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The still to be used lethal injection room at San Quentin State Prison, California. Opened in 2010 at the cost of $853,000.

Capital Punishment

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Life Inside
Alabama Almost Executed Charles ‘Sonny’ Burton. His Daughter Tells Her Story.
Justice has long been as elusive as Bigfoot, Carolyn Amanda Shavers writes. But when Alabama’s governor spared her dad’s life, she caught a glimpse.
By Carolyn Amanda Shavers
An older Black man with a gray beard and dressed in a khaki-colored jacket and pants sits in a wheelchair with his hands clasped together in front of him. His daughter, a Black woman with closely cropped salt-and-pepper hair and wearing a dark colored shirt, leans over his shoulders from behind to hug him around his neck. Behind them are a set of horizontal panel windows.
An illustration shows a prison cell in shades of dark teal blue, with an incarcerated person with a ponytail in a beige prison uniform reaching up to a strand of DNA coming down from the ceiling. Some of the horizontal lines that tie the two strands of the DNA together have come undone and fallen on the floor of the cell. In the cell, a bed and a sink and toilet are visible.
St. Louis March 10
Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.
Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years.
By
Trump, a White man in a navy suit and a blue tie, is looking outward, pointing at a person while sitting in the Oval Office.
Closing Argument January 24
How Trump Has Reshaped the Justice Department and Other Criminal Justice Areas in His Second Term
From immigration to the death penalty and beyond, here are some of the administration’s key changes in criminal justice.
By
An illustration shows a window into a room where a person is covered by a bedsheet while lying on top of a gurney. Two guards stand on the left and right sides of the window in the foreground.
St. Louis January 8
How Missouri Denied Condemned Men Spiritual Advisers at Their Deaths
“We’re talking about constitutional rights in someone’s dying moments,” one advocate said.
By
A photo shows Luigi Mangione sitting at a courtroom table, wearing a gray blazer and red-checkered shirt, leaning to his right and engaging in conversation with an attorney out of the frame. Behind him are two court officers dressed in navy blue uniforms, with a pair of shiny handcuffs attached to the officers’ waists.
Death Sentences December 15, 2025
How Cases Like Luigi Mangione’s Could Widen the Death Penalty Divide
Even as more state leaders try to expand capital punishment, fewer jurors are choosing it.
By
A White woman in a black shirt smiles for a picture as she hugs her father, who is wearing a white prison uniform.
St. Louis October 15, 2025
Their Dads Were on Death Row in Missouri. Here’s How They Faced Goodbyes, Executions and Grief.
The children of Lance Shockley, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams Sr. and Kevin Johnson shed light on oft-forgotten experiences.
By
A balding White man wearing a white prison uniform talks on a phone, hand outstretched toward the camera, from behind protective glass at a Texas prison.
Death Sentences October 9, 2025
5 Things to Know About Robert Roberson’s Stayed Execution in Texas
The state wanted to put him to death by lethal injection. Then a court intervened.
By
Robert Roberson, a White man wearing a prison uniform, sits in a phone booth behind glass at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit.
Death Sentences October 6, 2025
Did the ‘Psychopath Test’ Help Send an Innocent Man to His Execution?
The case against Robert Roberson, whose execution is scheduled for Oct. 16, is the latest to raise questions about a controversial diagnosis.
By
An illustration shows the back of a judge sitting on a chair. The head is a white, hollow silhouette. A paper stack is placed in the bottom right corner.
St. Louis June 26, 2025
Judges in Missouri Can Levy Death if Juries Deadlock. Some Say the Law Is Unconstitutional.
Missouri is one of two states where a judge can hand down death when juries cannot agree unanimously on a sentence.
By
Fulton, a White woman with blonde hair, sits on a gray couch next to picture frames holding photos that show her daughter Desiree, a young White girl.
Death Sentences March 7, 2025
She’s Waited Decades for David Wood’s Execution. Now, Evidence Casts Doubt on His Guilt.
The case of a victim’s mother and one of the longest-serving death row prisoners shows how capital appeals can seem both endless and rushed.
By
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