Alabama executes Muslim inmate who wanted imam present
A Muslim inmate who filed a legal challenge because Alabama wouldn’t let his Islamic spiritual adviser be present in the execution chamber was put to death Thursday after the nation’s highest court cleared the way.
Alabama executes man for 1982 murder-for-hire
An inmate once called the “Houdini” of Alabama’s death row for escaping seven past execution dates through legal challenges was put to death early today for a 1982 murder-for-hire shooting.
Advocates: Ala. execution an ‘avoidable disaster’
Defenders of a condemned inmate in Alabama are calling his execution an “avoidable disaster,” but the state prison commissioner says there was no visible evidence that he suffered during a lethal injection.
Executioners and drug suppliers to be secret in Miss.
A legal veil of secrecy could drop over much of the execution process in Mississippi under a bill agreed on by House and Senate negotiators.
Miss. House proposes firing squad as execution method
The Mississippi House wants to allow the state to execute prisoners using a firing squad if officials decide lethal injection is too expensive or unavailable.
Mississippi Senate passes execution secrecy bill
The names of employees and family members at an execution, as well as the pharmacy providing lethal drugs, would be kept secret under a bill passed Tuesday by the Mississippi Senate.
Miss.: Keep execution drug supplier’s name secret
Attorney General Jim Hood is asking a Hinds County judge to keep secret the identity of Mississippi’s execution drug supplier while the state appeals an order to release the name.
Vote for firing squad shows frustration with drug shortages
A vote by Utah lawmakers to bring back executions by firing squad is the most dramatic illustration yet of the nationwide frustration over bungled executions and shortages of lethal-injection drugs.
Judge orders release of execution drug supplier’s name
A judge has rejected the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ attempt to keep secret the pharmacy that supplies a crucial execution drug.
Dad acquitted in slaying of driver who killed sons
A southeast Texas man says that despite his acquittal Wednesday for the shooting death of the drunken driver who caused a crash that killed his two sons, there are no winners.
Prosecutor: Killing of drunk driver an ‘execution’
A drunk driver did not deserve “execution” by a Texas father accused of taking the law into his own hands in a fit of rage over the killing of his two sons in a wreck, a prosecutor told jurors on Tuesday.
Botched executions raise new questions
A botched execution in Arizona last week has sent many states scrambling to make sure their executions don’t follow a similar grim scenario.
Tennessee brings back the electric chair
As the rest of the nation debates the feasibility and humanity of lethal injections against a backdrop of scarce drugs and botched executions, Tennessee has come up with an alternative: the electric chair.
Supreme Court justice suspends execution
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an order late Tuesday suspending the planned execution of a Missouri inmate with a little more than an hour to spare before the inmate’s scheduled lethal injection.
Lawmaker: Bring back firing squad executions
In the wake of a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma last month, a Utah lawmaker says he believes a firing squad is a more humane form of execution. And he plans to bring back that option for criminals sentenced to death in his state.
Execution renews debate on doctors’ role
A botched lethal injection in Oklahoma this week has renewed a debate on whether doctors should be banned from executions — or required to participate to make the process more humane.
Lawmakers say they won’t abandon death penalty
A bungled execution in Oklahoma in which the condemned prisoner writhed and moaned as he received a lethal injection outraged death-penalty opponents, invited court challenges and attracted worldwide attention.
Iran mother recalls act of mercy for son’s killer
Her son’s killer stood on a chair on the gallows, his hands shackled, the noose around his neck. Hundreds crowded outside the jailhouse in a northern Iranian town to see if the mother, Samereh Alinejad, would exercise her right to kick the chair out from under him to let him hang.
Gov. calls for review after botched execution
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin named a member of her Cabinet on Wednesday to lead a review of how the state conducts executions after a botched procedure that the White House said fell short of the humane standards required.
Oklahoma inmate dies after botched execution
A botched execution that used a new drug combination left an Oklahoma inmate writhing and clenching his teeth on the gurney Tuesday, leading prison officials to halt the proceedings before the inmate’s eventual death from a heart attack.