As Tennessee Restarts Executions, 40 Years of Data Expose Its Death Penalty as a “Cruel Lottery”
Amid the frenzy over the execution of Billy Ray Irick, a new report exposes Tennessee’s dysfunctional death penalty system.
Liliana Segura
Liliana Segura is an award-winning investigative journalist covering the U.S. criminal justice system, with a longtime focus on harsh sentencing, the death penalty, and wrongful convictions. She was previously an associate editor at the Nation Magazine, where she edited a number of award-winning stories and earned a 2014 Media for a Just Society Award for her writing on prison profiteering. While at The Intercept, Segura has received the Texas Gavel Award in 2016 and the 2017 Innocence Network Journalism Award for her investigations into convictions in Arizona and Ohio. In 2019 she was honored in the Abolitionist category of the Frederick Douglass 200, a recognition given by the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University.
Segura has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, CNN International, Democracy Now!, and numerous other outlets. Her speaking engagements have included public interviews with authors such as Michelle Alexander and Bryan Stevenson. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post and Colorlines, and has been reprinted in outlets ranging from prison magazines to the anthologies "The Best American Legal Writing" and "Against Equality: Prisons Will Not Protect You.” She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Segura has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, CNN International, Democracy Now!, and numerous other outlets. Her speaking engagements have included public interviews with authors such as Michelle Alexander and Bryan Stevenson. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post and Colorlines, and has been reprinted in outlets ranging from prison magazines to the anthologies "The Best American Legal Writing" and "Against Equality: Prisons Will Not Protect You.” She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Chilling Testimony in a Tennessee Trial Exposes Lethal Injection as Court-Sanctioned Torture
The trial was a case study in the twisted legacy of Glossip v. Gross — and a close-up look at the botched executions that continue amid little controversy.
Death and Dereliction
After 23 Years on Death Row, Barry Jones Sees His Conviction Overturned: Arizona Must Retry or Release Him Immediately
Barry Jones insisted upon his innocence for more than two decades. A federal judge just threw out his conviction.
Tennessee Plans to Restart Executions by Killing a Man With Mental Illness
Billy Ray Irick, scheduled to die on August 9, is just one of many people condemned to die in Tennessee despite evidence of severe mental illness.
Anthony Ray Hinton Spent Almost 30 Years on Death Row. Now He Has a Message for White America.
In “The Sun Does Shine,” Hinton describes how racism sent him to die for two crimes he didn't commit.
Alabama’s Lynching Memorial and the Legacy of Racial Terror in the South
At the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, the historical link between lynching and the death penalty is hard to miss.
Despite Backlash for Working With Trump, Activists Say Prison Reform Can’t Wait
As Trump’s abuse of the pardon power grabs headlines, formerly incarcerated activists continue the long fight for federal criminal justice reform.
After Decades on Death Row, William Montgomery Was Granted a Reprieve. Yet His Dubious Conviction Still Stands.
Montgomery won’t be executed on April 11. Yet undisclosed evidence, an unreliable co-defendant and unanswered questions still raise concerns about his case.
Another Failed Execution: the Torture of Doyle Lee Hamm
Just months after Ohio failed to kill 69-year-old Alva Campbell, Alabama tried for two and a half hours to execute Hamm, a man with terminal cancer.
Retired Missouri Judge Who Sentenced Juvenile to 241 Years: “I Hope He Gets Out”
The judge who sentenced Bobby Bostic to the practical equivalent of life without parole for armed robbery spoke publicly for the first time about his case.