- Arizona—Prison officials are taking steps to use hydrogen cyanide, the same gas used in Nazi extermina-tion camps, to kill death row inmates, The Washington Post reports. Arizona is one of 27 states to use capital punishment; however, executions are on pause after a lethal injection in 2014 prompted review of death chamber pro-tocols.
- Illinois—A new bill would expand voting and civics education for incarcer-ated youth older than 17 and within a year of release, the AP reports. The bill would ensure youthful offenders have access to voter registration, information on how to vote, and opportunities to co-facilitate the civics education curriculum with their peers in state juvenile facilities.
- Wisconsin—The rate of vaccinations in prisons ex-ceeds the vaccination rate for the state as a whole, the AP reports. Wisconsin DOC data shows 8,972 people (47.2% of the eligible prison population) had been fully vaccinated as of June 8, compared to 41.7% of eligible state residents overall, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
- South Carolina—The state’s Supreme Court set an execution date of 6/18 for one of two death row pris-oners suing the state over a new law forcing prisoners to choose between dying by fir-ing squad or electrocution, the AP reports.
- Louisiana—On 6/10, lawmakers blocked efforts to create a path to release for an estimated 1,500 prisoners convicted by non-unanimous verdicts, said the AP. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that non-unanimous verdicts were unconstitutional, but decided earlier this month that the decision wouldn’t be applied retroactively.
- Texas—Quintin Jones, 41, was put to death May 19 in Huntsville, Texas. Absent were two journalists scheduled to attend the execution but whom prison officials accidentally failed to summon, the New York Times reported. He was the 571st person to be executed in Texas since 1976.
- Michigan — Ray Gray, 69, after spending 48 years in prison for a fatal robbery, pleaded No Contest to second-degree murder on May 25 in an extraordinary compromise to settle his claim of inno-cence and set him free, the AP reports. The plea agreement erased a first-degree murder conviction and life sentence to qualify him for release.
- Kansas — Olin L. “Pete” Coones, 64, spent 12 years in prison before being exonerated of murder and granted $826,301 compensation to settle a lawsuit he’d filed. Coones died from cancer on 2/28, just 108 days after his release. His lawyers say the cancer went undiagnosed during his wrongful incarceration.
