Category Archives: executions

Execution Protocols: without Guidance or Restrictions

Today it is exactly ten years since Willie Manning came very close to being executed. Five years ago we remembered that day through a series of quotations; those words still have the power to invoke the emotions that we felt … Continue reading

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A Trail of Hidden Victims

A former commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections has spoken out against the terrible impact of capital punishment on prison staff. Allen L. Ault was responding to this summer’s announcement that the federal death penalty will be resumed after a … Continue reading

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The US Supreme Court’s Exceptional Barbarity

While we were celebrating the resumption of DNA testing for Willie Manning, the US Supreme Court was shunting the American death penalty into new, shocking levels of brutality. The opinion is described by various legal analysts as “bloodthirsty and cruel”, … Continue reading

Posted in Bucklew v. Precythe, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty unconstitutionality, executions, US Supreme Court, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Welcome Respite

Periods of active state execution are always traumatic for death row inmates: it is torturous watching people that you know being taken away to be killed. It is very good news for Willie Manning and his fellow inmates, then, that … Continue reading

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US Death Penalty: Systemic Problems

It is not surprising that public opinion in the USA is increasingly recoiling from the death penalty: the annual Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) report reveals continuing “systemic problems” in its implementation: “As use of the death penalty dwindles, one might … Continue reading

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Shifting Opinions

November 10, 2017 was the day when Willie Manning completed 23 years on death row. There have been many changes since Willie first entered the row; one that should gladden him is the big decline in American public support for … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, executions, Gallup polls, public opinion, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Legal Challenges to Execution Methods

Until early April only two US states allowed the firing squad as a method of execution. In early April, Mississippi joined Oklahoma and Utah in permitting this “barbaric anachronism of a different era” Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant approved three additional methods … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, electrocution, executions, firing squad, Fly Manning, Mississippi, nitrogen hypoxia, USA, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The USA: A Shameful Record

The USA has a poor reputation when it comes to executions. A report* by Amnesty International found the following: -Most UN member states were execution-free last year;** but the USA continued to execute. -The USA was the only one of … Continue reading

Posted in Amnesty International, capital punishmant, criminal justice, death penalty, executions, Fly Manning, Injustice, Mississippi, revenge, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abominations Masked by Secrecy

Willie Jerome Manning first came to the world’s attention because of an article by Clive Stafford Smith, who continues to speak out against the death penalty. Stafford Smith recently described the US death penalty as a dying dinosaur – destined for … Continue reading

Posted in Arkansas, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, execution drugs, executions, Fly Manning, Injustice, innocence, lethal injection drugs, Mississippi, pharmaceutical companies, secrecy, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What we are doing is wrong

Of all the execution methods being considered in the Mississippi senate last week, it was the firing squad that was rejected; nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution are still being considered.  Discounting the firing squad is understandable, as Radley Balko explains: “We recoil … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, executions, firing squad, human rights abuse, lethal injections, Mississippi, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment