Death penalty controversy
Death-row inmates of Sri Lanka's Welikada prison protest holding banners from the roof of the prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, June 25, 2021. About 150 death-row inmates in Sri Lanka began a hunger strike to demand their sentences be commuted, prison officials said, after the nation's president pardoned a former lawmaker who had been condemned for an election-related killing. Banners read "Treat all inmates equally," "Grant bail on appeal applications," "Minister! Stop bogus promises," "Grant pardon to us like you did to terrorists and notorious politicians." (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Death row inmates in Sri Lanka protest ex-lawmaker's pardon

By Bharatha Mallawarachi Jun. 25, 2021 03:15 AM EDT

FILE - This file photo released April 19, 2013, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for carrying out the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombing attack that killed three people and injured more than 260. The most prominent step on the death penalty by an administration led by a president who pledged during campaigning to eradicate capital punishment came this week when it asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence. (FBI via AP, File)
Biden's silence on executions adds to death penalty disarray

By Michael Tarm Jun. 18, 2021 06:00 AM EDT

Selection process begins for Supreme Court succession

Jun. 17, 2021 12:01 AM EDT
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The selection process is underway to fill a vacancy on the New Mexico Supreme Court with the departure of Barbara Vigil at the end of...

This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Raymond Riles. Riles, the longest serving death row inmate in the U.S. was resentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, June 9, 2021 after prosecutors in Texas concluded the 71-year-old man is ineligible for execution and incompetent for retrial due to his long history of mental illness. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP, File)
Longest serving death row inmate in US resentenced to life

By Juan A. Lozano Jun. 09, 2021 04:53 PM EDT

Maryland's governor vetoes more than a dozen measures

By Brian Witte May. 28, 2021 06:23 PM EDT
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed more than a dozen measures Friday, including one aimed at creating greater transparency in emergency...

FILE - This file photo provided by Tennessee Department of Correction shows Tennessee death row inmate Pervis Payne. Payne is asking a Memphis court to declare that he cannot be executed because he is intellectually disabled. The petition was filed in Criminal Court on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File)
Tennessee inmate asks court to declare he can't be executed

By Travis Loller May. 12, 2021 01:59 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: Texas

By The Associated Press May. 10, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Austin American-Statesman. May 7, 2021. Editorial: Texas GOP lawmakers trust you with a gun — but not with the vote ...

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, file photo, New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Barbara Vigil listens to arguments in a case about the state's Energy Transition Act during a hearing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Vigil is retiring from the New Mexico Supreme Court at the end of June 2021 after more than eight years at the high court. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)
High court justice, who authored end to execution, to retire

By Morgan Lee Apr. 27, 2021 09:12 PM EDT

Bill passes to stop executions of intellectually disabled

By Jonathan Mattise Apr. 26, 2021 07:52 PM EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers on Monday passed legislation designed to prevent death row inmates with an intellectual disability from being...

This March 2021 photo provided by the Nevada Department of Corrections shows convicted mass murderer Zane Floyd, 45, an inmate at Ely State Prison. Floyd is mounting a range of legal challenges to a bid to schedule his execution in early June, including questioning whether the district attorney in Las Vegas really wants the lethal injection carried out at a decommissioned prison in Carson City. (Nevada Department of Corrections via AP)
Nevada inmate fighting on several fronts to avoid execution

By Ken Ritter Apr. 23, 2021 03:09 PM EDT

Greater Mid-Atlantic News Digest 1:30 p.m.

Apr. 22, 2021 01:39 PM EDT
Hello! Here’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up in the Mid-Atlantic, covering North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Questions...

FILE - In this file photo released by Iraq's Ministry of Justice on June 29, 2018, blindfolded prisoners await their executions in Iraq. A report released by Amnesty International on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, said the number of executions worldwide in 2020 plummeted to its lowest level in at least a decade. But the report said four states in the Middle East — Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia respectively — topped the global list and pressed on with shootings, beheadings and hangings, ignoring pleas by rights groups to halt executions during the pandemic. (Iraq Ministry of Justice via AP, File)
Report: Mideast countries top 2020 global executioners list

By Isabel Debre Apr. 20, 2021 09:42 PM EDT

FILE - Attorney General Josh Stein speaks about the creation and goals of The North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice during a news conference on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Raleigh, N.C. An organization committed to ending mass incarceration in North Carolina and demanding racial equity in criminal justice has called out Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. Emancipate NC held a news conference Tuesday, March 30, 2021 to release a letter that rebuked the Democrat and accused him of falling short in protecting civil rights of wrongly accused defendants and those on death row. (Julia Wall/The News & Observer via AP, file)
Liberal group criticizes N. Carolina Democratic AG

By Gary D. Robertson Mar. 30, 2021 01:35 PM EDT

FILE - This Aug. 26, 2020 file photo shows the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. Inmates on federal death row tell The Associated Press that a leading topic of conversation through airducts they use to communicate is whether President Joe Biden will keep a campaign pledge to halt federal executions. Biden hasn’t spoken publicly to that question since taking office four days after the Trump administration executed the last of 13 inmates at the Terre Haute prison where federal death row is located. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
On federal death row, inmates talk about Biden, executions

By Michael Tarm Mar. 22, 2021 06:04 AM EDT

Judge Merrick Garland, nominee to be Attorney General, testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
AG nominee Garland vows Capitol riot will be top priority

By Michael Balsamo, Eric Tucker And Mary Clare Jalonick Feb. 22, 2021 12:56 AM EST

Editorial Roundup: US

By The Associated Press Feb. 10, 2021 06:42 PM EST
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ Feb. 10 The Tampa Bay Times on the potential of...

A Pakistani walks past the Supreme Court building in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. In a landmark ruling, Pakistan's top court on Wednesday commuted the death sentences of two mentally ill prisoners who have spent decades on death row, the first such ruling in this conservative Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan commutes death sentence for 2 mentally ill convicts

By Munir Ahmed Feb. 10, 2021 03:51 AM EST

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2020 file photo, the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. Dozens of civil rights and advocacy organizations are calling on the Biden administration to immediately halt federal executions after an unprecedented run of capital punishment under President Donald Trump. They want President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of inmates on federal death row. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
82 advocacy groups call on Biden to end federal executions

By Michael Tarm And Michael Balsamo Feb. 09, 2021 08:00 AM EST

INDIANA NEWS DIGEST

Feb. 07, 2021 01:34 PM EST
Here’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up today in Indiana. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP...

Christina Bollo of Urbana, Illinois, holds a sign as she protests the execution of Corey Johnson, near the Federal Correctional Complex, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Terre Haute, Ind. (Joseph C. Garza/The Tribune-Star via AP)
Big challenge: Biden is pressed to end federal death penalty

By Michael Tarm Feb. 07, 2021 07:45 AM EST