Death Penalty
After working as an Assistant Federal Defender in Alabama between 2012 and 2015–where he led a team of professionals that got Chris Revis off of death row—Stephen Cooper has, through his published writings, become “a leading U.S. activist” in the fight to end the death penalty (according to The Church of England Newspaper in Dec. 2018).
“May the vast experience and prophetic voice that Stephen Cooper has brought for so many years to the mission of penalty abolition help put an end to the godless practice of state killing that plagues the United States, and so much of the world. Thank you for carrying the torch of Elie Wiesel and so many others who have engaged in this sacred struggle. One day, we shall get there! May it be bimheirah v’yameinu - soon in our day…”
Cantor Michael Zoosman, March 2024
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"A Jewish meditation on anger and the death penalty"
The Times of Israel; January 20, 2026
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“Investment in Alabama antithetical to French values”
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“Unethical Injection”
Memphis Flyer; December 10, 2025
Also published in: Chattanooga Times Free Press »
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“Investment in Alabama antithetical to German values”
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“Investment in Alabama antithetical to German values”
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“Alabama savagely gas-tortured a 7th man to death”
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“Alabama savagely gas-tortured a sixth man to death”
The Montgomery Advertiser; October 11, 2025
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“Alabama nitrogen-gassing unwanted by victim’s son”
The Montgomery Advertiser; September 23, 2025
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“‘Shoot me, hang me, just please don’t gas me’”’
The Montgomery Advertiser; September 6, 2025
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“The Cruel Heartlessness of Byron Black’s Execution”
The Times of Israel; August 4, 2025
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“Alabama savagely gas-tortured a fifth man to death”
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“Alabama’s nitrogen-gassing: the descent of mankind”
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“Bad idea to muzzle the last words of the condemned”
The Montgomery Advertiser; June 4, 2025
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“Restarting executions in TN amounts to subjecting death row prisoners to torture”
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“Alabama’s torturous death penalty machinery hums on”
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“Alabama exports nitrogen-gassing abomination to Louisiana”
The Montgomery Advertiser; March 15, 2025
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“Atrocity after atrocity in Alabama”
The Montgomery Advertiser; February 13, 2025
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“Leadership abdication and Alabama’s next execution”
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“Biden's failed death penalty legacy in Alabama”
Des Moines Register; January 7, 2025
Also published in:
and many other outlets.
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“Alabama gas-tortured a 3rd man to death”
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“Alabama's pro-gassing federal judge's latest nonsensical ruling”
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“Alabama’s gruesome and gasping nitrogen-gassings”
Montgomery Advertiser; October 21, 2024
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“Alabama arrogantly asphyxiates another condemned man”
The Montgomery Advertiser; October 2, 2024
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“5 reasons why Alabama shouldn't gas human beings to death”
The Montgomery Advertiser; September 23, 2024
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“Alabama’s justice system treats human beings like hogs”
The Montgomery Advertiser; September 12, 2024
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“Gassing humans to death is wrong”
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“How Much Do You Know About Alabama’s Execution Captain for Nitrogen-Gassings?”
Times of Israel; July 31, 2024
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“Alabama's summer 2024 legal lynching”
The Montgomery Advertiser; July 14, 2024
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“Missouri should stop using a vestige of slavery to kill its citizens”
The Montgomery Advertiser; June 5, 2024
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“Opioid Crisis continues to impact capital punishment in Alabama”
The Montgomery Advertiser; May 22, 2024
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“Execution volunteerism: Yet another death penalty horror”
The Montgomery Advertiser; May 3, 2024
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“Houses made on death row”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 24, 2024
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“Good Jews Must Actively Oppose the Death Penalty”
The Times of Israel; April 18, 2024
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“Good People Oppose the Death Penalty”
The Times of Israel; April 8, 2024
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“Growing Away from God by Executing Michael Smith”
The Times of Israel; March 28, 2024
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“Execution of Willie Pye will highlight capital punishment’s racist, classist immorality”
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“Injustice in Texas: A Call for Fair Trial as Ivan Cantu’s Execution Nears”
Jurist; February 25, 2024
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“Alabama torture outrage muted and unconscionably insufficient”
The Montgomery Advertiser; February 9, 2024
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“Mengele-like logic underpins Alabama’s plan to gas a man to death”
The Montgomery Advertiser; January 25, 2024
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“Alabama’s Nitrogen Gas Execution Will Be Cruel and Unusual Punishment”
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“Echoes of Dostoevsky: An Appeal Against Alabama’s Deadly Experiment”
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“Jews must speak out against Alabama's planned nitrogen gas executions”
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“Gov. Newsom’s Moral Imperative to Commute California’s Death Sentences”
Times of San Diego; November 21, 2023
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“Alabama’s next death penalty atrocity: The execution of Casey McWhorter”
The Montgomery Advertiser; November 7, 2023
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“Alabama to Subject Death Row Spiritual Advisors to Nitrogen Gas Risks”
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“Alabama’s Plan to Execute Prisoners With Nitrogen Gas Is Immoral”
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“Has the Texas Lawyer’s Creed Gone to Seed? An Exploration of Professional Ethics and the Death Penalty”
Jurist; September 1, 2023
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“Stopping Alabama's addiction to torture”
The Montgomery Advertiser; July 10, 2023
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“Animal passion, Alabama death sentences, and HB 14”
The Montgomery Advertiser; May 22, 2023
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“Biden’s death penalty inaction is unacceptable”
The Montgomery Advertiser; May 15, 2023
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“Malcolm X would call Biden a 'pretender public defender'”
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“Texas lawyers violated legal ethics over expired execution drugs”
Texas Observer; January 30, 2023
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“The Cow-Patty Stench of Texas’s Death Penalty”
CounterPunch; January 9, 2023
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“Alabama's 2023 death penalty torture outlook”
The Montgomery Advertiser; December 22, 2022
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“Stand up for what’s right: Abolishing the death penalty in Alabama and beyond”
The Montgomery Advertiser; November 14, 2022
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“On slicing and sticking condemned men in Alabama”
The Montgomery Advertiser; October 31, 2022
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“Texas Bloodlust Usurps Prosecutorial Discretion”
Texas Observer; October 3, 2022
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“Alabama earns a big fat 'F' on human rights”
The Montgomery Advertiser; September 17, 2022
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“Alabama makes us all sadistic torturers”
The Montgomery Advertiser; September 11, 2022
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“Fascism, racism, sexism and torture: Alabama’s last execution had it all”
The Montgomery Advertiser; August 2, 2022
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“Alabama's summer 2022 legal lynching”
The Montgomery Advertiser; July 20, 2022
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“President Biden's silence on death penalty speaks volumes”
The Tennessean; June 30, 2022
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“Overincarcerated and condemned grow up in a field of thorns”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 18, 2022
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“President Biden's death penalty lie has consequences”
The Montgomery Advertiser; January 12, 2022
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“Mentally ill in Alabama are being put to death first, because they're mentally ill”
The Montgomery Advertiser; January 5, 2022
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“Billionaires like Branson should stop investing in Alabama until death penalty is gone”
The Montgomery Advertiser; November 14, 2021
ARTICLE PDF
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“Oklahoma's torturous executions are 'who we are'”
The Gadsden Times; November 10, 2021
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President Joe Biden is failing at abolishing the death penalty
The Tennessean; June 21, 2021
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“Ghoulish pall is cast over America by Alabama's plan to gas humans to death”
The Montgomery Advertiser; June 15, 2021
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“Let's kill Alabama's death penalty with capitalism”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 16, 2021
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“Smith’s execution: A step backward for racial justice”
The Montgomery Advertiser; February 22, 2021
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Putting Smith to death puts others at risk: Stop Alabama executions during COVID-19 pandemic
The Montgomery Advertiser; February 1, 2021
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“How Trump era executions threaten lawyers and the rule of law amid COVID-19”
The Tennessean; November 30, 2020
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“U.S. Dishonors Navajo with Death Penalty”
CounterPunch; May 12, 2020
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“Covid-19 exposes the death penalty's selfishness”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 20, 2020
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“‘Just Mercy’ and Justice do not exist in Alabama”
The Montgomery Advertiser; February 15, 2020
Also published in Alabama Political Reporter »
The Church of England Newspaper »
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“Another Death Penalty Horror in the USA”
The Church of England Newspaper; November 21, 2019
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“Sick and Shrouded in Secrecy: Alabama’s Contract to Gas Humans to Death”
Alabama Political Reporter; November 5, 2019
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“We must be honest about the death penalty's repugnance”
The Tennessean; October 8, 2019
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“Reggae artists and their lyrics help expose Donald Trump's depravity”
The Tennessean; August 22, 2019
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“Abolishing the death penalty requires morality”
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“Julius Jones’s Hail Mary to Avoid a 21st-Century-Style Lynching”
CounterPunch; March 29, 2019
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“Keith Tharpe and the death penalty’s racist roots”
Alabama Political Reporter; February 27, 2019
Also published in:
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“Supreme Court screw-up sullies U.S. Constitution”
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“Alabama executions: strictly a Christian affair”
Alabama Political Reporter; February 4, 2019
Also published in The Church of England Newspaper »
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“An abomination in Alabama”
The Church of England Newspaper; December 20, 2018
Also published in:
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“A Tennessee execution will make for a real-life Halloween”
The Tennessean; October 5, 2018
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“Gov. Ricketts’ rationale for the death penalty doesn’t hold up”
Omaha World-Herald; August 12, 2018
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“British waffling on death penalty will have global repercussions”
Alabama Political Reporter; July 26, 2018
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“Ducking and dodging death penalty accountability in Alabama”
Alabama Political Reporter; June 8, 2018
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“Vengeful Alabama to kill 83-year-old man”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 17, 2018
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“Fighting the death penalty with James Baldwin”
The Montgomery Advertiser; March 22, 2018
Also published in:
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“Newsflash: Alabama has been torturing poor people for a long time”
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“Call lethal injection the vile torture it is”
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“When politicians perpetuate the death penalty against the will of the people”
Alabama Political Reporter; December 6, 2017
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“Wiping the stain of capital punishment clean”
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“Commissioner Dunn is 'Baghdad Bob' of Alabama's death row”
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“When racism lurks in the heart of a death penalty juror, does a killer deserve to live?”
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“Celebrating Oktoberfest with executions”
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“Gov. Greitens: Take Down Missouri’s Racist Death Penalty Statutes!”
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“Gov. Kasich: ‘Amazing Grace’ Starts With You!”
CounterPunch; July 21, 2017
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“Hey Gov. McAuliffe: A Democratic standard-bearer would grant Morva mercy”
The Roanoke Times; July 5, 2017
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“Civilized Californians Will Continue Anti-Capital Punishment Fight”
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“A Life Without Parole Sentence – not the Death Penalty – for Hitler”
CityWatch LA; June 8, 2017
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“Is Alabama hiding evidence it tortured two of its citizens?”
The Gadsden Times; May 19, 2017
Also published in:
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“'Fair Justice Act' is anything but”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 25, 2017
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“Nothing is Fair About Alabama’s ‘Fair Justice Act’”
CounterPunch; April 21, 2017
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“Ghoulishness Envelops Arkansas’ Mass Execution Schedule”
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“‘Of Mice and Men’ and the death penalty today”
The Monterey Herald; December 31, 2016
Also published in Times of San Diego »
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“Alabama’s torture of Ronald Smith spotlights unequal justice under law”
The Hill; December 12, 2016
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“Alabama and Georgia dueling for death penalty capital”
The Hill; December 5, 2016
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“Georgia’s shameful record on executions”
The Hill; November 17, 2016
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“Alabama federal judge attacks medical profession in executions”
The Hill; November 2, 2016
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“Death row inmates in Alabama are human guinea pigs”
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“Alabama tilts the advantage in executions in favor of prosecutors”
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“Alabama’s last execution may have burned a man alive”
The Hill; October 27, 2016
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“Prop 66 Promotes ‘Shotgun-Style-Appointment’ of Unqualified Defense Attorneys”
San Diego Free Press; September 23, 2016
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“Time to divorce ourselves from the death penalty”
The Hill; September 21, 2016
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“Proposition 62 Appeals to the Better Angels of Our Nature”
Jurist; September 20, 2016
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“Qualified death penalty lawyers don’t grow on trees”
The Hill; September 15, 2016
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“The death penalty’s toll on the children of the condemned”
The Hill; September 9, 2016
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“Death is Different: What defenders of capital punishment get wrong”
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“California voters can tip the balance in death penalty debate”
The Hill; August 29, 2016
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“D.A. promotes county’s infatuation with death penalty”
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“Proposition 62 Would Finally Halt ‘Machinery of Death’ in California”
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“On Human Rights, California is Better than Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, and Texas!”
Jurist; July 22, 2016
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“The shibboleth of Proposition 66’s death penalty deterrence argument”
The Moderate Voice; July 14, 2016
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“Proposition 66, The ‘Death Penalty Reform and Savings Act of 2016,’ is Fool’s Gold for Californians”
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“Brave Georgia to execute senior citizen next month (the antithesis of ‘the worst of the worst’)”
The Moderate Voice; June 26, 2016
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“Opioid addiction at root of many crimes”
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“Can Californians Afford 18 Scheduled Executions In A Row?”
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“Clemency in Alabama is a Farce”
Alabama Political Reporter; April 25, 2016
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“The death penalty in Alabama: What's it really like?”
The Montgomery Advertiser; April 8, 2016
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“Unacceptable racial bias persists in capital punishment”
The Daily Californian; February 26, 2016
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“Can Alabamians afford the specter of 16 or more scheduled executions in a row?”
al.com; February 19, 2016
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“Why Flint's water crisis should give death penalty supporters pause”
The Grio; February 11, 2016
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“Courts denied phone to attorneys of man condemned to death”
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“When Will The United States Stop ‘Tinkering With The Machinery of Death?’”
The Huffington Post; January 19, 2016
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“The Death Penalty and Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'The Time Is Always Right to Do What Is Right'”
The Huffington Post; January 18, 2016