Equal Justice Initiative

On October 22, 2008, EJI's Bryan Stevenson argued in the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division Three, on behalf of Antonio Nunez, who was sentenced to die in prison for his involvement at age 14 in an offense that injured no one.

On October 17, 2008, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the case of Anthony Ray Hinton, who has spent over 20 years on Alabama's death row for crimes he did not commit. The court ruled that the case must be sent back to the trial court to make findings about whether Mr. Hinton received the expert assistance to which he was entitled.

J.L. Chestnut Jr., Selma's first black lawyer and lifelong advocate for equality and racial justice, died September 30, 2008, in Birmingham, Alabama, at age 77.

Next week, EJI Director Bryan Stevenson will argue in the California Court of Appeal on behalf of Antonio Nunez, who was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility for parole for his involvement at age fourteen in a kidnapping offense in which no one was injured.

On September 17, 2008, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Alabama prisoner Herbert Williams's death sentence because his appointed lawyers failed to investigate and present basic facts about Mr. Williams and his life history, especially the extreme abuse inflicted on him as a child. The court also directed the federal district court to address the merits of Mr. Williams's claim that the prosecutor unconstitutionally excluded African Americans from his jury.

The Dhamma Brothers documents the stories of inmates at the maximum-security Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, as they enter into an intensive 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. EJI supported the project and the film, which is now being screened across the country.

On August 29, 2008, Equal Justice Initiative attorneys filed a petition in the case of Alabama death row inmate Michael Carruth asking the Alabama Supreme Court to restore the right to counsel for death row prisoners on direct appeal.

Author Susan Kuklin's newest book, No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row, presents the stories of individuals who were sentenced to death or life without parole for crimes committed when they were teenagers, including two EJI clients in Alabama.

The State of Alabama revealed yesterday that it lost DNA evidence that could exonerate death row inmate Tommy Arthur. Convicted for the 1982 murder-for-hire of Troy Wicker, Mr. Arthur has for years asked the state to test DNA evidence he says would prove his innocence. The state has refused to conduct the tests.

Today the Alabama Supreme Court granted Tommy Arthur's request for a stay of his execution. For years, Mr. Arthur has been asking the State for an opportunity to test the DNA evidence from his trial so that he could prove his claim of innocence. The order staying his execution came one day before he was to be executed.