Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona

05/01/2026

Trump’s DOJ is trying to bring back the machinery of ex*****ons — faster, broader, and with fewer safeguards.

The Department of Justice has proposed a rule that could allow the U.S. Attorney General to fast-track state ex*****ons and limit meaningful federal review. That matters because federal review is often the last line of defense against wrongful convictions, constitutional violations, racial bias, intellectual disability claims, severe mental illness, and inadequate legal representation.

We have seen what happens when ex*****ons are rushed. During Trump’s first term, 13 people were executed by the federal government in just a few months. Now, the administration wants to help states replicate that speed.

More than 200 people have been exonerated from death row. Once an ex*****on happens, there is no undo button. No apology, no court ruling, no new evidence can bring someone back.

Take action before May 15.
Submit a public comment urging the DOJ to reject this rule.

🔗 Comment here: bit.ly/stopdoj

Suggested comment language:

“I oppose any rule change that would allow states to fast-track ex*****ons by weakening federal review, disregarding constitutional protections, and increasing the risk of wrongful ex*****ons. The death penalty is already deeply flawed, costly, and irreversible. The DOJ should reject this rule.”

Arizona does not need faster ex*****ons. We need real public safety, survivor support, accountability that works, and a justice system that does not gamble with human life.

04/27/2026

The federal government is moving backward on the death penalty.

The U.S. Department of Justice is reviving ex*****on methods including firing squads and lethal injection with pentobarbital, while working to expand and speed up federal death penalty cases and ex*****ons.

No federal ex*****ons have taken place since 2020, when the first Trump administration broke more than a decade of precedent and executed 13 people on federal death row. Now, the Trump administration is once again pursuing death sentences in dozens of cases across the country.

This is not justice. It is a dangerous escalation of a system already defined by racism, error, trauma, and waste.

As renowned anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean has warned, this renewed push reflects a politics of dehumanization — one that treats people as enemies to be destroyed rather than human beings within a flawed and deeply unequal system.

We cannot allow ex*****ons to become a political tool. We must reject the expansion of state killing and demand public safety policies rooted in accountability, healing, and real justice.

6 likes, 2 comments. "Death by Firing Squad: Sister Helen Prejean on Trump's Moves to Ramp Up Ex*****ons"

04/21/2026

Arizona is moving forward with another ex*****on.

Attorney General Kris Mayes is seeking the ex*****on of Leroy McGill on May 20, 2026, marking the third ex*****on request under the Hobbs administration.

Ex*****ons do not make us safer. They drain public resources, retraumatize families, and keep Arizona tied to a system defined by secrecy, cruelty, and failure.

THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
Governor Hobbs is the ONLY democrat governor in the country continuing usage of the death penalty.

Take action today and tell Arizona leaders to stop this ex*****on and reject more state violence.
bit.ly/StopAZEx*****ons

04/13/2026

Our Reading on the Row program has supported nearly 40% of Arizona’s death row population with books and resources that support wellness, education, and hope.

We’re very proud to announce Manny O. as our first Program Ambassador! 📚

Manny is incarcerated on Arizona’s death row and helps lead our program work from the inside, strengthening communication and helping us stay grounded in the real needs of program participants.

We beileve the people closest to the harm systems cause should also be leaders in the solutions.

Consider supporting our ongoing work to provide mutual aide to people incarcerated on death row by making a donation to DPAA’s Reading on the Row program at but.ly/dpa_rotr or sharing this post to raise awareness about our program and work to end the death penalty in Arizona.

We’d also like to thank for their ongoing grant support for this program!

04/07/2026

It’s Arizona Gives Day!
Support our work today and help us reach our fundraising goal.

Your gift helps us fight for a more just Arizona by:

•Opposing policy that would expand ex*****on methods at the state legislature.

•Expanding access to books and educational materials through our Reading on the Row program for people on Arizona’s death row

•Centering and uplifting survivors of crime through our Arizonans for Effective Public Safety campaign

Every dollar helps us push back against harmful policies, expand dignity and access, and build safer, more effective approaches to justice in Arizona.

https://www.azgives.org/organization/DPAA

Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona (DPAA) is a statewide grassroots organization working to educate the public on issues related to the death penalty and the inequities of the criminal justice system.Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona (DPAA) is a non-profit...

04/07/2026

Action Alert 🚨
Arizona lawmakers are trying to expand ex*****on methods by legalizing firing squads and broadening the use of lethal gas. The bills are actively moving through the final stages of the legislative process and if passed would end up on this years ballot.

In an election year, Arizona is getting death penalty politics instead of real reform. At a time when the state is struggling to balance the budget, Arizonans deserve better than costly distractions and political games.

These bills won’t make Arizona safer. They won’t prevent crime. They only drag our state closer barbarism.

Tell lawmakers: Vote NO on SCR 1049 and SB 1751.
Share this post. Email. Call. Get loud.

Because Arizona needs real public safety solutions not brutal ex*****ons.

04/07/2026

Arizonans, it's time to act against firing squads in our state!
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/say-no-to-firing-squads-in-arizona

03/31/2026

Arizona is moving forward with another ex*****on.

The Arizona Supreme Court has set Leroy McGill’s ex*****on for May 20 after the Attorney General’s Office filed for a warrant of ex*****on on March 6. The state argued that because McGill had exhausted his appeals in state and federal court, Arizona law required the warrant to be issued.

But the case is not necessarily over.

McGill’s attorney is pursuing a new round of postconviction litigation, arguing that the jury was given misleading information about parole eligibility, exposed to false and highly inflammatory facts, and that his sentence was imposed during a period when Arizona’s death penalty scheme was constitutionally in question after Ring v. Arizona.

There are also ongoing legal requirements around the state’s ex*****on protocol, including disclosure and testing of compounded pentobarbital, the drug Arizona plans to use.

A new postconviction filing could still lead to a stay.

This is what the death penalty looks like in practice: years of litigation, unresolved legal questions, secrecy around ex*****on drugs, and a system that continues to move forward with irreversible punishment anyway. Arizona should not be in the business of ex*****ons.

*****ons

PHOENIX— In accordance with ADCRR Department Order 710, the Arizona Department

03/15/2026

https://theintercept.com/2026/03/14/alabama-sonny-burton-ex*****on-commutation/

I was supposed to witness Sonny Burton’s ex*****on by nitrogen gas. Instead I saw him celebrate a stunning commutation.

03/10/2026

Good news from Alabama!

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.

02/26/2026

A former federal public defender argues Arizona's firing squad ex*****on bill is unconstitutional, legally risky and a step backward