In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find information on the nation’s first scheduled execution of the year, as well as details on upcoming film releases, the TCADP 2020 Annual Conference, and recent death penalty developments in Texas and nationwide.
Category: execution
State of Texas executes Travis Runnels
The State of Texas carried out the final execution of the year last night, putting Travis Runnels to death after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider his final appeal regarding false testimony by one of the state’s witnesses at his trial. It was the ninth execution in Texas in 2019.
In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find information about the final scheduled execution in Texas in 2019 and how you can support clemency for Travis Runnels. We also share exciting details about the TCADP 2020 Annual Conference, including our panelists, keynote speakers, and award recipients.
State of Texas executes Justen Hall
Last night, November 6, 2019, the State of Texas executed Justen Hall. He was sentenced to death by an El Paso County jury in 2005 for the murder of Melanie Billhartz […]
On November 20th the State of Texas plans to execute Rodney Reed for the 1996 rape and murder of Stacey Stites. In 1998 Reed was convicted and sentenced to death […]
The State of Texas executed Robert Sparks on September 25 after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal. Although Justice Sonia Sotomayor agreed with the decision to deny a […]
State of Texas executes Mark Soliz
Last night, September 10, the State of Texas carried out its sixth execution of the year, putting Mark Anthony Soliz to death for the murder of Nancy Weatherly during a crime spree in Johnson and Tarrant Counties in 2010. During his last words, he apologized to the Weatherly family.
More than 100 Jewish attorneys, the American Jewish Committee, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism have filed an amicus brief with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in support of a new trial for Randy Halprin. Halprin is scheduled to be executed on October 10, 2019, despite the fact that no court has considered the impact of the judge’s anti-Semitic prejudice against him during his 2003 trial.