Dear Friends, Signed just hours after he returned to office, President Trump’s Executive Order to “restore” the death penalty demanded that the United States Attorney General try to overturn long-standing U.S. Supreme Court precedents that protect the constitutional rights of people facing a capital sentence. Then, just yesterday, the U.S. Attorney General issued a sweeping memo announcing their intentions […]
Dear Friends, In 2024, Texas Defender Service launched our Pro Bono Parole Program, which connects deserving candidates seeking parole with pro bono attorneys who can advocate for their release home. In just a few months, four of our clients have already been granted parole. One of them is Christopher, a father of four who had been […]
Dear Friends, Today, President Biden has taken the historic step of commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people serving long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, the broadest commutation of individual sentences ever by a U.S. president. This act recognizes the importance of second chances and acknowledges the racial inequalities caused by extreme sentences in the […]
Dear Friends, Yesterday, President Biden commuted 1,500 sentences in a single day. His action was a historic and inspiring first step in using his executive power to address the harms perpetuated by our criminal-legal system. But President Biden can and should do more—by commuting the sentences of all 40 people on federal death row to […]
Dear Friends, Election night 2024 brought incredible change to this country. Many feel overwhelmed or find it difficult to hold on to hope. The work of fighting for justice day in and out is hard and it takes years—even lifetimes. But we are in it for the long haul. For us, hope is action: facing the most […]
Dear Friends, What played out last night was the most extraordinary legal fight we have ever witnessed in our careers. The execution of an innocent, autistic man, Robert Roberson, was halted at the 11th hour after a group of bipartisan Texas legislators won a temporary restraining order. Their restraining order was vacated by the Texas Court of […]
