Arkansas looks to carry out 1st execution since 2005

In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.

The Latest: Inmate declines last meal, receives communion

In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.

The Latest: Arkansas governor disappointed by court ruling

In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.

The Latest: Prison employee describes buy of execution drug

In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.

The Latest: Arkansas inmates petition US Supreme Court

In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.

There is no principled reason to vote against Gorsuch

David C. Frederick is a lawyer at the firm Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick who specializes in Supreme Court and appellate practice. As a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates and progressive causes, I understand the anger at the Republicans' mistreatment of Judge Merrick Garland after he was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama.

New release of Black Panther file reveals FBI rigged investigation of murdered policeman

Buried in the Federal Bureau of Investigation file of deceased Black Panther leader Wopashitwe Mondo Even we Langa are secrets still hidden by Bureau censors, missing records, a misleading letter to a New Jersey Congressman, and a handwritten note revealing the FBI called off the search for a policeman's killer just four days after the officer was buried. An FBI memo dated Aug. 20, 1970, approves the Omaha Police request for help comparing voices - the voice of the person who called police with the voices of the suspects.

Federal court to consider constitutionality of Ohio death penalty

In this November 2005 file photo, Larry Greene, public information director of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, demonstrates how a curtain is pulled between the death chamber and witness room at an Ohio prison. COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday over the constitutionality of Ohio's lethal injection process as the state tries to start carrying out executions once again.

Dennis v. The State.

Robert James Dennis, GDC# 927784, Hays State Prison, P.O. Box 668, Trion, Georgia 30753, for Appellant. Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, J. David Miller, Senior A.D.A., Kenneth Bruce Still, Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, P.O. Box 2498, Moultrie, Georgia 31776, Michelle Thomas Harrison, A.D.A., Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, P.O. Box 99, Valdosta, Georgia 31603, for Appellee.

Backpage.com, CEO plead guilty in California, Texas

The chief executive of a website that authorities have dubbed an "online brothel" pleaded guilty to California money-laundering charges Thursday, while the company itself pleaded guilty to human trafficking in Texas. Carl Ferrer will co-operate in prosecuting Backpage.com's creators and will serve no more than five years in state prison under a California plea agreement.

James Gill: What to do with death row? Some say speed it up, others say kill it

Advocate staff photo by Richard Alan Hannon -- An aerial view of the offices and death row area of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, shot in 2011. Advocate staff photo by Richard Alan Hannon -- An aerial view of the offices and death row area of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, shot in 2011.

Report: Condemned Alabama man coughed, heaved during execution

An Alabama death row inmate coughed and heaved for about 13 minutes during his execution by lethal injection on Thursday night, AL.com reported. Ronald B. Smith, convicted in Alabama of a 1994 robbery and murder, was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m. CT, 34 minutes after the execution began at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, according to AL.com, whose reporter Kent Faulk was present.

Flood victims face major challenges as early voting begins

As Keith and Felicia Scott looked at the ruins of their flooded-out house in North Carolina, the mould growing up the walls and the loose floorboards lying waterlogged at their feet, the presidential election was about the furthest thing from their minds. "I know it's something we need to focus on, but it's kind of hard to focus on that when you've got all this going on," said Keith Scott, a 49-year-old state prison employee who lives outside Lumberton, one of the areas inundated by Hurricane Matthew nearly two weeks ago.