Journalist focused on prisons & harsh sentencing. More fun than I sound.
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Jun 15, 2023 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Greetings from Pima County Superior Court in Tucson, AZ, where I have an important update in the Barry Jones case. Stand by for news.
BREAKING: After more than 28 years on Arizona's death row, Barry Jones was just resentenced to time served. He should be released shortly. Jones's case was at the heart of the 2022 SCOTUS ruling Shinn v. Ramirez, which reinstated his conviction despite evidence of his innocence.
Jan 12, 2021 • 33 tweets • 12 min read
Good evening from the FCC Terre Haute Training Center, where reporters are gathered to cover the execution of Lisa Montgomery. There is more press than usual tonight. Some, including myself, are here for the 11th time since July 2020.
Non-witnessing press are currently being briefed by BOP spokesperson Scott Taylor, who just told us that the victim’s family will not be addressing reporters after the execution.
Nov 19, 2020 • 31 tweets • 9 min read
Hello from Terre Haute, IN, where the Trump administration plans to execute 49-year-old Orlando Hall tonight. There is a stay currently in place, which I only found out about upon arriving at the media center a little while ago. Of course, this could change.
By now there are several familiar faces at the FCC Terre Haute Training Center, from the BOP official who lets us in to park, to the lady taking temperatures, to the spokesperson who gives the brief media orientation. These are the vans that take press witnesses to the prison.
Sep 24, 2020 • 25 tweets • 8 min read
Good morning from Terre Haute, IN, where the DOJ plans to kill another man in the federal death chamber tonight--the 7th since July. Christopher Vialva was 19 when he killed a young couple in Fort Hood, TX. His co-defendant is also on death row. He was 18. theintercept.com/2020/09/20/fed…
At 40, Vialva isn't the youngest man to face execution under Trump. Lezmond Mitchell was 38 when he died last month. Both did horrific things at 19. Advocates for both also describe how they grew up, showed remorse, contributed to the world around them. theintercept.com/2020/08/25/lez…
Sep 22, 2020 • 28 tweets • 9 min read
So, I’m back in Terre Haute, IN, where the Trump DOJ is preparing to carry out its 6th federal execution since July. These vans were at the FCC Terre Haute Training Center a moment ago, but they just left, carrying media witnesses for the killing of William LeCroy at 6pm.
It's hard to know what more to say right now. This is my third trip to Terre Haute this year, following a couple of visits in 2019. Some previous coverage here: theintercept.com/2020/08/02/fed… & here theintercept.com/2020/08/25/lez… & here theintercept.com/2020/09/09/fed…
Sep 9, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I wrote (again) about the events in Terre Haute, where the Trump administration killed two more people last month. At least two more federal executions are set for this year, with additional dates likely to be on the way. theintercept.com/2020/09/09/fed…
One thing I want to quickly highlight is an interview I got too late to include in my previous piece about Lezmond Mitchell, whose lawyers tried unsuccessfully to get permission from the court to investigate racial bias among jurors. (More on that here): theintercept.com/2020/08/25/lez…
Aug 28, 2020 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
For the 5th time since last month, I’m outside the FCC Terre Haute training center. The Trump administration plans to kill Keith Dwayne Nelson in just over an hour. Media witnesses have not left yet. But I did see Nelson’s spiritual advisor being escorted to the prison earlier.
Media witnesses are kept separate from non-witnessing press at this makeshift media center. But in a briefing earlier we were told the family of Nelson’s victim, 10-year-old Pamela Butler, will address reporters afterward. As far as any stays, BOP says “there are no impediments.”
Aug 26, 2020 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Hello again from Terre Haute, IN, where the Trump administration plans to kill Lezmond Mitchell in just over an hour. Last month, 3 men were executed here in one week. I’m back at the FCC Terre Haute training center, where media witnesses should be leaving for the prison soon.
These are the vans that take reporters to the prison grounds, where they go through security before being led to the death chamber. There are some familiar faces here. A couple journalists here witnesses last months’ executions, which turned into punishing all-night ordeals.
Jul 17, 2020 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
Hi again from Terre Haute, where Dustin Honken is scheduled to die in less than an hour and a half—the third execution this week. Most people seem to think he will be killed on schedule, at 4pm ET.
Again, these are the vans that take witnessing press into the prison for processing. A number of reporters here spent spent all night Wednesday waiting on the execution of Wesley Purkey yesterday—after already staying up all night Monday for the killing of Daniel Lee Tuesday AM.
Jul 15, 2020 • 28 tweets • 8 min read
Hello again from hot, humid Terre Haute, where activists are back, shaken from yesterday’s execution of Daniel Lee , but committed to getting their message out. Wesley Purkey is set to die at 7pm but there are a number of challenges & a preliminary injunction currently in place.
Here are the vans that will take the media witnesses to the execution when the time comes. A number of reporters who witnessed Lee’s execution are back to witness Purkey’s.
Jul 13, 2020 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Greetings from the parking lot of the FCC Terre Haute Training Center, where I’m sitting in my car while we wait for word on whether the execution of Daniel Lee, originally scheduled for 4pm, will go forward. Why my car you ask?
Good question! Unlike prison officials in say, Oklahoma or Arkansas, where I have previously covered executions, the federal government has not set up a media center on site for press who are here but who have not been selected to witness.
Jul 13, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Good morning from Terre Haute, IN, where anti-death penalty activists are speaking across the street from the prison where Daniel Lewis Lee is to be put to death this afternoon.
Victims’ family members have repeatedly spoken out against Daniel Lee’s execution, most recently seeking to postpone it so that they may attend without risking their lives by traveling and witnessing amid a pandemic. They have been denied.
Jun 17, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
So last month I wrote about how Covid has spread at federal residential reentry centers (RRCs), which have been largely overlooked in the pandemic despite being uniquely poised to be vectors. The story was lost amid protest news but is worth revisiting. 1/ theintercept.com/2020/05/28/cor…
Since I first covered this issue in April theintercept.com/2020/04/15/fed… I’ve heard from RRC residents all over the country who tell similar stories of ineptitude and neglect. Some who've repeatedly complained or spoken publicly have faced retaliatory action. 2/ theintercept.com/2020/04/25/cor…
May 31, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I'll say this about Nashville's Metro Courthouse, which got hit last night. The last time I spent time there was for a trial that would allow TN to restart executions w/ a new lethal injection protocol. Days of detailed testimony on the torturous effects of drugs on human beings.
The state prevailed, of course. And TN has been on a killing spree ever since. Of 7 men executed, 4 have *chosen* the electric chair, to avoid the torture of lethal injection as adopted by the state. Not once has the governor intervened, the same man decrying last night's events.
May 30, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Nashville
Only caught the tail end. Almost everyone in masks. Very little discernible cop presence
I know I spent too much time tweeting about electoral politics last night because now I’m on a flight from LAX next to a pair of right-wing 20-somethings bonding over their shared persecution complex. This is clearly my cosmic comeuppance.
lol one of them is a cop
Nov 17, 2019 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
Yesterday I accompanied a woman to see her loved one in prison. We left before dawn to make it for the AM visit. Several hours later, we were headed back home, our visit denied. I wanted to share a bit about the experience. 1/
As with all prisons, visits are limited to certain days. Our past 2 attempts had been canceled at the last minute after her loved one was thrown in the hole. He has serious health issues and they were really anxious for this visit. 2/
Aug 21, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Yesterday in Conroe, TX, people with loved ones on death row came to the Montgomery Co. courthouse to protest the execution of Larry Swearingen, scheduled for tonight.
There are huge red flags, especially with the forensics in Swearingen's case, indicating his innocence. .@chronic_jordan has been writing about them for years, here: thenation.com/article/death-… & here: theintercept.com/2017/09/25/tex…. But TX has kept setting execution dates. This is his 6th.
Jul 30, 2019 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Hello, a short thread about this story, which I published yesterday: theintercept.com/2019/07/29/dea…
First, it’s about much more than politics, but some folks have taken umbrage at the framing/headline, as if I’m saying Dems are the ones REALLY to blame for Trump restarting executions. I invite those people to read the piece. Plenty of blame to go around. theintercept.com/2019/07/29/dea…
Jun 18, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
There's something truly surreal and crazy-making about covering issues like the death penalty and juvenile LWOP during these episodes in which people *freak out* when there is a shred of accountability for privileged white kids.
Re-upping my piece about Henry Montgomery, who was 16 when he was arrested. In 1963! Originally sentenced to die! And denied parole this year bc a white pal of the governor decided he hasn't worked hard enough in prison. But do lecture us about redemption. theintercept.com/2019/06/02/hen…