Newsletter: April, 2022

Friday, April 1, 2022

Our newsletters are sent to members at the end of every month. They are composed of articles (usually US death penalty-themed) written by members for members.

We publish an abbreviated version here shortly after it is sent out. If you'd like to write for the newsletter and support us, click here to become a member.

In the News

South Carolina death-row prisoners file suit to block firing squad executions
There is limited humanity to be found on death row, least of all in terms of the method of state- sponsored killing which inmates face. Three South Carolina lawyers want to change that... Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.
 

Jury selection begins in Parkland school shooting death penalty trial
Nikolas Cruz faces death by lethal injection or life imprisonment, without parole, after pleading guilty to murdering 17 people in 2018 during the Parkland school shooting...  Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.
 

Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson as first black woman to serve on U.S. Supreme Court
On April 7th 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson made history as she was confirmed as the first African  American woman to serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court...  Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.
 

1st execution in Arizona in nearly 8 years set for May 11
The Arizona Supreme Court set an execution date of 11 May for death row prisoner Clarence Dixon, in what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years...  Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.
 

Lawyers hope new evidence can stop Texas woman Melissa Lucio's execution (April 3rd 2022)
The only Hispanic woman on death row in Texas,1 faced execution on the 27th April 2022.2 Melissa Lucio confessed to causing her daughter, Mariah’s, fatal injuries...  Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.
 

Texas’ oldest death row prisoner says upcoming execution amounts to cruel and unusual punishment
Carl Wayne Buntion, 78, was executed on 21 April 2022 in Texas, after his last petitions against his execution failed. His attorneys, David Dow and Jeffrey Newberry...  Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.
 

FEATURE by Mia Cappabianca, winner of the Edinburgh/Nottingham Interuniversity Essay Competition 
Read Mia's essay on 'The Role of the Jury: Should Individuals Who Are Not Experts Be Able to Decide Whether Someone is Sentenced to Death?'. This essay argues that even if death may be a suitable punishment for the most serious crimes, individuals who are not experts should not be able to decide whether someone is sentenced to death...  Read more by becoming an Amicus Member.