Tag: execution

Catherine Sweeney was one of the reporters in the witness room during the attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The journalists knew that a recent execution hadn’t gone according to plan and that Pike’s lawyers had predicted failure because of a health condition. They’d even asked for her to be hanged instead.

The second Trump administration is now pursuing the death penalty in dozens more cases across the country.

Amnesty International reports a spike in executions driven by Iran and the U.S., with China remaining the world's leading executioner under a shroud of secrecy.

“With Governor Northam’s signature today, Virginia has now joined 22 other states, including Washington, D.C., that have abandoned the death penalty."

"We believe that rebuilding the dignity of America requires that we recommit ourselves to the tradition of due process, mercy, and judicial clemency when it comes to matters related to the criminal legal system."

Of the 33 states with the death penalty, only Oklahoma and Utah allow for execution by firing squad.