Related Websites

Death Penalty Related Web Sites

The Death Penalty Information Center does not endorse any of the organizations listed below nor does it guarantee the accuracy of the information posted at these sites. Similarly, we do not claim that these organizations endorse DPIC.

Government Resources

Federal

Bureau of Justice Statistics: Capital Punishment — criminal justice statistics, includes information on publications, press releases, and other BJS services
Department of Justice: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics — data pertaining to all aspects of criminal justice in the United States
FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) — provides criminal statistics nationally, as well as by region, state, and city.

State Departments of Corrections

(sites often include history, list of death row inmates, case histories, and upcoming executions)

Research & Legal Sources

ABA Death Penalty Representation Project — a Web site with a public page describing the Project’s primary goal to recruit law firms to represent death sentenced prisoners; the site includes a password protected area limited to lawyers representing individuals facing the death penalty. It also has a Capital Clemency Resource Initiative Clearinghouse with information on clemency practices.
ABA Death Penalty Due Process Review Project — the Project conducted research and educated the public and decision-makers on the operation of capital jurisdictions’ death penalty laws and processes in order to promote fairness and accuracy in death penalty systems. It encouraged adoption of the ABA’s Protocols on the Fair Administration of the Death Penalty; assisted state, federal, and international stakeholders on death penalty issues; and collaborated with other individuals and organizations to develop new initiatives to support reform of death penalty processes.
Boalt Hall Death Penalty Clinic — clinic for students at UC Berkeley School of Law
Capital Punishment or Compassion: Executions in the State of New Mexico: The Death Penalty Since Territorial Days — provides the names, crimes, and dates of execution for those executed in New Mexico.
Center for Death Penalty Litigation — the Center for Death Penalty Litigation is a non-profit law firm that provides direct representation to inmates on North Carolina’s death row, as well as consulting with and training attorneys who practice capital litigation across the state.
Center for Prosecutor Integrity — contains a database of prosecutorial misconduct cases
Center on Wrongful Convictions — dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice. The Center investigates possible wrongful convictions and represent imprisoned clients with claims of actual innocence.
Clark County Prosecutor’s web site with links to over 1,000 death penalty related Web sites
The Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Initiative — a bipartisan committee of death penalty supporters and opponents who agree that the risk of wrongful executions in this country is unacceptably high
Cornell Law School Death Penalty Project — links to state and federal statutes and cases.
Death Row USA — the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund’s quarterly reports on death rows across the United States.
Death Penalty Worldwide — International death penalty database.
Derechos — provides links to a variety of death penalty sites.
Equal Justice Initiative — provides assistance for Alabama death-row prisoners during the post-conviction appeals process.
Find Law.com
Rick Halperin’s Death Penalty News and Updates — death penalty statistics, news, updates, addresses of U.S. Governors
Indiana Public Defender Council
Clark County (Indiana) Prosecutor
Innocence Project Web Site — comprehensive Web site of the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The site contains case profiles, other innocence projects, DNA legislation and news, and much more.
Internship Opportunities in Capital Defense Offices — this site has law student internship opportunities in offices around the country that are engaged in the defense of death-row prisoners or capitally-charged defendants.
Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) — death penalty section contains news of international developments
Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project — a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing and correcting wrongful convictions in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia
MacArthur Justice Center — a non-profit public interest law firm affiliated with the Northwestern University of Law. The center concentrates on cases that raise constitutional or significant issues in the field of criminal justice.
National Death Penalty Archive, University at Albany — an archival collection of materials from death penalty activists, researchers, litigators, and others covering the history of the death penalty in the United States.
National Registry of Exonerations — the National Registry of Exonerations is a joint project of the University of the Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. It provides detailed information about all known exonerations (for all crimes, not just death penalty crimes) in the United States since 1989; cases in which a person was convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges.
Southern Center for Human Rights — death penalty news, articles and reports, good source for prison reform resources, and legal/advocacy resources
Stateline.org — includes databases of information on crime and prisons, capital punishment, and news for each state. Allows a comparison of between 2-4 states.
Texas Defender Service — aims to help improve the quality of representation afforded to indigent Texans charged with a capital crime or under sentence of death.
Texas Tech University School of Law Capital Punishment Clinic — clinic for law students in the Regional Public Defender’s Office for Capital Cases located in Lubbock, Texas.

Advocacy and Abolitionist Groups

National

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — a variety of articles and resources on the death penalty, includes state legislation updates.
ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project — a campaign to build support for the repeal of the death penalty in the U.S. through advocacy and education.
Campaign to End the Death Penalty — a national abolitionist group, focusing on grassroots support and organization to end the death penalty
Death Penalty Action — a national advocacy group seeking to end the death penalty both legislatively and through direct action in individual cases.
Equal Justice USA — a national, grassroots organization working to build a criminal justice system that is fair, effective, and humane, starting with repeal of the death penalty and increased services to families of homicide victims.
Friends Committee on National Legislation — a Quaker lobby in the public interest, seeks to follow the leadings of the Spirit as it speaks for itself and for like-minded Friends.
Journey of Hope — led by murder victim family members that conducts public education speaking tours and addresses alternatives to the death penalty.
Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights — is an organization with a national and international focus actively working to abolish the death penalty. MVFHR members are murder victims’ family members and family members of the executed who are opposed to killing in all cases whether it be homicide, state killing, or extrajudicial killings and “disappearances.”
Sisterhelen.org— the Official website of Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking.
Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty
Witness to Innocence — is the nation’s only organization composed of, by, and for exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones. The organization challenges the American public to grapple with the problem of a fatally flawed criminal justice system that sends innocent people to death row. One of Witness to Innocence’s primary goals is to empower death row survivors and their loved ones to be effective leaders in the death penalty movement. It provides an essential network of peer support for these individuals as they respond to the challenges and opportunities of life after exoneration.

International

Amnesty International — tracks death penalty internationally, includes statistics and general information, country reports
Australian Coalition Against the Death Penalty — anti-death penalty organization in Australia that supports International abolition of the death penalty and is against the re-introduction of capital punishment in Australia
Italian Section of Amnesty International — international death penalty documents, appeals and information
Bruderhof Community — articles and essays on capital punishment, includes writings from death row prisoners
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Sant’Egidio Community of Italy — an appeal for the moratorium of the death penalty all over the world by the year 2000, promoted by Sr. Helen Prejean and other organizations.
Ensemble Contre La Peine de Mort — holds international conferences on worldwide abolition of the death penalty and publishes an electronic newsletter (in French).
European Association for Human Rights — campaigns for the promotion, advancement and protection of human rights and the promotion, monitoring and support of people in emergencies, including those on death row, at national and international level. (in English and German)
European Union in the United States - Site offering information on European Union policy and action on the death penalty.
International Commission against the Death Penalty — an international organization of high-level former governmental officials that works to abolish the death penalty worldwide.
The Moratorium Campaign — works towards obtaining a moratorium on the death penalty, educating the public, and collects signatures for a petition that will be delivered to the United States representatives to the United Nations on Human Rights Day.
International Justice Project — works towards the development, coordination and increased employment of international law and human rights standards as they pertain to capital punishment.
Reprieve — provides effective legal representation and humanitarian assistance to impoverished people facing the death penalty at the hands of the state in the US and the Caribbean. Reprieve’s Web site is an umbrella site that catalogues all death penalty resources on the internet.
World Coalition Against the Death Penalty — Coalition committed to the universal abolition of the death penalty.

State

University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center — general information about the death penalty as well as specific information about Alaska. General information includes history and recent developments, link to Supreme Court cases, death row inmates and facilities, debate topics, specific issues and international topics.
Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona — a collection of Arizona activists, educators, legal professionals, policy makers, civic/religious leaders, and concerned Arizonans whom are united in discourse and civic engagement pursuing the balancing of ethics with justice by calling for an immediate end to Capital Punishment in Arizona
California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Focus of California — covers death penalty issues, focuses on state of California
Delaware Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty — works for restorative justice in the form of effective alternatives to the death penalty.
Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty — covers death penalty news and information, focusing primarily on Georgia.
Indiana Abolition Coalition
Iowans Against the Death Penalty
ACLU of Kansas
Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty —promotes public education about capital punishment and disseminates information about the death penalty and the effects of executions.
Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty — includes newsletters, links to other sites, and announcements about various events that Abolition 2000 is promoting.
LA Repeal - The Promise of Justice Initiative — a Louisiana organization dedicated to ending the death penalty and advocating for better confinement conditions.
Maryland Coalition Against State Executions — coalition of groups and individuals united to end the death penalty in Maryland through education, legislative action, and public demonstration.
Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death Penalty — death penalty news and information from Massachusetts.
Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty— information about specific death penalty cases in Nebraska, including a history of the death penalty in Nebraska and abolition art.
Nevada Support: Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty — This nonprofit coalition and group, aims to provide support for death row inmates, family members and friends. The site provides updates on Nevada death penalty news, urgent actions, and prisoners’ art work, writings, and articles.
New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Network for Justice — New York State organization founded by partners Equal Justice USA and the League of Women Voters
North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Ohioans to Stop Executions — local information and statistics, with some specific cases.
Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty — contains local information, in addition to other death penalty resources
Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty — information about the death penalty in Oregon.
Pennsylvanians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty
ACLU of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia chapter. Provides information and a link to a listserve which provides state updates on death penalty and other issues.
Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Texas Defender Service — aims to help improve the quality of representation afforded to indigent Texans charged with a capital crime or under sentence of death.
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty — death penalty statistics and information, contains detailed information on Virginia’s death row
ACLU of Virginia
Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers — provides links to breaking news headlines about the death penalty.
Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty — death penalty information and updates nationally and in Washington

Religious

Catholic Mobilizing Network — national organization that mobilizes Catholics to end the use of the death penalty and to transform the U.S. criminal justice system from punitive to restorative.
PaxChristi USA — national Catholic movement for peace. Includes announcement of new national campaign against the death penalty.
People of Faith Against the Death Penalty — a national nonprofit organization with information on educating, organizing, and mobilizing religious leaders and laity in religious communities towards abolition of the death penalty.
Ministry Against the Death Penalty — national religious organization dedicated to promoting alternatives to the death penalty.
ReligionLink — a site that helps journalists develop and write informed stories about religion. (Link goes directly to death penalty).
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism — provides an issue and legislative analysis and defines the position of the Reform Jewish Movement
Unitarian Universalists Against the Death Penalty — brief overview of the Unitarian Universalist position and upcoming events

Resources for Victims

Murder Victims Families for Human Rights
National Center for Victims of Crime - support hotline to speak with victim advocates, receive referrals to support services.
National Organization for Victim Assistance - promotes victim rights and services through national advocacy, direct services to victims and assistance to professional collegues.
Office for Domestic Preparedness - enhances the capacity of State and local jurisdictions to respond to and mitigate the consequences of incidents of domestic terrorism.
Office for Victims of Crime - oversees diverse programs that benefit victims of crime.

Inmate Correspondence Groups

Friends Beyond the Wall
ConnectDeathRow
Death Row Support Project - Matches penpals with U.S. death row inmates
Human Writes - A non-profit organization which offers friendship and support to people on death row through letter-writing.
ACM – Agir pour les Condamnés à Mort (To help the Sentenced to Death) - French site for correspondence with US inmates.
Life Lines - A UK-based organization that facilitates correspondence with prisoners on death row in the U.S.

Other Sources

The Clemency Project seeks the release from prison of battered women who have killed or injured their abusers.
Art for Redemption — site for the display and sale of art by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals
Inmate Art - site for the display and sale of art by death row inmates.
Texas Death Row By Alan Pogue - A page of photographs and commentary from Texas’ death row
Criminal Justice Programs with capital punishment focus.