A Case for Moving Away From the Death Penalty
February 2, 2012
JURIST Guest Columnist Crystal Whalen, Texas Tech University School of Law Class of 2012, is a student attorney at the Regional Public Defender's Office for Capital Cases in Lubbock, Texas. She argues in favor of moving away from the death penalty and makes a case for its unconstitutionality...As Am....... [more] 
New Jersey governor signed law imposing death penalty moratorium
January 12, 2012
On January 12, 2006, New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey signed a bill imposing a moratorium on executions into law. The suspension was to last until 60 days after a special commission on the death penalty, which was created by the bill which was passed by the state legislature three days earlier....... [more]
UN criticizes increased use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia
January 8, 2012
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday expressed alarm over the increased use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia, including increased use of torture to obtain confessions. According to OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville, executions in Saudi Arabia have nearly tr....... [more]
Illinois House voted to abolish death penalty
January 6, 2012
On January 6, 2011, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill that abolished the death penalty by a vote of 60-54. The Illinois Senate approved the same bill in March 2011, and Governor Pat Quinn signed the ban during the same month. Illinois was the sixteenth state to ban the death penalt....... [more]
Egypt prosecutors seek death penalty for Mubarak
January 5, 2012
Egyptian prosecutors announced Thursday they will be seeking the death penalty for former president Hosni Mubarak, former interior minister Habib El Adly and four of his aides accused of ordering the killing of anti-government protesters last year. This announcement came on the last day to make sta....... [more]
US death penalty rates continuing to drop: report
December 15, 2011
There were only 78 new death sentences handed down in the US in 2011—the first time that number has dropped below 100 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976—according to a report published Thursday by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). There were 43 executions in 13 stat....... [more]
North Carolina governor vetoes repeal of death penalty racial justice law
December 15, 2011
North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would have essentially repealed the state's Racial Justice Act. The 2009 law, which allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences based on statistical evidence of racism, was designed to address concerns that racial bi....... [more]
New Jersey Senate passed death penalty abolition bill
December 10, 2011
On December 10, 2007, the New Jersey Senate voted 21-16 to abolish the state's death penalty. The New Jersey House passed the bill three days later by a vote of 44-36. The bill was signed into law by Governor Jon Corzine on December 17, 2007. Policymakers had cited the high cost of capital punishmen....... [more]
Prosecutors decline to continue seeking death penalty for Mumia
December 7, 2011
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced Wednesday that his office will no longer seek the death penalty against Mumia Abu-Jamal. As a result of the decision, Abu-Jamal will remain in prison for life ending a 30-year sentencing battle after he was convicted of killing police officer D....... [more]
Oregon governor puts moratorium on death penalty
November 23, 2011
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber on Tuesday issued a temporary reprieve for death row inmate Gary Haugen and called for an end to the state's death penalty. The state has executed only two individuals in the last 49 years and each execution was with the prisoner's consent. Kitzhaber said, "I do not b....... [more]
Connecticut high court upholds state's death penalty law
November 22, 2011
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday upheld the state's death penalty law. The court's ruling affirmed the death sentence of a man convicted of murdering a 13-year old boy with a sledgehammer in 1997. In its defense of the death penalty, the court invoked provisions of the Connecticut Constitutio....... [more]
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