This week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling on the request from Texas Death Row Inmate Carlos Trevino, who asked SCOTUS to review what happened in his criminal trial’s sentencing (penalty) phase and the introduction of mitigating evidence against the death penalty.

SCOTUS declined the request, and will not hear the…

Right now,  17-year-old Dimitrios Pagoutzis sits in the Galveston County Jail after confessing to being the active shooter responsible for last week’s high school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas.

In Florida, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz sets in jail in Broward County, Florida, facing 17 counts of murder for the high school shooting on Valentine’s Day at Marjory…

Two more petitions for a writ of certiorari were denied on Monday by the Supreme Court of the United States in capital cases coming out of Florida. 

They are dealing with review of current Florida Death Row inmates’ sentences where they were sentenced to die under a statutory scheme deemed unconstitutional by the High Court. …

It’s Monday morning, and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has issued its orders of the day.  Included among them, denial of the Petition for Writ of Certiorari in Hidalgo v. Arizona.  

For background, read our earlier posts:

• Hidalgo v Arizona SCOTUS Update: Is No News Good News?
• Will SCOTUS Hear Hidalgo

…

 The American Bar Association has adopted a formal resolution regarding the Death Penalty as well as publishing its report in support of the resolution.

You can read the full report here.  

The 2018 ABA Resolution on Death Penalty

Here is the full text of the resolution here, drafted by the ABA’s Civil Rights and…

 The Marshall Project has published its analysis of the state of the Death Penalty as we enter into 2018.  See, "What to Know About the Death Penalty in 2018," by Maurice Chammah of the Marshall Project and published in the ABA Journal.

It’s a good read. Taking everything that has happened – and which…

Updating our prior post on the case of Hidalgo v Arizona, where a petition to the Supreme Court of the United States has been filed on behalf of Arizona Death Row inmate Abel Hidalgo. 

This is the case that some argue could result in a SCOTUS finding that capital punishment is unconstitutional. For details read…

What do the prosecutors and the defense attorneys say to the jury in a death penalty case, when those 12 people are going to decide whether or not the defendant should be sentenced to death?

Real life isn’t like those short speeches we see on the TV shows like Law and Order.  For those interested…