Washington Post: "The House of Delegates voted 82-56 to repeal Maryland’s death penalty on Friday, making the state the sixth in as many years to abolish executions and delivering a major legislative victory to Gov. Martin O’Malley."

Washington Times: "Gov. Martin O'Malley will throw his support behind legislation to repeal the death penalty in Maryland this year, he announced at an event Tuesday while flanked by civil rights activists and legislators."

NY Times: "When the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, it said there were two social purposes for imposing capital punishment for the most egregious crimes: deterrence and retribution. In recent months, these justifications for a cruel and uncivilized punishment have been seriously undermined by a growing group of judges, prosecutors, scholars and … Continue reading America’s Retreat From the Death Penalty

RNS: "Though the number of death-row inmates executed in 2012 remained unchanged from 2011 at 43, death penalty opponents said the year still showed capital punishment is on the wane. Connecticut this year upped the number of states to repeal the death penalty to 17. Some states that have had relatively high numbers of executions … Continue reading Death penalty grows rarer in U.S.

Danny Glover and Mike Farrell: "A comprehensive five-year study by Federal Judge Arthur Alarcón (who is pro-death penalty) and Loyola Law Professor Paula Mitchell (who is not) showed the state has spent $4 billion on the death penalty since 1978. They've just updated that report to show that California is on track to spend $5 … Continue reading California's Death Penalty: All Cost and No Benefit

The Nation: "If 54-year-old Marvin Wilson is put to death on Tuesday, it will not be because Texas denies that he is intellectually disabled, or as the legal literature puts it, “mentally retarded.” This much, the state recognizes. It just does not believe that Wilson is disabled enough not to be executed in Texas—a flagrant … Continue reading Will Texas Execute a Man With an IQ of 61?

Slate: "Carlos DeLuna maintained his innocence from the moment he was arrested in 1983 for the stabbing death of a young Texas woman right up until he was executed six years later. On Monday, a Columbia University professor and a group of law students offered what appears to be definitive proof that DeLuna's mistaken-identity claims … Continue reading Report: Texas Executed Innocent Man

USA Today: " The campaign to abolish the death penalty has been freshly invigorated this month in a series of actions that supporters say represents increasing evidence that America may be losing its taste for capital punishment."

Huffington Post: "Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) signed a bill into law on Wednesday that repeals the death penalty, making Connecticut the 17th state to do so."

Reuters: "The Connecticut House of Representatives gave final legislative approval on Wednesday to the repeal of the state's death penalty, moving it one step closer to becoming the fifth U.S. state in recent years to abandon capital punishment."