BOISE, Idaho—An Idaho man scheduled to be executed at the end of the month is asking a federal court to put his lethal injection on hold and order a new clemency hearing after the previous one resulted in a tie vote. Thomas Eugene Creech is Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate. He was already serving time […]
A Texas inmate is facing imminent execution even though the victim’s sister and religious leaders have asked authorities not to take his life. The man is set to receive a lethal injection at the Huntsville state penitentiary on the evening of Oct. 26 for killing another prisoner more than 25 years ago. William Speer, 49, […]
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance holds a hearing at 2:00 p.m. ET on June 22 on “Examination of Clemency at the Department of Justice” to examine the Department of Justice’s unprecedented re-prosecution of Philip Esformes, whose prison sentence was originally commuted by President Donald Trump. Brett Tolman, Executive Director of […]
HOUSTON—Plagued by mental illness, Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas started hearing voices when he was 9 years old and first attempted suicide when he was 10, his attorneys say. Thomas’ psychosis, filled with religious delusions and hallucinations, became worse as he grew older. His family—beset by a long history of mental illness, addiction, and […]
OKLAHOMA CITY—A man convicted in the shotgun slayings of an elderly couple in eastern Oklahoma in 2003 and sentenced to die should not be spared from the death sentence, a state board decided Wednesday. The five-member Pardon and Parole Board voted 3–2 to reject clemency for Scott Eizember, 61, who is scheduled to receive a […]
OKLAHOMA CITY—Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 4–1 Tuesday to deny clemency for a man sentenced to die for killing his 9-month-old daughter in 2002, moving him a step closer to his scheduled lethal injection next month. Attorneys for Benjamin Cole, 57, did not dispute that Cole killed Brianna Cole, but argued that he is […]
OKLAHOMA CITY—Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday rejected clemency for a man facing execution this week for the 1997 hammer killing of a Choctaw man, despite a recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board that his life be spared. James Coddington was convicted and sentenced to die for the beating death of his friend […]
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the first use of his presidential powers to grant clemency, pardoning three felons and commuting the sentences of dozens more. The U.S. Constitution grants presidents the power to forgive convictions or shorten sentences. Biden is pardoning former Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden, 86. Bolden became the first black man to […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A woman who says she was a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim when she killed a man in 2004 was granted clemency on Jan. 7, by Tennessee’s governor and will be released from prison later this year. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown, who had been serving a life sentence but who […]
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted executive clemency to Cyntoia Brown, a victim of child sex trafficking who killed a Nashville man in 2004 when she was 16 years old. Brown was sentenced to life for killing the man. In December, Tennessee’s Supreme Court ruled that Brown, 30, has to remain in prison for 51 years […]
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam called Cyntoia Brown’s life sentence “unjust” and said his office is looking into clemency for the former teenage sex trafficking victim serving life in prison for murder. “We’re reviewing a lot of cases, and while Cyntoia’s case has gotten a lot of publicity, I don’t think you want us to treat […]
