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Death Penalty
KADIR VAN LOHUIZEN/NOOR
Closing Argument
A Chaotic Moment For The Death Penalty
Political and legal opinions are shifting on mental illness and capital punishment, but those on death row may be left behind.
Death Sentences
September 15
He’s Facing Execution For His Daughter’s Death. Now, Science Suggests It Was An Accident.
Robert Roberson is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to examine “shaken baby syndrome” and the state of forensic science.
By
Maurice Chammah
Feature
August 31
When Wizards and Orcs Came to Death Row
For men awaiting execution in Texas, illicit games of Dungeons & Dragons became a lifeline.
By
Keri Blakinger
Q&A
May 31
Stephen Breyer Wants the Supreme Court to Avoid ‘Self-inflicted’ Wounds
The retired justice spoke with The Marshall Project on abortion, the death penalty and the court’s reputation.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Closing Argument
April 22
How the Death Penalty Is Returning to Presidential Politics
Trump and DeSantis want to make it easier to execute people, and Biden could face a rush of clemency requests from federal death row.
By
Maurice Chammah
Violation
March 29
‘Bad Seed’: Two Generations, Two Terrible Crimes
Part Two of the “Violation” podcast explores whether violence runs in families and what should happen to kids who commit murder.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Feature
March 2
The Mercy Workers
For three decades, a little-known group of “mitigation specialists” has helped save death-penalty defendants by documenting their childhood traumas. A rare look inside one case.
By
Maurice Chammah
Inside Story
February 2
When Kids Are Punished Like Adults
Louisianans protest temporary youth housing in notorious Angola, and Bryan Stevenson speaks on sentencing reform.
By
Lawrence Bartley
and
Donald Washington, Jr.
Analysis
December 22, 2022
Some of Our Best Work of 2022
From coverage of prison violence and abuses in a juvenile lockup to investigations by our new Cleveland team, our reporters told stories that made a difference.
By
Terri Troncale
Death Sentences
October 31, 2022
Would a Death Sentence Help The Parkland Families Heal?
Outrage around the school shooter’s sentence reveals tensions between what some victims’ families want and the justice system’s limits.
By
Maurice Chammah