The death penalty is always cruel. Botched executions show just how inhumane this punishment truly is. Thank you Maria Deliberato from the @aclu.org  for bearing witness and sharing this truth.

'This “troubling case history…by the same district attorney in the same judicial district” was well known when Mr. Pitchford’s case reached the Mississippi Supreme Court.' @eji.org  Read more here:

Check out Cory Session's important new op-ed in @thebarbedwire.com  about TDS's report on Tarrant County and its extreme use of the death penalty.

From crime survivor Jennifer Thompson @washingtonpost.com on “hypnotized witness” #CharlesFlores TX death penalty case. #SCOTUS “has the power to intervene & ensure an innocent man is not executed based on an unreliable identification.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

City of Austin to Pay $35 Million to Compensate Men Wrongfully Convicted in Decades-Old Murder Case #deathpenalty #texas #wrongfulconviction deathpenaltyinfo.org/city-of-aust...

NEW DPI Racial Justice Report Examines Racially Disparate Impact of the Death Penalty in South Carolina #deathpenalty #southcarolina #racialjustice deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-dpi-raci...

Tennessee’s Botched Execution of Tony Carruthers Raises Questions About Medical Qualifications Among Concerns with Innocence and Due Process #deathpenalty #tennessee #botchedexecution deathpenaltyinfo.org/tennessees-b...

"...it is an eye-opening report, and it is right here in my own backyard." Incredible op-ed by Cory Session covering our Tarrant County report. Read more: thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/21/t...

Read this powerful op-ed about Texas's 600th execution and how Texas's modern death-penalty system fails to serve our state and is flawed, cruel, and a financial waste. www.statesman.com/opinion/colu...

@nbcnews.com investigates the hypnotized witness case of #CharlesFlores. TX banned hypnosis in criminal cases but it was used to send Charles Flores to death row despite his innocence. Watch here: www.nbcnews.com/video/testim...

Children of incarcerated parents suffer tremendously; imprisonment of a parent leads to significant declines in academic and health outcomes for children.

Mr. Busby was from Tarrant County, one of the nation's most aggressive death-sentencing counties. As we documented in our recent report, Tarrant County has disproportionately targeted people of color for the death penalty—especially Black men.

Today is a dark day in Texas. Last night, Texas executed its 600th person since the United States first reinstated the death penalty in 1976. His name was Edward Busby, and he was a Black man whom experts agreed had intellectual disability. #EndtheDeathPenalty

"Scott and his attorney Tony Diaz said in a joint statement they are hopeful the settlement will help improve investigation practices and safeguards against wrongful convictions." apnews.com/article/aust...

Tennessee plans to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21 for a crime he didn't commit because they refuse to compare DNA and fingerprint evidence against the most likely alternative suspect. Tell Tennessee to commit to finding out the truth before a potentially innocent man is killed by the state.

"Co-Executive Director of the Texas Defender Service Burke Butler said, “The days of racial terror lynchings may be over, but racism continues to infect the Tarrant County DA’s Office, influencing who it decides should face the death penalty.”" @vanguardnewsgroup.bsky.social

"Texas has long been known as the death penalty capital of the United States. And the death penalty capital of Texas, according to a report released this week, is Tarrant County." @dallasnews.com

“No one should face execution because of the color of their skin or the zip code in which they live,” Burke Butler, co-executive director of Texas Defender Service, said. “But the reality is that that's exactly what's happening in Tarrant County right now.”

"These types of [death penalty] punishments don’t lead to crimes going down … they just lead to scapegoats. Scapegoats like the crucified,” said Rev. Jeremy Williams, a professor at TCU’s Brite Divinity School and the director of the Center for Theology and Justice. @dallasobserver.com

“Tarrant County needs to do better, society needs to do better, we need to do better,” Cantor Sheri Allen said. Read the full article on @star-telegram.com by Kamal Morgan at www.star-telegram.com/news/local/a...

"Idaho became the first state to autho­rize the fir­ing squad as its pri­ma­ry method and is near­ing com­ple­tion on a new $1 mil­lion exe­cu­tion facil­i­ty." Legislation passed March 2025 - goes into effect July 2026. @deathpenaltyinfo.org

Evidence shows "death by elec­tri­cal cur­rent is extreme­ly vio­lent and inflicts pain and indig­ni­ties far beyond the mere extin­guish­ment of life...the pris­on­er almost lit­er­al­ly boils: the tem­per­a­ture in the brain itself approach­es the boil­ing point of water."

Great new article by Leah Roemer with @deathpenaltyinfo.org - New Analysis: In Seeking Firing Squad, Electrocution, and Nitrogen Gas Executions, DOJ Misrepresents American History and Law #EndTheDeathPenalty deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-analysis...

Our new report at @texasdefender.bsky.social unveils a racist & broken use of the death penalty in Tarrant County, Texas (Fort Worth). Tarrant County seeks death more than any other Texas county & does so almost exclusively against people of color. More here: www.texasdefender.org/wp-content/u...

Thank you @star-telegram.com for covering our new report on race and the death penalty in Tarrant County. #EndTheDeathPenalty www.star-telegram.com/news/politic...

You are invited to a press conference presenting findings from a new Texas Defender Service report examining death penalty prosecutions in Tarrant County, Texas. This Thursday, May 7, 12-1 at this link: www.youtube.com/live/bJQ_KV-...

Since 2020, Tarrant County has accounted for 23% of death penalty trials in Texas, despite only containing 7% of the state’s population. This trend has only worsened. Since 2024, Tarrant County has accounted for 42% of death penalty trials in Texas. Read more: www.texasdefender.org/an-extreme-o...

Tarrant County is an extreme outlier, pursuing capital punishment almost exclusively against people of color. The Tarrant County DA's Office has the power and the responsibility to change course. Find our new report here: www.texasdefender.org/an-extreme-o...

No one should face execution because of the color of their skin or the zip code in which their case is tried. But that is exactly what is happening in Tarrant County, Texas. Find our new report here: www.texasdefender.org/an-extreme-o...

Rest in peace, James Broadnax. 🕯️ Full statement at jamesbroadnax.org.

Last words of James Broadnax, who was executed tonight in Texas

Read our summary of the Texas Observer article by Michelle Pitcher on the obstacles that Charles Flores and others are facing with having their cases reviewed due to the false or unrealizable evidence used to initially convict them. www.instagram.com/p/DXvFMSSDX0...

This May Day, we're thinking of the incarcerated workers who are exploited every single day. For people behind bars, labor is usually mandatory and often unpaid:

"In prison, we often must adapt to abnormal conditions, including seeing distorted versions of ourselves. After I finished my morning routine, I considered whether there were any documented psychological effects of us not seeing ourselves for long periods of time."

James Broadnax was sentenced to death by a Texas jury in 2009. State prosecutors relied extensively (but selectively) on 40 pages of lyrics Broadnax had written as evidence of his “future dangerousness." Broadnax’s own artistic expression was used to condemn him to death. pen.org/texas-james-...

“When the (junk science) law came into effect, people were hopeful. It turned out to not actually provide relief to very meritorious cases ... We’re still hopeful that … there may be fresh eyes taking a look at this law and the text of this law once more.”

Texas is set to execute James Broadnax on Thursday. Another man has admitted to the crime. @texasobserver.org www.texasobserver.org/looming-exec...

In 1992, just over 9,000 people were reportedly serving life without parole. By 2024, nearly six times as many people were serving life without parole, reaching an all-time high of 56,245.

From @michellepitcher.bsky.social in @texasobserver.org on the hypnotized witness case of #CharlesFlores: Texas’ Top Criminal Court Has Stymied the State’s ‘Junk Science’ Law. Will #SCOTUS Intervene? www.texasobserver.org/texas-top-cr...

James Broadnax has less than one week left before he's executed by the state. Prosecutors struck Black jurors from the trial over race, and used rap lyrics to make their case. Another man has confessed to the crime.

"Evidence shows that criminal careers are relatively short, in the range of 10 years, meaning that continued incarceration beyond this point produces diminishing returns on public safety, wasting limited resources that could be put toward effective crime prevention strategies."

Mass incarceration’s toll on human dignity is no more apparent than in the staggering proliferation of life sentences; today one in six imprisoned people is serving a life sentence. www.sentencingproject.org/reports/a-ma...

On May 21, the state of Tennessee plans to execute Tony Carruthers even though they refuse to conduct forensic testing that could prove his innocence. Sign the petition here: action.aclu.org/petition/ton...

There is no physical evidence linking Tony to the crime he’s accused of. He was forced to go to trial without a lawyer, fending for himself while the state’s lawyers asked the jury to take Tonys’s life. The state does not get to cut corners and rush to put a person to death.

BREAKING: We're suing Tennessee for planning to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21 without considering critical DNA evidence that could prove his innocence.

There is a huge lack of resources for people navigating the parole review process. For 10 women incarcerated in Texas’ Coleman Facility, a 5-week-long workshop is equipping them with the tools to advocate for themselves in their upcoming parole hearings. #parole

actionnetwork.org/petitions/te... #EndTheDeathPenalty #JamesBroadnax

actionnetwork.org/petitions/te... #EndTheDeathPenalty #JamesBroadnax

Congratulations to our friends who fought this fight: @abolitionistlawcenter.org, @amistadlaw.bsky.social, @ccrjustice.org Everyone deserves a chance at redemption.

This is a historic victory—proof of what Pennsylvanian advocates can achieve together!