Our Work

Hours before his scheduled execution, the Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted the death sentence of Jimmy Meders to life without parole –  the first commutation by the Board in more than six years. The Board was moved by the fact that every living juror to serve on Mr. Meders’s trial would have voted for… Read More →

The State of Georgia executed Donnie Lance for the 1997 murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend, despite lingering questions about his guilt. Mr. Lance had sought DNA testing to prove his innocence, but his efforts were opposed by the prosecution, and denied by the courts. His and his ex-wife’s adult children opposed his execution… Read More →

The State of Georgia executed Ray Cromartie for the 1994 murder of convenience store clerk Richard Slysz, despite concerns that he was not the shooter in the crime. (His codefendant, who may have been the shooter, was released from prison years ago.) Before his execution, Mr. Cromartie sought, unsuccessfully, DNA testing to prove that he… Read More →

Lawrence Jefferson, who had been on Georgia’s death row for 33 years for the 1985 murder of Edward Taulbee in Cobb County, won a new sentencing hearing from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The unanimous panel found that Mr. Jefferson had not received the effective assistance of counsel because his lawyers… Read More →