Death Penalty News

Ohio’s attorney general says he will continue to uphold the state’s death penalty law, in spite of a call for abolishment of the capital punishment yesterday from Gov. Mike DeWine, who appointed him AG. Andy Wilson said in an interview he respects the opinion of DeWine, who appointed him as AG last month. While DeWine has asked the Ohio legislature to abolish executions for good, Wilson supports the use of capital punishment, as a former prosecutor who tried four death penalty cases. "I believe that the death penalty is a tool that should be available for prosecutors in the criminal justice system in a very limited set of cases when dealing with these most serious crimes," Wilson said.

A 14-year-old in Yunnan province has been convicted of intentional homicide and rape, and sentenced to life in prison. The victim's family argue he deserves the death penalty. In late April, an unusual court trial in China's southwestern Yunnan province led to a landmark ruling, where a local court found a minor guilty of intentional homicide and rape, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.    At the time of the crime, the defendant was 14 years old. It marked the first time such a severe sentence was handed down to a minor in China.

With just weeks remain­ing before his sched­uled exe­cu­tion, attor­neys for 72-year-old Samuel Lee Smithers are appeal­ing the dis­missal of their motion filed September 19, 2025, argu­ing that exe­cut­ing an elder­ly per­son vio­lates both Florida and the U.S. Constitutions’ pro­hi­bi­tion against cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment and fails to meet any valid peno­log­i­cal jus­ti­fi­ca­tion. On September 22, 2025, the Hillsborough County Circuit Court denied Mr. Smithers’ request for an evi­den­tiary hear­ing to con­sid­er his claim. Mr. Smithers is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on October 14, 2025, mak­ing him the 14th per­son set for exe­cu­tion in Florida this year under Governor Ron DeSantis, who has over­seen more exe­cu­tions in a sin­gle year than any pre­vi­ous Florida governor.

Inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Phillip Hancock has eaten his final meal. Fried chicken from KFC, no sides. It’s the last day of November. He’s due to be executed at 10 a.m.  Outside the prison known as Big Mac, 11 anti-death penalty protesters in puffy coats huddle in a circle to sing a hymn. Intermittent drizzle has snuffed out the early morning sun. A pair of cars pulls up near the penitentiary, which looks like a cross between a warehouse and a castle. The latecomers to the vigil are unlikely allies: two Republicans who favor tough law and order policies. 

The most intellectually challenging film I have ever seen about capital punishment. Definitely a must-see. DPN review and YouTube trailer available in our 'Films & Documentaries' section — DPN editor As far as European cinema goes, there are few figures quite admired in critical circles as the inimitable Krzysztof Kieślowski. Known for his Dekalog series of 1989, as well as The Double Life of Veronique and the Three Colours trilogy, Kieślowski embodied everything so extraordinary about the power of European cinema and that of his native Poland in turn.

Former French justice minister Robert Badinter, who has died aged 95, saved many lives by dedicating his own to the fight against capital punishment, playing a pivotal role in banning the dreaded guillotine in 1981. Robert Badinter (pictured), born on March 30, 1928, was a prominent French lawyer, academic, and politician who played a pivotal role in the abolition of the death penalty in France. His impactful career reflects his unwavering commitment to human rights and justice. Badinter's journey in the legal realm began with his education at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the University of Paris Law School, where he developed a profound attachment for the principles that would shape his future endeavors. After completing his studies, Badinter embarked on a career marked by dedication to justice.

Ghana’s Parliament today abolished the death penalty for all ordinary crimes (including murder, genocide, piracy and smuggling of gold and diamonds and attempted murder in prison) by passing a private member’s Bill to amend the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act, tabled by the MP for Madina, Francis Xavier-Sosu. Working alongside Ghanaian Parliamentarians and campaign groups, the London legal action NGO The Death Penalty Project (DPP) played a pivotal role in the run-up to today’s decision.    Ghana is the 29th country to abolish the death penalty in Africa and the 124th globally. There are currently 170 men and 6 women on its death row, whose death sentences will now be replaced by life imprisonment. Ghana has not carried out an execution since 1993, but until today, its courts were still imposing death sentences, and its death row grew every year. In cases of murder, the death penalty was the mandatory punishment, leaving judges no discretion to impose a lesser sentence. Last...

Japan is one step closer to amending its Penal Code in order to emphasize rehabilitation programs aimed at giving inmates a better chance of reintegrating into society. Punishments under the current Penal Code are aimed at preventing recidivism and, in essence, have long been interpreted as a form of retribution. But in recent years, the concept of rehabilitation has begun to win ground over punishment. On Tuesday, the government approved a Cabinet decision on a draft amendment to the Penal Code and related laws on imprisonment. Currently, the principal punishments in the nation's justice system are the death penalty, imprisonment with work, imprisonment without work, a fine, and a sentence that includes both imprisonment and a fine. Punishments involving imprisonment with or without work are supposed to reflect the seriousness of the violation, but the proposed bill will integrate the 2 categories. The bill is scheduled to be submitted to the current session of parliament. If appr...

A new book throws light on the powerful work of Project 39A, a criminal justice research centre, in understanding the humanity of those on death penalty About a year ago, the 4 convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case—Akshay Thakur, 31, Pawan Gupta, 25, Vinay Sharma, 26, and Mukesh Singh, 32—were hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail at daybreak. The jail authorities carried out the execution swiftly, without fuss, as most hangings are, hours after the Supreme Court rejected the mercy pleas of the 4 convicts. The verdict and the subsequent execution evoked mass laudatory sentiments—they were, after all, the boys we wanted to kill. Did or will their hanging deter Indian men from raping, killing or brutalising women? Is capital punishment, abolished in most nations (and retained by 58 countries, with China being the most active death penalty country in the world), more effective in deterring crimes than, say, a life sentence? There are no simple answers to these questions because the death penalty ...

Capital punishment is not only premised upon the deeply-flawed principle of retributive justice but is also impractical, immoral, and inconsistent with core American values. Despite being aimed only at “the worst of the worst” criminals, this arcane practice actually renders all citizens worse off by unduly augmenting the authority of the state and thus imperiling the citizenry—in direct contradiction to America’s foundational principle of limited government. [Further reading: The French Revolution supplies a terrifying historical example of capital punishment and tyrannical government power supporting each other.] Even if you believe that the government ought to enforce “eye for an eye” justice—and you really shouldn’t—you should oppose the practice of capital punishment. I’ll get to the “and you really shouldn’t” part later, but first, let me try to convince you that if you believe in retributive justice (or lex talionis ), then you should favor life without parole (LWP) over the de...

(RNS) — With some 150,000 lives lost, it’s entirely appropriate that the pandemic takes up most of our attention. In the frenzy of courageous nurses, doctors and scientists to save lives, not many of us have room for another catastrophe. For that reason you might have missed, or even ignored, the catastrophe that is taking place in every American’s name. The federal government started executing people this month, after going 17 years without a single federal execution. In fact, the three people executed over the course of four days in July is more than the United States has put to death in half a century. No president, Republican or Democrat, has executed as many people since 1948, when Harry Truman was in the White House. It’s alarming, but it may only be the beginning. The next federal execution is scheduled for Aug. 28 [ Aug. 26 - DPN ], and there are 59 more federal inmates facing the death penalty.  The resumption of executions is not an isolated effort, but th...

NEW DELHI: The hanging of the four men convicted of the 2012 gang-rape of Nirbhaya will not bring justice to her parents, former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph said today, two days before their scheduled execution.  Justice Joseph questioned whether such crimes would stop with this hanging. "By hanging these people, will such type of crimes stop? In Bachan Singh case, Supreme Court had said that the death penalty can be handed over in rarest of the rare cases, and that too, only when all other options are unquestionably foreclosed," the retired Supreme Court judge told news agency ANI. Justice does not mean life for a life; the absence of freedom is the worst that a person can have, said the ex-judge. He said if people were sent to jail for life, society could be told that this would be their fate for such crimes. On the other hand, if they were executed, the crime was forgotten. After three previous dates of hanging passed, Akshay Thakur, 31, Pawan ...

Judicial processes demand dispassionate equity that gives due regard to substantive requirements of sentencing Mukesh Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Kumar Sharma have been given seven days to exercise all their legal rights, after which they will, in all probability, be hanged to death for the rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012. The trial court has also refused to permit their execution before the exhaustion of their legal remedies, in light of the order of the Delhi High Court. Since the incident, the case has received great media attention. The subject of rape has since become a matter of national importance; often there are protests with demands for the perpetrators to be hanged. Public anger around the Delhi incident led to the national belief that the death penalty was the only appropriate outcome. Fair trial rights While public sentiment remains unchanged, it is important to realise that judicial processes d...

KUANTAN: Death penalty abolitionists are hoping there will be new development during the Parliament sitting next month. Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu said a bill regarding the death penalty was supposed to be brought up last year but had been delayed. "We have been waiting for it and will be watching what the government plans to do. We are keeping our hopes up that there will be a move forward," she said during a forum held here on Monday (June 10) night. Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin reportedly said in March that the government had decided to abolish the mandatory death penalty for 11 offences. He said the government had instead proposed to give discretionary power to the courts in commuting sentences for the offences. The nine offences fell under the Penal Code and two under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971. Shamini said Amnesty International M...

The death penalty debate is back in the news following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent moratorium on capital punishment. As expected, many Californians are up in arms about the sudden reversal of this raw, hotly contested issue. Proponents claim capital punishment gives victims and their families closure. Is this true? Or does the death penalty create more problems than it solves? Consider revenge. The theme of retribution is timeless, arising from such diverse sources as the Bible, Shakespeare and Quentin Tarantino. It so permeates our thought processes that we barely hear ourselves say, “Turnaround is fair play,” or “Revenge is sweet.” Yet a 2008 study conducted by Kevin Carlsmith and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who punish others in the hopes of making themselves feel better actually feel worse. They end up ruminating about the event far longer than non-avengers. According to Carlsmith, “Those who don’t hav...