We fight for the end of mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Texas through direct representation, policy reform, and public education.
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We are so proud to share an exciting new resource to help people understand the parole revocation process, prepare for hearings, and advocate for themselves when facing possible parole revocation! Please check it out at texasdefender.org/wp-content….
We often see how systems have failed people with intellectual disability long before their first interaction with criminal-legal institutions. Since 2018, Texas Defender Service has helped save seven people with intellectual disability from execution. texasdefender.org/the-consti…
A federal judge ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to install air conditioning in every state prison by the end of 2029.
texasdefender.org/texas-pris…
Christa Pike could be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Her supporters say she has changed in isolation; her victim’s family wants her to die. #EndTheDeathPenalty nytimes.com/2026/09/28/us/ch…
Last week, Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey was executed at 41 years old, making him the sixth person executed in Texas this year. He was 20 years old at the time of his crime. His last words were thanking his "brothers on Texas death row who grew up with him."
Pike's attorneys have requested an all-female execution team for September 30, citing Pike's documented history of sexual abuse by men and her post-traumatic stress disorder, the New York Post reported. yahoo.com/news/us/articles/d…
"Only five counties in the entire United States — one-fifth of one percent — sentenced a person under age 21 at offense to death between 2020 and 2025." Read more here: deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-dea…
Today, Melissa Lucio was denied relief from wrongful conviction. In 2024, Judge Nelson found that Lucio was innocent of killing her daughter & ruled in her favor on all claims. The court concluded, “no rational juror would convict Ms. Lucio.”
More info: innocenceproject.org/cases/m…
Christa Pike was 18 when she was sentenced to death for murder. According a neurology professor, Christa “experienced more severe adverse events than 99% of the US population." Read more here:
dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu/ad…
California Has One-Quarter of All the Nation’s Death Sentences. Will Newsom Commute Them All? Read More Here: davisvanguard.org/2026/09/ca…
A first-of-its-kind lawsuit challenging California’s death penalty on systemic racial grounds has cleared an initial hurdle at the California Supreme Court. deathpenaltyinfo.org/califor…
Watch the KVUE report on TDS client Michael Highfill here: "Travis County man asks judge to reconsider his capital murder conviction after 26 years." kvue.com/video/news/crime/tr…
Travis County District Attorney's Office on TDS client Michael Highfill: "We believe the evidence shows that the co-defendant acted alone and Mr. Highfill was not culpable.” Read more: kxan.com/news/local/austin/1…
After more than 26 years behind bars, Michael Highfill is challenging his capital murder conviction in the 1998 killing of Luis Flores, and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office now agrees he is entitled to relief. kvue.com/article/news/local/…
Ohio Gov. DeWine used clemency authority to issue 1 commutation to Greg Lott, formerly on death row. He should do more for the other 106 people on death row. dispatch.com/story/sponsor-s…
Solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. 115-degree heat. Jimmie Duncan is haunted by the decades he spent on death row in Angola prison — and how, even after being released, he still isn’t truly free. veritenews.org/2026/08/31/lo…
A Black man once sentenced to death for murder fights for freedom after discovering his attorney defended the Ku Klux Klan.
cnn.com/2026/08/25/us/rocky-…
The national half-year total fell from 25 to 16 even as Florida’s own half-year total rose from 7 to 9 between 2025 and 2026. Florida’s pace of executions also accelerated. The state averaged one execution every 16 days across 2025. deathpenaltyinfo.org/florida…
The Ohio Parole Board recommended Tuesday that a man who has spent 30 years on death row for two murders he says he did not commit should have his sentence commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole as early as 2029. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tyr…
Journalist Ashonti Ford examines every stage of Alabama’s capital punishment system—from sentencing and execution protocols to the perspectives of prosecutors, defense attorneys, faith leaders, victims’ advocates, and firsthand witnesses to executions. pulitzercenter.org/projects/…
