Open Search form

Death Penalty

Apply for a Blog

Stephen A. Cooper

Jun 23, 2026, 9:02 PM

Alabama’s justice system: A depraved heart and no soul

Since June 11 when, without explanation, the Supreme Court let stand a decision from a lower court refusing to allow Alabama to gas convicted murderer Jeffery Lee with nitrogen, legal observers have issued a variety of opinions as to...

Michael Zoosman

Jun 5, 2026, 3:19 AM

From Death Penalties to Hanging Effigies: Executions Feed the Cycle of Violence

The hanging effigies of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Donald Trump on display at a recent pro-Palestinian rally in Montreal serve as the latest nauseating reminder that calling for executions only...

Stephen A. Cooper

May 24, 2026, 12:40 PM

Alabama’s summertime torture of Black men

What is it about the swaggering, sweltering heat of summer that stirs up so much bloodlust? By now it’s a platitude that murder and other violent crime rates rise when the weather gets hotter. And while there’s no time...

Stephen A. Cooper

May 22, 2026, 1:51 AM

Questions About Alabama’s Next Nitrogen-Gassing

During a 30-hour window starting June 11 and ending June 12, Jeffrey Lee is scheduled to be executed in Alabama by nitrogen-gassing or “nitrogen hypoxia” if you prefer that name; the bottom line is nitrogen gas will be pumped...

Michael Zoosman

May 21, 2026, 11:45 PM

Hamas Threats Confirm Worst Incitement Fears After Israel’s Death Penalty Laws

Michael Zoosman

May 18, 2026, 8:37 PM

The Shameful Company of Global Executioners that Israel now Keeps

We, the thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” across Israel and the world, lament the fact that the two barbaric execution-related bills that a majority of Knesset members have recently passed into law place Israel...

May 17, 2026, 8:46 AM

Defiling the Land — And Us

“Do not leave the body hanging overnight...for it is an affront to God; do not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deut. 21:23) On March 30 the Knesset passed a law mandating the death penalty...

Michael Zoosman

May 12, 2026, 3:37 AM

While Judaism Affirms Life, Israel’s Latest Execution Law Serves Death

By the end of his life, Holocaust survivor, Nobel laureate and staunch death penalty abolitionist Elie Wiesel famously said of capital punishment: “Death should never be the answer in a civilized society.” We, the thousands of members of “L’chaim!...

Michael Zoosman

May 11, 2026, 11:08 AM

Ben Gvir’s Death Penalty Dream Is Israel’s Nightmare

Screenshot

Last week, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir once again provoked global recriminations when he posted an AI-generated TikTok video declaring he 'dreams' of nooses, celebrating a law that mandates death by hanging exclusively for Palestinian detainees....

Michael Zoosman

May 6, 2026, 11:31 PM

Knesset’s Second Death Penalty Bill Debases Israel’s Lag Ba’Omer Revelry

The Knesset’s obsession with the death penalty in Israel once again collided with the Jewish liturgical calendar in yet another telling synchronicity, highlighting how that legislative body has upended the Jewish value of life. Many in Israel and across...

Load more