[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ILL., OKLA., UTAH, IDAHO, USA

[Rick Halperin]

April 14




ILLINOIS:

Quality of Mercy Project created to spur conversation about death penalty, 
criminal justice


A production of the play "Dead Man Walking" will premiere at Evanston's Piven 
Theatre Workshop this weekend. The play is part of the new Quality of Mercy 
Project, which seeks to explore issues such as the death penalty and racial 
injustice through a series of arts programming.

For the Piven Theatre Workshop's executive director Leslie Brown, art can serve 
as a launchpad to delve into larger issues.

That's why the Evanston-based theater company started the Quality of Mercy 
Project: to explore issues such as the death penalty, mass incarceration and 
racial injustice through a series of programs from live performances to panel 
discussions.

Brown said the project, launched in March, was created to pair with the play 
"Dead Man Walking," which will premiere April 16 at Piven, 927 Noyes St. The 
project will run until May 15.

She said "Dead Man Walking," created by actor Tim Robbins, is based on the book 
that tells the true story of Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who was the spiritual 
adviser to a death row inmate and later became an anti-death penalty activist. 
Brown said Prejean's story was first adapted into a film and then a play, which 
has been performed at schools as an educational tool.

"When we're talking about the death penalty and our criminal justice system, it 
lends itself to having discussions on a wider level," she said. "Today, even in 
Evanston, these are issues that are really very, very close to home and things 
that our community is really interested in."

The project, which is a collaboration among six main organizations, features 
about 15 events, including a film screening, panels with experts in the 
criminal justice system and an ongoing exhibit at the Evanston Art Center, 
Brown said. After certain performances during the play's run, Piven will hold 
discussions with members from its partner organizations, she added.

Brown said it was crucial Piven partner with organizations based in different 
fields, such as the Chicago Innocence Center, the Evanston Art Center and 
Literature for All of Us, an organization that uses group discussions to help 
young people learn how to read and write.

"I don't think any one discipline can thoroughly explore the community's 
experience, so we felt it was important to include ... visual art, written 
work, through poetry, and through play and also theater," Brown said. "(We) try 
to reflect and represent the community in which we operate (and have) diversity 
of thought and opinion, and diversity of art as well."

Some events will highlight the role of racial inequity in the criminal justice 
system, Brown said, such as "The Black Male Experience in Evanston," a panel 
being held April 23, and a reading of a play inspired by the Black Lives Matter 
movement May 8.

"(Race) affects us in our daily lives, in an immediate sense," Brown said. 
"There???s violence in our community and these issues are extremely important 
to our community, so I guess the question is, why wouldn't we want to discuss 
these issues?"

Pamela Cytrynbaum (Medill '88), the executive director of the Chicago Innocence 
Center, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, is an alumna of 
Piven and will speak at 2 events. Cytrynbaum said she hopes people who attend 
the programming will learn about criminal justice and how they can help enact 
change.

As a young reporter, Cytrynbaum said she saw firsthand how she could make a 
difference. She covered a case in which an innocent man was sentenced to death, 
and it was because of her reporting and evidence gathering that the man was 
exonerated.

"My reporting was the only thing between him and the death penalty," Cytrynbaum 
said. "I learned, very early, that you can stand in the way of an injustice by 
telling the truth and journalists have the power to do that."

Lauri Feldman, whose documentary "The Innocent" will be shown at the Evanston 
Public Library on April 19, said her film deals with themes like compassion and 
forgiveness that are also present in "Dead Man Walking." Although her film is 
about people who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, Feldman said 
she didn't set out to take a certain stance about the death penalty and wants 
the stories and experiences of the exonerees to speak for themselves.

Instead of pushing an agenda, Brown said the events are intended to allow 
attendees to form their own conclusions about the issues explored in the 
project.

"What we wanted to do was open up the possibility for discussion," Brown said. 
"We want it to be open for their voice to be heard and their experiences to be 
heard."

(source: Daily Northwestern)






OKLAHOMA:

Johnathen Thacker testifes against brother in murder trial----Victim's mother 
believes both brothers are guilty


A brother of a murder suspect took the stand in a Leflore County courtroom 
Wednesday, to testify against the suspect, Elvis Thacker, who is on trial for 
the sexual assault and death of 22-year-old Briana Ault.

Led into the courtroom in handcuffs and in an orange jail uniform, Johnathen 
Thacker told jurors that he tried to stop his brother from committing the 
crimes.

The victim's mother, however, believes both men played a role in her daughter's 
death.

"I have never thought it was just one of the guys," said Bethany Ault-Pyle. "I 
believe it was both of them."

If convicted, Elvis Thacker could be sentenced to death.

In April 2014, Johnathen Thacker agreed to plead guilty for his role in the 
murder in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of 
parole.

In order to avoid the death penalty, part of the plea deal was that he must 
testify against his brother.

In court on Wednesday, Johnathen Thacker told jurors about the overnight hours 
of Sept. 12, 2010.

Prosecutors asked what happened to the victim.

Johnathen Thacker replied that he was not expecting to see Ault arrive to pick 
up the 2 brothers.

In court, friends of Ault testified that she received a text message from an 
ex-boyfriend asking her for a ride to Texas Road, in Fort Smith, in exchange 
for $50 and a tank of gas.

Friends testified that Ault left the group she was having drinks with at a club 
in downtown Fort Smith, and told her friends she would be right back.

But she never returned.

Johnathen Thacker testified that he did not know what was going to happen when 
he got in the back seat of Ault's car. He testified that his brother made Ault 
pull over at the end of Texas Road and that Elvis pulled out a straight-blade 
razor from his pocket.

Johnathen Thacker told jurors that his brother said they were going to rob Ault 
because she recently had won $1,600 from a casino.

Elvis Thacker, however, made commands for Ault to perform sex acts on him, 
Johnathen Thacker said.

Johnathen Thacker testified that he told his brother to stop, but that his 
brother threatened him with the razor.

He testified that Elvis Thacker made Ault get out of her car and walk into the 
woods to a nearby pond, where he sexually assaulted her at the edge of the 
pond, and then made her perform a sex act on him.

The younger brother testified that Elvis Thacker made Ault get in the pond and 
drink the water to wash away evidence of sexual assault.

According to Johnathen Thacker, that's when Elvis tried to drown Ault.

Johnathen Thacker testified that he pushed his brother off of the victim, but 
that Elvis Thacker started swinging the razor at him.

Johnathen Thacker testified that he went back to the car, and minutes later, 
his brother returned alone.

He testified that his brother told him he had cut the victim's throat.

Police found the victim's body, nude, floating in the pond just across the 
state line in Pocola, Oklahoma, on Sept. 13, 2010.

"I think Elvis (Thacker) did the most part of it," Ault-Pyle said. "He'll get 
what he needs, the truth will be there."

Ault-Pyle said after learning of the gruesome details about her daughter's 
murder, she believes Elvis Thacker deserves the death penalty.

In court, Johnathen Thacker testified that he knows he will spend the rest of 
his life in prison, and that he too, could face the death penalty if he does 
not tell the truth.

But upon cross-examination, defense attorneys questioned if Johnathen Thacker 
was telling the truth, or saying what prosecutors wanted to hear.

The cross-examination will continue Thursday morning.

Prosecutors said they could rest their case by the end of the week, or early 
next week.

(source: KHBS news)

**********

State prisons face desperate times, DOC chief says----Overcrowding, lack of 
programs, botched executions create dilemma that might not be reversible


Oklahoma's prisons are ugly, ancient, overcrowded and in total disrepair, 
according to Department of Corrections Interim Director Joe Allbaugh.

But that's only a part of the problem facing DOC, he said during a public forum 
hosted by Oklahoma Watch Tuesday night at Kamp's 1910 Cafe in downtown Oklahoma 
City.

The state prison population is 122 % of capacity and the DOC's budget is 
typically funded at 75 % of its total request to the Oklahoma Legislature. In 
addition, programs designed to help prisoners are being slashed because of 
Oklahoma's $1.3 billion revenue failure, which in reality, has hurt every state 
agency, Allbaugh admitted.

"We have facilities that need to be closed," the interim director said, noting 
that Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester is more than 100 years old. "We 
have facilities that are in pretty good shape and we have some that need 
attention. The prison population is growing and there is no place to put 
people. We have 60,000 people in our system and 1/2 are incarcerated in public 
or private prisons."

Allbaugh told the Kamp Cafe crowd only 7 of the state's 17 prisons were 
intentionally built as prisons. Others were former boys homes, girls home, 
gymnasiums or mental health facilities.

He specifically mentioned William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply, a 
minimum-security prison, which in January was finally equipped with a perimeter 
fence.

"That would be important for a prison," said Allbaugh, who headed the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist 
attacks. He stayed at the agency until 2003 when the Homeland Security agency 
was formed, a decision Allbaugh opposed.

Allbaugh, a Blackwell native, also worked on George W. Bush's gubernatorial and 
presidential campaigns and served as Gov. Bush's chief of staff until 1999.

Re-entry and educational programs have been cut system-wide because of the 
excess number of prisoners, a problem that can only be corrected through 
vigorous criminal justice reform, he said. The space typically used for 
programs has been turned into bunkbeds for prisoners.

"The criminal justice code in Oklahoma is the engineer of the train that's 
brought us to this point," Allbaugh said, noting the 
lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key mentality doesn't apply anymore in modern 
era corrections work.

The Department of Corrections also is saddled with a lack of guards or 
correctional officers, which number about 1,800. The disparity between the 
numbers of guards who oversee the 30,000 prison inmates left Allbaugh shaking 
his head.

"It's only through the grace of God that the prison population and gangs let 
our guards go home every night," he said.

The safety scenario, plus the fact that most DOC employees haven't had a pay 
raise in 11 years, complicates daily operations and morale.

"I'm sitting side by side with you at work and you got a pay raise and I 
didn't. How do you think that works?" Allbaugh asked the crowd.

Since being named interim director in January, Allbaugh has tried to bring some 
new ideas to the corrections department. One thought is to lease buildings from 
closed private prisons in Watonga and Sayre and move inmates to those 
facilities from current state-run prisons that Allbaugh would prefer to shut 
down due to high operating costs.

"We would operate them (Sayre and Watonga) with our own protocols and 
procedures," he said.

The Watonga private prison closed in 2012 and the Sayre facility closed at the 
end of December 2015.

"Taxpayers have a dog in this fight and we need to spend money wisely," he 
said, of closing the more inefficient, outdated prisons. "I'm callin' 'em like 
I see 'em." If Allbaugh didn't already have enough problems on his plate, 
medical costs for an aging prison population is skyrocketing, and so is the 
amount needed to transport inmates from prison to prison or from various county 
jails to one of the state or private prisons. The only dialysis unit for DOC is 
located at the Lexington prison, which creates a backlog for older prisoners, 
and some vehicles in the DOC fleet have more than a million miles.

Those are 2 examples of the ancillary issues Allbaugh faces with an overcrowded 
prison population that nets 1,200 to 1,600 new inmates every year.

Allbaugh quickly discovered after his hiring the agency???s high-tech software 
intended to track each inmate's credits and history wasn't high-tech at all. 
The software was purchased 20 years ago, but was already 10 years old when it 
was bought.

As a result, DOC officials are forced to "use the system as when we were a 
territory," Allbaugh said, holding up a 2-inch thick file of 1 inmate. "We have 
to rely on paper files because the software doesn't work. Their credits, their 
life history is right here."

Executions

During a question and answer session, Allbaugh was asked about resuming 
executions in Oklahoma and if he thought the multi-county grand jury might 
indict prison officials associated with a botched execution and an indefinite 
stay of at least 2 others.

Allbaugh had no comment on the grand jury, but said he believes the department 
is ready to resume executions at OSP in McAlester. Allbaugh, a death penalty 
proponent, said he's "totally confident" kinks in the execution process has 
been eliminated. He also said it's likely executions would likely resume in 
early fall.

Oklahoma's execution protocol came under heavy scrutiny in September when 
prison officials discovered they did not have the lawful drugs to execute 
convicted killer Richard Glossip, whose life already had been spared on a 
previous occasion when an appeals court ruled in his favor. A spokesman for 
Gov. Mary Fallin said in September the DOC purchased potassium acetate instead 
of potassium chloride, which was approved earlier in 2015 by the U.S. Supreme 
Court as 2 of the 3 drugs used in Oklahoma's executions.

The spokesman claimed at the time the drugs are similar and the stay was 
granted "out of an abundance of caution." However, Oklahoma Attorney General 
Scott Pruitt later requested Fallin grant an indefinite stay of execution until 
the entire ordeal could be settled. The multi-county grand jury later began 
investigating the drug mix-up. After the mix-up occurred, then-DOC Director 
Robert Patton and OPS Warden Anita Trammell retired. Patton and Trammell both 
testified before the grand jury before leaving the DOC.

The resignation of Fallin's legal counsel, Steve Mullins, soon followed. 
Mullins testified before the grand jury. At this point, government officials 
have not directly linked the resignations or Trammell's retirement to the DOC 
drug investigation.

Pruitt and attorneys for the death row inmates agreed executions would not 
resume until 150 days after the grand jury issues its report.

(source: reddirtreport.com)






UTAH:

Death Penalty Debate Emerging In Utah's Right


A surprising new conversation is occurring within the circles of the political 
Right in Utah: the abolition of the death penalty.

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty was founded in order to give 
those on the Right space to advocate the end of capital punishment. Marc Hyden, 
the organization???s national advocacy coordinator, said that the death penalty 
egregiously violates conservative and libertarian principles.

"I believe that a policy, to be considered conservative, be at least pro-life, 
fiscally responsible, and representative of a limited government. The death 
penalty inherently risks innocent life. So, we know it's not pro-life to risk 
innocent life. Then we find that the death penalty costs millions more dollars 
than life without parole," Hyden said. "But in the end, you have to ask 
yourself, is this really representative of a limited government? Is there 
anything limited about giving an error-prone state the power to kill its 
citizens?"

An effort to end the death penalty in Utah this past legislative session passed 
the state Senate but failed to get a vote in the House. Hyden said that 
reactions from fellow conservatives and libertarians to a push for abolition 
have been positive.

"It's been great. I've been to CPAC 4 years in a row. We've been to Young 
Americans for Liberty conferences. I've been to local GOP meetings and I've 
spoken at Tea Parties," he said. "I find everywhere that there has been a 
longstanding hunger to have this discussion from the political Right's 
perspective, but they've never had an organization or a forum to have that 
discussion."

Hyden will present his views at the state Young Americans for Liberty 
convention on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

(source: upr.org)






IDAHO:

US Supreme Court won't hear case of Beaumont boy's killer


The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition to hear an appeal from a man 
sentenced to death for kidnapping, torturing and killing a young northern Idaho 
boy after killing several members of his family.

Joseph Edward Duncan III faces the death penalty for the 2005 murder of 
9-year-old Dylan Groene. He also faces several life sentences for the murder of 
3 family members and the kidnapping of his then-8-year-old sister.

The high court's action in late February lets stand a judge's 2013 finding that 
Duncan was competent when he waived his right to appeal after representing 
himself at his sentencing hearing.

That finding was also affirmed in March 2015 by a federal appellate court. The 
court said a lower court had correctly found Duncan competent and said it was 
too late to change his mind.

Duncan was also convicted of the April 1999 killing and sexual assault of 
Anthony Martinez of Beaumont. Martinez, then 10, was lured from the alley 
behind his home by Duncan. His body was found in the Indio Hills several days 
later.

Local prosecutors extradited Duncan to Riverside County but declined to move 
forward with a death penalty trial after discussion with Martinez' family. He 
agreed to plead guilty to Martinez' murder and was sentenced to life in prison 
in that case.

(source: KESQ news)






USA:

Death Penalty Fast Facts


Here's a look at the death penalty in the United States.

Facts: As of April 2016, Capital punishment is legal in 31 U.S. states.

New Mexico and Nebraska abolished the death penalty in 2009 and 2015, 
respectively. The repeal was not retroactive, however. Inmates on death row in 
those states may still be executed.

Pennsylvania imposed a moratorium on executions in 2015.

Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013. A year later, former governor, 
Martin O'Malley commuted the death sentences of four prisoners awaiting 
execution.

When Connecticut governor, Dannel Malloy signed a bill repealing capital 
punishment in 2012, the state had 11 prisoners on death row. A state Supreme 
Court ruling on August 13, 2015 abolished capital punishment for all in 
Connecticut. The 11 men will instead serve life sentences without parole.

As of January 1, 2016, there were 2,943 inmates awaiting execution.

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court, 
1,434 people have been executed (as of April 13, 2016).

Since 1973, there have been 156 death row exonerations. 26 of them are from the 
state of Florida.

Federal Government:

The U.S. government and U.S. military have 62 people awaiting execution. (as of 
March 24, 2016)

The U.S. government has executed 3 people since 1976.

Females: There are 57 women on death row in the United States.

16 women have been executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 
1976.

Juveniles: 22 individuals were executed between 1985 and 2003 for crimes 
committed as juveniles.

March 1, 2005 - Roper v. Simmons. The Supreme Court rules that the execution of 
juvenile offenders is unconstitutional.

Clemency: 280 clemencies have been granted in the United States since 1976.

For federal death row inmates, the president alone has the power to grant a 
pardon.

Timeline:

1834 - Pennsylvania becomes the first state to move executions into 
correctional facilities, ending public executions.

1838 - Discretionary death penalty statutes are enacted in Tennessee.

1846 - Michigan becomes the 1st state to abolish the death penalty for all 
crimes except treason.

1890 - William Kemmler becomes the 1st person executed by electrocution.

1907-1917 - 9 states abolish the death penalty for all crimes or strictly limit 
it. By 1920, 5 of those states had reinstated it.

1924 - The use of cyanide gas is introduced as an execution method.

1930s - Executions reach the highest levels in American history, averaging 167 
per year.

June 29, 1972 - Furman v. Georgia. The Supreme Court effectively voids 40 death 
penalty statutes and suspends the death penalty.

1976 - Gregg v. Georgia. The death penalty is reinstated.

January 17, 1977 - A 10-year moratorium on executions ends with the execution 
of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah.

1977 - Oklahoma becomes the 1st state to adopt lethal injection as a means of 
execution.

December 7, 1982 - Charles Brooks becomes the 1st person executed by lethal 
injection.

1984 - Velma Barfield of North Carolina becomes the 1st woman executed since 
reinstatement of the death penalty.

1986 - Ford v. Wainwright. Execution of insane persons is banned.

1987 - McCleskey v. Kemp. Racial disparities are not recognized as a 
constitutional violation of "equal protection of the law" unless intentional 
racial discrimination against the defendant can be shown.

1988 - Thompson v. Oklahoma. Executions of offenders age 15 and younger at the 
time of their crimes are declared unconstitutional.

1989 - Stanford v. Kentucky, and Wilkins v. Missouri. The Eighth Amendment does 
not prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed at age 16 or17.

1994 - President Bill Clinton signs the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act that expands the federal death penalty.

1996 - The last execution by hanging takes place in Delaware, with the death of 
Billy Bailey.

January 31, 2000 - A moratorium on executions is declared by Illinois Governor 
George Ryan. Since 1976, Illinois is the 1st state to block executions.

2002 - Atkins v. Virginia. The Supreme Court rules that the execution of 
mentally retarded defendants violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and 
unusual punishment.

January 2003 - Before leaving office, Governor George Ryan grants clemency to 
all of the remaining 167 inmates on Illinois's death row, due to the flawed 
process that led to the death sentences.

June 2004 - New York's death penalty law is declared unconstitutional by the 
state's high court.

March 1, 2005 - Roper v. Simmons. The Supreme Court rules that the execution of 
juvenile killers is unconstitutional. The 5-4 decision tosses out the death 
sentence of a Missouri man who was 17-years-old when he murdered a St. Louis 
area woman in 1993.

December 2, 2005 - The execution of Kenneth Lee Boyd in North Carolina marks 
the 1,000th time the death penalty has been carried out since it was reinstated 
by the Supreme Court in 1976. Boyd, 57, is executed for the 1988 murders of his 
wife, Julie Curry Boyd, and father-in-law, Thomas Dillard Curry.

June 12, 2006 - The Supreme Court rules that death row inmates can challenge 
the use of lethal injection as a method of execution.

December 15, 2006 - Florida Governor Jeb Bush suspends the death penalty after 
the execution of prisoner Angel Diaz. Diaz had to be given 2 injections, and it 
took more than 30 minutes for him to die.

December 15, 2006 - Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court in San Jose 
rules that lethal injection in California violates the constitutional 
prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

December 17, 2007 - Governor Jon Corzine signs legislation banning the death 
penalty in New Jersey. The death sentences of 6 men are commuted to life terms.

September 2007 - The U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case of Baze and Bowling 
v. Rees, in which 2 Kentucky death row inmates challenged Kentucky's use of a 
3-drug mixture for death by lethal injection.

December 31, 2007 - Due to the de facto moratorium on executions, pending the 
Supreme Court's ruling, only 42 people in the U.S. are executed in 2007. It is 
the lowest total in more than 10 years.

April 14, 2008 - In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court upholds Kentucky's use of 
lethal injection. Between September 2007, when the Court took on the case, and 
April 2008 no one was executed in the U.S.

March 18, 2009 - Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico signs legislation 
repealing the death penalty in his state. His actions will not affect 2 
prisoners currently on death row, Robert Fry, who killed a woman in 2000, and 
Tim Allen, who killed a 17-year-old girl in 1994.

November 13, 2009 - Ohio becomes the 1st state to switch to a method of lethal 
injection using a single drug, rather than the 3-drug method used by other 
states.

2010 - Execution by firing squad is used for the last time in Utah, with the 
death of Ronnie Lee Gardner.

March 9, 2011 - Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announces that he has signed 
legislation eliminating the death penalty in his state, more than 10 years 
after the state halted executions.

March 16, 2011 - The Drug Enforcement Agency seizes Georgia's supply of 
thiopental, over questions of where the state obtained the drug. U.S. 
manufacturer Hospira stopped producing the drug in 2009. The countries that 
still produce the drug do not allow it to be exported to the U.S. for use in 
lethal injections.

May 20, 2011 - The Georgia Department of Corrections announces that 
pentobarbital will be substituted for sodium thiopental in the three-drug 
lethal injection process.

July 2011 - Lundbeck Inc., the company that makes pentobarbital (brand name 
Nembutal), the drug used in lethal injections, announces it will restrict the 
use of its product from prisons carrying out capital punishment. "After much 
consideration, we have determined that a restricted distribution system is the 
most meaningful means through which we can restrict the misuse of Nembutal. 
While the company has never sold the product directly to prisons and therefore 
can't make guarantees, we are confident that our new distribution program will 
play a substantial role in restricting prisons' access to Nembutal for misuse 
as part of lethal injection." Lundbeck also states that it "adamantly opposes 
the distressing misuse of our product in capital punishment."

July 7, 2011 - Humberto Leal Garcia, Jr., a Mexican national, is executed by 
lethal injection, in Texas for the 1994 kidnap, rape and murder of Adra Sauceda 
in San Antonio. Despite pleas from the U.S. State Department and the White 
House, Texas Governor Rick Perry does not grant clemency and the U.S. Supreme 
Court does not intervene.

November 22, 2011 - Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon grants a reprieve to Gary 
Haugen, who was scheduled to be executed December 6. Kitzhaber, a licensed 
physician, also puts a moratorium on all state executions for the remainder of 
his term in office.

April 25, 2012 - Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signs S.B. 280, An Act 
Revising the Penalty for Capital Felonies, into law. The law goes into effect 
immediately and replaces the death penalty with life without the possibility of 
parole. The law is not retroactive to those already on death row.

June 22, 2012 - The Arkansas Supreme Court strikes down the state's execution 
law, calling the form of lethal injection the state uses unconstitutional.

August 7, 2012 - The Supreme Court allows the execution of Marvin Wilson, 54, a 
Texas inmate with low IQ.

November 6, 2012 - A measure to repeal the death penalty in California fails.

May 2, 2013 - Maryland's governor signs a bill repealing the death penalty. The 
legislation goes into effect October 1.

June 26, 2013 - Texas executes its 500th prisoner since 1982, Kimberly 
McCarthy, for the 1997 murder of Dorothy Booth. McCarthy is the 1st female 
executed in the U.S. since 2010.

November 20, 2013 - Missouri executes white supremacist serial killer Joseph 
Paul Franklin for the 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon. He was blamed for 22 
killings between 1977 and 1980.

January 16, 2014 - Ohio executes inmate Dennis McGuire with a new combination 
of drugs, due to the unavailability of drugs such as pentobarbital. The state 
used a combination of the drugs midazolam, a sedative, and the painkiller 
hydromorphone, according to the state corrections department. According to 
witness Alan Johnson of the Columbus Dispatch, the whole execution process took 
24 minutes, and McGuire appeared to be gasping for air for 10 to 13 minutes.

February 11, 2014 - Washington Governor Jay Inslee announces that he is issuing 
a moratorium on death penalty cases during his term in office.

May 22, 2014 - Tennessee becomes the 1st state to make death by electric chair 
mandatory when lethal injection drugs are unavailable.

May 28, 2014 - A judge in Ohio issues an order temporarily suspending 
executions in the state so that authorities can further study new lethal 
injection protocols.

July 23, 2014 - Arizona uses a new combination of drugs for the lethal 
injection to execute convicted murderer Joseph Woods. After he was injected it 
took him nearly 2 hours to die. Witness accounts differ as to whether he was 
gasping for air or snoring as he died.

September 4, 2014 - The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety issues a report on 
the controversial April execution of inmate Clayton Lockett. Complications with 
the placement of an IV into Lockett played a significant role in problems with 
his execution, according to the report. An autopsy confirmed that Lockett died 
from the execution drugs and not from a heart attack, but many consider it 
botched nonetheless because it took 43 minutes for him to die.

November 19, 2014 - A Utah legislative committee votes 9-2 to endorse a bill 
that will allow the execution of condemned prisoners by firing squad if drugs 
needed for lethal injection are not available. The bill is scheduled to be 
heard by full Utah Legislature convening in January 2015.

December 22, 2014 - A U.S. district court judge in Oklahoma rules that future 
scheduled executions may proceed after he denies a preliminary injunction 
request filed by 21 Oklahoma death row inmates stemming from the problematic 
execution of Clayton Lockett on April 29.

December 22, 2014 - Arizona's state-commissioned review board decides that the 
execution of Joseph Woods was "handled appropriately," but that it will be 
changing the combination they use in future executions from a 2-drug formula to 
a 3-drug formula, or a single-drug injection if the State can obtain it 
(pentobarbital).

December 31, 2014 - Outgoing Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley takes the 
state's last 4 inmates off death row, commuting their sentences to life in 
prison without parole in one of his final acts in office.

January 8, 2015 - Ohio announces that it is reincorporating thiopental sodium, 
a drug which it used in executions from 1999-2011, into its execution policy. 
The state is also dropping the 2-drug regimen of midazolam and hydromorphone.

January 23, 2015 - The Supreme Court agrees to hear a case concerning the 
lethal injection protocol in Oklahoma. The inmates claim that the state 
protocol violates the Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual 
punishment.

January 30, 2015 - Ohio state's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction 
announces it will delay the executions of 7 death row inmates while searching 
for an adequate supply of drugs that complies with its new execution protocol.

February 13, 2015 - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf halts all executions in his 
state, citing the state's "error prone" justice system and "inherent biases" 
among his reasons for the moratorium. The moratorium will be in place until a 
task force examining capital punishment in Pennsylvania issues its final 
report.

February 18, 2015 - Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams announces 
he has filed a petition to block Gov. Wolf halting executions. Williams says 
the moratorium is an "unconstitutional takeover of powers."

March 23, 2015 - Utah Governor Gary Herbert signs legislation making the firing 
squad an authorized method of death if the drugs required for lethal injection 
are unavailable.

May 20, 2015 - The Nebraska legislature passes a bill to repeal the state's 
death penalty and replace it with life without parole. The measure, which 
passed on a 32-15 vote, faces a promised veto from Gov. Pete Ricketts. State 
Sen. Ernie Chambers, the bill's sponsor and a member of the New Alliance Party, 
says he's confident supporters can muster the 30 votes necessary to override a 
veto.

June 29, 2015 - The Supreme Court rules, in a 5-4 decision, that the usage of 
the sedative, midazolam in lethal injections is not a violation of the 
constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Midazolam is one of three 
drugs that are combined to carry out the death penalty in Oklahoma. After the 
long, messy execution of Clayton Lockett on April 29, 2014 at the Oklahoma 
State Penitentiary, public safety officials conducted a review to determine 
whether midazolam is potent enough on its own to prevent severe pain when the 
deadly drugs are administered. They ultimately concluded that the sedative is 
safe and effective, even though the drug is not approved by the FDA as a 
general anesthetic for surgery.

October 19, 2015 - Ohio delays executions until 2017, citing difficulties 
getting the necessary drugs.

(source: CNN)