In the first case heard under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), a judge found that racial bias played a significant role in the death sentence given to Marcus Reymond Robinson 18 years ago. Robinson’s sentence was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The RJA, passed in 2009, allows death row…
Read MoreApril 22nd marks the 25th anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in McCleskey v. Kemp. In this controversial decision the court ruled that it was “inevitable” that minorities would be treated worse by the criminal justice system and that the Constitution is only violated where it is proven that a specific person in a…
Read MoreLast week, two dozen family members who lost loved ones to murder gathered at the Connecticut state capitol to highlight the death penalty’s harmful impact on victims’ families. “The death penalty is not given out equally,” said Khalilah Brown-Dean, whose cousin was murdered. “It’s about saying certain cases are more important than others, certain crimes…
Read MoreJust hours before Texas inmate Duane Edward Buck was to be taken to the death chamber the US Supreme Court halted his execution to investigate charges that his sentence was tainted by race issues . Buck, an African-American, was convicted of a double-murder in 1995. At trial Dr. Walter Quijano, a psychologist, testified that simply…
Read MoreRight now I am mourning. I am sad, outraged, and angry. I am full of emotions I can’t even name. I know many people like you feel the same way right now. Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia tonight, at 11:08pm EST after an awful, 4-hour roller coaster in which the Supreme…
Read MoreA recent article in the New York Times reported that the trial of mob leader Vincent Basciano will suck up an estimated $10 million of public funds, despite the fact that he is already in prison without the possibility of parole for previous crimes. Another recent story in The Republic revealed that Montana’s Legislature has…
Read MoreMembers of California’s law enforcement community have been filling pages of newsprint to talk about the death penalty. Former prison warden Jeanne Woodford, who was named new executive director of pro-repeal organization Death Penalty Focus, said in a recent article in the LA Times: “The death penalty serves no-one.” And Jeanne should know. She presided…
Read MoreShawn Hawkins was 21 when he was sentenced to die for a double-murder in Ohio. Now, over 20 years later, the parole board has unanimously recommended that Hawkins should not be executed because of lingering doubts about his guilt. The sole eyewitness in Hawkins’ case was Henry “Junior” Brown, a 16-year-old who was a suspect…
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EJUSA’s Executive Director, Shari Silberstein, and State Campaign Organizer Colleen Cunningham joined our state partners, the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP), in Chicago a couple of weeks ago for the repeal celebration! The event honored Governor Pat Quinn, State Senator Kwame Raoul, and State Representative Karen Yarborough for their role in the…
Read MoreDonald A. McCartin was known as the “hanging judge” because of his record of sentencing nearly a dozen men to death in Orange County, California. But now he’s changed his mind and thinks California should get rid of the death penalty entirely. Find out why in this amazing op-ed in the LA Times. When Gil…
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