Utah prosecutors have a strong argument that the assassination created a great risk of death to another individual besides Kirk, allowing capital punishment under Utah law.
From minimum wage hikes to bans on cellphones in public schools, here are some of the most ridiculous ways state governments are interfering with Americans’ lives.
Presidential pardons have become a tool of favoritism and politics.
Justice Thomas observes in his dissent that "the parties collusively excluded" evidence—which I presented to the Court for the victim's family—"in order to reach a predetermined outcome." And the Court majority offers no defense of this deceitful maneuver.
Robert Roberson was sentenced to death based on outdated and largely discredited scientific evidence.
The order directs the attorney general to ensure that states have the drug cocktails to carry out lethal injections.
Billy Binion speaks to Sister Helen Prejean about her activism to end the death penalty, as depicted in her book Dead Man Walking.
"Jesus said, 'Love your enemy.' Jesus didn't say, 'Execute the hell out of the enemy,'" the Catholic nun and anti–death penalty activist tells Reason.
Plus: A listener asks the editors to consider the Second Amendment's key importance for keeping the government in check.
Biden preserved the death sentences of three mass murderers but commuted the sentences of 37 other federal death row inmates to life in prison.
If stopping drugs from entering the country is as straightforward as the president-elect implies, why didn't he do it during his first term?
Civil rights groups, law enforcement officials, and religious leaders say Biden needs to use his pardon power to fulfill his campaign promises, not just help his son.
Roberson was scheduled to become the first person in the country to be executed based on "shaken baby syndrome" evidence, until Texas lawmakers subpoenaed him to testify.
The court found scientific opinion about "shaken baby syndrome" has changed, and a man sentenced to 35 years in prison deserves a new trial.
Robert Roberson is scheduled to become the first person in the country to be executed based on evidence of what used to be called "shaken baby syndrome."
The official Democratic Party platform no longer endorses abolishing the death penalty, decriminalizing marijuana, or repealing mandatory minimums.
Texas has set an October 17 execution date for Robert Roberson, convicted in 2003 of murdering his 2-year-old daughter.
The president's decision to drop out after insisting he never would continued a pattern established by a long career of politically convenient reversals.
The former and possibly future president hopes voters will overlook his incoherence.
Randall Mays, who has an IQ of 63, was resentenced to life without parole.
Instead of searching for gentle execution methods, states should just stop killing prisoners.
Yang Hengjun's punishment will be commuted to life in prison if he passes a probationary period. But the espionage accusations against him are highly spurious.
Following the nitrogen hypoxia execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith last week, Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to bring the execution method to their state.
Kenneth Eugene Smith was likely the first person in the world to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.
After multiple investigations shed doubt on his conviction, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Oklahoma death-row inmate Richard Glossip will get a new trial.
In killing Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia, the state would be using him as a "test subject," Smith's lawyers argue.
"Alabama law sets the age of majority at 19 years old, not 18 years. An 18-year-old is thus a minor," say Casey McWhorter's lawyers.
Pence suggested executing mass shooters in "months, not years," but that would remove crucial procedural protections—and not just for those who are obviously guilty.
The state has filed a motion to set an execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith, who survived a previous execution attempt.
My amicus brief to the Third Circuit argues that the district court appropriately sanctioned the Philadelphia D.A.'s Office for making misleading representations about whether they had conferred with a crime victims' family.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has directed the state to review 56 death-row clemency applications after he made comments opposing capital punishment in April.
A federal judge ruled in favor of an Idaho death-row inmate who says that the state is "psychologically torturing" him.
His bloody rhetoric undermines his defense of the sentencing reforms he proudly embraced as president.
James Barber is set to be killed next month, the first execution after a string of botched lethal injection executions in the state.
We once ranked No. 4 in the world, according to the Heritage Foundation. Now we're 25th.
Only two clemency applications from death row inmates in Louisiana have been granted in the past 50 years.
In my Supreme Court amicus brief for the victim's family in Oklahoma v. Richard Glossip, I argue that the Oklahoma Attorney General's unfounded confession of "error" should not dictate the case's outcome.
On Monday, the Supreme Court sided with an Alabama death-row inmate who, after surviving a botched lethal injection attempt last year, says he wants to die by gas chamber instead.
After an array of botched and unsuccessful executions, the state's Department of Corrections says its ready to start executing inmates again.
The state's own attorney general has said Glossip deserves a new trial.
Two damning investigations and a request from the state attorney general haven't been enough to stop the execution.
"While I respect the Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion, I am not willing to allow an execution to proceed despite so many doubts," said Oklahoma's attorney general.
Florida will now only require an 8–4 majority for a jury to recommend a death sentence. Alabama is the only other state that allows split juries to recommend death sentences.
Recent efforts from the governor, the attorney general, and state legislators suggest the state is moving away from capital punishment.
"It is critical that Oklahomans have absolute faith that the death penalty is administered fairly and with certainty," said the state's attorney general in a Thursday press release.
