FEATURED POST

Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

Published
Image
On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

USA | POLL: Views of Nevada Voters Shift Dramatically Towards Death Penalty Abolition

Published
New poll results show that more Nevadans now support alternatives to capital punishment and repealing the death penalty than favor its continued use, marking a major shift in opinion in the state in just the past four years.

A January 2021 poll of Nevada voters by David Binder Research, released March 4, 2021, found that 49% of Nevadans favor replacing the state’s death penalty with life without parole, compared with 46% who would keep capital punishment. The results represent a 20-percentage-point shift from the responses to a 2017 poll by the Nevada Independent in which 66% of Nevada respondents said they supported keeping the death penalty. At that time, just 27% of poll respondents said they supported repeal. Majorities of both Democrats (69%) and Independents (51%) now favor abolition, the 2021 poll found.

By a 17-percentage-point margin, Nevadans also expressed a preference for long prison sentences over the death penalty as the appropriate punishment for those who commit first-degree murder (click to enlarge graphic). Offered a choice among the death penalty, life without parole, life with the possibility of parole after 40 years, or life with the possibility of parole after 20 years, 53% of the survey’s 500 respondents chose one of the life-sentencing options. 36% chose the death penalty. Among the life sentences, 27% of respondents favored life without parole, 13% favored life parole eligibility after 40 years, and 14% favored life with parole eligibility after 20 years.

“Nevadans are realizing what’s been the truth for or what’s been becoming apparent for the past several decades, which is the death penalty is broken,” said Scott Coffee, a public defender and board member of the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which commissioned the poll. “There’s a lot better ways to service our community and protect our community.”

Respondents were asked their views on the issue a second time, after being presented with facts about the application of capital punishment. They were informed about issues of innocence, costs, and geographic and racial disparities. After these facts were offered, those preferring life sentences increased to 58%. The proportion of respondents who supported repeal also grew by five percentage points, from 49% to 54%.

The Nevada legislature is expected to consider repeal legislation this session. Fifty-six organizations, including faith groups, legal organizations, and organizations that advocate for people with mental illness, have signed a letter supporting the repeal of Nevada’s death penalty.

Source: Death Penalty Information Center, Staff, March 10, 2021


🚩 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!



"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Nevada, USA
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

Published
Image
On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 
Read more

Utah requests execution of death row inmate

Published
Image
SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah requested on Tuesday that a man who’s been on death row for almost 25 years be executed. Taberon Honie was convicted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in 1999. In the death warrant application, the state’s lawyers said Honie used up his appeals and there is no longer any legal reason to stop Honie’s execution.
Read more

Alabama SC approves second nitrogen gas execution

Published
Image
The Alabama Supreme Court has authorized the execution of a second inmate by nitrogen gas, months after the state became the first state to put a person to death with the previously untested method. Justices granted Attorney General Steve Marshall’s request for an execution date for Alan Eugene Miller, who survived a 2022 lethal injection attempt.
Read more

Cuba Maintains Capital Punishment to "Deter and Intimidate"

Published
Image
Aware that only the use of terror and force keeps it in power, the Cuban regime makes it clear that if necessary, it will not hesitate to kill. HAVANA TIMES – Inflation, misery, the lack of medicine, and power outages, which were the triggers for previous demonstrations, are worsening daily in Cuba. Given the possibility that these protests may occur again, the regime has threatened the death penalty for those who participate in demonstrations considered “illegal.”
Read more

Four More Prisoners Executed in Iran

Published
Image
Authorities of the Islamic Republic executed four more prisoners over the weekend as death penalties continue to rise in the country. The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that three inmates were executed on April 27 in Tabriz Prison for drug-related offenses. The inmates were identified as Amir Moharrami, 36, Davoud Namyari, 33, and Sohrab Hokmabad. 
Read more