Death Penalty News

Kentucky's top cop is joining more than a dozen other states that are calling on the federal government to address delays in death penalty cases. According to a release, Coleman is adding his name to a 16-state push to speed up the process in often lengthy death penalty litigation. The states are in favor of a U.S. Department of Justice proposal meant to streamline federal review of state capital murder convictions. The U.S. Department of Justice proposal aims to expedite the federal habeas corpus review process for state-level capital murder convictions. By establishing stricter procedural timelines and limiting the scope of successive petitions, the initiative intends to reduce the protracted litigation cycles that frequently characterize death penalty cases.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 2 June 2026: Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a female political prisoner and electrical engineer detained in Rasht Central Prison, has been resentenced to death on the charge of baghy (armed rebellion) through affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) by the Revolutionary Court. Since 30 March, at least 13 political prisoners affiliated with banned opposition groups have been executed in Iran. Of those, nine were affiliated with the PMOI/MEK, two to Baluch groups and two to Kurdish groups.

Iranian authorities have executed twelve prisoners, including three Baloch prisoners, two Turks, one Kurd, and two Afghan nationals, in prisons in Shiraz, Zanjan, and Sabzevar. The prisoners had been sentenced to death on charges related to “drug offenses,” “premeditated murder,” and “rape.” According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, ten of the executions were carried out in the early hours of Sunday, May 31, 2026, at Shiraz Central Prison (Adelabad Prison). Hengaw has identified eight of those executed as Saeid Dehqanizadeh, Barzou Mousazadeh, Abbas Bayat, Ali Akbar Sarabi Moqadam, Salar Sheikhi, Mohammad Osman Danebarchin, Qader Khodamoradi, and Mohammad Sediq Balouchi. The identities of two other executed prisoners, both Afghan nationals, have not yet been confirmed and remain under investigation.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 30 May 2026: Farhang Sheikhleh, a Kurdish man on death row for murder, was executed in Sanandaj Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Sanandaj Central Prison on 25 May 2026. His identity has been established as Farhang Sheikhleh, a 55-year-old Kurdish man from Sanandaj. He was arrested around five years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 1 June 2026: State media have reported the executions of Ashkan Maleki and Mehrdad Mohammadinia, two protesters arrested for the arson of a mosque and a seminary during protests in Tehran on 9 January. They were convicted of “operational actions against national security on behalf of Israel and the United States” under the newly enacted espionage law. Arman Marefati, the third defendant in the case whose charges were elevated to capital offences at trial, is now at imminent risk of execution. Since 19 March, at least 17 protesters have been executed in connection with the nationwide January protests, an average rate of one execution every 4.5 days.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 1 June 2026: Benyamin Naghdi, a protester arrested on 3 January, has been sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court. He was convicted on the charge of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth). Benyamin’s coerced confessions were aired by state media a day after his arrest. According to Emtedad, Benyamin Naghdi, a 26-year-old protester arrested in relation to the December–January protests, has been sentenced to death.  The 26-year-old MMA fighter and kickboxer was arrested at a protest in Shiraz on 3 January. His coerced confessions were aired by state media on 4 January. He was accused of using a fire extinguisher as a makeshift flamethrower, which he used against security forces passing by on motorcycles.

Thirty years ago while on probation for fracturing an infant’s skull, Andrew Lukehart inflicted at least five blows to the head of another baby, then concocted a story that she was abducted before eventually leading authorities to her body in a swamp area.  At 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, the 53-year-old from Jacksonville is set to become Florida’s eighth man on death row to be executed in 2026. He will become the 36th under Gov. Ron DeSantis after a record 19 inmates were executed by the state in 2025, including another from Duval County: Michael Bell.

The Islamic regime has used “wartime conditions” as a cover to intensify repression against the Iranian people, according to information reviewed by Amnesty International published earlier this week. In text messages reviewed by Amnesty, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was seen issuing direct warnings that those attempting to break through the regime’s internet restrictions could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act, the punishment for which is often the death penalty. These threats were issued under the framing that ordinary online activity was a threat to national security.

Iranian authorities secretly executed Elias Zeinoddini, a Baloch prisoner from Lashar County, at Zahedan Central Prison in mid-May. He had previously been sentenced to death on accusations of “ moharebeh ” (waging war against God) and “participation in premeditated murder” in connection with the killing of a law enforcement officer. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Elias Zeinoddini, 44, from Lashar County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was executed in the early hours of Friday, May 16, 2026, at Zahedan Central Prison. He was denied a final visit with his family prior to the execution.

A second execution would be an unimaginable nightmare for Tony Carruthers and a moral horror for the rest of us. Tony Carruthers is not supposed to be alive . On May 21, Tennessee set out to execute him. It failed. Carruthers survived. He is not the first person to survive an execution in the United States, and he won’t be the last. For Carruthers, the question is: Now what? Will the state seek to arrange a second execution?

Parliament of Ghana has approved a bill that would criminalize identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The legislation now awaits ratification by President John Dramani Mahama. The proposed law goes further than the country’s existing colonial-era ban on same-sex relationships.  The bill approved by Parliament actually implements a tiered penalty system. While engaging in same-sex intercourse or public displays of affection carries up to 3 years of imprisonment, the bill imposes far harsher penalties of 6 to 10 years in prison for anyone who promotes, sponsors, advocates, or distributes material related to LGBT activities.

At least 43 political and conscience prisoners have been executed in prisons across Iran since the beginning of 2026, according to statistics documented by the Statistics and Documentation Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.  During the same period, another 42 political and conscience activists have received either preliminary or final death sentences. Documented findings gathered by Hengaw indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran has sharply escalated the issuance and implementation of death sentences against political and conscience dissidents in recent months.

Hengaw – Thursday, May 28, 2026 Iranian authorities have executed five Kurdish prisoners at Bukan Central Prison after they were sentenced to death on drug-related and premeditated murder charges.  Hengaw has confirmed the identities of three of the executed prisoners as Rahman Mahmoudi, Jafar Mohammadi, and Salah Jang. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out during the early hours of Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at Bukan Central Prison.

Hengaw – Friday, May 29, 2026 Iranian authorities have executed six prisoners, including a Lor man and a Baloch man, in prisons in Isfahan, Mashhad, Neyshabur, and Kashan. The prisoners had previously been sentenced to death on charges of drug-related offenses and premeditated murder, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has learned. Mojtaba Khosravi, 42, a father of one, and Meysam Abdi, 38, both from Torbat-e Heydarieh in Razavi Khorasan Province, were executed at Isfahan Central Prison during the early hours of Wednesday, May 27, 2026.

In a message addressed to Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, the head of the Judiciary, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote: "Under the bombardment and threats of the enemies, the Judiciary did not back down from protecting the rights of the people and confronting domestic murderers and traitors to the nation, and it shone brilliantly." This praise for the Judiciary's performance comes at a time when at least 39 political prisoners have been executed over the course of the days since Iran's war with the United States and Israel began.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ruled that execution by nitrogen gas does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, rejecting an Alabama inmate’s claim that it causes excessive suffering. The ruling came after the first bench trial in the country to examine the constitutionality of the execution method that has now been used to put eight people to death, seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The ruling clears the way for Alabama and other states to continue with the method and is a setback for critics who hoped a fuller examination of Alabama’s protocol would halt its use.

The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a Mississippi man’s conviction and death sentence. By a vote of 5-4, the court in Pitchford v. Cain agreed with Terry Pitchford that the judge at his 2006 trial had not properly analyzed whether the prosecutor in Pitchford’s case violated the Constitution’s ban on racial discrimination in jury selection. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority, in a nine-page opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Quoting a 2019 opinion in which the court threw out the conviction of Mississippi inmate Curtis Flowers in a case that involved the same prosecutor, Kavanaugh acknowledged that “‘America’s trial judges operate at the front lines of American justice’ and ‘the job of enforcing’” the Supreme Court’s 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky , holding that the use of peremptory challenges (that is, challenges for any reason) to remove potential jurors based on race violates the ...

A court in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam has sentenced a 23-year-old factory worker to death for murdering a roadside coffee shop owner during a robbery last year. Tran Van Quy, from Cai Doi Vam Commune, southern Ca Mau Province, was convicted of murder at a first-instance trial held by the Tay Ninh People’s Court on Wednesday. According to the indictment, Quy had been living with his wife’s parents in Tay Ninh while working as a factory laborer. Mounting debts and financial difficulties drove him to plan a robbery.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Attorneys and death penalty advocates this week called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to halt all executions in the state after what they described as a “botched” execution attempt that left death row prisoner Tony Carruthers physically and emotionally traumatized following more than 90 minutes of failed attempts to establish IV access. At a press conference in Nashville, attorneys representing Carruthers and plaintiffs challenging Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol said the state’s execution procedures are deeply flawed, inadequately reviewed and incapable of ensuring constitutional executions. The attorneys argued that what happened to Carruthers on May 22 was foreseeable and directly tied to deficiencies already identified in ongoing litigation challenging Tennessee’s 2025 lethal injection protocol.