Criminal punishment
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

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

Pastor DiArron M. speaks during a vigil for Pervis Payne outside of the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center on Friday, June 4, 2021 in Memphis. A hearing is scheduled Friday in the case of Payne, a Tennessee death row inmate who has long maintained his innocence and whose lawyers filed a petition saying he is intellectually disabled and should not be executed. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via AP)
Expert to study mental disabilty claim of death row inmate

By Adrian Sainz Jun. 04, 2021 12:44 PM EDT

Oklahoma death row inmate dies after contracting COVID-19

May. 27, 2021 04:21 PM EDT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma death row inmate awaiting execution for a 2004 slaying in Oklahoma City died of COVID-19, the Office of the Chief Medical...

Editorial Roundup: U.S.

By The Associated Press May. 19, 2021 01:25 PM EDT
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: May 19 The Boston Globe on U.S. aid to Israel should...

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

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 - In his Dec. 18, 2020, file photo a runner passes the office of the California Employment Development Department in Sacramento, Calif. California lawmakers on Thursday, April 8, 2021, advanced what they called commonsense legislation requiring two state agencies to share information aimed at helping stop billions of dollars in pandemic-related unemployment fraud. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
California advances bill aimed at massive unemployment fraud

By Don Thompson Apr. 08, 2021 04:14 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

FILE - This March 21, 2020, file photo, shows the Maricopa County 4th Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix. The number of inmates in Arizona's prisons and in some county jails in the state have decreased since the start of pandemic. The decrease reflects a slowdown in the state's court system that has held far fewer criminal jury trials over the last year as it took steps to prevent the coronavirus from spreading at courthouses. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Arizona’s prison population declines by 11% during pandemic

By Jacques Billeaud Feb. 13, 2021 11:10 AM EST

Illinois prison deaths would require family notification

By Emma Lubitsch Of Injustice Watch Feb. 13, 2021 01:01 AM EST
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois prisons and jails will soon be required to notify families when their incarcerated loved ones die. As part of the sweeping criminal...

Juvenile reform bill to halt life without parole for many

By Tori Bergel Of Capital News Service Feb. 12, 2021 05:45 PM EST
Sentencing juveniles to life without parole could essentially end in Maryland if legislation going through the General Assembly becomes law. ...

Editorial Roundup: New England

By The Associated Press Feb. 12, 2021 03:12 PM EST
Connecticut Post. February 10, 2021. Editorial: Lamont’s budget an encouraging first step in a long process As he...

FILE-This undated file photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Willie B. Smith III. The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 ordered that Smith III be put to death on Feb. 11, 2021 for the shotgun slaying of Sharma Ruth Johnson. The lethal injection of Willie B. Smith III was called off Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, when the U.S. Supreme Court maintained an injunction. The state prison system said the execution would not proceed given the ruling.(Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)
No execution: Courts side with inmate wanting pastor present

By Kim Chandler Feb. 12, 2021 12:40 AM EST

This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Willie B. Smith III. The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 ordered that 51-year-old Willie B. Smith III be put to death on Feb. 11 for the shotgun slaying of Sharma Ruth Johnson. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)
Alabama seeks to be 1st state to execute an inmate this year

By Kim Chandler Feb. 11, 2021 12:49 AM EST

This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Willie B. Smith III. The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 ordered that 51-year-old Willie B. Smith III be put to death on Feb. 11 for the shotgun slaying of Sharma Ruth Johnson. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)
Court stays execution of Alabama inmate

By Kim Chandler Feb. 10, 2021 09:18 AM EST