Tag: death penalty

The latest twist in the long-running saga of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed again raises troubling questions about the state’s reliance on the death penalty. Reed’s impending execution two years ago sparked an international outcry with calls for a reprieve ranging from Senator Ted Cruz to the singer Beyoncé, the Texas Observer reported. This…

Defendants in Texas are entitled to a fair trial but that does not always happen. This month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals tossed out the capital murder conviction and death sentence imposed on Clinton Young, a man on death row. The court heard how one of his prosecutors also worked for the judge. The…

The issue of how religious advisors can attend condemned prisoners might seem like a trivial one. However, it has now led to the third postponement of an execution in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution of John Ramirez this month nearly three hours after he was slated to die. It marked the third…

A defendant’s mental illness makes him or her less morally culpable of a crime and should be taken into consideration as a reason to avoid the death penalty, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. However, states can and do execute defendants who suffer from mental illnesses. Texas is no exception. The Death Penalty Information Center lists…

The U.S. Government recently started executing inmates again. It reached a grim milestone this month with the news it has carried out more executions in a year than all states that have the death penalty – including Texas, a state that typically executes more people than any other. President Donald Trump resumed federal executions after…

The case of Rodney Reed, a Texas man facing execution, has made headlines across the nation in recent weeks as millions of people signed online petitions calling for the courts to take another look at the case. Texas’ highest criminal court halted Reed’s execution on Nov. 15, sending the case back to the trial court…

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a temporary reprieve to a Texas inmate facing the death penalty because his spiritual adviser was not present has sparked a feud among the justices. Patrick Murphy was among a group of inmates who escaped from a Texas prison in 2000. He committed a series of…

Texas has been censured by the U.S. Supreme Court over how it determines intellectual disability when deciding if defendants should receive the death penalty. However, a ruling by the nation’s highest court has failed to spark changes in the Lone Star State. Now the pressure is on the Texas Legislature to amend the law relating…

Texas once again executed more people than any other state in 2018 when the number of prisoners put to death rose. However, the state’s Death Row population is falling. Two groups that oppose the death penalty reported Texas again tops the capital punishment table. With no further executions scheduled for 2018, tallies from both the…

A 66-year-old man in a wheelchair who claimed his veins would not handle a lethal injection failed to halt his death by lethal injection in Texas. Danny Bible was executed last month almost 40 years after the body of 20-year-old Inez Deaton was found in a field near a car wash in Harris County. Bible…