After a harrowing night and a heroic, historic fight by Texas legislators, the Texas Supreme Court has upheld a restraining order stopping tonight's execution of #RobertRoberson.

Congratulations to Mr. Bacote, @CDPL, @CassyStubbsNC, & @aclu for this inspiring victory that displays the role racism played in Mr. Bacote's case and paves the way for justice for many more.

Thank you to Steven Nelson's entire legal team, who fought for him until the end. Their legal advocacy was amazing to behold.

This piece from @caryaspinwall documents how life sentences - especially life without parole sentences - are rife with racial inequality. Half of the people serving life sentences are Black, and they have few legal protections:

RT @TCADPdotORG: Contact the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today in support of clemency for Steven Nelson, who is set to be executed o…

Texas is set to execute its first individual of 2025, Steven Nelson. Mr. Nelson has sought to reform his life, but if he is executed, he will not have the opportunity to live out that growth.

"After more than two decades of battling a broken system that has failed him at every turn, Marion’s decision is a powerful refusal to legitimize an unjust process that has already stolen so much of his life," Bowman's lawyers said:

South Carolina executed it's third person since it began executing people back in September. Just like it was true of its last two executions, Marion Bowman, Jr., was a Black man. He maintained his innocence until the end.

As the federal government seeks to erode protections for vulnerable populations who are at risk of being handed the death penalty, it will be up to states – including Texas – to codify those protections into state law.

In a horrifying and despicable turn of events, not only does the Florida legislature want to expand instances in which the death penalty can be imposed, but also make the death penalty MANDATORY for certain crimes. Absolutely shameful.

Folks should watch @keribla's & crew's Oscar-nominated short doc "I Am Ready, Warden," directed by @SmritiMundhra. It is a beautiful and haunting account of those most impacted by capital punishment:

The U.S. death row population has fallen below 2,100 for the first time in over 30 years. For more analysis, check out @RDunhamDP''s DP3 Substack:

Support for the death penalty is declining in America with a younger generation that has "grown up with more stories of arbitrariness, discrimination and error in America’s death penalty system."

This is a great summary of the state of capital punishment in Texas, with information from @TCADPdotORG's annual report. It shows that the death penalty increasingly a local story, with the vast majority of juries and prosecutors turning away from it:

President Trump’s recent Executive Order regarding the expansion of federal capital punishment is damaging as it is consequential. Only time will tell if the Order’s mandate is followed, but the rights of all criminal defendants are at risk.

(2/2) Yet, as he passionately and persuasively writes in his letter to the editor at @DispatchAlerts, that death sentence has only caused him further suffering. We would do well to heed Mr. Mann’s words and strive to end capital punishment.

We grateful for President Biden's historic commutations, including his historic 2,500 commutations today of people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes and his commutations nearly everyone on federal death row.

"The courts continue to think that legitimacy comes not from correcting their mistakes, but insisting that they never make them." Important piece by @radleybalko on the fight against junk science in the courtroom.

From @chrisgeidner: Merrick Garland has declared "that there is significant uncertainty about whether the use of pentobarbital" for execution "treats individuals humanely and avoids unnecessary pain and suffering." Garland has rescinded the protocol.

For folks in Austin, we encourage you to attend this event with @JessPish, author of The Highest Law of the Land, & @TexasObserver on Feb. 5th. This important book documents the power of sheriffs over our injustice system and our democracy.