A Texas court implemented updated protocols for Death Row prisoners with intellectual disabilities. The revised standards came after the U.S. Supreme Court had set aside Texas prisoner Bobby Moore’s execution, Reuters reports. The new protocols allowed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reinstate Moore’s death sentence. Moore, 58, was convicted of murder in 1980. He was sentenced to execution, but the execution was set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court because of its 2002 ruling that the execution of inmates with intellectual disabilities … [Read more...] about Texas court updates death penalty protocols
Death Penalty Information Center
Letter to the Editor by John A. Riccardi
Dear Mr. Richardson, Editor in Chief, I entered Death Row in East Block (San Quentin State Prison) on September 29, 1996. I received a reversal on the death penalty on July 16, 2012. On July 14, 2016, I was moved from San Quentin to D.V.I. at Tracy, Calif. As of today, I have been here in the reception center for 165 days. I was told I would only be here no more than a few weeks, no more than two months. I would then be moved to another facility where I would be on the mainline, able to once again use the phone, receive all my property, TV, … [Read more...] about Letter to the Editor by John A. Riccardi
US Supreme Court Death Row case Hidalgo v. Arizona Arizona death penalty law
In the coming months, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to take up a challenge to the death penalty in Arizona. If the justices agree to hear the case, the court’s decision could also affect the California death penalty law. And that could spare the lives of 746 prisoners on California’s death row, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The pending case, Hidalgo v. Arizona, challenges the new Arizona death penalty law, which makes virtually every first-degree murder subject to potential capital charges. With 343 homicides in … [Read more...] about US Supreme Court Death Row case Hidalgo v. Arizona Arizona death penalty law
Nevada plans to use execute using combination of unproven drugs
Nevada plans to use a combination of drugs for an execution that has never been used and its effectiveness is unproven, an investigative Global News story reports. Despite the growing opioid epidemic plaguing a large number of U.S. and Canadian communities, Nevada Department of Corrections wants to use fentanyl in an upcoming execution, the Aug. 31 story reported. According to author Andrew Russell, “Scott Dozier, 46, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 14 for the 2002 murder of 22-year old Jeremiah Miller who was killed … [Read more...] about Nevada plans to use execute using combination of unproven drugs
Alabama considering asphyxia for execution
Alabama is considering use of nitrogen asphyxia as a third option to execute prisoners. “If SB12 is passed, Alabama would become the second state (Oklahoma is the other) to offer nitrogen asphyxiation, also known as nitrogen hypoxia, as a death penalty option,” the Montgomery Advertiser reported. Nitrogen is painless and easier to administer, said Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, the bill’s author. Nitrogen makes up 78 percent of the atmosphere and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen, the newspaper reported April 5. Alabama had also … [Read more...] about Alabama considering asphyxia for execution