death row

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On Death Row, He Got a Letter That 'Brought Me to My Knees'

'Atlantic' story relays tale of forgiveness offered to a murderer from his victim's granddaughter

(Newser) - One effective way to wrangle with tough emotions is to keep a journal, but for Sarah Gregory, she channeled her rage into a letter—one sent to her grandmother's killer, now on death row in Alabama. As told to Elizabeth Bruenig in her piece for the Atlantic , Gregory recalls...

Supreme Court Sides With Alabama Death Row Inmate

Says Kenneth Smith should be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court on Monday sided with an Alabama death row inmate, who had his lethal injection called off at the last minute in November, and argues he should be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia when he is ultimately executed, the AP reports. Justices without comment rejected the...

Supreme Court Blocks Richard Glossip’s Execution

Justices suspend May 18 date so they can consider the Oklahoma case

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Friday blocked Oklahoma from executing death row inmate Richard Glossip after the state's attorney general agreed Glossip's life should be spared. Glossip had been scheduled to be put to death on May 18 despite statements by new Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond that he...

No Clemency for Glossip From Oklahoma Parole Board

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had asked board to spare him

(Newser) - In what CNN calls an "unprecedented step," Oklahoma's attorney general on Wednesday appeared before the state's parole board to lobby for clemency for Richard Glossip. The board wasn't swayed. It voted 2-2 to not recommend that Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt grant Glossip clemency, meaning the...

Florida Executes &#39;Ninja Killer&#39;
'Ninja Killer'
Executed in Florida
Apr 13, 2023 12:00 AM CDT

'Ninja Killer' Executed in Florida

Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, wore ninja clothing during 1989 double murder

(Newser) - Florida executed a man known as the “ninja killer” on Wednesday for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey, the AP reports. Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, was pronounced dead at 6:15pm after receiving a lethal injection, the governor’s office said. He was...

After 3 Last Meals on Death Row, He Could Go Free

Oklahoma AG wants Richard Glossip's murder conviction vacated based on 'new information'

(Newser) - Convicted of ordering the murder of his boss in 1997, Richard Glossip has eaten his "last meal" as a death-row inmate three times . And each time, he's "narrowly avoided death ... with reprieves or stays of execution," CNN reports. Now, after decades on death row, Glossip may...

Man on Death Row for Half a Century Gets a Retrial

Iwao Hakamada was sentenced to death in 1968 but long claimed confession was forced

(Newser) - Amnesty International calls him the world's longest-serving death row inmate—but Iwao Hakamada now has a shot at leaving prison. The 87-year-old has been granted a retrial in the case that saw him sentenced to death some 55 years ago, in 1968. Hakamada said he only confessed to robbing...

Execution Delayed for Inmate Who Gouged Out His Eyes

Lawyers will make case Andre Thomas is not competent to be put to death

(Newser) - Andre Thomas' execution had been scheduled for April 5; on Tuesday, a Texas judge pulled that date to give the 39-year-old's legal team time to prepare its case: They have until July 5 to file their argument that he is "not competent for execution." His case is...

US Executes First Transgender Inmate

Missouri puts transgender woman to death

(Newser) - A Missouri inmate was put to death Tuesday for a 2003 killing, in what is believed to be the first execution of a transgender woman in the US, the AP reports. (It's thought to be the country's first execution of any openly transgender person, male or female, CNN...

Everyone on Oregon's Death Row Gets Sentence Commuted

Gov. Kate Brown says action was taken because death penalty is 'immoral'

(Newser) - Oregon's death row will soon be empty. Gov. Kate Brown is commuting the death sentences of all 17 people on it to sentences of life without the possibility of parole, she announced Tuesday. Declaring that the death penalty "cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably,...

'Execution Survivor' Won't Be Subjected to Lethal Injection Again

Any future effort to execute Alan Eugene Miller will be done by nitrogen hypoxia

(Newser) - Alabama won't seek another lethal injection date for an inmate whose Sept. 22 execution had been halted because of problems establishing an intravenous line, according to the terms of a settlement agreement approved by US District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. on Tuesday. The state agreed to never use...

They Witnessed Executions. Here&#39;s How It Changed Them
They Worked
on an Execution,
and Suffered for It
longform
Nov 25, 2022 2:50 PM CST

They Worked on an Execution, and Suffered for It

Those who saw a prison execution tell NPR they do not support the death penalty

(Newser) - Four executions were carried out in the US this week . While the names of the condemned and some of the details of their final moments are known, there's an entire group of people that the same can't be said for: those who prepare for and carry out the...

Scheduled Execution Takes Several Twists and Turns

Alabama ultimately called off the planned execution of Kenneth Smith

(Newser) - An appellate court on Thursday night issued a stay halting the scheduled execution of Alabama inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, and the state then appealed to the US Supreme Court—which vacated the stay, theoretically allowing the 57-year-old's lethal injection to proceed. But the SCOTUS decision was issued just hours...

Arizona Man Executed After SCOTUS Rejects Appeal

'It’s all been said. Let it be done,' Murray Hooper told execution team

(Newser) - An Arizona man convicted of murdering two people in 1980 was put to death Wednesday in the state’s third execution since officials started carrying out the death penalty in May after a nearly eight-year hiatus. Murray Hooper, 76, died by lethal injection at the state prison in Florence for...

Texas Executes Man Who Killed His Mom, Buried Her in Yard

Tracy Beatty's lawyers had argued his mental illness history should rule out death penalty

(Newser) - A man who killed his mother and buried her body in her backyard was executed Wednesday in Texas despite his lawyers’ appeals that he should not be put to death because he had a history of mental illness, the AP reports. Tracy Beatty, 61, received a lethal injection at the...

Death Row Inmate Says He's Innocent, and Winfrey Agrees

Court's decision on Jarvis Jay Masters' appeal is expected any day

(Newser) - This isn't the first time Jarvis Jay Masters has been forced to wait while a judge decides his fate. According to Kevin Rector of the Los Angeles Times , Masters has launched several unsuccessful appeals to overturn his conviction and death sentence for the 1985 murder of corrections officer Hal...

Alabama Prison Botches Another Lethal Injection

Alan Eugene Miller previously sued the state for failing to use his chosen method of execution

(Newser) - Alan Eugene Miller is now America’s only living execution survivor, according to the Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig, who was present at Alabama's Holman prison Sept. 22 with the expectation of witnessing Miller’s execution. Instead, Bruenig was present for yet another botched execution, Alabama’s second of the...

Death Row Inmate Is Author of Oprah's New Book Pick

Winfrey selects 'That Bird Has My Wings' by Jarvis Jay Masters

(Newser) - Oprah Winfrey has selected a prison memoir by Jarvis Jay Masters, currently on death row in San Quentin State Prison in California, for her latest book club pick. Masters' That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row was first published in 2009. Activists for...

Inmate Had No Last Words, Which Some See as Suspicious

Private autopsy suggests Joe Nathan James Jr.'s arm may have been cut to find a vein

(Newser) - An anti-death penalty group alleges that Alabama corrections officials apparently botched an inmate's execution last month, citing the length of time that passed before the prisoner received the lethal injection and a private autopsy indicating his arm may have been cut to find a vein. Joe Nathan James Jr....

His 4th Execution Date Is Set Even as New Evidence Surfaces

Oklahoma lawmakers push for new hearing for death row inmate Richard Glossip

(Newser) - In June, an outside law firm hired to review a murder case that landed a man on death row in Oklahoma concluded "no reasonable juror hearing the complete record would have convicted Richard Glossip of first-degree murder." Houston's Reed Smith found prosecutors had intentionally destroyed "key...

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