On Monday, lawyers for Dylann Roof filed a challenge to the federal death penalty. Roof is accused of killing nine people in a shooting spree at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June.
In the motion, the defense attorneys argued the federal death penalty itself, which the Justice Department is seeking against Roof, "constitutes a legally prohibited, arbitrary, cruel, and unusual punishment prohibited by both the Fifth and Eighth Amendments."
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Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
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Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the deep of winter
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ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
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ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
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Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
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ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
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Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
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France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
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Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
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Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
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Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
