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Capital Punishment

The Capital Punishment section covers all things related to the death penalty — from legal decisions to ethical considerations.

Attorney General Russell Coleman said that the families of victims deserve “justice” via these executions
The new methods, including electrocution and nitrogen hypoxia, are approved to be used on the state’s nearly 60 death row inmates starting July 1
The governor also signed bills that eliminate parole for adults who commit crimes after Aug. 1 and dramatically cut the availability of good behavior credits in prison
Thomas Creech was issued a stay of execution about a half hour after Idaho DOC officials called off his lethal injection when they couldn’t locate a vein for an IV
Thomas Creech, 73, has been in prison for half a century; he was already serving a life term when he beat a fellow inmate to death in 1981 — the crime for which he was to be executed
Ivan Cantu received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. at the Huntsville State Penitentiary for the 2000 fatal shooting of his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend
Louisiana’s special session also included bills that included restricting parole eligibility, harsher penalties for some crimes and publicizing some juvenile court records
The jury voted 11-1 in favor of the death penalty after convicting the 24-year-old man in the death of Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder
South Carolina’s current execution law requires inmates to be sent to the electric chair unless they choose a different method
“This pace also protects our team’s mental health and allows time for them to process and recover between the scheduled executions,” the Oklahoma DOC executive director said
Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma have OK’d nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, although Oklahoma’s law allows it only if lethal injection is no longer available
“We do not believe Mr. Creech is worthy of grace or mercy,” the three parole board members said. “This decision was based on the coldblooded nature of David Dale Jensen’s murder and the sheer number of victims that Mr. Creech has created over his lifetime”
The AG said there will be more nitrogen executions in Alabama, stating his regret was that it took so long for the 1996 sentence to be carried out
Kenneth Eugene Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. at William C. Holman Correctional Facility after breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask, marking the first time that a new execution method has been used in the U.S.
The execution planned for Jan. 25 would be the first attempt to use a new method since lethal injection was introduced in 1982; three states have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method
“Generally, we believe in the use of capital punishment. But we are in agreement that the death penalty is not the appropriate punishment for Brian Dorsey,” a letter from dozens of former and current Missouri DOC employees stated
The lawsuit argued that Alabama DOC’s rule mandating a three-foot distance between the reverend and inmate during nitrogen execution was “hostile toward religion”
Attorneys for two of Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmates are challenging the state’s refusal to disclose the date of purchase for lethal injection drugs
Lawyers claim that the Alabama DOC’s rule on staying three feet away from the inmate during the nitrogen execution is unscientific and violates his right to practice religion
“We’ve waited a long time for justice to be served,” said Ryan Jett, a brother of one of the victims
“It’s kind of unfortunate that we had to wait so long for justice to be served, but it’s been served,” the victim’s brother said
Lt. Debra Clayton was shot and killed in a Walmart parking lot; a second officer was killed in a traffic collision during a manhunt for the suspect
“It took 22 years but the time came. It is done. We can finally and really begin to heal — 22 years of wondering what was going to happen,” the girl’s sister said
Brent Ray Brewer, 53, died by chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the April 1990 death of Robert Laminack
“The execution will be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by the inmate as an alternative to lethal injection,” Gov. Kay Ivey said
Officer Billy Clardy III was 48 years old when he was shot and killed in December 2019 during an undercover drug operation
Three states — Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi — have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method but no state has attempted to use it
Thomas Creech was sentenced to life in prison, but less than 10 years later, he beat another man in custody to death and was sentenced to death