Death Penalty News

Like Gov. Mike DeWine, most agreed the death penalty is broken and does not deter crime, but not always with the same reasoning. Some people on Ohio’s death row praised Gov. Mike DeWine for having the courage to come out against the death penalty. Others said actions speak louder than words, and they want the governor to commute their death sentences to life without the possibility of parole. But all agreed with the governor on one thing: Ohio’s death penalty law is broken. DeWine said long delays in carrying out executions undermine its intended function as a deterrent. Condemned prisoners resoundingly said that the possibility of being executed never stopped anyone from committing murder.

Florida's death penalty system has faced numerous criticisms and controversies over the years - from execution methods to the treatment of Death Row inmates The Sunshine State remains steadfast in its enforcement of capital punishment, upholding a complex system that has developed since its reinstatement in 1976. Florida's contemporary death penalty era kicked off in 1972 following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia , which temporarily put a stop to executions across the country. Swiftly amending its laws, Florida saw the Supreme Court affirm the constitutionality of the death penalty in 1976's Gregg v. Georgia case.

A Japanese man wrongly convicted of murder who was the world's longest-serving death row inmate has been awarded more than 217 million yen in compensation, an official said Tuesday. The payout represents 12,500 yen for each day of the more than four decades that Iwao Hakamada spent in detention, most of it on death row when each day could have been his last. It is a record for compensation of this kind, Japanese media said. The former boxer, now 89, was exonerated last year of a 1966 quadruple murder after a tireless campaign by his sister and others.

Hideko Hakamada, 91, fought half her life to free her brother - the world's longest serving death row inmate When a court declared Iwao Hakamada innocent in September , the world's longest-serving death row inmate seemed unable to comprehend, much less savour the moment. "I told him he was acquitted, and he was silent," Hideko Hakamada, his 91-year-old sister, tells the BBC at her home in Hamamatsu, Japan. "I couldn't tell whether he understood or not."

Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.

Decision closes book on a case that resulted in man spending half a century on death row Japanese prosecutors do not plan to appeal the recent acquittal in the retrial of a former professional boxer who was sentenced to death for a 1966 quadruple murder, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, paving the way for the ruling to be finalised. Iwao Hakamada, 88, spent nearly half a century on death row before new evidence led to his release from incarceration in 2014.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The inhumane treatment of inmates who have been sentenced to death has come under increased scrutiny in Japan, with legal experts criticizing authorities for giving little to no warning of an impending execution and denying those on death row basic human contact. Japan has no established regulations regarding how much warning an inmate on death row should be given before they are sent to the gallows, but anecdotal evidence shows they were informed the day before at least until the 1970s. Currently, inmates are notified just one or two hours before they are hanged.

The state of Alabama executed Gary Brown more than two decades ago for his connection to a fatal stabbing. But at a recent Sunday service in Birmingham, you could hear him preaching. In the bustling foyer of the Unitarian Universalist Church, an archival recording of one of Brown’s sermons in prison thrummed under patrons’ lively chatter. Visitors stood with their necks craned back, reading rows of letters fixed to a wall. The display was part of an art exhibit that’s been traveling through Alabama this summer. Using art and archival materials, “The Art of Resistance: Documenting Alabama’s Death Row” aims to spark conversations about the state’s use of capital punishment.

Days before his scheduled execution in Texas, Ramiro Gonzales speaks on faith, legacy — and apologizing to the family of his victim, Bridget Townsend. On Wednesday evening, Texas prison officials plan to execute Ramiro Gonzales, the 41-year-old who kidnapped, raped and murdered Bridget Townsend when they were both 18.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man who was sentenced to death for killing a 15-year-old girl died by suicide inside a Nevada state prison, according to the Clark County Coroner’s office. Staff at Ely State Prison found Norman Belcher, 49, unresponsive last Thursday, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.  The cause of death was hanging, according to the Coroner’s office.

Letters from Death Row Iwao Hakamada The odds were always stacked against Iwao Hakamada. Prosecutors in Japan have a 99-percent conviction rate for individuals charged with crimes. And for inmates who insist they are innocent, getting a court to grant a retrial has been extremely rare.

The Osaka District Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by death row inmates that claimed same-day notifications of executions violate the Constitution — the first ruling of its kind. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against the government in hopes of sparking a wider discussion on the rights of death row prisoners. They also sought ¥22 million in compensation and plan to appeal to a higher court.

There’s an utterly new feeling at San Quentin’s death row these days, and it’s not just for the people running the place. You can feel it like electricity all up and down the grim, time-worn cell blocks housing the worst criminals in the state. It’s hope.

Project 39A, a criminal justice initiative by NLU Delhi, has organized an online exhibition called Capital Letters featuring letters from prisoners on death row. The exhibition aims to show the humanity of these prisoners and provide a different perspective on the capital punishment conversation. The letters touch on various themes such as mental health, custodial torture, and hope. “Every morning I wake up with the hope that maybe something very good will happen in my life today, but by the end of the evening, that hope starts getting lost,” Neha wrote in the letter. While Sabu noted, “Within these walls, we cannot love or be loved. That disturbs the equilibrium of every person here. I have been noticing this since the day I entered prison.” 

The Bar Council has called on the government and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to immediately take steps to abolish solitary confinement of prisoners, and for prison authorities to implement appropriate reforms to improve the living conditions of inmates, especially those on death row. Its president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn told theSun the call is particularly important as it is “psychologically traumatic” for convicts on death row with a moratorium in place. She added that on Jan 13, the Bar Council met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, “and prison reforms were among the matters discussed”. Cheah was commenting on theSun’s report on April 7 quoting eminent forensic psychiatrist Datuk Dr Suarn Singh, who said: “It is cruel and inhumane to keep a prisoner in solitary confinement for years as it could cause mental disorders in those who do not have any, and a relapse in others with pre-existing conditions.”

A 2021 Amnesty International study found Japan to be one of just 18 countries worldwide executing prisoners. A former prison guard looks at the death penalty as it is implemented in Japan today, examining its impact on all those involved. On July 26, 2022, a death sentence was carried out at the Tokyo Detention House in Katsushika, Tokyo. The corrections officers at the facility drew on their experience and saw this event coming in advance, allowing themselves to mentally prepare themselves. This was because a little over two weeks prior something unprecedented had occurred: the shocking murder of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō while he was delivering a speech on July 8 in the city of Nara in support of a local candidate in the House of Councillors election.

A recently released report of the advocacy group, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Death Row USA, Spring, 2022, brought some small bits of good news for death penalty opponents and further signs of the withering of capital punishment in this country. The LDF found that as of April 1, 2022 there were 2,414 people on death row. That is still a lot, but 833 of these people were in jurisdictions with active moratoria on executions. They include California, Pennsylvania, and Oregon, as well as the federal government. The total April 2022 death row population represented a 3.6% decline from April of the previous year when there were 2,504 death row inmates and a 35% drop from 2001 when the death row population peaked at 3,717. But for those who remain, life on death row is cruel and inhumane . Recognizing this, some death penalty states have voluntarily taken steps to dismantle their death rows or radically alter the conditions of those who are confined there. Others have been forced to do so ...

Imagine being told you are going to die in a month. Then it's a few hours. Then another month. You may be set free or you may be killed, and it all depends on events that are completely out of your control. How long could you stand it? The poem, "O Death, rock me asleep," is rumoured to have been written by Anne Boleyn in her cell as she awaited execution. While in prison, Anne was reported to have fallen into laughing spells and claimed that it would not rain until she was released or that doom would befall the kingdom seven years after she was executed. One morning, believing she was to be executed that day, she burst into tears upon being informed that her execution was delayed. She declared that she had hoped to be "past her pain" by the end of the day. A few years later Anne's sister-in-law, Jane Rochford, also went insane awaiting execution. Regardless of the legality or morality of the death penalty, the process of sitting on death row, wai...

Death Row & Death Watch cells A Death Row cell is 6 x 9 x 9.5 feet high. Florida State Prison also has Death Watch cells to incarcerate inmates awaiting execution after the Governor signs a death warrant for them. A Death Watch cell is 12 x 7 x 8.5 feet high.  Men on Death Row are housed at Florida State Prison in Starke, FL, and Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, FL. The women on Death Row are housed at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex in Lowell, FL.