The Eleventh Circuit ruled in Madison v. Commissioner, Ala. Dept. of Corrections, ___ F.3d ___ (11th Cir. March 15, 2017), that Vernon Madison is not competent to be executed and that the Alabama trial court's decision to the contrary relied on an unreasonable determination of the facts and involved an unreasonable application of the law.
Latest News
January 5, 2017 - Florida prepared to conduct lethal injection executions
On January 4, 2017, Secretary Julie Jones of the Florida Department of Corrections wrote to Governor Rick Scott to inform him that the Florida lethal injection protocol, which is attached to the letter, meets constitutional standards and certified that the Department of Corrections is prepared to administer an execution by lethal injection and has the necessary procedures, equipment, facilities, and personnel in place to do so.
December 12, 2016 - Another disproportionality ruling from Florida Supreme Court
On November 17, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court in another double murder case reduced two death sentences to life sentences on the ground of disproportionality. McCloud v. State.
November 18, 2016 - Florida Supreme Court finds death sentences disproportionate
On November 17, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion in Phillips v. State, a double murder case, reducing the defendant's two death sentences to sentences of life imprisonment on disproportionality grounds.
August 2, 2016 - Delaware Supreme Court rules death penalty statute unconstitutional
On August 2, 2016, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its decision in Rauf v. State finding that the Delaware death penalty statute is unconstitutional pursuant to Hurst v. Florida, 136 S.Ct. 616 (2016). The Delaware Supreme Court answered five questions certified by the superior court where Benjamin Rauf's capital prosecution is pending.
June 6, 2016 - Supreme Court grants cert in two Texas capital cases
On June 6, 2016, the Supreme Court granted the certiorari petition of Texas death row inmate Bobby Moore, limited to the first question in the petition: (1) Whether it violates the Eighth Amendment and this Court's decisions in Hall v. Florida, 134 S.Ct. 1986 (2014) and Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) to prohibit the use of current medical standards on intellectual disability, and require the use of outdated medical standards, in determining whether an individual may be executed.
Also on June 6th, the Supreme Court granted the certiorari petition of Texas death row inmate Duane Buck. His petition raised the following question: Duane Buck's death penalty case raises a pressing issue of national importance: whether and to what extent the criminal justice system tolerates racial bias and discrimination. Specifically, did the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit impose an improper and unduly burdensome Certificate of Appealability (COA) standard that contravenes this Court's precedent and deepens two circuit splits when it denied Mr. Buck a COA on his motion to reopen the judgment and obtain merits review of his claim that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for knowingly presenting an expert who testified that Mr. Buck was more likely to be dangerous in the future because his is Black, where future dangerousness was both a prerequisite for a death sentence and the central issue at sentencing?
March 23, 2016 - 9th Circuit vacates decision concerning Chapter 154 regulations
On March 23, 2016, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion vacating the lower court's ruling that barred implementation of Department of Justice's regulations governing certification procedures for States seeking the benefits of Chapter 154 of Title 28 of the United States Code. The panel held that the plaintiffs lacked standing and that the challenge to the regulations was not ripe as no certification had occurred.
The Ninth Circuit (Graber, with Rawlinson; Watford concurring) has reversed District Court Judge Cormac Carney’s ruling that California’s current post-conviction review process in death penalty cases violates the Eighth Amendment. Jones v. Davis (9th Cir. Nov. 12, 2015). Specifically, Judge Carney found that the post-conviction review process had become so inordinately and unnecessarily delayed that only an arbitrarily selected few of the many sentenced to death would actually be executed.
October 21, 2015 - Nevada death row inmate granted evidentiary hearing
United States District Court Judge Mahan of the District of Nevada granted Michael Hogan’s request for an evidentiary hearing on a claim of IAC for failing to investigate and challenge an Iowa prior conviction that was used as an aggravating circumstance in Hogan’s Nevada capital trial. Hogan v. Baker, 2015 WL 5692101 (D. Nev. Sept. 28, 2015).
October 19, 2015 - Chapter 154 development
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear argument on December 10, 2015, in DOJ’s appeal of the ruling by United States District Judge Wilken of the Northern District of California that struck down the Chapter 154 regulations promulgated by DOJ. Habeas Corpus Resource Center, et al. v. United States Department of Justice, et al., 14-16928. Judge Wilken’s orders in the case, as well as pleadings from the appeal and consolidated appeals, can be found on the secure portion of this website.
- ‹ previous
- 8 of 9
- next ›