News

Arizona DoC Paid $1.5 Million for Execution Drugs While Facing a Budget Crisis

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 04/21/2021 - 8:11pm
 April 22, 2021  At a time in which the Arizona Department of Corrections is facing criticism for crumbling infrastructure, substandard medical care, and understaffing, the department has spent $1.5 million to purchase the lethal-injection drug pentobarbital from an undisclosed source. The exorbitant price, experts say, is a function of the questionable use of the drug for non-medical purposes and the secretive nature of the transaction.

Nevada State Assembly Passes Bill to Repeal Death Penalty and Resentence Death-Row Prisoners to Life

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 04/21/2021 - 8:00pm
April 21, 2021  The Nevada State Assembly has passed a bill that would abolish the state’s death penalty and resentence the prisoners currently on its death row to life without parole. It was the first time any death-penalty abolition bill had been reported out of committee and considered by either house of the Nevada legislature.

Sonny Boy Oats Found Ineligible for the Death Penalty After 40 Years on Florida’s Death Row

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 04/21/2021 - 7:54pm
April 20, 2021 After more than 40 years on Florida’s death row, Sonny Boy Oats,  one of the nation’s longest serving death-row prisoners, has been found ineligible for the death penalty.

In a Wide-Ranging Series of Editorials, the South Florida Sun Sentinel Argues for Abolition of Capital Punishment in Florida

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 04/21/2021 - 6:40pm

April 7, 2021 In a wide-ranging six-part editorial series analyzing systemic flaws in the administration of the death penalty, the editorial board of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has called for the abolition of capital punishment. “[I]t is past time to repeal it, here in Florida and nationwide,” the editors wrote.

Virginia House joins Senate in voting to end death penalty

Submitted by OADPEditor on Sat, 02/06/2021 - 9:43pm
Virginia State Capitol

Feb 5, 2021 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia moved another step closer to ending capital punishment on Friday when the state House joined the Senate in voting to abolish the death penalty.

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam supports the legislation, which would make Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions. It's a dramatic shift for Virginia, which has put more people to death over its centuries-long history than any other state.

Despite the surge of executions, the collapse of capital punishment is inevitable

Submitted by OADPEditor on Sat, 02/06/2021 - 9:28pm

" To abolish the death penalty, we must create a movement that is grounded in relationship building and truth telling. The movement to abolish the death penalty is gaining ground, despite the recent rush to execute several people living on federal death row. To reach this goal, we must create a movement that is grounded in relationship building and truth telling. How we get to abolition is as important as the hopeful inevitability we will get there."
The following article was published by Friends of Reconcilation after the federal executions.

South Dakota Former Prosecutor Introduces Bill to Limit the State’s Death Penalty

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 01/27/2021 - 3:34am

A South Dakota state senator who previously served as a prosecutor and a state court judge has introduced a bill to limit the breadth of the state’s death penalty statute. Senate Bill 98, introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arthur Rusch (R – Clay, pictured) on January 25, 2021, would restrict capital punishment to a single aggravating circumstance, premeditated murders in which a defendant killed a police officer, corrections officer, or firefighter during the performance of their official duties.

Democratic Legislators Introduce Death Penalty Repeal Bills, Urge President Biden to Commute Federal Death Sentences

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 01/27/2021 - 3:30am

Posted: January 20, 2021 Democratic members of the U.S. House and Senate have called on incoming President Joe Biden (pictured) to take quick action on his campaign pledge to end the federal death penalty. Legislators introduced three bills to abolish the federal death penalty and urged the President to issue executive orders to halt federal executions and commute the death sentences of those on federal death row.

Committee advances bill to end death penalty to Virginia Senate floor

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 01/27/2021 - 3:27am

1/26/2021 (The Center Square) – A Virginia Senate committee voted Tuesday to advance legislation that would abolish the death penalty in the commonwealth.

Senate Bill 1165, sponsored by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, would eliminate the use of the death penalty in Virginia, including for those who are on death row.

Four people are on death row in Virginia, and the state’s last execution was in 2017. Since 2010, eight people have been executed in the state.

MLK Day 2021: The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Death Penalty

Submitted by OADPEditor on Wed, 01/27/2021 - 3:21am

From the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC)

On Martin Luther King Day, DPIC looks at the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s views on capital punishment.

In a November 1957 article in Ebony, Dr. King was asked “Do you think God approves the death penalty for crimes like rape and murder?” He responded, “I do not think that God approves the death penalty for any crime, rape and murder included…. Capital punishment is against the better judgment of modern criminology, and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.”

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