Cruel and Unusual: Virginia vs. ArizonaFifty states have fifty ways of doing things, from speed limits to killing people. These differences are a form national schizophrenia…Apr 18, 2021Apr 18, 2021
Cruel and Unusual: Briley PiperSouth Dakota is a death penalty state. Currently, one prison, Briley Piper, 40, sits on death row. In March 2000, Piper and two…Apr 13, 2021Apr 13, 2021
Cruel and Unusual: A Few MoviesDeath penalty cases, and injustice in general, provide rich material for Hollywood. A prime example is Too Kill a Mockingbird, which was…Apr 6, 2021Apr 6, 2021
Cruel and Unusual: NatGeoIn this month’s edition of the National Geographic there is a story about those wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. In National…Mar 30, 2021Mar 30, 2021
Cruel and Unusual: Non-killersIn twenty-eight states, a participant in a crime that results in a death can be sentenced to death — even if that person did not kill…Mar 23, 2021Mar 23, 2021
Cruel and Unusual: South DakotaThe state of South Dakota, where I live, killed its first citizen, Jack McCall, in 1877. McCall was tried and found guilty of murdering…Mar 2, 2021Mar 2, 2021
Cruel and Unusual: Lisa MontgomeryLisa Montgomery was notorious for being the only woman on death row. Federal officials at the maximum-security penitentiary in Terre Haute…Feb 16, 2021Feb 16, 2021
Cruel and UnusualIn 2009, The New Yorker magazine published a long article by David Grann called “Trial by Fire,” about the life and death of Todd…Feb 11, 2021Feb 11, 2021
