More than 100 protesters rallied at the State Capitol, asking for DNA testing of a piece of evidence before his execution. Family members and supporters maintain Reed's innocence.

"I am here hoping that we can help get Rodney reed free," a protester and family members of Reed's said. "He's innocent, and test the DNA and it will prove it. And I feel like in my heart that he's going to come home if only the attorney general does what's right, and look over the evidence that has been presented, and do the right thing and just let him come home."-- READ FULL ARTICLE KVUE.COM

The Florida Supreme Court is throwing out the conviction of  death row prisoner Paul Hildwin  after new DNA evidence raised questions about whether he murdered a woman nearly 30 years ago.


Read announcement from the Associated Press

Attorneys for Larry Swearingen filed an amended motion last week to the 9th state District Court in Montgomery County for additional DNA testing in his capital murder case.

His attorneys say:
“We have identified some very important facts that are clearly mistaken that change the way this DNA testing must be looked at,” Rytting said. “The law has changed, the facts have changed, and now we have additional evidence we believe Mr. Swearingen was not the last person with the victim -- that she was with someone else. They have the wrong person in jail.


Read Article from The Villager


Read more: Death Row Prisoner Larry Swearingen May Be Innocent. Do Texas Courts Care?
Larry Swearingen is supported by the Innocence Project

Politicians going after Republican votes know from the polls that opposing capital punishment is a career-ending decision. But, a growing group of conservatives say it's time to reject a policy that they describe as an anti-life intrusion by big government. Is this the future of conservative politics?
Writing in the Boston Globe, Leon Neyfakh profiles activists across the country who have come to the conclusion that execution by the state is an affront to the core principles that conservatives claim to espouse.
Among them is Marc Hyden, who grew up in a Southern family of Republican voters, and took it for granted that being pro-death penalty was a bedrock belief. Previously a Florida field representative for the NRA, Hyden is now an organizer at Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty:What finally changed Hyden's mind, he says today, was encountering criminology data suggesting that the death penalty does not serve as a meaningful deterrent to would-be criminals. "Deterrence was the last thing I had to cling to," Hyden said. "I figured, even if it's inconsistent with fiscal conservatism, even if it's inconsistent with pro-life policies and limited government, we can save lives by deterring future murderers. And then I saw several studies that showed that's patently false."
Hyden's organization also discusses the implications of convictions in the DNA era, and debunks some popular myths about innocence - Read full article at io9