Happy 58^th birthday to Willie Manning today, June 12, 2026!

This is the 32^nd birthday that Willie will have spent on Mississippi’s death row.

Willie is still patiently awaiting the Mississippi Supreme Court’s response to an appeal that he made in October, 2024. We are pleased that he remains optimistic about his case.

Beyond the walls of Willie’s prison, executions continue apace, with the racism of the death penalty in continuing evidence: more than half of the 15 people executed in the USA so far this year have been Black men.

However, it is encouraging that Justices at the US Supreme Court have recently criticized the Mississippi Supreme Court’s attitude to the striking (removal) of Black jurors in two death penalty cases. Terry Pitchford was told by the US Supreme Court that in his case “the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied the clearly established… precedents” about striking Black jurors. And in response to Tony Clark’s case, US Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor warned the Mississippi Supreme Court that its approach to investigating improper striking of Black jury members is “almost certainly wrong”.

Having challenged the striking of Black jurors in both his own cases (see here and here), Willie must be pleased with these developments.

We wish Willie a peaceful and hopeful birthday.