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Lethal Injection

Robert Roberson, a light-skinned man wearing a white prison uniform, looks through visitation room glass. A phone hangs on either side of the divider.
Closing Argument September 18
Robert Roberson’s Death Penalty Case Shows How Justice System Fails People With Autism
He was convicted in his daughter’s death. Those who believe he’s innocent argue his diagnosis helps explain how he ended up facing execution.
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A black and white photo shows a black chair draped with a hood which Gilmore wore during the execution. The upper right part of the chair back has bullet holes. The chair is surrounded with sandbags.
Death Sentences April 8, 2022
The Return of the Firing Squad?
With a scarcity of lethal injection drugs, South Carolina has brought back an archaic execution method. In other states, men on death row are asking for it.
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Earlene Peterson, whose daughter and granddaughter were killed, in her home in Hector, Ark., in 2019.
Feature July 24, 2020
Witnesses to the Execution
An oral history of the first federal execution under Donald Trump, as told by victims’ relatives, prison staff, and others.
By and
Scott Dozier was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller.
News October 15, 2018
Scott Dozier Still Wants to be Executed. And He's Still Waiting.
After forcing Nevada into a legal battle over its lethal injection drugs, an execution “volunteer” says the state is punishing him.
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The execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 2014.
News January 3, 2018
What to Know About the Death Penalty in 2018
Here are the most important places to keep an eye on.
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The execution chamber at the prison in Lucasville, Ohio. The curtain covers the window to the witness room.
Analysis October 18, 2017
A Long Decline in Executions Takes a Detour
Recent court rulings and start-stop access to lethal drugs push numbers up this year.
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Ledell Lee appeared for a hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Little Rock, Ark., on April 18, 2017. Lee was executed two days later. He had been convicted of killing Debra Reese with a tire iron in February 1993 in Jacksonville, Ark.
Commentary April 27, 2017
Ledell Lee Never Had A Chance
He was the first man executed by Arkansas in nearly 12 years. Jurors never heard his story.
Elizabeth Vartkessian
Life Inside February 16, 2017
A Mother Visits Her Son, Who’s Condemned to Die in April
‘I can’t touch him and comfort him.’
By Marilyn Shankle-Grant as told to
The Texas execution chamber in Huntsville, Texas, on June 23, 2000.
Analysis June 30, 2016
It’s Been Almost Two Months Since the U.S. Executed Someone
We’re in the middle of one of the longest death penalty lulls in 24 years.
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Analysis April 12, 2016
How the Drug Shortage Has Slowed the Death-Penalty Treadmill
Only 4 states are currently carrying out lethal injections, and 10 are considering other methods.
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