death penalty
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Democratic Lawmakers Urge Joe Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty on His First Day in Office
The death penalty—a thing supposedly reserved for perpetrators of the most heinous crimes, typically involving intentional and cold-blooded murder—arguably makes sense in theory; but in practice, its flaws and potential for racial discrimination are undeniable. According to figures compiled by the NAACP, Black people represent 42 percent of inmates on death row and 35 percent…
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Ahead of Brandon Bernard's Execution, Urgent Requests to Save His Life Come From Politicians, Over 400,000 Petitioners and Kim Kardashian
As the Trump administration’s Department of Justice prepares to execute Brandon Bernard on Thursday for participating in the 1999 gang killing of a couple when he was 18 years old, calls are intensifying from various corners for the commutation of his death sentence. Bernard, now 40, is scheduled to be executed at the U.S. Penitentiary…
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The Jurors Who Sentenced Brandon Bernard Say He Shouldn't Die. He's Still Scheduled to Be Executed
Five out of nine surviving jurors who condemned Brandon Bernard to death at the age of 18 say they regret their decision. So, too, does the prosecutor who tried him, saying now that she finds it “morally, ethically and legally” wrong to execute him. But last Wednesday, an appeals judge ruled that the execution of…
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‘I Am Very Serious About Them Losing Their Life’: Alabama Mayoral Candidate Calls for Public Hanging of Drug Dealers
An Alabama mayoral candidate—in the 21st century—wants to bring back public hangings as punishment for drug dealers. According to AL.com, James Earl Ray…sorry…Michael Ray James, who is running for mayor in the small city of Sylacauga, is calling for the execution of repeat drug dealers by way of hanging. James has made several Facebook posts…
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Colorado Becomes 22nd State to Abolish Death Penalty
Governor Jared Polis officially repealed capital punishment in Colorado on Monday, capping off a heated legislative battle to get rid of the death penalty in the state. For decades, capital punishment was seldom used in Colorado, the New York Times points out. Since reinstating the death penalty in the 1970s, only one person had been…
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Ayanna Presley and Other Lawmakers and Legal Experts Call for End to Death Penalty in the Wake of Nathaniel Woods Execution
The unfathomably unjust execution of Nathaniel Woods on Friday has sparked widespread outrage and scorn from activists, lawmakers and legal experts and has inspired a renewed sense of urgency in the call to abolish the death penalty. Woods was a criminal but he was not a murderer—a fact not even disputed by prosecutors or the…
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The Spectacular Assassination of Nathaniel Woods
Assassinate: 1. to kill someone by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons or to injure or destroy unexpectedly and treacherously. text We can be almost sure that there is someone in America’s past who has been wrongfully executed. The law is not infallible. But Nathaniel Woods’ case is different. The state of Alabama…
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MLK III Advocates for Nathaniel Woods, Asks Alabama Governor to Halt His Execution
The American criminal justice system has no shortage of people who were convicted under questionable if not completely wrong circumstances. Nathaniel Woods is one of those people and the consequences could soon prove fatal. According to ABC News, Martin Luther King III has made a plea to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to stop the execution…
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Alabama Prepares to Execute Man Found Responsible for Murdering 3 Police Officers—Without Pulling a Single Trigger [Corrected]
If all goes to plan, Alabama will execute Nathaniel Woods next week, a black man convicted in 2004 of murdering three officers at a dope house in Birmingham, making him the first prisoner executed in the state this year. The thing is, Woods didn’t pull the trigger, a fact not disputed by the prosecution or…