On the first night of Hanukkah, Terry Fear was protesting outside the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Ind., during the execution of Brandon Bernard. The flickering candles of her hanukkiah provided light for her vigil. Last year, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of Justice (DOJ) killed 10 people, ending the federal…
In Terre Haute, Indiana, a man named Marvin Gabrion has been in prison awaiting death for 17 years, seven months and 11 days. He committed his crimes in 1996 and 1997, then was tried, convicted of murder and sentenced in 2002. Gabrion is currently the longest-serving inmate on federal death row, and though he terrorized…
Less than a week before he was scheduled to die, a Jewish death row inmate in Texas has received a stay of execution from the state’s criminal appeals court, which cited the prisoner’s accusations of anti-Semitism against the judge who sentenced him. Randy Halprin was a member of the Texas 7, a group of inmates…
(JTA) — A Jewish death row inmate in Texas who says his judge was anti-Semitic has appealed to the Supreme Court. Randy Halprin was set to be executed on Oct. 10. On Friday afternoon, however, a Texas court stayed his execution because of his most recent appeal. Halprin was part of the “Texas 7” group…
(JTA) — A number of Jewish groups and lawyers are urging the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay the scheduled execution of a Jewish inmate who said his judge was anti-Semitic. In July, Dallas County Judge Lela Mays approved an Oct. 10 execution date for Randy Halprin, who was part of the “Texas 7” group…
(JTA) — Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the Pittsburgh synagogue gunman. They said in a court filing late on Monday that “a sentence of death is justified” in 22 of the 63 federal charges against Robert Bowers, citing his premeditation, planning, anti-Semitic motivation and the number of victims. They also noted his…
(JTA) — Don’t seek the death penalty for the Pittsburgh synagogue gunman. That’s the message from a spiritual leader at one of the three congregations that share the Tree of Life synagogue building to U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, whose New Light Congregation lost three worshippers in the October attack by Robert…
The California Supreme Court unanimously overturned a white supremacist’s death sentence after they found that prosecutors tainted the jury’s deliberations by focusing on his Nazi tattoos, The Washington Post reported. Jeffrey Scott Young, who at the time was affiliated with neo-Nazi groups like the Aryan Brotherhood, was on trial for murder in 2006. He was…
