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By Anna Arceneaux, Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project

Featured Work

News & Commentary
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Judges Still Free to Ignore Juries in Alabama

Picture a death row trial in Alabama. The twelve jury members have spent days, maybe even weeks, listening to testimony and evidence about the crime, the defendant, and his life. They are sent back to a room to make the difficult decision whether the defendant should be sentenced to die or serve life without parole. In Mario Woodward's case,after deliberation, the jury voted 8 to 4 that he should be imprisoned instead of put to death.