Professor Brent E. Newton obtains a court order striking the death penalty in a second federal case

CARLISLE, Pa.—After prevailing in June of this year in a federal death penalty case in the District of Maryland, Professor Brent E. Newton succeeded again in a second such case—this one in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Like the Maryland case, he was appointed in West Virginia for the purpose of litigating a pretrial motion to strike the death penalty when the Department of Justice in mid-2025 had attempted to change its prior position (announced in early 2024) not to seek the death penalty. A copy of the district court's October 7, 2025, order can be found by clicking here.

In 2009, Practitioner in Residence Brent E. Newton was appointed as deputy director of the United States Sentencing Commission, a position he held until January 2019. Professor Newton also practices civil, criminal, and immigration law in Maryland and Texas. In addition, he has been a lecturer, adjunct professor, or visiting professor at several other law schools, including American and Georgetown Universities, the University of Houston Law Center, and Seoul National University in South Korea. Professor Newton has been an elected member of the American Law Institute since 2010.