糖心Vlog

This case presents the question of whether the execution of a capital defendant with serious mental illness violates Article I, section 6 of the Nevada Constitution, which prohibits cruel or unusual punishment. The ACLU鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project and State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 糖心Vlogof Nevada, filed an amicus brief arguing that a plain reading of Article I, section 6 of the Nevada Constitution provides broader protections than the Eighth Amendment and should be interpreted to establish a categorical exemption from execution for this population.

Anthony Wainwright, who was facing imminent execution in Florida, attempted to file a petition in the Florida Supreme Court with the assistance of his pro bono counsel of choice. The court dismissed the petition only because his court-appointed refused to file it, despite the fact that Mr. Wainwright was entitled to do so under Florida law. He asked the United States Supreme Court to review his case to decide whether the Florida court鈥檚 action deprived him his constitutional right of access to the courts and his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The United States Supreme Court refused to review the case, and the State of Florida executed him on June 10, 2025.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. 鈥� The 糖心Vlog joined the growing chorus of calls to Gov. Newsom to commute all death sentences on California鈥檚 death row to life without parole at a press conference in Sacramento this morning hosted by the California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition. The call for commutations comes as the California Supreme Court considers a landmark petition filed in April 2024 by the ACLU, the 糖心Vlogof Northern California, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Wilmer Hale, and the Office of the State Public Defender (OSPD) challenging the state's death penalty statute as racially discriminatory and unconstitutional under the Equal Protection guarantees of the California Constitution. The petition demonstrates that racial disparities in California鈥檚 implementation of the death penalty are persistent, pervasive, and well documented. Black people are about five times more likely to be sentenced to death when compared to similarly situated non-Black defendants, while Latino people are at least three times more likely to be sentenced to death. 鈥淭he evidence makes it abundantly clear that racial inequality infects every aspect of California's death penalty system,鈥� said Claudia Van Wyk, senior counsel at the ACLU鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project. 鈥淕ov. Newsom recognized this when he imposed his moratorium on executions, but systemic failures of this magnitude require more than a temporary pause. While the courts deliberate our legal challenge, executive clemency offers an immediate remedy. The governor must finish what he started and commute every death sentence.鈥� This week, the 糖心Vlogreleased a report on discrimination in capital jury selection citing studies in states across the country, including California. Studies of capital trials in California find that Black prospective jurors and women are disproportionately excluded and selected jurors are skewed from the eligible juror population, resulting in juries are less likely to deliberate and more likely to convict. 鈥淎s the lawsuit we filed in 2024 makes clear, the stark racial disparities in the application of California's death-penalty system violate equal protection,鈥� said Neil Sawhney, director of appellate advocacy at the 糖心Vlogof Northern California. 鈥淲hile we are hopeful that the California Supreme Court will rule in our favor, the governor can immediately remedy this unconstitutional discrimination through executive clemency.鈥� With 570 people on death row, California has the largest death row in the nation and one of the largest in the world. Two-thirds of those sentenced have been on death row for more than 20 years, with dozens having spent more than 40 years awaiting execution.