Torture

Tennessee voters will weigh two criminal justice amendments in the November midterm election. Amendment 1 would expand judges' authority to deny bail beyond capital murder to include crimes such as second-degree murder, child rape, terrorism, and aggravated torture, requiring judges to record their reasoning. Supporters cite public safety; opponents say it undermines the presumption of innocence. About 22 states already allow broader bail denial, while 10 jurisdictions, including New York and Georgia, do not guarantee a constitutional right to bail.

Amendment 3, a version of Marsy's Law, would add victims' rights protections, including notification, participation in proceedings, and restitution, while preserving due process. Early voting is underway ahead of the November 3 election.

An Illinois woman has been sentenced to 31 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for her role in commissioning and distributing videos depicting the torture and sexual abuse of baby and adult monkeys. Amanda Fourez, of Catlin, Illinois, pleaded guilty in April to distributing animal crush videos and conspiring with others to create and distribute them.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Fourez took part in online groups dedicated to producing and sharing violent and sexual content involving monkeys, including footage of animals being burned and mutilated. Prosecutors said she pooled money with others to pay thousands of dollars for custom torture videos, which were then shared through chat groups and messaging platforms on at least 10 occasions.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, with prosecution handled jointly by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Illinois woman gets 31 months in prison for commissioning and distributing monkey torture videos, DOJ says.

A federal judge in Arizona has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the return of Ahmed Soliman, 31, a Phoenix man deported to Equatorial Guinea in April without due process. District Judge John C. Hinderaker found the third-country removal violated U.S. law and Soliman's Fifth Amendment rights, citing "irreparable harm" after months of arbitrary detention, beatings, threats, and incommunicado confinement. DHS must take "all reasonable steps," including issuing travel documents and arranging transport at its own expense, and file status reports every three days. DHS attorneys did not dispute Soliman's account of abuse or that he was deported without a fear screening. The agency has 30 days to appeal.

Soliman, granted protection from removal to Egypt as a gay man, was targeted after speaking out about conditions facing dozens of U.S. deportees held at a decommissioned hotel in Equatorial Guinea under a secretive $7.5 million U.S.-brokered agreement. His case echoes that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and feeds into an ongoing Supreme Court dispute over third-country deportation protections, with more than 20 others still detained at the hotel.

Tennessee's Sept. 30 lethal injection attempt on death row inmate Christa Pike failed when she survived two doses of pentobarbital, the first known case of its kind. Pike, convicted in the 1995 torture-murder of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer, spent nearly a week unconscious on a ventilator before waking and speaking in a Nashville hospital. Her attorneys say execution team members could not properly establish IV lines, and had unsuccessfully asked the court to allow hanging instead given Pike's platelet disorder and small veins.

It marks Tennessee's second botched execution this year, after officials in May could not establish an IV line for Tony Carruthers, who received a one-year reprieve from Gov. Bill Lee. Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada, hired in 2023 after overseeing botched executions in Arizona, has since resigned. The incident has prompted renewed scrutiny elsewhere, including in South Dakota, where lawmakers this year considered (and effectively killed) a bill to repeal the death penalty. The cases add to wider scrutiny of lethal injection protocols nationally, including past moratoriums in Alabama, and fuel ongoing arguments over capital punishment's reliability as roughly 29 executions have been carried out across the U.S. so far in 2026.

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada is resigning this month, Gov. Bill Lee announced, in the first major fallout from Christa Pike's botched execution. Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday and was left unconscious on a ventilator; her legal team said IV line problems likely caused the drug to miss her bloodstream. Lee has halted further executions and named former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to lead an independent review, the same role Stanton held after a 2022 execution was called off for protocol violations. Strada, who previously oversaw Arizona executions marked by similar IV complications, defended Tennessee's handling of the procedure, though Pike's attorneys called it a "systemic failure."

This is the second failed Tennessee execution since May, when officials aborted Tony Carruthers's execution after more than an hour of unsuccessful IV attempts. That incident had already spurred bipartisan calls, including from state Rep. Scott Cepicky, for a special legislative session and a pause on executions while lethal injection protocols are reviewed.

Tennessee officials attempted to execute inmate Pike with pentobarbital, but she survived two doses and was hospitalized in critical condition; her attorneys described at least seven needle attempts, purple and blistered skin, burns and sharp pain at the injection site, calling it torture. Gov. Bill Lee called the outcome "deeply disturbing," suspended a December execution and ordered an independent review. Republican leaders including Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and House Speaker Cameron Sexton are weighing alternative methods, while Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the GOP nominee for governor, called for restoring the electric chair, backed by House Majority Leader William Lamberth. Democrats want legislative oversight before executions resume.

The case has renewed scrutiny nationally. In Utah, where lethal injection is the primary method and state law mandates a fallback to firing squads if the drugs become unavailable or unconstitutional, advocates are now calling for a moratorium, citing Pike's case alongside the recent release of death row inmate Douglas Carter amid new DNA evidence. The Death Penalty Information Center estimates about 7% of lethal injections have been botched historically. Ohio, meanwhile, hasn't executed anyone since 2018 due to drug shortages, with Gov. Mike DeWine not expecting one during his remaining term.

A federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, to 60 years in prison for orchestrating torture at a Syrian prison and lying to U.S. immigration officials to enter and remain in the country. A jury convicted him in March on charges including conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture, visa fraud, and attempted naturalization fraud.

Prosecutors said Alsheikh headed Adra Prison, also known as Damascus Central Prison, from roughly 2005 to 2008 under then-President Bashar al-Assad, overseeing brutal treatment of political dissidents, including beatings, prolonged suspension, and confinement in filthy, vermin-infested cells. Officials describe him as the highest-ranking former Assad regime figure convicted in person outside Syria. He entered the U.S. in 2020 and was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2024 after concealing his background on immigration applications.

U.S. District Judge Hernán Vera called the crimes "heinous" and "unspeakably violent." Alsheikh's attorney said he plans to appeal. Prosecutors had sought at least 80 years; the defense had requested five, citing his age and health.

Abortion policy continues to fracture along state lines three years after Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, removing restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks and drawing criticism over the state's parallel campaign against pregnancy resource centers, which has spurred defamation and free-speech lawsuits. In Missouri, voters will decide in November on Amendment 3, a compromise measure that would restore limits on abortion after 12 weeks while allowing exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies, and would also bar gender transition procedures for minors. And in Columbus, Ohio, reproductive rights advocates are pressing the city council to remove Flock automated license plate readers, warning the cameras could help states with abortion bans track and prosecute out-of-state patients, despite police assurances that reproductive-care searches are filtered.

Together, the disputes illustrate how abortion access, surveillance, and parental-consent questions remain contested even in states that have moved to protect or restrict the procedure, with litigation and ballot measures likely to shape enforcement for years.