U.S. Supreme Court Allows Texas’ First Pandemic Execution (1)

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal seeking to expand the law barring executing juvenile offenders in a case that could have impacted 45 Texas death row inmates.

In rejecting a reprieve for Billy Joe Wardlow, leading to his execution in Texas on Wednesday evening for killing an elderly man during a 1993 robbery when he was 18, the high court signaled it wasn’t interested in his claim that he was too young at the time of his crime for the jury to properly determine whether he posed a future danger as required under the state’s unique sentencing ...