U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney has ruled that California's death penalty
system is unconstitutional because executions are so rare.

Of the approximately 900 people sentenced to death in California since voters
bolstered the death penalty in 1978, only 13 have been killed. Judge Carney, an
appointee of President George W. Bush, concludes the dysfunctional system
violates the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual
punishment.

Where Judge Carney's decision goes from here is uncertain. Attorney General
Kamala Harris could ask the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the
case. If that court upholds the decision, it could go to the U.S. Supreme
Court.

Read more

The Texan community gathers in support of the innocence of Rodney Reed. All the facts of his innocence will be exposed. Read Rodney Reed's story here

Kevin Cooper is facing execution in California. WATCH the new trailer of a documentary in production. Summary of his case here or go to his personal website Save Kevin Cooper

A new on line exhibition presenting a series of photos and moving human written testimonies between prisoners on death row and pen friends from all over the world.

 LAUNCH DATE: NOW

 TITLE: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

 WEB ADDRESS: www.nothingbuttruth.org

This new on-line exhibition tells nothing but the truth about the special human bond that exists between prisoners on death row in the USA and their pen pals and members of the community from all over the world: Ordinary people such as teachers, students, retired people, those with a strong religious faith, and many others. 

It presents a variety of creative pieces such as  pictures, poems, drawings as well as personal testimonies 
written by the death row prisoners and their pen friends.

This shows how the experience of the injustice of life is sometimes powerful cement in these friendships, and how showing compassion can affect positively both the pen friends and those who have been convicted of the worst possible crimes. It helps make them share a feeling of belonging to the same family -- The family of Man.

Finally, this exhibition is an opportunity for all the pen friends to send a special message respectfully asking 
not to execute their death row friends. 

Victims are not to be forgotten -- Every death is a human tragedy.

Contact here

Once an alleged victim of a wrongful conviction has lost in his/her appeal and been refused a referral back to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) (CACD) by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) there is a very slim chance that they will be able to overturn the conviction. 

In these circumstances, victims of wrongful conviction are likely to have also exhausted the legal aid system and it will be down to themselves, their families, supporters, pro bono lawyers and voluntary groups to unearth the evidence of innocence and present it to relevant authorities such as the CCRC if they hope to get the conviction referred back to the CACD to be overturned. Investigating an alleged wrongful conviction is a lengthy and challenging process. Cases of high profile miscarriages of justice such as the Cardiff Newsagent Three, Paul Blackburn, Robert Brown, Sean Hodgson, and so on, show that it can take years and even decades of investigation before the evidence that led to the quashing of the conviction is found.

Read the different steps to take to investigate an innocence claim- article by Michael Naughton and Gabe Tan