The AL Supreme Court announced that it is eliminating mandatory "plain error review"—a rule that allowed appellate attorneys to identify and correct unconstitutional conduct that occurred during capital trials, even when there was no objection at trial.
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On this day in 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Macon, Georgia, city officials' decision to close a public park rather than open it to Black residents. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider its decision denying relief to Areli Escobar, who was convicted and sentenced to death based on what prosecutors admit was “flawed and misleading forensic evidence.”
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On this day in 1900, the Virginia Senate unanimously passed a bill that required separate cars for white and Black passengers aboard trains. This was Virginia’s first statewide segregation law. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1879, a Black man named Ben Daniels was arrested on suspicion of theft merely for having a $50 bill. Hours later, a white mob lynched Mr. Daniels and his two sons. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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Two top officials in the Tennessee Department of Corrections have been fired after an independent report revealed the state has not complied with its own lethal injection protocol since it resumed executions in 2018.
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On this day in 1870, U.S. soldiers massacred over 150 Blackfeet—most of whom were women and children—near the Marias River in the Montana Territory. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1883, the Supreme Court held that the Force Act, a federal law passed to protect Black Americans from violent terrorism, was unconstitutional. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1948, Mississippi Senator and segregationist James Eastland successfully blocked passage of a bill that would have made racial terror lynching a federal crime. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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Last week the Alabama Parole Board denied 71-year-old Leola Harris parole, even though she is suffering from end stage renal disease. The board considered Ms. Harris's case for only 6 minutes before denying her parole. Her next hearing will be in 5 years.
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On this day in 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. White officials tried to declare his election null and void. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day, mobs of white people roamed Watsonville, California, attacking Filipino farmworkers after Filipino men were seen dancing with white women at a dance hall. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1771, North Carolina approved payments of nearly 1,000 pounds, or the equivalent of $230,000 today, to "reimburse" white "owners" for enslaved Black people executed by the State. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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Eliminating Alabama’s “plain error” rule raises serious questions about the reliability of Alabama’s capital system moving forward.
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Mandatory "plain error" review has been responsible for nearly 40% of all reversals in Alabama death penalty cases and has been essential in addressing illegal racial discrimination in jury selection, wrongful convictions, and illegal sentences.
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In November, Alabama attempted to execute Kenneth Smith for over an hour but was forced to stop before midnight, when the specific date of the execution ended. Under the new rule, the State would have been able to prolong the botched execution process indefinitely.
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The practical effect of allowing an execution to be carried out during an undefined “time frame” instead of a specific date is that Alabama could continuously attempt to execute condemned prisoners for hours or days.
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Alabama has become the only state in the country to allow executions without an established time frame, giving state executioners unprecedented power.
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Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court announced a new rule change that grants the governor—rather than the court—unrestricted discretion over when executions are carried out in the state.
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On this day in 1834, Alabama expanded its laws prohibiting free Black people from settling in the state and authorized white enslavers to capture and sell free Black people into slavery. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1832, Alabama passed a law outlawing aspects of Muscogee and Cherokee peoples' daily lives and allowing white people to seize their land through fraud. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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The Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice are offering free admission on Monday, January 16th, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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“I do not think that God approves the death penalty for any crime. Capital punishment is against the better judgment of modern criminology, and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. #MLKDay
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On this day in 1991, the Supreme Court held that formerly segregated schools could be released from prior integration orders, despite evidence schools were resegregating. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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Sign up for EJI’s daily calendar email, which highlights historical injustices each day of the year.
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On this day in 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace gave an inaugural address calling for “segregation now... segregation tomorrow... segregation forever!” To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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The Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice are offering free admission on Monday, January 16th, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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On this day in 1904, a white mob lynched a Black man known as General Lee in Reevesville, South Carolina, for allegedly knocking on the door of a white woman’s house. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1931, a mob of 2,000 white people seized a Black man named Raymond Gunn, placed him on the roof of a school for white students, and burned him alive. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1896, a white mob killed Patrick and Charlotte “Lottie” Morris after setting fire to their Louisiana home because they were an interracial couple. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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Last month the Oregon Supreme Court invalidated hundreds of felony convictions obtained under a 1934 law designed to exclude people of color from meaningful participation in the justice system by allowing nonunanimous jury verdicts.
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On this day in 1966, KKK members shot at and set fire to the home of activist Vernon Dahmer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, killing Mr. Dahmer and razing his home. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1961, thousands of white people rioted and hurled rocks at Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, the University of Georgia's first Black students. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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A new exhibit in Montgomery, "Mothers of Gynecology," honors the enslaved Black women who endured torture at the hands of Dr. J. Marion Sims—a white physician who enslaved, abused, and experimented on Black women in Montgomery, AL.
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On this day in 1961, thousands of white people rioted and hurled rocks at Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, the University of Georgia's first Black students. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1908, newly elected Governor Austin Crothers vowed to disenfranchise all Black Marylanders and “to maintain the political supremacy of the white race.” To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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Mr. Kimbrough's killing is the 19th homicide in Alabama prisons in the past year, and the second at Limestone in the past three months.
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A 35-year-old man named Ariene Kimbrough was killed on Wednesday in an apparent inmate-on-inmate assault at Limestone Correctional Facility in Alabama. Mr. Kimbrough was killed just three months before he would have been eligible for parole and release.
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On this day in 1807, a ship named “Fair American” delivered 88 kidnapped Africans in Charleston, SC. 21,000 Africans were trafficked through Charleston in 1807 alone. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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On this day in 1959, Richard and Mildred Loving were convicted of interracial marriage in Virginia, given a one-year suspended sentence, and banished from the state. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.
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