Death Penalty States Beware: Nitrogen Hypoxia Is Not the Solution to America’s Long History of Inhumane Executions
Columnist and law professor Austin Sarat warns states like Ohio that executions using nitrogen gas do not solve the myriad problems with the death penalty.
Black people experience more mistakes during executions than any other race, report finds
Researchers have known for decades that the U.S. criminal justice system is discriminatory against Black people, but a new study revealed that the biases can persist beyond courtrooms and prisons into the execution chamber.
Thou Shall Not Kill
The Fostoria Review Times Editorial Board opines on the state’s death penalty: “giving the state the power to kill a person convicted of murder is not a reasonable response to murder, if only because our court system is imperfect. Sometimes innocent people are convicted of murder and executed by the state.”
Catholics at the Capitol day: Abolish death penalty, support moms, families
Catholics from across Ohio gathered in Columbus on Tuesday, April 9 for “Catholics at the Capitol” 2024. State legislators were urged to support pregnant women and families, abolish the state’s death penalty and assist incarcerated Ohio citizens returning to society.
More Than 10% of U.S. Exonerations in 2023 Involved Wrongful Use or Threat of the Death Penalty
A Death Penalty Policy Project review of data from the National Registry of Exonerations has found that the pursuit or threatened use of the death penalty by police or prosecutors led to the wrongful murder convictions of at least seventeen innocent people who were exonerated in 2023. Those cases constituted more than 11% of the 153 exonerations recorded nationwide by the National Registry in 2023.
The damage from police or prosecutors threatening defendants or witnesses with the death penalty extended far beyond just wrongful capital convictions.
States botched more executions of Black prisoners. Experts think they know why
Studies of the death penalty have long shown racial inequality in its application, but a new report has found the disparity extends inside the death chamber itself. In an analysis of the more than 1,400 lethal injection executions conducted in the U.S. since 1982, researchers for the nonprofit Reprieve reported that states made significantly more mistakes during the executions of Black people than they did with prisoners of other races.
Ohio House holds first hearing for new nitrogen gas death penalty method
House lawmakers have begun hearings on a controversial new execution method known as nitrogen hypoxia. The protocol, used in Alabama for the first time recently, subjects a prisoner to a high concentration of nitrogen which causes them to eventually suffocate. Right now, four states explicitly allow nitrogen hypoxia and four other allow for “lethal gas” generally. Outside of Ohio, Nebraska lawmakers are considering the approach as well.
States botched more executions of Black prisoners. Experts think they know why
Studies of the death penalty have long shown racial inequality in its application, but a new report has found the disparity extends inside the death chamber itself. In an analysis of the more than 1,400 lethal injection executions conducted in the U.S. since 1982, researchers for the nonprofit Reprieve reported that states made significantly more mistakes during the executions of Black people than they did with prisoners of other races.
John Oliver lambasts executions
John Oliver reveals new information about the methods used to carry out the death penalty, explains why there is no good way to do lethal injections, and offers a new, unexpected use for peanuts.
Ohio Jewish leaders, clergy send letter opposing gas executions bill
Dozens of Ohio rabbis and community leaders sent a letter to members of the Ohio House of Representatives Government Oversight Committee on April 9 objecting to House Bill 392, which would use gas executions for death row inmates. The committee held its first hearing for the bill the same day at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.