Summer 2020

Death Penalty News

Death Penalty

As Legal Proceedings Go Virtual, Many States Postpone Executions

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states have been forced to reconsider their scheduled executions. The restrictions to vital legal work that precedes executions and concerns over exposure have caused states like Texas, Tennessee, and Ohio to stay executions through July.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Former Georgia Death Row Prisoner Johnny Lee Gates Released After 43 Years in Prison

After being found intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death penalty in 2003, following 26 years on death row, Johnny Lee Gates was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Now, he has been released based on new DNA evidence.

Civil Rights & Constitution

In Landmark Decision, North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Retroactive Application of Racial Justice Act Repeal

After the North Carolina Legislature repealed the state's Racial Justice Act in 2013, which had given prisoners the opportunity to challenge their sentences using evidence of racial bias, the North Carolina Supreme Court vacated the new reduced sentences that had been secured due to the RJA. In June 2020, that same court held that retroactive application of the RJA repeal was unconstitutional, allowing those who had applied for relief before the repeal to receive new hearings.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Florida Supreme Court Continues to Overturn Precedent in Death Penalty Cases

In several recent cases, the Florida Supreme Court has rejected precedent by overturning decisions made by the immediately preceding configuration of the court. These rulings impact several key areas of death penalty litigation, including determination of intellectual disability and the requirement for unanimity in all jury recommendations for sentences of death.

Death Penalty

Missouri Becomes First State to Carry out Execution During Pandemic

Missouri became the first U.S. state to carry out an execution during the COVID-19 pandemic with the lethal injection of Walter Barton, who was tried five times before the State could secure a conviction and death sentence that was not successfully appealed. Despite the many documented impediments on the ability of Mr. Barton's counsel to properly investigate claims and meet with their client due to the pandemic, Missouri Governor Mike Parson denied clemency without comment.

Death Penalty

Colorado Abolishes the Death Penalty, Governor Commutes Sentences of Death Row Prisoners

In March 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a Senate Bill to repeal the state’s death penalty, making Colorado the 22nd U.S. state to remove the death sentence as an available penalty. At the same time, Governor Polis commuted the state's three death row prisoners to sentences of life without parole.

Death Penalty

After Nearly 30 Years on Death Row, All Charges Against Walter Ogrod are Dismissed

In June 2020, Pennsylvania death row prisoner Walter Ogrod had all charges against him dropped. Mr. Ogrod served nearly 30 years on death row for a murder he claimed not to have committed and despite no evidence linking him to the crime. Mr. Ogrod was freed after a Philadelphia Conviction Integrity Unity reviewed his case and uncovered unreliable evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and due process violations.

Supreme Court News

Tribal Law & Courts

SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Creek Nation Petitioner in Historic Tribal Lands Case

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that nearly half of Oklahoma is tribal land in the case of McGirt v. Oklahoma. Because crimes committed on tribal land fall exclusively under federal jurisdiction, the court's decision may have significant consequences on both past and future state prosecutions.

Appellate Practice

U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Petitioner in Case with Significant Federal Habeas Implications

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision in Banister v. Davis, holding that motions asking for amended decisions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) should not be treated as unauthorized successive habeas petitions. This ruling preserves the effectiveness of a legal tool important to both capital and non-capital petitioners alike.

Criminal

U.S. Supreme Court Mandates Juror Unanimity in State Criminal Trials

In a fractured opinion in Ramos v. Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Constitution requires unanimous jury verdicts in state criminal trials. While unanimous jury verdicts were already a requirement of federal criminal proceedings, they had, until Ramos, been permitted in state criminal trials.

Civil Rights & Constitution

U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Kansas Over Insanity Defense

In Kahler v. Kansas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Kansas death row prisoner James Kahler, who claimed that the State's more narrow interpretation of an insanity defense was unconstitutional.

Lethal Injection Litigation Update

Death Penalty

Medical Professionals Call on States to Release Execution Drug Stockpiles to Help Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

With hospitals throughout the country facing shortages of the medications needed to treat COVID-19 patients, a group of prominent medical professionals and experts called on death penalty states to release their stockpiles of drugs used to carry out lethal injections to state healthcare facilities.

Death Penalty

Nevada Agrees to Return Supply of Execution Drugs to Manufacturers

Nevada prison officials agreed in April to relinquish the state’s unused supply of lethal injection drugs as part of a settlement to a lawsuit brought by drug manufacturers. The settlement marked an end to litigation that had been ongoing for nearly two years, and leaves Nevada with no current means of carrying out an execution.

Death Penalty

Ohio Governor Postpones All Executions Scheduled for 2020

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has postponed all six executions originally scheduled for 2020, citing difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs. A major concern for the governor is whether manufacturers will refuse to sell the state other important drugs if they find that Ohio has used their drugs in executions.

Death Penalty

Two States Ordered to Provide Execution Protocol Details

Nebraska and Oklahoma were recently ordered to provide greater detail on their lethal injection protocols. Oklahoma was required to explain how it plans to train prison staff involved in executions due to a series of botched executions that occurred in 2014-2015. In Nebraska, the State Supreme Court ended years of litigation by requiring the Department of Corrections to share documents regarding its acquisition of lethal injection drugs.

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Summer 2020

Message from the Director

Death Penalty News

As Legal Proceedings Go Virtual, Many States Postpone Executions

Former Georgia Death Row Prisoner Johnny Lee Gates Released After 43 Years in Prison

In Landmark Decision, North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Retroactive Application of Racial Justice Act Repeal

Florida Supreme Court Continues to Overturn Precedent in Death Penalty Cases

Missouri Becomes First State to Carry out Execution During Pandemic

Colorado Abolishes the Death Penalty, Governor Commutes Sentences of Death Row Prisoners

After Nearly 30 Years on Death Row, All Charges Against Walter Ogrod are Dismissed

Supreme Court News

SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Creek Nation Petitioner in Historic Tribal Lands Case

U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Petitioner in Case with Significant Federal Habeas Implications

U.S. Supreme Court Mandates Juror Unanimity in State Criminal Trials

U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Kansas Over Insanity Defense

Lethal Injection Litigation Update

Medical Professionals Call on States to Release Execution Drug Stockpiles to Help Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

Nevada Agrees to Return Supply of Execution Drugs to Manufacturers

Ohio Governor Postpones All Executions Scheduled for 2020

Two States Ordered to Provide Execution Protocol Details

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Summer 2020

Message from the Director

Death Penalty News

As Legal Proceedings Go Virtual, Many States Postpone Executions

Former Georgia Death Row Prisoner Johnny Lee Gates Released After 43 Years in Prison

In Landmark Decision, North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Retroactive Application of Racial Justice Act Repeal

Florida Supreme Court Continues to Overturn Precedent in Death Penalty Cases

Missouri Becomes First State to Carry out Execution During Pandemic

Colorado Abolishes the Death Penalty, Governor Commutes Sentences of Death Row Prisoners

After Nearly 30 Years on Death Row, All Charges Against Walter Ogrod are Dismissed

Supreme Court News

SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Creek Nation Petitioner in Historic Tribal Lands Case

U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Petitioner in Case with Significant Federal Habeas Implications

U.S. Supreme Court Mandates Juror Unanimity in State Criminal Trials

U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Kansas Over Insanity Defense

Lethal Injection Litigation Update

Medical Professionals Call on States to Release Execution Drug Stockpiles to Help Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

Nevada Agrees to Return Supply of Execution Drugs to Manufacturers

Ohio Governor Postpones All Executions Scheduled for 2020

Two States Ordered to Provide Execution Protocol Details

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