Charles “Sonny” Burton, a 75-year-old Black man, is scheduled to be executed on March 12, 2026 for his role in a 1991 robbery in Alabama that turned fatal, despite the fact that he did not fire the fatal shot, and advocates are petitioning Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to grant clemency in his case.
Kendrick Simpson was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday, prompting protests and renewed criticism of capital punishment from advocacy groups, despite his diagnosis of PTSD and apology to the victims’ families.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the transfer of 20 federal prisoners whose death sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden to the highly restrictive ADX Florence facility, citing serious constitutional concerns.
Kendrick Simpson was executed by the State of Oklahoma for the 2006 drive-by shooting deaths of Glen Palmer and Anthony Jones, despite his diagnosis of severe PTSD and his efforts to make amends for his actions, drawing condemnation from his legal team, death penalty opponents, and his spiritual advisor.
Charles Flores’ death row case is before the U.S. Supreme Court, raising concerns about investigative hypnosis, due process, and the safeguards intended to prevent the execution of innocent people.
Federal Judge Margaret M. Garnett has dismissed two counts of Luigi Mangione’s federal indictment, ruling that prosecutors cannot pursue a potential death sentence in the case tied to the killing of Brian Thompson, as the crime did not meet the criteria for a federal death penalty.
Indiana lawmakers are reconsidering the use of the firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection, amid concerns over cost, fairness and the risk of executing innocent people.
The United States recorded its highest number of executions since 2009 in 2025, with 47 people executed across 11 states, as the Supreme Court denied every request to delay an execution during a nationwide surge in death penalty cases.
A Tennessee Chancery Court judge ruled that members of the press have the right to witness executions from beginning to end, granting a temporary injunction that expands media access and reframes executions as a continuous judicial process.
A former juror and the daughter of the victim are urging Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to halt the impending execution of Charles “Sonny” Burton, who was convicted of felony murder but did not fire the fatal shot.
Kevin Cooper, who has been on California’s death row for 42 years, maintains his innocence and is seeking a new trial based on alleged evidence tampering, destruction and withholding, as well as racial bias in his prosecution and appeals.
Arizona’s botched executions have sparked a national debate over the use of lethal injections, with questions raised about the humanity of capital punishment and the need for alternative execution methods.
Tommy Lee Walker was wrongfully executed for a crime he did not commit due to racial hysteria and Jim Crow-era injustice, and the Innocence Project is working to formally recognize this miscarriage of justice and exonerate other wrongfully convicted individuals.
Civil rights advocates are urging California to make Clarence Ray Allen’s execution the last by permanently ending the state’s death penalty, citing its high cost and ineffectiveness as a deterrent.
California has not executed anyone since 2006 and advocates are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant clemency to all those sentenced to death, citing racial bias, innocence claims, and the high costs of capital punishment.
Alabama death penalty advocates are urging Governor Kay Ivey to halt the execution of 75-year-old Charles “Sonny” Burton, a wheelchair-bound non-shooter, arguing that his case presents even more compelling circumstances than Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s recent clemency decision for Tremane Wood.
Despite widespread calls for mercy and evidence suggesting mental health diversion, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to deny clemency for death row prisoner Kendrick man , who is scheduled to be executed in 2026.
Death Penalty Action protested the federal government’s pursuit of the death penalty in the case of Luigi Mangione, raising concerns about the politicization of capital punishment and the inconsistency and inequity in its use.
Lush Cosmetics has launched a California-wide campaign to urge Governor Gavin Newsom to commute all of the state’s more than 560 death sentences to life without the possibility of parole.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has issued a reprieve for long-standing death row man Richard Roland Laird, extending the Commonwealth’s execution moratorium and reinforcing his administration’s opposition to capital punishment.