A Georgia judge halted the execution of Stacey Humphreys, 53, just hours before he was scheduled to be put to death for murdering two women in 2003, after his lawyer invoked Georgia's newly enacted Survivor Justice Act. The stay of execution allows Humphreys a hearing to argue that childhood abuse contributed to his criminal behaviour, potentially reducing his death sentence to life imprisonment. The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the stay whilst the appeal proceeds, recognising the "important and novel questions" raised by the case.

The legal dispute centres on whether the Survivor Justice Act applies to death row inmates. Humphreys' defence claims he endured severe childhood abuse—including beatings, a skull fracture at age three, sexual abuse, and exposure to domestic violence and substance abuse—which damaged his mental health and contributed to his crimes. However, the state attorney general's office contends the law was intended for those abused by their actual victims, not death row inmates generally, and argues nothing in the statute supports Humphreys' application.