Two women inti­mate­ly con­nect­ed to a 1991 mur­der case in Alabama have pub­licly opposed the intend­ed exe­cu­tion of Charles​“Sonny” Burton, a man both the state and his attor­neys acknowl­edge did not fire the fatal shot. Priscilla Townsend, who served on the jury that sen­tenced Mr. Burton to death, and Tori Battle, whose father Doug Battle was killed dur­ing the rob­bery in ques­tion, have each writ­ten op-eds urg­ing Governor Kay Ivey to grant clemen­cy. On January22,2026, the…

On January17,2006, California exe­cut­ed Clarence Ray Allen — the last per­son put to death by the state. Two decades lat­er, California’s death row pop­u­la­tion has fall­en to580 pris­on­ers, down from its peak near750 in the mid-2010s. In the time since Mr. Allen’s exe­cu­tion, the death penal­ty in California has seen sus­tained scruti­ny as con­cerns with racial dis­crim­i­na­tion, inno­cence, and costs con­tin­ue to grow. Governor Gavin Newsom has placed a moratorium on…

On December29,2025, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney issued an order block­ing the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole (GBPP) from resched­ul­ing a clemen­cy hear­ing and set­ting a new exe­cu­tion date for Stacey Humphreys. Two weeks ear­li­er, on December15^th theGBPP put Mr. Humphreys’ December16^th clemen­cy hear­ing on hold​“indef­i­nite­ly,” leav­ing in lim­bo the sta­tus of his exe­cu­tion, sched­uled for the fol­low­ing day. Judge McBurney issued the stay,…

Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist once explained that exec­u­tive clemen­cy is intend­ed to oper­ate as the​“fail safe” of the cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment sys­tem. It is the final oppor­tu­ni­ty, after all legal avenues have been exhaust­ed, for an exec­u­tive to decide whether to spare a pris­on­er from exe­cu­tion. Most grants of indi­vid­ual clemen­cy come after con­sid­er­a­tion of one or more fac­tors, includ­ing evi­dence of offi­cial mis­con­duct or oth­er unfair legal…

Tremane Wood was sched­uled to die at10 a.m. local time on November13. According to jour­nal­ist Hilary Andersson, who trav­eled to Oklahoma to observe the exe­cu­tion, the call from the gov­er­nor came at9:59 a.m. Mr. Wood learned that his life would be spared at the lit­er­al​“last minute.” While Mr. Wood, his attor­neys, and his fam­i­ly expe­ri­enced over­whelm­ing relief in the after­math of the clemen­cy grant, accord­ing to Ms. Andersson, some also expressed shock at the timing…

Oklahoma Governor Grants Clemency to Julius Jones

In an order announced four hours before his scheduled execution on November 18, 2021, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt commuted Julius Jones' death sentence to life without possibility of parole. Although the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole had recommended, based on concerns of innocence, that Jones be eligible for parole, Stitt granted the commutation “on the condition that [Jones] shall never again be eligible to apply for, be considered for, or receive any additional commutation, pardon, or parole.”

Ohio Governor Commutes Death Sentence Based on Jurors Concerns About Unfair Sentencing

Ohio Governor John Kasich commuted Raymond Tibbetts’ death sentence on July 20, 2018 to life without parole after a juror expressed concerns that ineffective defense representation and misrepresentations by the prosecution had prevented the jury from making an informed decision about whether Tibbetts should have received the death penalty.