News June 18

Supreme Court Declines to Hear ‘Gay Bias’ Case

Charles Rhines argued jurors sent him to death row in part because they knew he was gay.

By Maurice Chammah

Case in Point April 2

What Victims Want

Did a prosecutor lie about whether the family of a murder victim wanted the death penalty?

By Maurice Chammah

News March 15

Why Oklahoma Plans to Execute People With Nitrogen

The state knows shockingly little about how this would work.

By Eli Hager

Case in Point January 29

Justice Poker

Sometimes capital punishment is just the luck of the draw.

By Andrew Cohen

News January 24

The Ultimate Insider Art

On Tennessee’s death row, the old aphorism applies: art is long, life is short.

By Jeremy Olds

Feature January 18

The Volunteer

More than a year ago, Nevada death row prisoner Scott Dozier gave up his legal appeals and asked to be executed. He’s still waiting.

By Maurice Chammah

News January 3

What to Know About the Death Penalty in 2018

Here are the most important places to keep an eye on.

By Maurice Chammah

Q&A October 2, 2017

What’s Behind the Decline in the Death Penalty?

A new book explores the slow demise of the ultimate punishment.

By Maurice Chammah

Commentary September 28, 2017

After Executions, Defense Attorneys Have Their Own Grief

A therapist on the emotional price lawyers pay to defend individuals sentenced to death.

Susannah Sheffer

News August 30, 2017

Nevada Plans to Use Fentanyl in Upcoming Execution

Medical professionals say the state’s new lethal injection protocol “doesn’t make much sense.”

By Maurice Chammah

News July 23, 2017

Condemned to Death — And Solitary Confinement

Arizona is set to become the latest state to move away from automatic isolation for death row inmates.

By Gabriella Robles

News July 13, 2017

We Saw Monsters. She Saw Humans.

Scharlette Holdman, pioneering foe of the death penalty, dies at 70.

By Maurice Chammah

News May 11, 2017

Jury Clears the Prosecutor Who Sent Cameron Todd Willingham to Death Row

John Jackson did not commit misconduct in 1992 case, a jury finds.

By Maurice Possley

Commentary April 27, 2017

Ledell Lee Never Had A Chance

He was the first man executed by Arkansas in nearly 12 years. Jurors never heard his story.

Elizabeth Vartkessian

News April 10, 2017

Here are the 7 men Arkansas plans to execute this month

The cases of the condemned capture much of the debate for and against the death penalty.

By Maurice Chammah

Life Inside April 6, 2017

My Execution, 20 Days Away

In Arkansas, 8 men are scheduled to die by lethal injection this month.

By Kenneth Williams

Life Inside March 16, 2017

The Death Row Basketball League

Always playing against the clock.

By Lyle May

Analysis February 22, 2017

The Case of Duane Buck

Was he sentenced to death “because he is black”?

By Maurice Chammah

Life Inside February 16, 2017

A Mother Visits Her Son, Who’s Condemned to Die in April

‘I can’t touch him and comfort him.’

By Marilyn Shankle-Grant as told to Maurice Chammah

Commentary December 20, 2016

Waiting for a Reprieve That Never Comes

For defenders, the frantic paperwork ends, and so does a client’s life.

Leah A. Nelson

Crime on the Ballot November 9, 2016

The Death Penalty is Alive and Well

Voters in three states approve measures to strengthen capital punishment.

By Andrew Cohen

Life Inside October 6, 2016

How a Phone Changed My Life on Death Row

“I felt like a virgin on my wedding night — eager to put this thing to use, not sure if it’ll hurt.”

By George T. Wilkerson

News September 22, 2016

How Mexico Saves Its Citizens from the Death Penalty in the U.S.

A fund is designated to train, pay and advise American defense lawyers.

By Maurice Chammah

Analysis August 14, 2016

Are Evangelicals Ditching the Death Penalty?

As demographics change, a move toward mercy.

By Maurice Chammah

Quiz June 30, 2016

How Much Do You Know About the Death Penalty in the U.S.?

Forty years ago, we restored capital punishment.

By Emily Hopkins

Commentary June 9, 2016

Poster Child

How Terrance Williams became the face of the death penalty debate in Pennsylvania.

By Andrew Cohen

News April 28, 2016

A Death Sentence in Louisiana Rarely Means You’ll be Executed

Over the last 40 years, reversals have become commonplace.

By Maurice Chammah

Commentary March 28, 2016

A Judge Overturned a Death Sentence Because the Prosecutor Compared a Black Defendant to King Kong

The South Carolina prosecutor is known as ‘Death Penalty Donnie.’

By Andrew Cohen

Life Inside March 10, 2016

My Regrets as a Juror Who Sent a Man to Death Row

“If I could have done anything, it would have been to deadlock the jury, but I didn’t have the personal strength to do that.”

By Sven Berger as told to Maurice Chammah

Analysis January 12, 2016

A New Blow to Florida’s Death Penalty

The U.S. Supreme Court says state judges cannot sentence death without a jury’s mandate

By Andrew Cohen

Commentary December 17, 2015

Raphael Holiday was Put to Death, and His Lawyers Should Have Tried Harder to Stop It

Gretchen Sween was hired a month before Holiday was executed. This is what she saw.

By Gretchen Sween

News December 9, 2015

Highlights From Our Death Penalty Discussion

Journalists Liliana Segura, Gabriel Dance and Maurice Chammah took your questions about the death penalty and criminal justice reporting. Here are some of the highlights.

By Pedro Burgos

News December 7, 2015

The Death Penalty in 2015

Join us for a chat on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. about the state of the death penalty in 2015, and what's to come in 2016

By Maurice Chammah

News November 19, 2015

The Unfolding Campaign to Save the Death Penalty

Supporters rally around a more efficient system of execution.

By Maurice Chammah

Commentary November 18, 2015

Five Things Wrong With Georgia’s Death Penalty

On the eve of the next execution, a look at the state’s history of bad lawyering and faulty evidence.

By Sara J. Totonchi

Feature September 18, 2015

The Next To Die

Tracking scheduled executions around the country.

By Gabriel Dance, Tom Meagher and Andy Rossback

News September 10, 2015

‘I’m Just Happy to Be Alive’

An Alabama man, wrongfully convicted, overcomes a judicial override to gain his freedom.

By Andrew Cohen

News August 28, 2015

Back on the Agenda: Nebraska’s Death Penalty

A grassroots effort aims to restore what the legislature just ended.

By Maurice Chammah

News August 26, 2015

Doubting Jennifer Herndon

An appeals lawyer who has represented more than a half-dozen men put to death in Missouri faces questions about her competency.

By Ken Armstrong

News August 13, 2015

Life After Nebraska’s Death Penalty

How other states dealt with their death rows after killing capital punishment.

By Simone Seiver

Commentary July 27, 2015

Executing ‘Idiots’

Would the Founders have protected people we execute now?

By Michael Clemente

Q&A April 9, 2015

30 Years on Death Row: A Conversation with Anthony Ray Hinton

‘They tell you justice is blind. I am telling you that justice can see.'

By Corey G. Johnson

News April 8, 2015

For the Record

If police had recorded his interrogation, would Max Soffar be on death row?

By Maurice Chammah

Looking Back March 16, 2015

Cecil Clayton, a Man Missing Part of His Brain, is About to Be Executed

And he is not the first.

By Maurice Chammah

News January 16, 2015

Bad Blood

Lawyer v. Court. Guess who wins?

By Maurice Chammah

News January 13, 2015

Fit to be Killed?

The impending execution of a decorated soldier shows the limits of the PTSD defense.

By Eli Hager

News December 17, 2014

Six Reasons the Death Penalty is Becoming More Expensive

Experts, experts and more experts.

By Maurice Chammah

Feature December 17, 2014

The Slow Death of the Death Penalty

The public supports it, but the costs are lethal.

By Maurice Chammah

Commentary November 30, 2014

What Death Penalty Opponents Don’t Get

There are fates worse than death.

By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella

The Frame November 26, 2014

Blurred Lives

A portrait series captures the toll of long prison sentences on the people who serve them.

Photographs by Amy Elkins

Feature November 15, 2014

Death by Deadline, Part One

How bad lawyering and an unforgiving law cost condemned men their last appeal.

By Ken Armstrong