Death penalty Archives

Activists see temporary stop of federal executions as a starting point

Jul 6, 2021

Activists who oppose the death penalty said the Justice Department’s temporary stop of federal executions is a step in the right direction, but not enough.

By Carol Zimmermann

Advocate: S. Carolina approval of firing squad, electric chair ‘chilling’

May 12, 2021

The passage of a bill by South Carolina lawmakers in early May to restart executions after 10 years and to add death by firing squad or electric chair as options if lethal injection drugs are not available is a “setback for South Carolina” and “stands in stark contrast to powerful efforts elsewhere to abolish the death penalty,” said a Catholic death penalty opponent.

By Carol Zimmermann

Egypt executes defrocked monk convicted of abbot’s killing

May 9, 2021

Egyptian authorities on Sunday executed a defrocked monk convicted of killing an abbot in a desert monastery north of Cairo, officials said.

By Samy Magdy

Texas ends clergy, spiritual advisers ban in death chamber

Apr 23, 2021

Texas prisons have resumed allowing clergy as well as spiritual advisers in the death chamber, reversing a two-year ban created after the U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution of an inmate who had argued his religious freedom was being violated because his Buddhist spiritual adviser wasn’t allowed to accompany him, officials said Thursday.

By Juan A. Lozano

Advocates, editorials call on Biden to end federal death penalty

Apr 20, 2021

The death penalty has been getting attention across the country this year with legislation introduced or voted on in several states aimed at limiting, repealing or even renewing capital punishment.

By Carol Zimmermann

Governor signs death penalty repeal at site of 101 executions since 1991

Mar 26, 2021

While standing outside the prison that housed Virginia’s execution chamber, Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in the state March 24.

By Zoey Maraist

Religion and the death penalty collide at the Supreme Court

Feb 13, 2021

The Supreme Court is sending a message to states that want to continue to carry out the death penalty: Inmates must be allowed to have a spiritual adviser by their side as they are executed.

By Jessica Gresko

Pastor, man set to die, faith at core of discrimination suit

Feb 13, 2021

A pastor, a condemned prisoner and their faith are at the center of a religious discrimination claim that triggered a late injunction from a federal appeals court on Wednesday.

By Melissa Brown, Montgomery Advertiser