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Mumia Abu-Jamal Will No Longer Face Death Penalty


By: Jorge Rivas
ColorLines
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced Wednesday this office has called off their 30-year battle to execute former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal for allegedly murdering a white police officer, the Associated Press reports. The decision comes just two days short of the 30th anniversary of the killing.


Funeral arrangements for Martina Correia


Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Friday, December 2, 2011

Last week, Martina Correia, the courageous sister of Troy Davis, passed away.  As many of you know, she was fighting breast cancer and had become very ill and weak in the last few month.  For all of you that were lucky enough to meet Martina, you met someone with incredible conviction and determination.

Her life was consumed by the fight to win justice for her brother and to raise the banner for abolition of the death penalty.  She was an inspiration to us all.  Now it will be up to us all to fight in her memory and in Troy's memory -- and to not give up.


Bias on death row? North Carolina lawmakers now not so sure


Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times
A statue of Lady Justice stands atop the courthouse in Goldsboro, N.C.
By: Richard Fausset
Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The North Carolina Senate on Monday approved a bill that critics view as a gutting of the Racial Justice Act, the state law that gives death row inmates and death penalty defendants the ability to use statistics on racial bias as a way to challenge their prosecutions.


An Intolerable Burden of Proof

By: Editorial Board
New York Times
Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it is unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded criminals, finding that the death penalty cannot be justified for these offenders because they are morally less culpable.


Capital punishment slowly loses ground in US


Credit: AFP/Getty Images/File, Justin Sullivan
By: Chantal Valery
AFP
Monday, November 28, 2011

WASHINGTON — With a new moratorium on the death penalty in Oregon and a drop in the number of death sentences and executions, capital punishment is slowly losing ground in the United States.

Oregon governor John Fitzhaber announced on Tuesday that the northwestern state will halt executions at least until the end of his mandate, joining the camp of US states that have effectively shunned the death penalty.


Another fantastic CEDP convention!


By: Lily Hughes and Misti Blakeny
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Campaign to End the Death Penalty held it's 11th annual convention in Austin, Texas for the first time ever, over the weekend of November 11-13.  Thanks so much to everyone who participated in a wonderful weekend of discussion, debate, and organizing against the death penalty!


Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Hank Skinner Stay


Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller
By: Brandi Grissom
The Texas Tribune
Monday, November 7, 2011

 The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday granted a stay of execution for Hank Skinner. 


The Campaign to End the Death Penalty stands with the 99% Occupy Movement


At Occupy Atlanta
By: The Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) is a fighting organization made up of the 99%: former and current prisoners and their families, and activists who oppose racism, the death penalty, and mass incarceration. We fight for the 2.4 million people behind bars in the United States, who are largely poor people of color who can’t afford to buy real justice. We fight for a system that gets tough on the root cause of crime—poverty. We fight for a system that dedicates resources to mental healthcare, jobs, after-school programs, education, and drug treatment instead of prisons.


Chart of the Day: Support for Capital Punishment Sinks to a Nearly Four-Decade Low


Credit: CACorrections/Flickr
A lethal injection room at the San Quentin State Prison.
By: Asawin Suebsaeng
Mother Jones
Monday, October 17, 2011

The number of Americans who approve of the death penalty is at its lowest level in nearly four decades, according to a Gallup poll published last week. The poll, which was conducted between October 6 and 9 (just two weeks after the controversial execution ofTroy Davis), puts national support for capital punishment at 61 percen


Texas to Condemned Man: Execution First, DNA Later


By: David Protess
Huffington Post
Tuesday, October 4, 2011

If you were moved by the plight of Troy Davis, wait until you hear what is happening to Hank Skinner.

Skinner, 49, has been on death row in Texas since 1995 for the murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons in their Panhandle home. He has steadfastly professed his innocence. In recent years, the State's star witness recanted her testimony to my journalism students and others, and several witnesses told the students that the female victim's uncle (now deceased) was the likely killer.