Equal Justice Initiative

The United States Supreme Court on January 19, 2010, issued a decision in Wellons v. Hall, a Georgia death-penalty case in which jurors gave the trial judge and bailiff sexually suggestive gifts during Mr. Wellons's trial for rape and murder. The Court wrote: "The disturbing facts of this case raise serious questions concerning the conduct of the trial, and this petition raises a serious question about whether the Court of Appeals carefully reviewed those facts before addressing petitioner's constitutional claims."

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on January 5, 2010, that Washington State's felon disenfranchisement law violates the Voting Rights Act because it results in minorities being denied access to the polls on account of their race.

The American Law Institute, comprised of 4000 judges, lawyers, and law professors who shape and help promote consistency in the law throughout the United States, recently disavowed the intellectual framework for the modern death penalty system.

On December 18, 2009, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed David Riley's capital murder conviction and remanded his case for a new trial because the trial court allowed his jury to consider highly prejudicial evidence in an illegal manner.

The United States Supreme Court reaffirmed this week in a case from Florida, Porter v. McCollum, that a defense lawyer must conduct a reasonable investigation to uncover mitigating evidence in preparation for a capital trial.