Capital Punishment
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
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58 Capital Punishment Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
Capital Punishment
Hurst v. Florida
Whether Florida’s death penalty scheme violates the Constitution by allowing the judge, rather than a jury, to make critical factfinding determinations.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
Capital Punishment
Hurst v. Florida
Whether Florida’s death penalty scheme violates the Constitution by allowing the judge, rather than a jury, to make critical factfinding determinations.
Texas
Feb 2015
Capital Punishment
State of Texas v. Max Soffar
An innocent man is dying of terminal liver cancer on Texas's Death Row.
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Texas
Feb 2015
Capital Punishment
State of Texas v. Max Soffar
An innocent man is dying of terminal liver cancer on Texas's Death Row.
Jan 2015
Capital Punishment
Texas v. Robert Ladd
The American Civil Liberties Union represented Robert Ladd, an intellectually disabled man with an IQ of 67, who faced execution in Texas. The ACLU petitioned the Supreme Court for a stay of Robert Ladd's execution and to review the initial decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Ladd was executed by the state of Texas at 7:02 pm CT on Thursday, January 29, 2015.
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Jan 2015
Capital Punishment
Texas v. Robert Ladd
The American Civil Liberties Union represented Robert Ladd, an intellectually disabled man with an IQ of 67, who faced execution in Texas. The ACLU petitioned the Supreme Court for a stay of Robert Ladd's execution and to review the initial decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Ladd was executed by the state of Texas at 7:02 pm CT on Thursday, January 29, 2015.
Texas
Oct 2014
Capital Punishment
Smart Justice
Manuel Velez v. The State of Texas
Manuel Velez, an innocent man, was released from a Texas prison today after almost nine years behind bars, four on death row. Rather than risk a new trial that could be plagued with the same problems that sent him to death row, Velez, an ACLU client, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.
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Texas
Oct 2014
Capital Punishment
Smart Justice
Manuel Velez v. The State of Texas
Manuel Velez, an innocent man, was released from a Texas prison today after almost nine years behind bars, four on death row. Rather than risk a new trial that could be plagued with the same problems that sent him to death row, Velez, an ACLU client, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.