Capital Punishment
Tony Von Carruthers v. State of Tennessee
Tennessee plans to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21 even though they refuse to run a simple fingerprint comparison and DNA testing that could prove what Tony has been arguing for 30 years - that he is innocent of this crime and that Tennessee convicted and sentenced the wrong man to death.
Status: Ongoing
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63 Capital Punishment Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2015
Capital Punishment
Smart Justice
Spradley v. State of Alabama
Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death in Alabama for a 2004 murder he did not commit, was released from prison in September 2015. He had spent 9.5 years behind bars, 3.5 years of them on death row. He is 32 years old.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2015
Capital Punishment
Smart Justice
Spradley v. State of Alabama
Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death in Alabama for a 2004 murder he did not commit, was released from prison in September 2015. He had spent 9.5 years behind bars, 3.5 years of them on death row. He is 32 years old.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
Capital Punishment
Hurst v. Florida
Whether Florida鈥檚 death penalty scheme violates the Constitution by allowing the judge, rather than a jury, to make critical factfinding determinations.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
Capital Punishment
Hurst v. Florida
Whether Florida鈥檚 death penalty scheme violates the Constitution by allowing the judge, rather than a jury, to make critical factfinding determinations.
Court Case
Jun 2015
Capital Punishment
Racial Justice
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
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Court Case
Jun 2015
Capital Punishment
Racial Justice
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
Texas
Feb 2015
Capital Punishment
State of Texas v. Max Soffar
An innocent man is dying of terminal liver cancer on Texas's Death Row.
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Texas
Feb 2015
Capital Punishment
State of Texas v. Max Soffar
An innocent man is dying of terminal liver cancer on Texas's Death Row.
Court Case
Jan 2015
Capital Punishment
Texas v. Robert Ladd
The American Civil Liberties Union represented Robert Ladd, an intellectually disabled man with an IQ of 67, who faced execution in Texas. The ACLU petitioned the Supreme Court for a stay of Robert Ladd's execution and to review the initial decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Ladd was executed by the state of Texas at 7:02 pm CT on Thursday, January 29, 2015.
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Court Case
Jan 2015
Capital Punishment
Texas v. Robert Ladd
The American Civil Liberties Union represented Robert Ladd, an intellectually disabled man with an IQ of 67, who faced execution in Texas. The ACLU petitioned the Supreme Court for a stay of Robert Ladd's execution and to review the initial decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Ladd was executed by the state of Texas at 7:02 pm CT on Thursday, January 29, 2015.