Equal Justice Initiative

The scheduled execution of Romell Broom in Ohio was delayed for a week after prison staff unsuccessfully attempted to lethally inject him for over two hours.

A report just released shows that Cameron Willingham was innocent of the arson for which the State of Texas executed him in 2004.

M. Watt Espy, Jr., of Headland, Alabama, died this week, leaving behind a lifetime of work chronicling executions in the United States. Widely recognized as American's foremost historian of executions, Mr. Espy was 76.

On July 24, 2009, a deaf man in a Mobile store bathroom was attacked by police with a Taser gun and pepper spray after he failed to respond to police knocking on the door. Officers forcibly removed 37-year-old Antonio Love from the Dollar General store and attempted to book him on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey a police officer, even after they learned that Mr. Love could not hear them knocking on the door.

A national study found that more prisoners today are serving life sentences across the country than ever before. Alabama ranks among the top three states for number of life sentences imposed and is the national leader in racially disproportionate sentencing of children to life in prison.

More people are being arrested for living on the streets as homelessness rises, says the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) in its latest report, Homes Not Handcuffs. The report details how police in 273 cities nationwide are targeting people who have lost their homes and are forced to seek shelter in public places.

On July 8, 2009, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a formal pardon for former prisoner Mack Kirby. The Board’s decision, which was unanimous, restores Mr. Kirby’s voting rights and ends his parole supervision.

Tonight Jack Trawick was executed by the State of Alabama. Mr. Trawick was convicted and sentenced to death in Jefferson County, Alabama, for the 1992 sexual assault and murder of Stephanie Gach. Mr. Trawick was the fifth person put to death by the State of Alabama this year.

• Statement on the Execution of Jack Trawick

The editorial board of the Gadsden Times, which has in the past argued for capital punishment, urged the State of Alabama to suspend executions and reconsider whether the death penalty is worth the high financial cost.

• Gadsden Times Editorial: Execution to Death Row?

Seven years after he was condemned to death for the capital murder of Karen Tipton, a Morgan County jury on May 15, 2009, found Daniel Moore not guilty of the killing, making him the eighth Alabama death row inmate to be exonerated.