Categories
Atkins v. Virginia death penalty execution Houston Chronicle intellectual disabilities Marvin Wilson Senator Rodney Ellis Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals U.S. Supreme Court unconstitutional

Disabilities Advocate, State Legislator Join Calls to Stop the Execution of Marvin Wilson

Over the weekend, a number of media outlets featured calls to stop the execution of Marvin Wilson.  The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Wilson on Tuesday, August 7, […]

Categories
death penalty execution Ford v. Wainwright incompetency Marcus Druery mental illness Panetti Texas U.S. Supreme Court

Marcus Druery Denied Full Competency Hearing

Earlier today, July 24, 2012, Brazos County District Court Judge J.D. Langley denied a motion to hold a full hearing on Marcus Druery’s execution competency claim. Druery is scheduled to […]

Categories
clemency campaign Dallas death penalty execution intellectual disabilities Texas U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit U.S. Supreme Court

More on the July 18 Scheduled Execution of Yokamon Hearn

A new article by Andrew Cohen that appears in The Atlantic (“A Day in the Life of the Death Penalty: July 18, 2012,” July 12, 2012) draws parallels between two executions […]

Categories
commutation death penalty death sentences deterrence Furman vs. Georgia Gregg vs. Georgia U.S. Supreme Court

40th Anniversary of Furman v. Georgia; Death Penalty Still “Arbitrary, Capricious, and Discriminatory”

Today, June 29, 2012, marks 40 years since the United States Supreme Court overturned all existing death penalty laws, ruling in the case of Furman vs. Georgia (1972) that the […]

Categories
death penalty execution forced medication Ford v. Wainwright incompetency mental illness Steven Staley Tarrant County Texas Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals U.S. Supreme Court

Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Stay to Steven Staley

Update as of 5:00 PM on May 14: We just learned that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has granted a stay of execution to Steven Staley. The court did not provide a reason for the reprieve, saying only that “it had determined the execution should be halted “‘pending further order by this court.'”

Categories
Anthony Bartee death penalty DNA testing Stay of execution Texas U.S. Supreme Court

Anthony Bartee Receives Stay of Execution; May be Temporary

The Associated Press is reporting that Anthony Bartee has received a stay of execution from a federal judge in San Antonio. Prosecutors have appealed the decision, however, so the stay may only be temporary. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Bartee’s appeal late this afternoon.

Categories
Anthony Bartee Beunka Adams death penalty DNA testing execution Texas Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit U.S. Supreme Court

State of Texas Executes Beunka Adams

Last night, April 26, 2012, the State of Texas carried out its fifth execution of the  year.  Beunka Adams was executed for the murder of Kenneth Vandever, 37, outside Rusk in […]

Categories
Bexar County execution Stay of execution Texas U.S. Supreme Court

Texas Carries Out First Execution in 2012; Newbury, Member of “Texas Seven,” Receives Stay

Last night, January 26, the State of Texas carried out its first execution of 2012. Rodrigo Hernandez, 38, originally on parole in Michigan, had his DNA linked to the crime […]