Skip to content

death penalty

News / Public safety / State

Pleas for clemency mount ahead of execution set for Thursday

At 6 p.m. today Nathaniel Woods is to be put to death at Holman prison for the shooting deaths of three police officers whom he did not shoot.  A jury in 2005 convicted Woods of being an accomplice to the deaths of the three Birmingham police officers – Charles Bennett, Carlos Owen and Harley Chisholm … Continued
March 5, 2020

Legislation would limit death penalty appeals

Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth on Tuesday discussed legislation that would reduce the length of some death penalty appeals.  “Over the last 13 month, seven Alabama law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty by violent criminals, which is a new record and obviously not one the state of Alabama is proud … Continued
February 19, 2020

Conservative Leadership Conference panel discusses prison reform

A panel discussed reforming Alabama’s prisons at the Conservative Leadership Conference in Florence Saturday. State Senator Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and serves on the state prison task force. He is also a Republican candidate for Alabama Supreme Court, Place 1. “Prison reform is a very vague term,” Ward said. … Continued
February 18, 2020

Family of Alabama death row inmate hopes for new trial

Recent news coverage in major outlets of the story of Alabama death row inmate Toforest Johnson’s case is giving his family hope that he’ll get a new trial and a chance at freedom.  The family awaits a judge’s ruling on whether he could get that new trial.  “It’s especially difficult around the holidays,” said Johnson’s … Continued
December 18, 2019

U.S. Supreme Court won’t revisit cases of six Alabama death row inmates

Six Alabama inmates awaiting their executions won’t have their cases reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Two of those inmates were convicted for the murders of police officers, and another was sentenced to die after being convicted for shooting to death his pregnant wife, killing both her and the unborn child.  Alabama Attorney Steve Marshall … Continued
October 11, 2019

Gov. Ivey directs flags at half staff to honor fallen police officer Dornell Cousette

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has issued a statewide directive to fly flags at half-staff on the day of interment of Tuscaloosa Police Investigator Dornell Cousette. Cousette was killed in the line of duty attempting to apprehend an armed and dangerous felon Monday night. “Monday evening, I was devastated to learn of the news that Alabama … Continued
September 18, 2019

Moore supports Trump Administration’s resumption of executions

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr announced that he has ordered Hugh Hurwitz who heads the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin scheduling executions. The Justice Department also announced the names of the first five prisoners to be executed. The executions resume beginning with Daniel Lee Lewis on December 11. There have been no … Continued
July 29, 2019

SPLC says resuming federal executions is a step in the wrong direction

Attorney General Bill Barr has directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to clear the way for the federal government to resume capital punishment. The attorney general has further directed the acting director of the BOP, Hugh Hurwitz, to schedule the executions of five death-row inmates convicted of murdering children and the elderly. While the state … Continued
July 26, 2019

Abolishing the death penalty requires morality

In “How to Convince Americans to Abolish the Death Penalty,” Amherst College Professor Austin Sarat asserts “important lessons about how abolitionists can be successful around the country” can be learned from New Hampshire – which just last month became the twenty-first state to abolish capital punishment – including: “The moral argument doesn’t work.”   Acknowledging New … Continued
June 18, 2019

Alabama executes Christopher Lee Price

Thursday, the state of Alabama executed Christopher Lee Price by lethal injection for the 1991 murder of 57-year-old Pastor Bill Lynn with a sword. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement after being notified that the sentence had been carried out. “Ensuring the safety of the people who call Alabama home is of the highest … Continued
May 31, 2019