Justices hint at wider death-penalty exemption for disabled
A narrow U.S. Supreme Court majority signaled it may force Texas to broaden its death-penalty exemption for people who are intellectually disabled.
Death Penalty
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In fractious time, ‘courtesy’ prevails at Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court seems to be trying to hang together as the election campaign drives the rest of the country into feuding camps.
Justices reject appeal from Alabama death row inmate
The Supreme Court of the United States has rejected an appeal from a death row inmate in Alabama who said evidence withheld by prosecutors entitled him to a new court hearing.
Supreme Court rejects appeal under NC racial bias law
The Supreme Court of the United States will not hear an appeal from four former death row inmates in North Carolina who claimed systemic racial bias contributed to their death sentences.
Death row inmate’s habeas petition denied by 7th Circuit
The man who brutally raped and murdered a teenager in Spencer County in 2001 will continue to sit on death row after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief.
Feds: Charleston church shooting suspect ‘self-radicalized’
A white man charged with the shooting deaths of nine black churchgoers in Charleston "self-radicalized" in the months before the attack and grew more entrenched in his beliefs in white supremacy, according to court papers prosecutors filed this week in federal court.
Groups cite inadequate funds to defend death row inmate
Five legal groups are supporting a Missouri death row inmate, whose execution was halted hours before it was to be carried out in 2014, saying that he can't receive an adequate defense with the money allocated.
Attorneys argue Indiana death penalty unconstitutional
Attorneys for a Lake County man who faces charges in the deaths of seven women have argued in court filings that the state of Indiana's death penalty law is unconstitutional.
Attorneys for Dylann Roof file death penalty challenge
Attorneys for the man charged with killing nine people at a Charleston church are challenging federal prosecutors' intention to seek the death penalty against him.
Prosecutor to seek death penalty in Indy ‘Purge’ killings
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said Tuesday he will seek the death penalty in the case of a 19-year-old Indianapolis man charged with fatally shooting three people over four days in May.
Indiana man on death row for 4 killings runs out of appeals
A Fort Wayne man who's been on death row since 1999 for killing his brother and three other men has exhausted his appeals.
Charleston church shooting suspect wants federal case dismissed
Dylann Roof's defense team is challenging the constitutionality of the federal hate crimes law, a legal longshot they say they'll drop if prosecutors agree not to pursue the death penalty in the killings of nine people inside a South Carolina church.
Man charged in cop’s death again asks to represent self
A man accused of killing an Indianapolis police officer in 2014 has again asked to represent himself in court.
Justices find judicial bias in Pennsylvania death row case
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Thursday that the former chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was wrong to participate in the case of a death row inmate whose prosecution he personally approved nearly 30 years earlier.
US justices take death row appeals, Virginia redistricting case
The Supreme Court of the United States accepted three cases Monday, including two that claim race is a factor.
Attorneys for death row inmate seek more time for appeal
Attorneys for a Gary man sentenced to death for killing his wife and two teenage stepchildren have asked a magistrate to give him more time to sign a document needed for the case to be reviewed.
Supreme Court throws out death sentence from all-white jury
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled decisively in favor of a death-row inmate in Georgia on Monday, chastising state prosecutors for improperly keeping African-Americans off the jury that convicted him of killing a white woman.
Supreme Court upholds man’s death sentence
The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed a man’s death sentence Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to brutally murdering a woman.
Man on death row loses habeas petition before 7th Circuit
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld rulings lifting a stay on a man’s habeas corpus petition and dismissing his claims after the appellate court held his claims could be decided based on the state-court record.
Jury selection scheduled in killing of Gary police officer
Jury selection has been scheduled to begin in January in the trial of a man accused of killing of a Gary police officer.