Reversing his stance in three previous rulings, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott on Thursday ruled that the state prison system can withhold information about the suppliers of drugs used in lethal injections.
death penalty
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Last-Minute Stay for Texas Death Row Inmate
A federal appeals court halted the Texas execution of Robert James Campbell just hours before he was to be put to death Tuesday based on questions about whether the 41-year-old inmate is mentally disabled.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawsuits Challenge Transparency of Texas Execution Process
Defense lawyers say that information about the drug Texas uses in executions – pentobarbital — is shrouded in secrecy. And they worry a dearth of information could lead to cruel and unusual executions.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TDCJ Has Supply of the Drug Used in Botched Oklahoma Execution
Texas Department of Criminal Justice is storing dozens of vials of the drug used in Tuesday’s botched execution in Oklahoma, raising concerns about the state’s secretive lethal injection process.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Willingham Won’t Get Posthumous Pardon
UPDATED: The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has voted not to recommend a posthumous full pardon for Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed a decade ago after being convicted of setting a fire that killed his daughters.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TDCJ Will Appeal Judge’s Ruling on Execution Drugs
Amid national debate over disclosure of information about execution drugs, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials said they will appeal a judge’s order to reveal the supplier of its execution drugs.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State Bar Opens Investigation Into Prosecutor
UPDATED: The State Bar has begun an investigation of a complaint filed against the prosecutor of former death row inmate Anthony Graves, who who spent 18 years behind bars before being exonerated.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
DNA Hearing Brings Death Row Inmate’s Case Closer to Resolution
During a two-day DNA hearing that ended Tuesday, prosecutors argued tests confirmed Hank Skinner’s guilt in a 20-year-old triple murder, but his lawyers said the results raised too many questions to allow him to be executed.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Hearing to Look at DNA Evidence in Skinner Case
After more than a decade of fighting for DNA tests and two years of analysis on decades-old evidence, a court in Pampa will hear evidence that death row inmate Hank Skinner says should stop his execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Advocates Urge Prison Officials to Reconsider Death Row Isolation
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is reviewing its Death Row Plan, and inmates’ rights advocates, along with the prison employees union, are urging less restrictive housing for the condemned.
