Death Penalty
How Does the Federal Death Penalty Work?
The federal government has announced plans to resume capital punishment. But the order will likely face challenges.
Stories You Might Have Missed This Week
New Hampshire says live free or serve life in prison, more controlled burns could help the West, and the Blackfeet bison herd is growing.
New Hampshire Is Set to Repeal the Death Penalty
New Hampshire could become the 21st state in the nation to repeal the death penalty, a practice that is in decline both in the United States and around the world.
What Gavin Newsom's Moratorium on the Death Penalty Means for California's Death Row Inmates
The governor's moratorium affects 737 people—more than a quarter of the country's death row inmates.
SCOTUS Just Made It Harder to Execute Intellectually Disabled Prisoners
Texas has been trying to execute Bobby Moore for decades. The Supreme Court once again said "no."
An Alabama Man Executed Thursday Faced Legal Battles Until His Death
The Supreme Court denied Domineque Ray's request to have his Muslim imam in the room during his lethal injection, raising questions of religious discrimination. But his trial and death sentence were an uphill battle from the start.
Texas Still Hasn't Created Legislation Preventing the Execution of Intellectually Disabled Defendants
The Lone Star state has still not come up with a single method of determining which prisoners should be exempt from the death penalty, despite a Supreme Court mandate.
A Pacific Standard Guide to Kamala Harris' Record on Criminal Justice Reform
The presidential candidate has an interesting record of championing reform while working within political constraints.
Why the American Public Is Coming to Reject Lethal Injection
The total number of executions is declining, but we're not executing the worst criminals—just the criminals with the worst lawyers.
Sentencing Minors to Life Without Parole Is Declared Unconstitutional in Washington State
With this ruling, Washington joined 20 other states and the District of Columbia that consider juvenile life without parole unconstitutional
Kwame Rockwell Will Be the Next Disabled Person Executed by America
America's courts still don't have clear protections for defendants with severe mental illness.
The Death Penalty Becomes Illegal in Washington State
After hearing the last appeal from a man on death row, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the death penalty, as applied in the state, is unconstitutional.
Nebraska Becomes the First State to Use Fentanyl for a Lethal Injection
Officials in Nebraska used fentanyl to execute a death row inmate on Tuesday, marking the first time the powerful opioid has been used to carry out the death penalty in the United States.
A Pharmaceutical Company Is Suing Nevada Over Untested Drugs in a Lethal Injection
In only the second-ever case of its kind, a pharmaceutical company sued Wednesday to stop the state of Nevada from using an untested drug in a lethal injection.
The Death Penalty in America: A Lethal History
In colonial Virginia, authorities could hang settlers for a crime as small as stealing grapes or killing a neighbor's chicken. The penal code in America's first colony was, in fact, so harsh its governor eventually reduced the number of capital offenses out of fear that settlers would refuse to live there. Since then, the number and severity of crimes punishable by death in the United States have fluctuated; today, the death penalty is still legal in 31 states. Here are some of the critical turning points in the history of capital punishment in America.
What the Terrorist Steals When He Takes His Own Life
What happens when suicide forestalls any possibility of justice?
Oklahoma Is Going to Use Nitrogen Gas on Death Row Inmates
Seventeen inmates in Oklahoma are awaiting set execution dates.
The Lede, Issue #4: Racial Trauma, the Death Penalty in America, Marilynne Robinson Essays, and More
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How IQ Tests Are Perverted to Justify the Death Penalty
Research has identified embedded racism in IQ tests. Now, prosecutors in at least eight states are using that research—to legalize more executions.
My Brother's Keeper
When her brother is sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit, one woman takes on the corrosive culture of capital punishment.
Why Is the Death Penalty So Popular in Alabama?
Judges in Alabama frequently override jury’s sentences of life without parole to impose capital punishment.
Capital Punishment in the U.S. Is Still Biased
Even as it's grown increasingly rare.
Death by Lethal Injection
Is lethal injection the most humane method of execution? Is there another way? Should we eliminate the death penalty altogether? Here’s some of the best reporting on the practice.
Another Reason to Oppose the Death Penalty
New research finds a convict is more likely to be sentenced to death if he has an untrustworthy face.