A Cruel and Unusual Waste of Money

Staff / Truthdig Oct 22, 2009 Executing people is expensive A new report by the Death Penalty Information Center says California is spending more than 10 times as much on capital punishment -- $137 million a year -- as it would on an alternative life-without-parole system New York and New Jersey repealed . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Remembering Sacco and Vanzetti

Staff / Truthdig Aug 24, 2009 Eighty-two years ago Sunday two Italian immigrants were executed after a dubious trial for murders someone else later confessed to. Whatever really happened, Ferdinando Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti have come to stand for the greater inequities of American justice. (Howard Zinn explains, after the jump.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Troy Davis and the Meaning of ‘Actual Innocence’

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Aug 19, 2009 Remarkably, the Supreme Court has never ruled on whether it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Death Penalty Keeps U.S. in Bad Company

Staff / Truthdig Mar 24, 2009 Here's a list of countries where you don't want to find yourself when it comes to human rights: Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Iraq, Pakistan and the good ol' US of A Those six states execute more of their citizens than any others, according to Amnesty International's latest tally The U is the fourth-worst offender. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

An Unlikely Pair Fight the Death Penalty

BLANK Jul 26, 2008 A now-retired California judge who sentenced nine men to death, Donald A. McCartin, and actor-activist Mike Farrell make "an unlikely pair," as they put it in this co-authored article. McCartin was once known as "the hanging judge of Orange County," while Farrell has long opposed the death penalty, but today they see eye to eye. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

World Court Fights U.S. Executions

Staff / Truthdig Jul 16, 2008 The International Court of Justice on Friday requested the US not execute five death-row inmates in a decision that will put both the U's controversial capital punishment policy and its historic rejection of international legal bodies in the global spotlight. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Former Illinois Governor Is Denied Appeal, Stays in Prison

Staff / Truthdig May 28, 2008 The fraud and racketeering case against former Illinois Gov. George Ryan has come to an end after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final request to appeal his 2006 conviction. With no other move to make, Ryan, who has been incarcerated since late 2007, will likely seek a commutation of his six-year sentence from President Bush. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Thou Shalt Kill

Staff / Truthdig Apr 16, 2008 The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that lethal injection cannot be included under the constitutional amendment barring cruel and unusual punishment, clearing the way for the lifting of state moratoriums on executions that were installed last September. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Supreme Court Puts Executions on Hold

Staff / Truthdig Nov 1, 2007 The Supreme Court has placed a temporary moratorium on the death penalty while it considers the legality of lethal injection, which should take months. Justices Scalia and Alito dissented from the opinion, which spared prisoner Earl Wesley Berry only minutes before he was to be killed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Europe Rallies Against Capital Punishment

Staff / Truthdig Oct 10, 2007 Aside from fatty foods that are somehow good for you, a laissez-faire attitude toward religion and a decidedly more relaxed approach to reproduction, the biggest cultural difference between Europe and the United States could be Europeans' general disdain for the death penalty. Lest we forget that all 27 European Union states have abolished the practice, the entire continent has taken a day to reflect upon the barbarity of execution. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Italian Prisoners Ask for Death

Staff / Truthdig Jun 1, 2007 More than 300 of Italy's life-sentence prisoners have signed a letter asking the Italian president to reinstate the death penalty and change their sentences. Italy is one of the world's leading opponents of execution and even allows prisoners serving life sentences conditional release after years of good behavior. But the inmates who signed the letter seem to feel that life behind bars is not worth living. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Slow, Cruel Death

Staff / Truthdig Dec 14, 2006 A man executed in Florida on Wednesday took 34 minutes to die by lethal injection, and required two doses of lethal chemicals. He appeared to grimace before dying, leading some to believe he experienced pain from the procedure. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )