columnist calls a "do-it-yourself execution." Under the plan, the Arizona Department of Corrections—which has been unable to acquire...

Missouri Executes Man for Killing Woman, 2 Kids

'It was a heinous crime'

(Newser) - Nearly 19 years to the day that Susan Brouk and her two children were taken to a Missouri pond and killed, one of the men responsible for the crime was put to death Tuesday. Mark Christeson was given a lethal injection—Missouri's first execution since May, the AP reports....

Texan Executed for Subway Sandwich Shop Murders

Terry Edwards killed 2 former colleagues

(Newser) - A man convicted of a fatal robbery at a Dallas-area Subway shop just weeks after he was fired from his job there was executed Thursday night. Terry Edwards, 43, received a lethal injection for the $3,000 holdup at a Subway restaurant where two employees were shot to death in...

Virginia Executes Man Who Saw Open Door, Killed Family

Ricky Gray killed couple, 2 daughters who were prepping for New Year's party

(Newser) - A man convicted of killing a family of four, slashing their throats, and setting their home ablaze after they left their front door open while preparing for a New Year's Day party in 2006, was executed Wednesday. Ricky Gray was pronounced dead at 9:42pm following a lethal injection...

Man Who Killed 2 Over Piece of Gravel Is Executed

Christopher Wilkins' execution was first in US in 2017

(Newser) - Texas has executed death row inmate Christopher Wilkins, who was convicted of killing two men after one of them mocked him for falling for a phony drug deal. The lethal injection of the 48-year-old Wilkins on Wednesday is the nation's first execution this year, the AP reports. Twenty were...

Military May Soon Hold Its 1st Execution in 56 Years

Former soldier Ronald Gray raped and killed multiple women

(Newser) - The US military could soon execute someone for the first time since a soldier was hanged for raping and trying to kill an 11-year-old girl in 1961, CNN reports. Ronald Gray, a former Army soldier, has been on military death row at Fort Leavenworth since 1988. According to the Fayetteville ...

More Than 200 Inmates in Florida Could Avoid Execution

Thanks to a state supreme court ruling on Thursday

(Newser) - Eleven months after the US Supreme Court declared Florida's death penalty to be unconstitutional , the state supreme court ruled that more than 200 inmates on Florida's death row may have the right to new sentencing, the Orlando Sentinel reports. According to the Washington Post , that means more than...

Americans Sentenced to Death in 2016: Only 30

Lowest number since early '70s

(Newser) - Only 30 people were sentenced to death in the United States this year, the lowest number since the early 1970s and a further sign of the steady decline in the use of the death penalty. The number is a sharp drop from the 49 death sentences last year and just...

Now in California: Streamlined Executions

Opponents of the newly passed Proposition 66 say it's unconstitutional

(Newser) - The Election Day count is finally complete, and California voters have approved a measure aimed at speeding up executions for those on death row, the Los Angeles Times reports. Proposition 66 is designed to make the legal process more efficient by providing a bigger pool of lawyers to handle cases,...

Court: Botched Execution Was 'Innocent Misadventure'

Clayton Lockett's execution lasted 43 'horribly painful' minutes

(Newser) - In dismissing his family's lawsuit Tuesday, an appeals court called the 43-minute-long botched execution of Clayton Lockett—during which he regained consciousness and thrashed around—an "innocent misadventure," Tulsa World reports. Lockett, a convicted murderer, was executed in 2014 in Oklahoma. According to Slate , a drug meant...

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