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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
St. Louis
Since Death Penalty’s Return 50 Years Ago, Missouri Executes Prisoners at High Rate
Over half of death row prisoners in Missouri have been executed. Nationally, the rate is 18%.
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A collage shows images of clippings of a legal document, a black-and-white photo of a Black man with a bushy beard, images of various textures and a photo of the entrance to the Missouri Supreme Court.
A photo shows two chairs facing a glass panel, through which part of a white gurney with black straps is visible in a mostly empty room.
Cleveland July 9
We Asked Ohio’s Death Row What They Think of Governor’s Death Penalty Reversal
Like Gov. Mike DeWine, most agreed the death penalty is broken and does not deter crime, but not always with the same reasoning.
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Redemption Songs June 28
With ‘Live on Death Row,’ Rapper Rrome Alone Condemns the Death Penalty
“Every life hinges on poverty, gender and race,” he declares in the 2024 song, “and the pay of the attorney defending your case.”
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A photo shows a White man with glasses standing at a podium. The wood-grained podium has a sign that reads: “The Great Seal of the State of Ohio”. Behind him is an American flag and a flag of the state of Ohio.
Cleveland June 22
Ohio Governor Grants Mercy to Man on Death Row For First Time
Weeks before calling to abolish capital punishment in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine commuted the man’s death sentence to life in prison without parole.
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A photo shows a White man, in a white prison uniform with his hands behind his back, standing behind visitation room glass.
Death Sentences June 22
How The Death Penalty At 50 Is Far More Broken Than We Knew
The racial disparities, the arbitrary outcomes, the endless waiting and the risk of executing the innocent persist.
By and
The Last 12 Weeks June 18
The Countdown to David Wood’s Execution Date
One week before their client is set to die, the defense team awaits a final ruling.
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The Last 12 Weeks June 18
Meeting David Wood — And One of His Victims
We visit death row, where David Wood tries to clear his name. But not before a victim of his crimes has her say.
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The Last 12 Weeks June 18
The Defense Lawyers Approach a Victim’s Mother
In the final weeks before the execution date, the defense team has to decide just how far it’s willing to push to save David Wood’s life.
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The Last 12 Weeks June 18
A New Witness Shares a Surprising Theory
With less than two months until the execution, a witness makes a case for why David Wood isn’t the Desert Killer.
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The Last 12 Weeks June 18
What If I Follow You Around?
A Marshall Project journalist asked a defense team if he could trail them as they tried to stop an execution weeks away. Surprisingly, they said yes.
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