Alabama prepares to carry out first execution by nitrogen asphyxiation
Atmore, Alabama Reuters Alabama was preparing on Thursday to carry out the first execution of a condemned prisoner using asphyxiation by nitrogen gas, a new method the state hopes to advance as a simpler alternative to lethal injections. Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, is a rare prisoner who has already survived one execution […]
First US nitrogen-gas execution may constitute torture – UN rights office
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The UN human rights office on Tuesday called on the US state of Alabama to halt its first planned execution of a prisoner by nitrogen gas asphyxiation this month, saying it could amount to torture and violate US commitments under international law. Kenneth Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, is […]
Vatican, other faith leaders join in push for end of death penalty in US state of Louisiana
United StatesRNS The Vatican has joined US faith leaders and anti-death penalty activists in supporting the Louisiana Governor’s desire to clear the death row cells in his state. Governor John Bel Edwards, a Catholic Democrat, called in August for the Louisiana Board of Pardons to reconsider applications for clemency of 56 prisoners on the state’s […]
Essay: Replacing vengeance with mercy in our death penalty policy
KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says the troubling case of Andre Thomas in the US invites a closer look at all the factors that play a part in the death penalty…
Essay: Fifty years after landmark death penalty case, Supreme Court’s ruling continues to guide execution debate
In an article first published on The Conversation, US scholar AUSTIN SARAT looks at the issue of capital punishment in the US…
Execution can’t proceed without religious requests – US judge
Houston, Texas, USAP A US federal judge has issued a temporary order telling Texas prison officials that they can carry out next week’s scheduled execution of a death row inmate only if they grant all of his religious accommodations, including allowing his spiritual adviser to hold his hand when he receives a lethal injection. Ramiro […]
Executions, trial procedures in Iran of deep concern, says UN
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Top UN officials voiced deep concern on Tuesday about human rights violations in Iran amid reports of rising numbers of executions, including of minors and Afghan migrants for drug-related offences. They spoke as an annual report on human rights in Iran, authored by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, was presented to the UN Human Rights […]
US Supreme Court says states must allow prayer, touch in executions
Washington DCAP The US Supreme Court said Thursday that states must accommodate the wishes of death row inmates who want to have their pastors pray aloud and even touch them during their executions. The court ruled in the case of a Texas inmate, John Henry Ramirez, who challenged state rules that would have forced his pastor […]
Saudi Arabia executes 81 men in one day for terrorism, other offences
Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaReuters Saudi Arabia executed 81 men including seven Yemenis and one Syrian on Saturday, the interior ministry said, in the kingdom’s biggest mass execution in decades. The number dwarfed the 67 executions reported there in all of 2021 and the 27 in 2020. A general view of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, on 20th […]
Essay: Buddy Stouffer’s execution was the last in the US for 2021. Will it be the last to be proved an error?
Activist, author and co-director of Red Letter Christians, SHANE CLAIBORNE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says that “one of the obvious problems with the death penalty is that you can’t bring someone back from the dead when you get it wrong”…