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Inside the execution chamber at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas.

Death Penalty

KADIR VAN LOHUIZEN/NOOR
Closing Argument
How Prosecutors Fight Exonerations
As laws are passed to support the wrongfully convicted, some officials in the legal system push back.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks during a conference at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City on Aug. 1, 2024. Bailey has aggressively pushed back on efforts by local prosecutors and judges to toss out convictions of people with innocence claims.
The cover of News Inside Issue 17. You can download the PDF <a href="https://d63kb4t2ifcex.cloudfront.net/upload/assets/news-inside-issue-17.pdf" target="_blank">here.</a>
News Inside August 1
Drawing Attention
News Inside Issue 17 features the opinions of justice-affected people on Trump’s felonies, and a nonfiction comic about death penalty mitigation.
By
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia on Jan. 23, 2024.
Closing Argument July 27
What These Decisions Tell Us About Kamala Harris’ Approach to Criminal Justice
From the death penalty to school truancy and diversion programs, here are some key steps Harris took as a district attorney and attorney general.
By
A light-skinned Hispanic man with close-cropped hair and tattoos on his arms uses the phone at the Polunsky Unit prison facility.
Death Sentences June 27
This Doctor Helped Send Ramiro Gonzales to Death Row. Now He’s Changed His Mind.
Texas plans to execute Gonzales this week even though the expert witness says he isn’t a ‘threat to society.’
By and
A light-skinned Hispanic man with close-cropped hair and tattoos on his arms uses the phone at the Polunsky Unit prison facility.
Life Inside June 24
A Death Row Prisoner’s Parting Interview
Days before his scheduled execution in Texas, Ramiro Gonzales speaks on faith, legacy — and apologizing to the family of his victim, Bridget Townsend.
By
An illustration shows a bearded Black man, wearing a kufi cap and red prison uniform, holding up a phone to his ear. While on the phone, he writes lyrics onto a notebook.
Life Inside May 31
I Recorded a Whole Hip-Hop Album on a Death Row Telephone
In this new book excerpt, incarcerated rapper Alim “RRome Alone” Braxton describes his early attempts to record vocals over a phone in the dayroom.
By Alim Braxton and Mark Katz
Two individuals in black suits walk through the entrance of a barbed wire fence. A tan prison is behind the fence.
Closing Argument January 27
New Execution Methods, Old Problems
What the first execution by nitrogen in the U.S. says about capital punishment.
By
A photograph shows barbed wire and a prison tower at Holman Prison at sunset.
Death Sentences January 18
Vomiting, Seizures, Stroke: What Could Happen in the First Nitrogen Execution in the U.S.
A doctor on what’s new — and what isn’t — about the latest death penalty experiment.
By
Feature December 18, 2023
The Mercy Workers, Illustrated
Her mission was to save him from death row — by telling the story of his life.
Reported and written by
Illustrated by Jackie Roche
Development by
The Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, where men on death row are held in solitary confinement.
Closing Argument October 14, 2023
A Chaotic Moment For The Death Penalty
Political and legal opinions are shifting on mental illness and capital punishment, but those on death row may be left behind.
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