US carries out 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades
4 years, 8 months ago

US carries out 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades

India TV News  

US carries out 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades The U.S. on Tuesday carried out its first federal execution in almost two decades, killing by lethal injection a man convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Daniel Lewis Lee's final words were: “You’re killing an innocent" The U.S. on Tuesday carried out its first federal execution in almost two decades, killing by lethal injection a man convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer.” His final words were: “You’re killing an innocent" The decision to move forward with the first execution by the Bureau of Prisons since 2003 -- and two others scheduled later in the week — drew scrutiny from civil rights groups and relatives of Lee’s victims, who had sued to try to halt it, citing concerns about their attending during the coronavirus pandemic. The American people have made the considered choice to permit capital punishment for the most egregious federal crimes, and justice was done today in implementing the sentence for Lee’s horrific offenses.” Protesters against the death penalty gather in Terre Haute, Ind., Monday, July 13, 2020.

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History of this topic

Arizona set to execute first death row prisoner in over two years
1 week, 3 days ago

Arizona set to execute first death row prisoner in over two years

India Today  

An Arizona man who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder was scheduled to be executed Wednesday in the state’s first use of the death penalty in more than two years. Late last year, Hobbs fired the retired judge she had appointed to conduct the review, and the state’s corrections department announced changes in the team that lethally injects death row prisoners. …

A look at the status of US executions in 2025
2 weeks, 3 days ago

A look at the status of US executions in 2025

Associated Press  

Six men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and 12 other people are scheduled to be put to death in six states during the remainder of 2025. The other states with scheduled executions this year are Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, though Ohio’s governor has been routinely postponing the actions as their dates near. A …

Lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods
3 weeks, 5 days ago

Lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods

Hindustan Times  

HOUSTON — South Carolina is preparing this week to execute a man by firing squad, a capital punishment method that hasn’t been used in the U.S. in nearly 15 years. A look at US execution methods Since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976, states have used five different execution methods: lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, …

Lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods
3 weeks, 5 days ago

Lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods

Associated Press  

HOUSTON — South Carolina is preparing this week to execute a man by firing squad, a capital punishment method that hasn’t been used in the U.S. in nearly 15 years. Since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976, states have used five different execution methods: lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad and hanging. Here’s a …

Donald Trump signs sweeping death penalty order hours after White House return
2 months, 1 week ago

Donald Trump signs sweeping death penalty order hours after White House return

Hindustan Times  

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping execution order Monday on the death penalty that directs the attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful action” to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions. US President Donald Trump speaks on the day he signs documents as he issues executive orders and pardons for January 6 defendants …

Drug Used In Federal Executions May Cause 'Unnecessary Pain And Suffering,' DOJ Says
2 months, 1 week ago

Drug Used In Federal Executions May Cause 'Unnecessary Pain And Suffering,' DOJ Says

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, after a government review raised concerns about the potential for “unnecessary pain and suffering.” Attorney General Merrick Garland’s order to withdraw the lethal injection policy comes days before President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to restart federal …

Drug used in federal executions under Trump may cause ‘unnecessary pain and suffering,’ Garland says
2 months, 1 week ago

Drug used in federal executions under Trump may cause ‘unnecessary pain and suffering,’ Garland says

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, after a government review raised concerns about the potential for “unnecessary pain and suffering.” Attorney General Merrick Garland’s order to withdraw the lethal injection policy comes days before President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to restart federal executions, is set …

Tennessee has a new execution method, 2.5 years after last scheduled execution abruptly halted
3 months ago

Tennessee has a new execution method, 2.5 years after last scheduled execution abruptly halted

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More than 2 years after Tennessee abruptly halted the execution of inmate Oscar Smith — admitting that correction officials were not following their own execution protocols — the state has announced a new method that could allow it to resume executions halted since May 2022. The Tennessee Department of Correction announced in a brief statement Friday it …

Biden could foil Trump’s plans to resume federal executions
3 months, 1 week ago

Biden could foil Trump’s plans to resume federal executions

Politico  

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is also on the verge of publishing the findings of a long-running internal review of the lethal injection protocol that the Trump administration adopted in 2019. “We hope the review will find that the problems with lethal injection are one additional reason as to why President Biden should grant clemency to death row prisoners,” said Ruth …

US carries out 25 executions this year as death penalty trends in nation held steady
3 months, 1 week ago

US carries out 25 executions this year as death penalty trends in nation held steady

Associated Press  

HOUSTON — The number of executions in the U.S. remained near historic lows in 2024 and was mostly carried out in a small group of states, including Alabama, which became the first state to use nitrogen gas as an execution method, according to an annual report on capital punishment. “The dramatic drop in new death sentences over the years, I …

5 U.S. death row inmates were executed in one week, the most in decades
6 months ago

5 U.S. death row inmates were executed in one week, the most in decades

LA Times  

Death row inmates in five states have been put to death in the span of one week, an unusually high number of executions that defies a yearslong trend of decline in both the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S. Two more death row inmates, in Missouri and Texas, were pronounced dead Tuesday evening following executions, and …

5 executions have happened over a week’s span in the US. That’s the most in decades
6 months ago

5 executions have happened over a week’s span in the US. That’s the most in decades

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Death row inmates in five states have been put to death in the span of one week, an unusually high number of executions that defies a yearslong trend of decline in both the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S. Two more death row inmates, in Missouri and Texas, were pronounced dead Tuesday evening …

There are 5 executions set over a week's span in the US. That's the most in decades
6 months ago

There are 5 executions set over a week's span in the US. That's the most in decades

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. If carried out as planned, the executions in …

US man convicted of killing store clerk faces death in first of 5 executions over next week
6 months, 1 week ago

US man convicted of killing store clerk faces death in first of 5 executions over next week

Firstpost  

Owens was sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder of Irene Graves, a mother of three, during an armed robbery of a convenience store in Greenville, South Carolina, on Halloween night in 1997 This undated booking photo obtained from the South Carolina Department of Corrections in Columbia, South Carolina, shows death row inmate Freddie Owens, 46. AFP A man …

Indiana Supreme Court sets date for first state execution in 15 years
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Indiana Supreme Court sets date for first state execution in 15 years

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Indiana Supreme Court has …

Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution
8 months, 1 week ago

Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution

Associated Press  

Utah officials said Saturday that they are scrapping plans to use an untested lethal drug combination in next month’s planned execution of a man in a 1998 murder case. Defense attorneys for Taberon Dave Honie, 49, had sued in state court to stop the use of the drug combination, saying it could cause the defendant “excruciating suffering.” The execution scheduled …

Indiana seeks first execution since 2009 after acquiring lethal injection drug, governor says
9 months ago

Indiana seeks first execution since 2009 after acquiring lethal injection drug, governor says

Associated Press  

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said the state will resume executions for the first time in over a decade after acquiring a drug used for lethal injections. Indiana’s last execution was in 2009, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The Indiana Department of Correction now has acquired a drug used by multiple states in lethal injections — …

Lawmakers bidding to resume Louisiana executions after 14-year pause OK new death penalty methods
1 year ago

Lawmakers bidding to resume Louisiana executions after 14-year pause OK new death penalty methods

Associated Press  

— Bidding to resume Louisiana executions after a 14-year pause, the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature gave final passage to a bill Thursday to add electrocution and the use of nitrogen gas as means of administering the death penalty. Amid ongoing challenges over obtaining lethal injection drugs, Louisiana’s bill follows in the steps of other reliably red states that have expanded their …

Louisiana advances a bill expanding death penalty methods in an effort to resume executions
1 year, 1 month ago

Louisiana advances a bill expanding death penalty methods in an effort to resume executions

Associated Press  

— In an effort to resume Louisiana’s death row executions that have been paused for 14 years, lawmakers on Friday advanced a bill that would add the use of nitrogen gas and electrocution as possible methods to carry out capital punishment. Over the past couple of decades, executions in the United States have reduced — in part because of legal …

Could Louisiana soon resume death row executions?
1 year, 1 month ago

Could Louisiana soon resume death row executions?

Associated Press  

— Louisiana hasn’t carried out a death row execution since 2010, but between a new conservative governor who is in favor of capital punishment and other states implementing alternative methods to lethal injections, the Deep South state could soon look at ways to resume. Jeff Landry hinted at a willingness to explore expanding execution methods, saying he is committed to …

Will other states replicate Alabama’s nitrogen execution?
1 year, 2 months ago

Will other states replicate Alabama’s nitrogen execution?

Associated Press  

ATMORE, Ala. — Alabama’s first-ever use of nitrogen gas for an execution could gain traction among other states and change how the death penalty is carried out in the United States, much like lethal injection did more than 40 years ago, according to experts on capital punishment. “I think the nation, as far as correctional entities, is watching this to …

Federal Court Says Alabama Can Carry Out First Nitrogen Gas Execution
1 year, 2 months ago

Federal Court Says Alabama Can Carry Out First Nitrogen Gas Execution

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama will be allowed to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, refusing to block what would be the nation’s first execution by a new method since 1982. “I remain confident that the Supreme Court will come down on the side of justice, and that Smith’s execution …

Alabama court says state can make second attempt to execute inmate whose lethal injection failed
1 year, 2 months ago

Alabama court says state can make second attempt to execute inmate whose lethal injection failed

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday rejected the appeal of a death row inmate who is scheduled to be the first person put to death with nitrogen gas and had argued that he shouldn’t face execution after a previous attempt at a lethal injection failed. Justices without dissent rejected arguments that a second attempt to execute Kenneth …

Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump’s presidency
1 year, 5 months ago

Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump’s presidency

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — A day before the federal government executed a Texas man for the killing of an Iowa couple when he was 18, celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz pleaded with then-President Donald Trump — a former client — to call the execution off. The relatives, Trump explained, were on the road to the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal executions …

Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump's presidency
1 year, 5 months ago

Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump's presidency

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. So, unless Biden clears death row, “history will repeat itself” if a …

2 Tenn. officials fired after lethal injection errors noted
2 years, 2 months ago

2 Tenn. officials fired after lethal injection errors noted

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Correction has fired its longtime top attorney and another employee following a scathing independent report on failures within the state’s lethal injection system. The firings came a day before the Republican governor publicly released the report, whose findings cited widespread failures to conduct required testing on the injection drugs under Tennessee’s own rules, …

New Oklahoma AG seeks to slow pace of lethal injections
2 years, 2 months ago

New Oklahoma AG seeks to slow pace of lethal injections

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s current schedule of executing a death row inmate roughly every 30 days is placing too much of a burden on prison staff and should be slowed down, the state’s new attorney general wrote in a motion filed Wednesday with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who witnessed last week’s execution of Scott …

Lee: Tennessee high court likely won’t set executions soon
2 years, 2 months ago

Lee: Tennessee high court likely won’t set executions soon

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Lee said the Tennessee Supreme Court will likely wait for the state to finalize changes to its lethal injection process before it schedules future executions, after a blistering report found multiple flaws in how inmates are put to death. Yet, it wasn’t until the release of the review’s report last week that the public learned …

Gov. Lee: Execution report complete, will release later
2 years, 3 months ago

Gov. Lee: Execution report complete, will release later

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Friday that the independent review into the state’s lethal injection procedure has been completed, but he refused to immediately release the findings. The governor’s office then refused to release records that could have illuminated his decision, citing attorney-client privilege and the disputed “deliberative process privilege.” Lee appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton …

EXPLAINER: Why are states having lethal injection problems?
2 years, 4 months ago

EXPLAINER: Why are states having lethal injection problems?

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A scheduled execution in Alabama that was called off Thursday after prison officials couldn’t find a suitable vein to inject the lethal drugs into is the latest in a long history of problems with lethal injections since Texas became the first state to use the execution method in 1982, including delays in finding usable veins. Numerous other …

Oklahoma, with a history of botched lethal injections, prepares to start executing a man a month
2 years, 7 months ago

Oklahoma, with a history of botched lethal injections, prepares to start executing a man a month

CNN  

CNN — Oklahoma will soon begin executing death row inmates at a pace of about one man per month, with plans to put to death 25 prisoners over the next two years despite cries by critics and experts who point not only to outstanding questions of the mental fitness or possible innocence of some but also the state’s recent history …

Tennessee execution pause through 2022 could last longer
2 years, 9 months ago

Tennessee execution pause through 2022 could last longer

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After Tennessee Gov. Many of the problems surfaced as part of challenges of Tennessee’s execution process by two death row inmates in federal court. Those cases are on hold until the investigation ordered by Lee concludes — but in the meantime, the state attorney general’s office acknowledged in a May 6 court filing that there may be …

Oklahoma official seeks execution dates for 25 inmates
2 years, 9 months ago

Oklahoma official seeks execution dates for 25 inmates

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s attorney general has asked the state’s highest appeals court to set execution dates for 25 death row inmates following a federal judge’s rejection of their challenge to the state’s lethal injection method. In 25 similar filings with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday, Attorney General John O’Connor wrote that the federal court’s stays of …

Federal judge OKs Oklahoma’s lethal injection method
2 years, 9 months ago

Federal judge OKs Oklahoma’s lethal injection method

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma on Monday ruled the state’s three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional, paving the way for the state to request execution dates for more than two dozen death row inmates who were plaintiffs in the case. Judge Stephen Friot’s ruling followed a six-day federal trial earlier this year in which attorneys for 28 …

Tennessee halts executions ahead of a review of lethal injections
2 years, 10 months ago

Tennessee halts executions ahead of a review of lethal injections

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Tennessee has paused its …

Federal judge grants stay of execution to Oklahoma inmate
3 years, 3 months ago

Federal judge grants stay of execution to Oklahoma inmate

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma has granted a stay of execution for a death row inmate who was scheduled to receive a lethal injection in March. The order reinstates Coddington as a plaintiff in a case with other death row inmates who are challenging Oklahoma’s three-drug lethal injection protocol. Firing squad is one of several authorized execution …

Executions in the U.S. in 2021 hit a three-decade low with 11, report says
3 years, 3 months ago

Executions in the U.S. in 2021 hit a three-decade low with 11, report says

LA Times  

States and the federal government carried out 11 executions in 2021, the lowest number since 1988. States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year, the fewest since 1988, as support for the death penalty has continued to decline. That’s according to an annual report on the death penalty released Thursday, which was also sharply critical of the …

Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low
3 years, 3 months ago

Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this …

Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low
3 years, 3 months ago

Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year, the fewest since 1988, as support for the death penalty has continued to decline. That’s according to an annual report on the death penalty released Thursday, which was also sharply critical of the Supreme Court and its role in green-lighting executions. Pandemic-related disruptions partly accounted for the …

Timeline of events involving capital punishment in Oklahoma
3 years, 5 months ago

Timeline of events involving capital punishment in Oklahoma

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma conducted 112 executions from 1976 to October 2015, when the state imposed a moratorium following three consecutive flawed executions or attempted executions. The U.S. Supreme Court says later it will consider whether Oklahoma can use midazolam during executions, but it doesn’t disrupt Warner’s rescheduled execution. — June 29, 2015: A divided U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oklahoma’s …

Oklahoma set to resume lethal injections after 6-year pause
3 years, 5 months ago

Oklahoma set to resume lethal injections after 6-year pause

Al Jazeera  

A 60-year-old Oklahoma man who stabbed a prison cafeteria worker to death in 1998 is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Thursday in the state’s first attempt to administer the death penalty since a series of flawed executions more than six years ago. The state moved forward with John Marion Grant’s lethal injection after the US Supreme Court, in …

Federal appeals court temporarily halts Oklahoma executions
3 years, 5 months ago

Federal appeals court temporarily halts Oklahoma executions

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal appeals court granted stays of execution on Wednesday for two Oklahoma inmates who were scheduled to receive lethal injections in the coming weeks. The panel wrote, “We find nothing in the relevant case law that specifically requires a prisoner to designate a method of execution to be used in his case by ‘checking a box’ …

Oklahoma sets 7 executions in 6 months; 1st since 2015
3 years, 6 months ago

Oklahoma sets 7 executions in 6 months; 1st since 2015

Associated Press  

Oklahoma scheduled seven executions Monday in what would be the first lethal injections for the state since putting them on hold six years ago following a series of mishaps. Among the men scheduled to die is Julius Darius Jones, even though the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board just last week recommended that his death sentence be commuted to life in …

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed
3 years, 8 months ago

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is halting federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement Thursday night, saying he was imposing a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its policies and procedures. It also …

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed
3 years, 8 months ago

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is halting federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement Thursday night, saying he was imposing a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its policies and procedures. It also …

US Justice Department halts federal executions after Donald Trump's administration put 13 people to death
3 years, 8 months ago

US Justice Department halts federal executions after Donald Trump's administration put 13 people to death

ABC  

The US Justice Department has announced a halt on federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which killed 13 people in executions over six months. Key points: Donald Trump's Justice Department resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus No president in more than 120 years had overseen so many federal executions There are major …

Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases
4 years, 1 month ago

Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep and called gurneys “beds” and final breaths “snores.” But those tranquil accounts are at odds with reports by The Associated Press and other media witnesses of how prisoners’ stomachs rolled, shook and …

82 advocacy groups call on Biden to end federal executions
4 years, 1 month ago

82 advocacy groups call on Biden to end federal executions

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Dozens of civil rights and advocacy organizations are calling on …

After Trump's Execution Spree, Criminal Justice Leaders Urge Biden To End Death Penalty
4 years, 2 months ago

After Trump's Execution Spree, Criminal Justice Leaders Urge Biden To End Death Penalty

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING During Donald Trump’s final week in office, the federal government executed three prisoners on death row. Now, a coalition of prosecutors and attorneys general is calling on Biden to immediately end the federal death penalty, calling it “an assault on human dignity and an affront to American values.” In a letter sent on Monday, nearly 100 criminal …

Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution
4 years, 2 months ago

Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution

Associated Press  

— The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty. Higgs’ lawyers argued it was “arbitrary and inequitable” to execute Higgs while Willis Haynes, the man who fired the shots that killed the …

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