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

Executions

KADIR VAN LOHUIZEN/NOOR
St. Louis
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.
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.
ABILENE - TX October 17th, 2024: Portrait of Doctor James Williams Taken in side of his office on Wednesday, October 17th
Death Sentences February 4
Why This Physician Testifies in Favor of the Firing Squad
James Williams is an ER doctor, a hunter, a gunshot victim — and the go-to expert for death row prisoners seeking an alternative to lethal injection.
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Trump, a White man in a navy suit and a red and navy tie, signs a document while sitting in the Oval Office.
Analysis January 22
Trump’s New Order to Expand the Death Penalty Misses Key Details
The order shows the president’s desire for more executions. But it’s unclear how the administration will carry out its plans, legal experts say.
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Robert Roberson, a light-skinned man wearing a white prison uniform, looks through visitation room glass. A phone hangs on either side of the divider.
Closing Argument September 18, 2024
Robert Roberson’s Death Penalty Case Shows How Justice System Fails People With Autism
He was convicted in his daughter’s death. Those who believe he’s innocent argue his diagnosis helps explain how he ended up facing execution.
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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.
Closing Argument August 17, 2024
How Prosecutors Fight Exonerations
As laws are passed to support the wrongfully convicted, some officials in the legal system push back.
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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, 2024
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.
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Brian Dorsey, a White man with glasses wearing a white shirt, at the Potosi Correctional Center.
Death Sentences April 3, 2024
He Faces Execution. His Lawyers May Have Earned Less Than $4 per Hour.
Some death penalty lawyers get paid the same no matter how long they work on a case. Critics say it’s a perverse incentive when a life is at stake.
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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, 2024
New Execution Methods, Old Problems
What the first execution by nitrogen in the U.S. says about capital punishment.
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A photograph shows barbed wire and a prison tower at Holman Prison at sunset.
Death Sentences January 18, 2024
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.
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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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