PM Stories Dr. Martin Luther King’s Moral Opposition to the Death Penalty Equal Justice Initiative ‘This is not justice’: Justice Sonia Sotomayor offers fierce dissent in death penalty case Raul A. Reyes, NBC News ‘Expedited Spree of Executions’ Faced Little Supreme Court Scrutiny Adam Liptak, New York Times Trump Targeted the Mentally Ill With His Lame Duck Execution Spree Austin Sarat, Slate Biden campaigned on eliminating death penalty – we could soon see how that turns out Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle

On the criminal justice policy front: A piece from Politico goes inside the investigation into last week’s violence at the Capitol. With the hunt to identify, track down, and arrest the rioters already well underway, it remains to be seen how federal and local prosecutors will go about holding them accountable. Some crimes, like assault or unlawful entry, might be easier to investigate and prosecute; but other potential charges, like incitement and conspiracy, are much more complex. A piece from ProPublica explores some of the legal barriers and loopholes that may hamper the investigation. In recent years,...

PM Stories Trump, the death penalty and its links with America’s racist history The Guardian Trump Is Putting the Machinery of Death Into Overdrive Clint Smith, The Atlantic DC judges order Maryland man’s federal execution to go forward on Friday, setting up last-minute battle Jean Marbella, Baltimore Sun What to Know About Dustin Higgs, the Last Man Set to Be Executed by Trump Claire Lampen, New York Magazine A Horrific, Tragic Story Ends in Execution Bridget Read, New York Magazine

PM Stories Trump’s Rush to Execute Prisoners Will Be One of His Administration’s Final Outrageous Acts Wesley Lowery, GQ A $6,300 bus. A $33 last meal. What New Documents Tell Us About Trump’s Execution Spree Keri Blakinger and Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project Dustin Higgs, the Last Man to Be Executed in Terre Haute, Maintains His Innocence Liliana Segura, The Intercept In Lisa Montgomery, formerly incarcerated women see echoes of their own stories: ‘She never had a chance to just live’ Anne Branigin, The Lily

PM Stories Lisa Montgomery becomes first woman executed by feds in 67 years Elizabeth DePompei, Johnny Magdaleno, and Justin L. Mack, Indianapolis Star Dispatches From Trump’s Killing Spree Paul Abowd and Liliana Segura, The Intercept Trump’s last days in office marred by disregard for human life. Death penalty just another example. Donald Ayer, Deborah Gonzalez, and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, USA Today Trump Administration Says the Inconvenience of Rescheduling Executions Outweighs the “Harm” to Prisoners Set to Die Isaac Arnsdorf, ProPublica 2 Men...

PM Stories Biden helped usher in an era of mass incarceration. Can he now end it? Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post Top 5 Criminal Justice Reforms Advocates Want Under Biden Sarah Martinson, Law360 Democrats Unveil Legislation To Abolish The Federal Death Penalty Juana Summers, NPR A plea to acting Attorney General Rosen: Stop all of this week’s federal executions Jeffrey D. Sachs and Mario Marazziti, CNN Trump’s Execution Spree Is Not About Him. It’s About Us. Liliana Segura, The Intercept