“They feared that breaking the link between the death penalty and race would remove too many people from death row. They decided they were willing to accept racial bias to keep the death penalty.”

In “True Justice,” the Equal Justice Initiative founder connects the dots between enslavement and death sentences for Black people—and breaks down why he is committed to ending mass incarceration.

The new docuseries explores the case of Julius Jones, a Black college student sentenced to death for killing a White man despite his repeated protests of innocence.

President Donald Trump outlines blueprint to tackle opioid crisis; critics pan his proposal as recycled draconian measures that target communities of color and have failed to reduce drug use.

Seven people are scheduled to be executed by month’s end.

The Charleston Massacre shooter was sentenced to death in federal court earlier this year.

Reactions to the decision are…complicated: “Killing Dylann Roof won’t do anything to rid our country of White supremacy. It’s in our bones, it’s in our soil, it’s in the White House.”

Jurors found Roof guilty of killing nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. Now he faces sentencing for his crimes.

The jurors, who found Roof guilty of all 33 charges against him, will decide on his punishment next month.

The New York Times Magazine explores how racism and bias impact crime and punishment.

Roof killed nine Black worshippers at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last year. 

Dylann Roof faces the death penalty for killing nine Black worshippers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Chuch in Charleston, South Carolina, last year.  

Ohio—like many states—is having trouble obtaining the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections.

Someone who kills a white woman is 48 times more likely to be executed than someone who kills a black man.

The Connecticut Supreme Court rules that the death penalty “fails to comport with our abiding freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.”

SCOTUS rules that states can continue to use controversial drug midazolam for lethal injections—despite claim that it doesn’t prevent pain during executions.

Latinos make up just 10 percent of Nebraska’s population—but account for half the inmates on death row. 

A national and state-by-state look at how the race of prisoners—and victims—intersect with executions.