Death Penalty

Afternoon Briefs: Cops charged with selling crash info to lawyers; deal reached on McGahn testimony

Officers charged with selling crash info to lawyers A retired New York police officer and two current officers were charged Tuesday with taking kickbacks from towing companies. Heather Busch, Robert Hassett and Robert Smith are charged in a federal indictment with using interstate facilities to commit bribery. Smith and Hassett…

May 12, 2021 4:30 PM CDT

Chemerinsky op-ed calls on Justice Breyer to retire now

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg didn't heed calls to resign when law dean Erwin Chemerinsky wrote a March 2014 op-ed making that plea.

May 11, 2021 10:15 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: DNA on murder weapon isn’t from executed man; lawmakers embrace firing-squad executions

DNA suggests murder was carried out by someone other than executed man DNA tests on a murder weapon and a bloody shirt are not a match with the man executed for carrying out the crime, according to lawyers from the Innocence Project and the American Civil Liberties Union. Arkansas inmate…

May 7, 2021 4:12 PM CDT

SCOTUS should hear case in which shackled defendant reenacted murder, with no defense objection, Sotomayor says

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented Monday when the high court refused to hear a case in which a shackled defendant reenacted a murder during his sentencing, with no objection from his defense lawyer.

Apr 20, 2021 10:20 AM CDT

Texas court tosses sentence of state’s longest-serving death row inmate

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned the sentence of the state’s longest-serving death row inmate.

Apr 16, 2021 10:28 AM CDT

Alabama judge is suspended from bench after she is accused of anti-death penalty predilection

A judge in Birmingham, Alabama, has been suspended with pay after the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission alleged that she showed an apparent predisposition against the death penalty, ignored appellate directives, and showed a lack of appropriate demeanor to prosecutors.

Apr 13, 2021 11:47 AM CDT

Former death row inmate thanks God and his lawyers for his release after 30-plus years in prison

A former death row inmate in Florida told reporters Thursday that he thanked God and his legal team for his release from prison.

Apr 9, 2021 12:43 PM CDT

Kelley Henry is a champion for death row inmates

For ABA member Kelley Henry, advocating for people on death row isn’t just a job. She wants to help fix what she sees as a broken system, and she loves the Constitution. “I see myself as someone who is defending the Sixth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment, the 14th Amendment, because if you say it’s OK to violate those rights because you just don’t like my guys, then your rights are next,” she says. “There are ways in which lawyers are part of that system of checks and balances. We’re a check on the government’s power.”

Apr 1, 2021 12:40 AM CDT

Supreme Court reinstates murder conviction, says 6th Circuit ignored ‘ample evidence’

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the murder conviction of a Tennessee death-row inmate accused of killing a motel maid, ruling that a federal appeals court had relied on a “fanciful theory” to grant him a new trial.

Mar 29, 2021 12:36 PM CDT

How quickly can Biden deliver on policing reform?

President Joe Biden promised criminal justice reforms but has had to balance competing interests between progressives and moderates as he finalizes his Cabinet.

Mar 29, 2021 10:18 AM CDT

Virginia becomes the first Southern state to eliminate the death penalty

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill ending the death penalty Wednesday, making Virginia the 23rd state to eliminate capital punishment and the first Southern state to do so.

Mar 25, 2021 2:28 PM CDT

Supreme Court will consider reinstating death sentence for Boston bomber

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a federal appeals court erred when it vacated the death penalty for convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Mar 22, 2021 12:19 PM CDT

Biden DOJ outpaces Trump DOJ for reversing US position in pending Supreme Court cases

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice has changed positions in at least five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, putting it on track to outpace reversals during the first full Supreme Court term under former President Donald Trump.

Mar 18, 2021 11:04 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Florida lawmaker says he’s ‘Christian, not an attorney;’ suit challenges hotel resort fees

Lawmaker says he’s ‘Christian, not an attorney’ A Florida lawmaker says he was just joking when he said told a Jewish colleague that he was a “Christian, not an attorney.” State Sen. Jeff Brandes made the comment when asked about the definition of gross negligence in his bill to limit…

Mar 11, 2021 4:50 PM CST

‘I am not the president’s lawyer’: Garland says he wouldn’t be swayed by politics as attorney general

Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit pledged Monday to remain independent and restore integrity to the U.S. Department of Justice if he is confirmed as the next U.S. attorney general.

Feb 22, 2021 3:35 PM CST