Capital Punishment

Death Penalty Slowly Fading Away Across the U.S.

2016 continued the decline in death sentences and executions

By Josh Sanburn December 21, 2016

The Drug Used in Alabama’s Problematic Execution Has a Controversial History

Midazolam has been criticized for not properly making inmates unconscious

By Josh Sanburn December 9, 2016

Nebraska Restores the Death Penalty

The effort was bankrolled by the state's governor

By Josh Sanburn November 9, 2016

Oklahoma Votes to Add Death Penalty to Its Constitution

It's the first state to provide constitutional protections for capital punishment

By Josh Sanburn November 8, 2016

Death Penalty's Future Will Be Decided in 3 States

Here's what you need to know

By Josh Sanburn November 7, 2016

Duterte Wants to Restore the Death Penalty

Police could also be given shoot-to-kill powers

By TIME Staff May 15, 2016

Indonesia Readies More Foreign Inmates for Execution

"There will not be a ‘soap opera’ about it this time,” the Chief Security Minister says

By Yenni Kwok May 12, 2016

Vietnamese Inmate Gets Pregnant to Avoid Death Penalty

Under Vietnamese law, pregnant women can't be executed

By Nash Jenkins February 17, 2016

U.S. Executions Hit Lowest Level in Two Decades

The number of death sentences declined by one third in the past year

By Josh Sanburn December 16, 2015

Oklahoma Used Wrong Drug in Lethal Injection

Wrong drug used during January execution

By Josh Sanburn October 8, 2015

Oklahoma Asks Court to Delay Executions

The state says it received the wrong drug

By Josh Sanburn October 1, 2015

Supreme Court Justice Defends Foreign Citations on Death Penalty

Should the Supreme Court care that other countries have abolished the death penalty? That looming question animates Justice Stephen Breyer's "The Court and the World," a brisk but academic book that argues that it is...

By Ryan Teague Beckwith September 14, 2015

Most of India's Execution Records 'Lost or Destroyed by Termites'

The absence of information shows the "callousness" of the record-keeping system, according to researchers

By Nash Jenkins August 3, 2015

Search for Execution Drugs Continues

States still have problems with controversial sedative

By Josh Sanburn June 29, 2015

Supreme Court OKs Lethal Injection Drug

The sedative was used in a series of executions widely considered botched

By Josh Sanburn June 29, 2015

Which State Will Be Next to Abolish the Death Penalty?

Several more are primed to repeal capital punishment

By Josh Sanburn May 28, 2015

Why the End of Capital Punishment Is Near

Bungled executions. Backlogged courts. And three more reasons the modern death penalty is a failed experiment

By David Von Drehle May 28, 2015

Saudi Arabia Is Looking For Executioners

How long before they bring in the headhunters?

By Sabrina Toppa May 19, 2015

A Gruesome Historical Argument Against the Death Penalty

May 4, 1990: A death-row inmate in Florida dies in a botched execution by electric chair

By Jennifer Latson May 4, 2015

Nitrogen Gas Executions Approved

Why Oklahoma became the first state to approve nitrogen gas as a lethal injection alternative

By Josh Sanburn April 10, 2015

Texas to Execute Inmate as Drug Supply Dwindles

The state has enough pentobarbital for four more executions

By Josh Sanburn April 9, 2015

The Strange Story of the Man Who Chose Execution By Firing Squad

How Gary Gilmore's 1977 execution came to pass

By Lily Rothman March 12, 2015

The Cold, Hard Truth About Death by Firing Squad

It's undeniably brutal — but experts say it may be the most effective way to carry out the death penalty

By Josh Sanburn March 12, 2015

Pakistan Reinstates Death Penalty After 7-Year Moratorium

More than 8,000 people sit on death row in the South Asian nation

By Sabrina Toppa March 11, 2015

Nebraska Considers Eliminating the Death Penalty

With support from Republican lawmakers

By Josh Sanburn March 5, 2015

Georgia Postpones Executions Over 'Cloudy' Drugs

Georgia's supply of lethal injection drug pentobarbital may have gone bad

By Josh Sanburn March 3, 2015

Why America Could Change How It Puts People to Death

3 Inmates in Oklahoma are challenging the use of certain drugs in executions

By TIME Video January 30, 2015

Supreme Court Halts 3 Executions

State is temporarily barred from using controversial sedative

By Josh Sanburn January 28, 2015

Oklahoma Resumes Executions After Nearly 9-Month Delay

Thursday's execution came shortly after the Supreme Court rejected his legal team's appeal

By Josh Sanburn January 15, 2015

Ohio Switches Up Lethal-Injection Drugs

The state is dropping a controversial drug while delaying executions

By Josh Sanburn January 8, 2015

Maryland Gov Commutes State's Last Death Sentences

Maryland eliminated the death penalty in 2013

By Tessa Berenson December 31, 2014

Oklahoma Inmate 'Felt Liquid Fire' During Execution

Expert says Clayton Lockett likely suffered on the execution table

By Josh Sanburn December 18, 2014

Executions in the United States at 20 Year Low

It has been a tortured year for capital punishment in the U.S., with multiple botched executions, last-minute stays, and exonerations raising questions about the nation's ability to constitutionally met out the punishment

By Elizabeth Barber December 18, 2014

Georgia Man Set for Execution Despite Drunk Lawyer

His attorney drank a quart of vodka a night

December 9, 2014

China Sets Deadline to Stop Taking Organs From Executed Prisoners

Starting next month, China will end its ethically unsettling reliance on transplant organs culled from its condemned prisoners, state media said

By Elizabeth Barber December 5, 2014

Texas to Kill Schizophrenic Man

Scott Panetti, who is scheduled to die Wednesday, has a long history of severe mental illness

By Josh Sanburn December 1, 2014

Utah Wants to Bring Back Execution by Firing Squad

State legislature may mandate firing squads if lethal injection drugs aren't available

By Josh Sanburn November 20, 2014

Missouri Just Tied its Lethal Injection Record

Leon Taylor's lethal injection is the state's ninth this year

By Josh Sanburn November 19, 2014

Ohio Looks to Shield Lethal Injection Drugmakers

Bill would keep the source of lethal injection drugs anonymous

By Josh Sanburn November 13, 2014

Oklahoma Changes Lethal Injection Protocol, But Keeps Controversial Drug

After an execution widely regarded as botched

By Josh Sanburn October 1, 2014

States Shield Injection Firms

Ohio's attorney general proposed shielding the identity of companies who provide drugs for execution, following the lead of other states

By Josh Sanburn October 1, 2014

Texas Executes Woman for Murder of 9-Year-Old

She is the 15th woman to be executed in the U.S. since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976

By Elizabeth Barber September 18, 2014

Oklahoma Changing Lethal Injection Approach

The new execution guidelines come after a report detailed the chaotic scene during the prolonged killing of Clayton Lockett

By Josh Sanburn September 8, 2014

IV Problem Led To Botched Oklahoma Execution

An IV became dislodged sometime during the execution, according to a state review ordered by Oklahoma's governor

By Josh Sanburn September 4, 2014

2 Men Freed After 30 Years in Jail

DNA evidence exonerates two half-brothers convicted of the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl

By Josh Sanburn September 2, 2014

California to Fight Ruling Against Death Penalty

State Attorney General Kamala Harris to appeal

By Josh Sanburn August 22, 2014

Capital Punishment

Remembering America's 'Angel of Death Row'

Arkansas Is Preparing for Double Lethal Injections

Arkansas Executions: What's Next for the Inmates Who Were Scheduled to Die

Arkansas Lawyers Scramble to Defend 7 Death Row Inmates at Once