Rush to Kill

On Dec. 23, in the final weeks of his presidency, Joe Biden commuted the federal death sentences of 37 prisoners to life in prison without the possibility of parole. All but three death row prisoners received commutations, including several who didn't ask for clemency. Now back in office, President Trump is seeking to restart executions at the high-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where al...

In this final episode, we’ll take a look at the final execution of the Trump administration, which was legally unusual. This episode will also include discussion of the “Shadow Docket” — and why some experts argue that the death penalty is corrupting our legal system, allowing the Supreme Court to make decisions without explaining why. — Rush to Kill is available at wfiu.org/rushtokill . Apple Pod...

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court barred the government from carrying out death sentences of people with intellectual disabilities. But in its final weeks in office, the Trump administration set dates for two intellectually disabled men. Corey Johnson was the second person after Alfred Bourgeois whose attorneys presented evidence he was intellectually disabled. Coming up in the final episode, we'll...

In this episode, we meet the people behind a global campaign to save Brandon Bernard. And how 20 years later, they say the experience transformed their beliefs about capital punishment and fairness in the justice system. Coming up in Episode 7: Facing a hard deadline, the U.S. government rushes to carry out two remaining scheduled executions. They both go very wrong. — Rush to Kill is available at...

Historians have long documented how the modern death penalty emerged as a supposed “solution” to the problem of lynchings, racial or otherwise. A method to exact justice behind closed doors, to avoid spectacle. The death penalty is supposed to be a neutral alternative. And yet, at least at the federal level, it depends on who’s in charge. Starting in 2020, the Trump administration swiftly executed...

Lethal injection is now the primary execution method used by the federal government and all executing states. Often dressed up to resemble a medical procedure, it appears to offer a kinder, more gentle death. But records obtained by NPR and WFIU suggest the federal government's preferred execution chemical caused massive damage to prisoners' lungs and might have caused excruciating pain in their f...

How are American lawyers prepared to handle clients with severe mental health issues? Does this factor into the decision to place someone on death row? We're digging into the execution of Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row. Listen to firsthand accounts from the family members, lawyers and investigators involved in her case. Want to learn more about the Lisa Montgomery case? Watch...

This week, we’re looking back to the first executions ever carried out in Terre Haute. The death penalty promises closure, or justice, but does it deliver? And what changes when the victims of a crime number in the thousands? Coming up in episode 3, we’ll take a look at the unusual circumstances surrounding the Lisa Montgomery case. — Rush to Kill is available at wfiu.org/rushtokill . Apple Podcas...

In this debut episode: How U.S. justice officials convinced top judges to sign off on a plan to kill 14 condemned Americans in the middle of a pandemic. A shaky legal theory that got the ball rolling. How laws passed decades ago — by people in power today — made it all possible. And why it could happen again. Coming up in episode 2: The death penalty promises closure, or justice, but does it deliv...

All federal executions in the United States are carried out in Terre Haute, Indiana. Isolated from the facility’s general population, and under extra layers of security, 44 condemned men are held in the U.S. prison bureau’s Special Confinement Unit — America’s death row. But actual executions at that level are extraordinarily rare. For two decades, the U.S. didn’t carry out even one. Everything ch...