death penalty

National

Are Last-Minute Death Penalty Delays Cruel And Unusual Punishment?

4:25pm November 23, 2015

by Jacob McCleland

The death penalty in the U.S. is under scrutiny after a series of botched executions. Some death row lawyers and activists say the repeated delays are torture for prisoners like Richard Glossip.

California's death row at San Quentin State Prison.

National

Federal Appeals Court Upholds California's Deliberative Death Penalty Process

1:16pm November 12, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

A judge ruled last year that the decades of uncertainty California death row inmates have to endure violated their rights. An appeals court said it couldn't uphold that constitutional interpretation.

Dylann Roof faces nine counts of murder as well as charges of attempted murder and a weapons charge in connection with the June 17 killings inside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.

National

S.C. To Seek Death Penalty For Dylann Roof In Charleston Shooting

4:45pm September 03, 2015

by Laura Wagner

Roof has been charged with murdering nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina in June. He also faces federal hate crime charges.

Members of the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center, CENIDH, hold signs against the execution in the U.S. of Nicaraguan Bernardo Aban Tercero in Managua, Nicaragua.

Politics & Government

Texas Set To Execute Nicaraguan National, Despite Legal Controversy

2:55pm August 25, 2015

by Brakkton Booker

Bernardo Tecero was convicted of killing a Texas school teacher. Supporters say he should not be executed because he wasn't informed of his right to contact a consular official.

Politics & Government

Connecticut Supreme Court Ruling Bars Execution Of 11 Death Row Inmates

3:54pm August 13, 2015

by Brakkton Booker

The inmates had been subject to execution because their capital offenses occurred before the state repealed the death penalty in 2012. The new ruling says the current law is unconstitutional.

Supreme Court Concludes Term With Death Penalty Ruling, Looks Ahead

1:52pm June 30, 2015

by Nina Totenberg

The court wrapped up on Monday, supporting the use of a controversial drug for executions by lethal injection. The justices also set up cases to be heard next term on affirmative action and abortion.

Queue Listen Now

National

Supreme Court Says Use Of Lethal Injection Drug Is Legal

1:47pm June 29, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

Lawyers for Oklahoma death row inmates argued midazolam does not reliably induce a comalike sleep, violating the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

A Tea Party supporter rings a bell in protest of the health care law in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, as Obamacare supporters shout behind her.

Drama On The Docket: High Court's Term Set To End With Slate Of Big Cases

3:25pm June 15, 2015

by Ron Elving

It's crunch time for the U.S. Supreme Court, as consequential decisions will be coming soon. The biggest issues left: same-sex marriages, subsidies under Obamacare and lethal injection drugs.

Map: Where (And How) The Government Can Execute People

1:41pm May 28, 2015

by Danielle Kurtzleben

Nebraska just repealed its death penalty. Here's a look at where the law stands in your state.

A view of the death chamber from the witness room at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

Nebraska Repeals Death Penalty, But U.S. Isn't Quite Ready To Abandon It

8:45am May 28, 2015

by Danielle Kurtzleben

Cost and lethal injection complications have led some states to reconsider the death penalty. U.S. support for the practice has declined over the last two decades, but 3 in 5 still support it.