Home : Death Penalty : General

Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection in Kentucky (04/16/2008)
NEW YORK – The ACLU expressed disappointment with today's 7-2 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the three drug lethal injection method of capital punishment used in Kentucky and other states.

Death Sentence Of Mentally Ill Man Reversed (03/11/2008)
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed the conviction and death sentence of Richard Taylor, a severely mentally ill man who has twice been forced to stand trial despite his mental illness and likely incompetence. Taylor was represented during the appeal of his conviction by the American Civil Liberties Union and Kelly Gleason, then a private attorney and now with the Office of the Tennessee Post-Conviction Defender.

Supreme Court Review of Lethal Injection Case Encouraging, Says NYCLU (01/07/2008)
NEW YORK - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in a case challenging the use of lethal injection to execute people. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Court’s decision to take the case is an encouraging development in the campaign to abolish the death penalty in the United States.

ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down Kentucky’s Lethal Injection Prcedures (01/07/2008)
WASHINGTON – Describing the three-drug cocktail used in most states’ lethal injection executions as unnecessarily cruel, the American Civil Liberties Union urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt its use in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in Baze v. Rees, which is being argued today. The lethal injection procedures as practiced in Kentucky amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, the ACLU charged.

ACLU Says New Jersey's Historic Rejection of Death Penalty Reflects Shift in Public Opinion (12/17/2007)
NEW YORK – Today Governor Jon Corzine signed into law a bill that ends capital punishment in the state of New Jersey. The measure, which passed the state legislature last week with bipartisan majorities, replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment for the most serious offenders. New Jersey becomes the first state since 1965 to legislatively repeal the death penalty, generating forward momentum in the campaign to end capital punishment nationwide, said the American Civil Liberties Union.

Nevada Coalition to End the Death Penalty and ACLU of Nevada Request Stay of Scheduled Execution (10/12/2007)
RENO, NV - The Nevada Coalition to End the Death Penalty (NCADP) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada sent a letter to Governor Jim Gibbons, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, Justices of the Nevada Supreme Court and Director of Corrections Howard Skolnik to request a stay of execution of William Castillo scheduled for Monday, October 15, 2007. Castillo volunteered to be executed.

Montana Death Penalty Informational Website Launched (06/29/2007)
HELENA, MT - On the 35th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Furman v. Georgia, which declared the death penalty unconstitutional, the Montana Abolition Coalition is proud to announce the official launch of its website at http://www.mtabolitionco.org

ACLU of Ohio Calls for Immediate Halt to Executions (05/24/2007)
LUCASVILLE, OH - The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today called for an immediate halt to all executions in light of Ohio's second botched execution in two years.

ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Fairness in Juror Selection for Death Penalty Cases (04/17/2007)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the United States Supreme Court to uphold established constitutional and legal procedures that help to ensure fair jury selection in death penalty cases.

Virginia Senate Upholds Governor Kaine's Veto of Bills That Would Have Eliminated the "Triggerman" Rule (04/04/2007)
RICHMOND, VA - The Virginia Senate today upheld Governor Tim Kaine's veto of two bills that could have dramatically increased the number of executions in Virginia by allowing capital charges to be brought against accomplices and others only indirectly involved in first degree murders.

NYCLU Expresses Shock and Sadness at Death Penalty Sentence, Pledges Support for Appeal (01/30/2007)
NEW YORK - The New York Civil Liberties Union today expressed shock and sadness at a federal jury's decision to impose a death sentence in New York.

Evolving Standards, Evolving Justice: Death Penalty Issues in the Roberts Court (09/20/2006)
WASHINGTON -- The United States Supreme Court's decisions in its two death-penalty cases this term -- Lawrence v. Florida and Ayers v. Belmontes – will begin to reveal how concerned the Roberts Court is about the reliability, consistency and fairness of the country's capital punishment process.

Civil Rights and Church Groups Ask Montana Supreme Court for Right to Challenge Lethal Injections (08/10/2006)
HELENA, MT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, Montana Association of Churches, Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Montana Catholic Conference, Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, 11 legislators and two former justices today petitioned the state Supreme Court to allow them to challenge the pending execution of death row inmate David Dawson.

Montana Lawsuit Seeks Scrutiny of Lethal Injection Protocols (07/11/2006)
HELENA, MT -- Attorneys representing a broad array of interested parties today petitioned the Montana Supreme Court to bar execution by lethal injection until the protocols involved can be reviewed to be certain not to violate the United States Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.

Ohio ACLU Wins State Supreme Court Ruling on Death Penalty Eligibility (06/01/2006)
COLUMBUS, OH – The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today welcomed a landmark ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court saying that a jury cannot discount the background of a defendant when it decides whether to use the death penalty. In the case of State v. Tenace, the Court for the first time reversed a death sentence based on the extraordinarily troubled life of the defendant.

ACLU Opposes Constitutionally Flawed Death Penalty Legislation, Proposed Changes Would Violate Eighth Amendment’s Protections (03/30/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union signaled its opposition today to the Death Penalty Reform Act of 2006 (DPRA), which is being considered in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. This bill would violate the Eighth Amendment by allowing for the execution of persons with mental retardation, and by making virtually every crime resulting in death and involving a firearm eligible for the death penalty.

ACLU Challenges Maryland’s Death Penalty (01/20/2006)
BALTIMORE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today called for an immediate halt to executions in the state. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, says the regulations that govern the state’s administration of the death penalty violate the law.

ACLU Expands Capital Punishment Project (12/09/2005)
NEW YORK - In the wake of the 1,000th death penalty execution in the modern era, the American Civil Liberties Union today announced the hiring of John Holdridge as the new director of its Capital Punishment Project. The project is expanding its resources and programs to now include litigation in addition to public education as part of the ACLU’s longstanding effort to end the death penalty in the United States.

Virginia Governor Grants Death Row Inmate Clemency, Commutes Sentence to Life in Prison (11/29/2005)
RICHMOND, VA -- Governor Mark Warner today granted clemency to Robin Lovitt and commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility for parole. Lovitt was scheduled to die tomorrow evening by lethal injection, and would have been the 1,000th execution in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

New Report Finds Fatal Flaws in Alabama's Death Penalty (10/20/2005)
MONTGOMERY, AL - According to a major new report, structural and procedural flaws in Alabama's criminal justice system stack the deck against fair trials and appropriate sentencing for capital defendants. The report, released today by the American Civil Liberties Union, details unfair and discriminatory practices in the state's administration of the death penalty.