The COVID-19 pandemic significantly curtailed use of the death penalty in Texas this year, resulting in a record-low number of new death sentences and the state’s fewest executions since 1996, according to a new report from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Texas and federal courts continue to confront the state’s arbitrary application of capital punishment and deeply flawed practices, particularly in assessing intellectual disability evidence. Read Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2020: The Year in Review.
Month: December 2020
In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find information about federal executions scheduled by the outgoing administration, program announcements for the TCADP 2021 Annual Conference, and a new report on the toll COVID-19 has taken on Texas prisons and jails. Plus… abolition bills have been filed in the Texas Legislature and a new Gallup poll shows declining support for the death penalty.