Spring 2020

Death Penalty

Tennessee Attorney General Pursues Death Sentences and Executions Amid Legal Challenges

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery requested that the Tennessee Supreme Court set execution dates for nine death row prisoners, despite ongoing challenges surrounding prosecutorial misconduct, racial discrimination in jury selection, and concerns about the state's lethal injection protocol.

Death Penalty

Several States Consider Repealing or Reforming Death Penalty Laws

With the start of 2020 state legislative sessions, several states are considering legislation aimed at either repealing or narrowing use of the death penalty. The states considering repeal include Colorado, Louisiana, and Arizona, among several others.

Death Penalty

Georgia Prisoner Jimmy Meders Granted Clemency Hours Ahead of Execution

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles issued death-row prisoner Jimmy Meders a rare grant of clemency, commuting Mr. Meders’ sentence to life in prison without parole, just six hours before he was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection.

Courts & Judiciary

D.C. Circuit Court Hears Oral Arguments About Federal Lethal Injection Protocol

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Execution Protocol Cases—Roane v. Barr, which is currently staying the federal government’s attempt to resume federal executions.

Courts & Judiciary

James Dailey Continues to Seek Review of Innocence Claim

Two weeks before his scheduled execution, Florida death row prisoner James Dailey received a temporary stay from the District Court so that Mr. Dailey’s newly appointed counsel could have additional time to investigate and file claims surrounding his innocence. That stay expired on December 30, 2019, leaving Governor Ron DeSantis free to set a new execution date.

Death Penalty

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Case with Potential to Curtail Federal Habeas Proceedings

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Banister v. Davis, where they will consider an open question of habeas procedure and examine the contours of the rules under which federal courts re-examine their own decisions, which could have important implications for death penalty litigation.

Death Penalty

U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses Juvenile Life Without Parole Case Following New Virginia Legislation

In February, the Virginia Attorney General and attorneys representing Lee Boyd Malvo, who has served 18 years of a juvenile life-without-parole sentence, requested and received a dismissal of Mr. Malvo’s case from the U.S. Supreme Court. This came after new legislation in Virginia allowing prisoners serving life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles to be eligible for parole after twenty years of incarceration. 

Divided U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Arizona Death Row Prisoner James McKinney

In McKinney v. Arizona, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld James McKinney’s death sentence in a 5-4 decision, rejecting the position that an Eddings error, where the court fails to consider non-statutory mitigating evidence, requires that a jury, rather than a court, be responsible for resentencing the individual on trial.

Death Penalty

In Memoriam: The Project Remembers Larry Hammond

The Project remembers and honors the life of Larry A. Hammond, who was a long-time volunteer attorney with the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project and a dedicated advocate for death-sentenced prisoners in Arizona. Mr. Hammond founded organizations to fight wrongful convictions and improve capital representation, advised the Project on numerous undertakings, and received several national awards in recognition of his historic efforts.