The Arkansas Supreme Court on Friday struck down the state law governing how death-penalty inmates are executed by lethal injection.
A 68-year-old California inmate on death row in San Quentin State Prison was found dead hanging in his cell, authorities said Tuesday.
A nationwide shortage of a commonly used imported drug used in capital punishment has prompted 15 states on Monday to urge the U.S. Justice Department to intervene.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a bill into law Wednesday that abolishes the death penalty, making his state the 17th in the nation to abandon capital punishment and the fifth in five years to usher in a repeal.
A North Carolina judge set aside the death sentence of a convicted killer after concluding Friday that race played a role in the case, a landmark ruling that may call into question a number of death row cases in the state.
Connecticut's governor says he will sign a bill abolishing the death penalty, making it the 17th state to abandon capital punishment.
Lawmakers in Connecticut's House of Representatives are expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that would abolish the state's death penalty, one week after the bill passed the state Senate.
The Petit family addresses the media after learning a jury sentenced Joshua Komisarjevsky to death
The Connecticut Senate on Thursday voted to repeal the death penalty, setting the stage for Connecticut to join several states that have recently abolished capital punishment.
Lawmakers in Connecticut are grappling with a bill that would do away with the death penalty and make their state the fifth in five years to abolish capital punishment.
Max Foster talks to human rights advocate, Bianca Jagger, about Amnesty International's report on capital punishment.
Only 10% of countries carried out executions last year, but those employing the death penalty are doing so at an alarming rate, a new report says.
A human rights group expressed alarm Thursday at the pace of executions in Iraq and called for Iraqi authorities to abolish the practice.
A Utah death row inmate, convicted of beating a man with a tire jack and puncturing his liver with an inserted tire iron, has requested that he be allowed to die by firing squad, officials said Thursday.
The Supreme Court gave an Alabama death row prisoner another chance Wednesday to appeal his conviction after a mailroom mistake and other circumstances initially left him unable to pursue further claims in court.
Delaware's governor commuted the death sentence Tuesday of a convicted murderer who was set to be executed later this week.
Civil rights lawyers demanded the death penalty for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday, joining prosecutor's calls for him to be executed.
The Europe Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton demanded Friday that Iran halt the pending executions of a woman sentenced to die by stoning and a Christian pastor convicted of apostasy.
Prosecutors in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak formally requested a penalty of death by hanging for Mubarak and several of his fellow defendants Thursday, an attorney at the court said.
California's use of a three-drug combination in executing prisoners was declared invalid Friday by a Marin County judge, who ruled that a one-drug method should have been considered.
Death sentences plunged this year and the number of executions continued a steady decline as a result of "growing discomfort" felt by many Americans on the application of capital punishment.
A jury recommended Friday that Joshua Komisarjevsky receive the death penalty for his role in a deadly Connecticut home invasion in 2007.
Philadelphia prosecutors have dropped their pursuit of the death penalty for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of shooting a police officer three decades ago.
Some found it shocking when Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber granted convicted double-murderer Gary Haugen a reprieve Tuesday, setting aside Haugen's scheduled December 6 execution. Haugen, who killed another prisoner while serving a life sentence for a previous murder, had waived all appeals.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber blocked the execution of a death row inmate on Tuesday and said no more executions will take place in the state as long as he is governor.
White teen faces possible hate crime charges in the killing of a black man captured on video. Drew Griffin reports.
Charisse Coleman has no real compassion for the man who walked into the Thrifty Liquor Store in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1995 and put three bullets in her brother, Russell.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal to get a new sentencing hearing for the killing of a Philadelphia police officer 30 years ago.
A stay of execution for a man scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening in Georgia has been upheld by the state's Supreme Court.
Outlined below are some key cases the Supreme Court is scheduled to tackle in its 2011-12 term, which starts Monday.
CNN's Jeffery Toobin interviews retired Justice John Paul Stevens. See the rest of the interview Friday on John King USA.
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens arrives for our conversation looking dapper in a three-piece dark suit and trademark bow tie. But do not mistake the "retired" that comes with his title as a sign the 91-year-old Stevens is slowing down.
It was inevitable that the fiery politics of the death penalty would punctuate Saturday's remembrance of Troy Anthony Davis.
In a CNN exclusive, Quianna Glover talks about her testimony before the Georgia parole board on behalf of Troy Davis.
The man who prepared hundreds of last meals for those condemned to die talks about the last requests. KSAT reports.
A white Mississippi teenager accused of murdering an African-American man in a hate crime pleaded not guilty in his arraignment Friday.
Troy Davis may be dead, but his execution Thursday in the American state of Georgia has made him the poster boy for the global movement to end the death penalty.
Amnesty International's Laura Moye said the reputation of Georgia's justice system is on the line if it executes Troy Davis.
Anneliese MacPhail reacts to news that the Supreme Court has denied a last-minute appeal to halt Troy Davis' execution.
What was a somber mood following convicted cop killer Troy Davis' execution Wednesday night turned to disgust and outrage by morning.
Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed in Texas Wednesday evening for his involvement in the infamous dragging death of a black man 13 years ago.
Troy Davis, whose case drew international attention, was put to death by lethal injection for the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Georgia, prison officials announced Wednesday night.
Troy Davis' pastor believes the 22-year old case raises serious questions about America's criminal justice system.
The high-profile execution of Troy Davis in Georgia has brought the death penalty back into the spotlight. Here are some facts on the current state of the death penalty, the clemency process and statistics in Georgia.
Anneliese MacPhail, the mother of a murdered police officer, reacts to the execution of Troy Davis.
The Georgia Parole Board rejected clemency for Troy Davis, who is scheduled to be executed Wednesday.
Supporters of death-row inmate Troy Davis vowed Tuesday to continue fighting to stave off his scheduled execution, despite a decision by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to deny clemency.
The Supreme Court for the third time this year has stopped the pending capital punishment of a Texas inmate, giving lawyers for the man more time to file their appeals.
A Georgia death row inmate is in what could be the final fight for his life. Greg Black reports.
Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis is scheduled for a hearing which may be his last chance. CNN's Don Lemon reports.
Georgia's parole board convened Monday morning to hear a last-minute appeal by Troy Davis, who is set to die by lethal injection for the murder 21 years ago of a Savannah police officer.
Texas death row inmate Duane Edward Buck is granted a temporary stay of execution. CNN's Andrew Spencer reports.
The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed the scheduled execution on an inmate on death row in Texas amid questions about a psychologist who testified that blacks and Hispanics were more likely to commit future crimes.
The applause that erupted during last week's NBC/Politico debate among Republican presidential hopefuls at the mention of the executions carried out during Rick Perry's tenure as Texas's governor cut off co-moderator Brian Williams' question in midstream.
People seeking to stop the execution of a convicted cop killer deliver a massive petition bearing some 663,000 names.
Texas is set to execute four inmates over two weeks, including one who died by injection Tuesday evening and another execution scheduled in the next two days.
In a case that drew national attention because it was to be videotaped, convicted murderer Andrew Grant DeYoung was executed by lethal injection Thursday night, a corrections department spokeswoman said.
"I cannot tell you that I am an innocent man. I am not asking you to feel sorry for me, and I won't hide the truth," Mark Anthony Stroman said from Texas death row at the Polunsky Correctional Unit in Livingston. "I am a human being and made a terrible mistake out of love, grief and anger, and believe me, I am paying for it every single minute of the day."
The United States breached international law by executing a Mexican national without having granted him consular access, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday.
Humberto Leal Garcia Jr. was executed by lethal injection on Thursday evening in Texas.
Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., a Mexican national convicted of raping and killing a 16-year-old girl in 1994, was executed by lethal injection Thursday evening in Texas.
Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., a Mexican national convicted of killing a teen, was executed by lethal injection, Thursday.
When he was arrested in Turkey in 1970, Billy Hayes was given a choice of whom to call. For a scared young man facing serious charges, it was an easy decision: The U.S. consulate in Istanbul.
This video is no longer available.
Casey Anthony, accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008, was determined competent to proceed with her capital murder trial after she was examined by three psychologists over the weekend, the judge said Monday.
Taxpayers have spent $4 billion since 1978 on California's capital punishment system -- and with only 13 executions to show for it.
Saudi Arabia must halt the death penalty, as state-sanctioned beheadings increased exponentially in the past six weeks, the London based Amnesty International said Saturday.
A final verdict has not been decided yet on the case of the Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Religious leaders called Thursday on their peers to join them in seeking clemency for a man on Georgia's death row, citing doubts about whether he is guilty.
California's San Quentin prison, famous for hosting both Johnny Cash concerts and the state's most dangerous inmates, won't be getting a new death row facility as planned.
A former Black Panther convicted nearly 30 years ago of gunning down a Philadelphia police officer was granted a new sentencing hearing Tuesday by a federal appeals court, sparking a threat by the prosecutor to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court for the second time this week has stopped a pending execution, giving lawyers for the condemned inmates more time to file their appeals.
Thirty one countries have abolished the death penalty but China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Yemen remain amongst the most frequent executioners, according to a new report from Amnesty International released Monday.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confiscated a potent drug commonly used in lethal injections from a state correctional facility cache.
An Ohio death row inmate was executed Thursday with a new single-drug method, using a chemical commonly employed to euthanize animals but never tested on humans for such a purpose.
Illinois put an end to capital punishment Wednesday as Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation abolishing the practice and commuting the sentences of his state's remaining death row inmates.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn says abolishing the state's death penalty was the most difficult decision he's ever made.
The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing a request from 13 states on how to acquire an execution drug no longer made in the United States and whether the federal government would share its supplies, a federal spokeswoman said Wednesday.
A Cuban court Tuesday commuted the sentence of the nation's only prisoner facing the death penalty, and instead sentenced him to 30 years in prison, according to the official Cubadebate website.
Executions in the United States continued to decrease in 2010, with the 46 death sentences carried out representing a 12% drop from the year before, according to a report issued Tuesday.
Oklahoma death row inmate John David Duty was executed Thursday using a drug commonly used to euthanize animals because of a nationwide shortage of the sedative normally employed in Oklahoma's lethal injections.
An Oklahoma death row inmate received a drug commonly used to euthanize animals Thursday because of a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, the drug usually used as the sedative in its three-drug execution cocktail.
A program on Iran's government-backed Press TV recently took a woman convicted of adultery and murder back to her home in Osku "to produce a visual account" of the death of her husband "at the crime scene."
A Pakistani court sentences a Christian woman to death on blasphemy charges. CNN's Reza Sayah reports.
An Iranian woman whose death sentence has sparked an outcry outside Iran may yet be spared, the Islamic Republic's chief human rights official said Monday, according to the state-run Press TV.
Pope Benedict XVI called Wednesday for the release of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.
The investigating officer in the case of the accused Fort Hood, Texas, shooter has recommended that the military pursue the death penalty against Maj. Nidal Hasan.
Nearly 35 years after a Texas judge sentenced him to death, Ronald Chambers was found dead Monday morning on the floor of his cell.
The death penalty imposed on Mumia Abu-Jamal will be argued again in a federal appeals court Tuesday.
A woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery has not been executed, Iran's official news agency reported Wednesday, rejecting "Western media" reports that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani had been executed.
Authorities in Tehran, Iran, have given the go-ahead to execute a woman who initially was sentenced to death by stoning, according to an activist working on her behalf.
Iraqis and others react to the death sentence handed down against Tariq Aziz. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom reports.
Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has been sentened to death. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom has the details.
Tariq Aziz, one of the best-known faces of the Iraqi government for more than two decades, was sentenced to death Tuesday by the Iraqi High Tribunal for his role in eliminating religious parties during Saddam Hussein's regime, court officials told CNN.
A federal judge halted the execution of convicted strangler Jeffrey Landrigan on Monday, hours before he was set to die by lethal injection.
A man convicted of capital murder in a 2007 Connecticut home invasion has attempted suicide several times since his arrest and has said he wants to receive the death penalty, a forensic psychiatrist testified Wednesday.
A man convicted of killing a mother and her two daughters during a 2007 Connecticut home invasion can be "quite likable," but has struggled with drug addiction for years, a defense attorney told jurors Monday.
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