Texas Defender Service

Read our full report here: texasdefender.org/an-extreme-out…

Mr. Busby was from Tarrant County, one of the nation's most aggressive death-sentencing counties. As we documented in our recent report, Tarrant County has disproportionately targeted people of color for the death penalty—especially Black men.

Today is a dark day in Texas. Last night, Texas executed its 600th person since the United States first reinstated the death penalty in 1976. His name was Edward Busby, and he was a Black man whom experts agreed had intellectual disability. #EndtheDeathPenalty

"Scott and his attorney Tony Diaz said in a joint statement they are hopeful the settlement will help improve investigation practices and safeguards against wrongful convictions." apnews.com/article/austin…

Read more at davisvanguard.org/2026/05/tarran…

Co-Executive Director of the Texas Defender Service Burke Butler said, “The days of racial terror lynchings may be over, but racism continues to infect the Tarrant County DA’s Office, influencing who it decides should face the death penalty.” @vanguardngrnews

@dallasnews covering our new report on Tarrant County and the death penalty: dallasnews.com/news/courts/ar…

Texas has long been known as the death penalty capital of the United States. And the death penalty capital of Texas, according to a report released this week, is Tarrant County. @dallasnews

Read more at @keranews by Penelope Rivera at keranews.org/news/2026-05-0…

“No one should face execution because of the color of their skin or the zip code in which they live,” Burke Butler, co-executive director of Texas Defender Service, said. “But the reality is that that's exactly what's happening in Tarrant County right now.”

Read more at @dallas_observer's article by Emma Ruby on our recent report on Tarrant County and the death penalty. dallasobserver.com/news/tarrant-c…

"These types of [death penalty] punishments don’t lead to crimes going down … they just lead to scapegoats. Scapegoats like the crucified,” said Rev. Jeremy Williams, a professor at TCU’s Brite Divinity School and the director of the Center for Theology and Justice.

“Tarrant County needs to do better, society needs to do better, we need to do better,” Cantor Sheri Allen said. Read the full article on @startelegram by @_KamalMorgan at star-telegram.com/news/local/art…

"Idaho became the first state to autho­rize the fir­ing squad as its pri­ma­ry method and is near­ing com­ple­tion on a new $1 mil­lion exe­cu­tion facil­i­ty." Legislation passed March 2025 - goes into effect July 2026. @DPInfoCtr deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-analysis-i…

Reference by @DPInfoCtr deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-analysis-i…

Evidence shows "death by elec­tri­cal cur­rent is extreme­ly vio­lent and inflicts pain and indig­ni­ties far beyond the mere extin­guish­ment of life...the pris­on­er almost lit­er­al­ly boils: the tem­per­a­ture in the brain itself approach­es the boil­ing point of water."

Great new article by Leah Roemer with @DPInfoCtr - New Analysis: In Seeking Firing Squad, Electrocution, and Nitrogen Gas Executions, DOJ Misrepresents American History and Law #EndTheDeathPenalty deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-analysis-i…

Thank you @startelegram for covering our new report on race and the death penalty in Tarrant County! star-telegram.com/news/politics-…

@TexasObserver @MichellePitcher 👏👏

#ICYMI: All 6 episodes of Unforgotten: Riding Shotgun, with @MichellePitcher, are out wherever you find podcasts ... Read our preview of this true crime saga of hypnosis, the death penalty, and possible wrongful conviction, then catch up on the series! texasobserver.org/riding-shotgun…