In this edition Scheduled executions: Four executions currently scheduled for the Fall of 2021 In case you missed it: Documentary film The Phantom renews scrutiny of the wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna; Raymond […]
Tag: Gregg v. Georgia
In this edition Reflections on race and “future dangerousness” in the Texas death penalty Scheduled executions: State of Texas seeks to execute Billy Joe Wardlow for a crime he committed […]
Many of Texas’s most troubling death penalty cases are rooted in a corrosive system of racism fostered by predictions of future dangerousness, a unique facet of our state’s capital punishment statute.
In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find updates on exonerations in Texas and nationwide, as well as a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning a conviction due to egregious racial bias in the jury selection process. We also mark the anniversary of the Court’s decision, Gregg v. Georgia, which paved the way for the resumption of executions in this country.
In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find observations on the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Gregg v. Georgia, as well as a recap of important death penalty developments in the last month. You’ll also find information about scheduled executions and a new report on America’s deadliest prosecutors.
A new report from Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project identifies America’s five deadliest head prosecutors out of the thousands that have held that office in the last 40 years. It specifically names Johnny Holmes, who served as the District Attorney of Harris County, Texas from 1979 to 2000; during his tenure, his office secured at least 200 death sentences. Since 2008, by contrast, Harris County juries have sent an average of one person to death row each year.