Questioning Capital Punishment Questioning Capital Punishment
As doubts grow about the humanity and constitutionality of lethal injection, California, Florida and Maryland have shut down executions. America's flight from the death penalty co...
Dec 31, 2006 / Feature / Bruce Shapiro
A Killing Machine Turns 30 A Killing Machine Turns 30
This summer marks a grim anniversary of a Supreme Court decision to affirm the death penalty and create a bureaucratic killing machine that puts American justice at odds with the C...
Jun 28, 2006 / Feature / Bruce Shapiro
The Moussaoui Paradox The Moussaoui Paradox
Justice triumphed over blood vengeance Wednesday as jurors declined to sentence a marginal 9/11 conspirator to death, while one of the real culprits languishes in a secret prison, ...
May 4, 2006 / Bruce Shapiro
Georgia’s King Tribute Rings Hollow Georgia’s King Tribute Rings Hollow
Abolishing the death penalty was one of Coretta Scott King's signature issues. The irony is that Georgia remains one of the leading practitioners of the death penalty.
Feb 7, 2006 / Feature / Patrick Mulvaney
Grim Fairy Tales Grim Fairy Tales
It seemed too bizarre to be anything but apocryphal, but, hey, I heard it on NPR: William Poole, a high school junior from Kentucky, was taken into custody and charged with threa...
Mar 10, 2005 / Column / Patricia J. Williams
Too Young to Die Too Young to Die
The immediate outcome of the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision in Roper v.
Mar 3, 2005 / The Editors
Waiting for Roper v. Simmons Waiting for Roper v. Simmons
A forum on the juvenile death penalty.
Jan 23, 2005 / Feature / Patrick Mulvaney
A Killing Tradition A Killing Tradition
Minors like Malvo fare poorly in Virginia.
Oct 30, 2003 / Feature / Joan Jacobs Brumberg
Ryan’s Courage Ryan’s Courage
"Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error," Illinois Governor George Ryan said on January 11, clearing his state's death row as his final act of office.
Jan 16, 2003 / Bruce Shapiro
Death Penalty Talking Points Death Penalty Talking Points
1. It is morally reprehensible to take a life, and it is especially reprehensible for the state to do so.
Dec 18, 2002 / The Nation