Death Penalty

Settlement Reached to End Permanent Solitary Confinement for People Sentenced to Death in Pennsylvania

Settlement Reached to End Permanent Solitary Confinement for People Sentenced to Death in Pennsylvania

In the settlement, the department agreed to house people who have been sentenced to death in the same manner as the prisons’ general population.

“The use of long-term solitary confinement on anyone is torture,” said Amy Fettig, deputy director of the National Prison Project. “The conditions Pennsylvania’s DOC was subjecting people on death row to — spending their entire lives in a tiny, filthy cell without any normal human contact, congregate religious services, sufficient access to exercise, sunshine, access to the outdoors, or environmental and intellectual stimulation — weren’t just deeply unconstitutional; they were horribly inhumane.”

New privileges for death row inmates include, but are not limited to:

-contact visits with family, lawyers and religious advisors

-daily showers and phone calls

-group meals and programming

-access to the outdoors, work assignments, the law library and religious worship

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rejects King's Bench Jurisdiction on Death Penalty

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rejects King's Bench Jurisdiction on Death Penalty

The one page ruling was made public on September 27th, dampening hope among Pennsylvanians who believe that the death penalty is so unjust and arbitrary, that it is unconstitutional.

PA Supreme Court to Hear Death Penalty Challenge

PA Supreme Court to Hear Death Penalty Challenge

“On Wednesday, Sept. 11, at least four entities will argue in front of the state Supreme Court in a hearing that could ultimately see Pennsylvania's death penalty struck down.”


Op Ed: Victims Against the PA Death Penalty

Op Ed: Victims Against the PA Death Penalty

Vicki Schieber lost her daughter Shannon in 1998 to a serial rapist and murderer. Prior to the trial, Vicki and her husband decided, based on their Catholic faith, that they didn’t want their daughter’s murderer to be executed. The prosecutor ignored them and pursued the death penalty.

“The case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court argues that Pennsylvania’s death penalty system is cruel. I have lived that truth. Victims deserve better than endless trials and appeals that expend countless dollars on death penalty cases. We deserve better than a system meting out the ultimate punishment in our name whether we want it or not.

Pennsylvania should abolish the death penalty and replace it with a system that truly honors victims and their surviving family members.”

It's Time for Pennsylvania to Abolish the Death Penalty

It's Time for Pennsylvania to Abolish the Death Penalty

The strongest argument against the death penalty in Pennsylvania: More people have been exonerated than executed. Read more in this week’s @PhillyInquirer editorial

#Pennsylvania #DeathPenalty

Krasner Argues Pennsylvania's Death Penalty is Unconstitutional

Krasner Argues Pennsylvania's Death Penalty is Unconstitutional

Last year, federal defenders filed briefs with the PA Supreme Court on behalf of two clients, Cox and Marinelli, asking the Court to examine Pennsylvania’s use of the death penalty, and ultimately find it unconstitutional. A number of other organizations, including ACCR, have filed amicus briefs in support of finding the death penalty unconstitutional. Support for the position was in large part due to the results of a bipartisan study that characterized PA’s death penalty as seriously problematic.

In a brief filed Monday night, reformist prosecutor Larry Krasner urged the Supreme Court to find that the current death penalty violates the state constitution. His position is based heavily on an internal study of 155 convictions. According to the findings within the brief, 72% of Philadelphia’s death penalty cases have been overturned, largely due to ineffective assistance. Furthermore, out of the 45 people currently on death row from Philadelphia, 37 are Black. The brief is the first of its kind filed by any prosecutor’s office in the U.S.

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Sex-Shamed To Death

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Sex-Shamed To Death

Read how Brenda Andrews (pictured above) is sentenced to death in Oklahoma.  Hint: it's got less to do with her culpability, and lots more to do with her thong collection and bedside reading material.  

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