Rethinking 'An Eye for an Eye': A Journey Towards Death Penalty Abolition
At its core, the death penalty feeds one of the basest desires known to humankind: the craving for revenge. The 3,200+ members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” — a group I co-founded — along with millions of other death penalty abolitionists across the world have demonstrated time and again in recent years how [...]
Injustice in Texas: A Call for Fair Trial as Ivan Cantu's Execution Nears
“It a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” — Macbeth When asked to imagine the stereotypes associated with Texas, one might conjure images of barbecue, big trucks, and cowboys. But perhaps a more apt image would be that of injustice undergirding execution. As it all too frequently has in the [...]
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) released their annual report on Friday, reporting that for the first time more Americans believe the death penalty is administered unfairly than those who believe otherwise. The report also revealed that there were more death penalty sentences imposed than executions carried out during 2023. A majority of US state [...]
The “Texas Lawyer’s Creed” was promulgated by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on November 7, 1989. Established to eliminate abusive tactics within the practice of law, it was thought to be a seminal moment in the legal profession; the culmination of months of hard work and spirited debate [...]
Explainer: Why US Activists Have Declared 2022 the 'Year of the Botched Execution'
A new report released by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) has dubbed 2022 the “Year of the Botched Execution,” shedding light on critical issues that mire the capital punishment process in the US — including racial discrimination and problems with prosecutorial accountability. The report highlights that botched executions and protocol errors have led to [...]
Texas Walmart shooter pleads guilty to 90 federal hate crime charges
Patrick Wood Crusius, the Texas man indicted in the 2019 Walmart mass shooting, Wednesday pleaded guilty to 90 federal hate crime and firearm violations. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the plea agreement after federal prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty against Crusius. He faces 90 consecutive life sentences; one life sentence for [...]
The State of Texas Wednesday executed Wesley Ruiz after the US Supreme Court denied Ruiz’s petition to for a stay. Ruiz, convicted of fatally shooting a Texas police officer, filed an application with the court on Tuesday to stay his execution and consider his petition for a writ of certiorari. The court denied both the [...]
US prosecutors decline to seek death penalty against accused Texas Walmart shooter
US federal prosecutors Tuesday filed a notice stating that they will not seek the death penalty against accused Texas Walmart shooter Patrick Wood Crusius. Assistant US Attorney Margaret Leachman filed the notice in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division. Crusius has yet to face trial for the 2019 shooting [...]
Connecticut Judge Barbara Bellis Thursday ruled that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $473 million in punitive damages on top of a nearly $1 billion verdict handed down last month, for his defamatory statements about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting. Jones alleged that the parents of the victims were “crisis actors” and claimed that [...]
While the immediate threats to women’s access to healthcare are obvious, it could be years before the United States comes to terms with the gravity of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opinion. This brief essay focuses on why Dobbs is celebrated by white supremacists as an answer to “the great replacement,” a type [...]
