News & Developments
Public Opinion
Sep 05, 2024
Research Roundup: Revisiting David Baldus’s Study to Examine Modern Day Use of the Death Penalty
DPI’s new series focuses on academic research and articles in the field of capital punishment. This month’s article is “Sacred Victims: Fifty Years of Data on Victim Race and Sex as Predictors of Execution,” in The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, co-authored by Professors Scott Phillips (Department of Sociology & Criminology), Justin Marceau, Sam Kamin, and a J.D. program alumna, Nicole King, from the Sturm College of Law at the University of…
Read MoreHuman Rights
Sep 04, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Somalia
The Aprajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, which outlines the death penalty for rape resulting in the victim’s death or “vegetative state,” was adopted by the West Bengal government in eastern India on September 3, 2024. Under international law, it is unlawful to prescribe the death penalty for a crime not meeting the “most serious” crime (e.g., intentional murder)…
Read MorePublic Opinion
Sep 03, 2024
Articles of Interest: The New York Times Editorial Board Argues United States “Does Not Need the Death Penalty”
In an August 31, 2024, editorial from The New York Times, the newspaper’s editorial board writes that capital punishment is “immoral, unconstitutional and useless as a deterrent to crime,” and asserts that President Joseph Biden should follow through with his campaign pledge to end the federal death penalty. The Times believes “it would be an appropriate and humane finale to his presidency for Mr. Biden to fulfill that pledge and try to eliminate the death penalty for federal…
Read MoreSentencing Alternatives
Aug 30, 2024
Articles of Interest: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board Argues that Death Penalty Will Not Bring Justice for Leon Katz
In a new editorial, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette argues that the death penalty is “never the justice that is called for” and achieves “nothing of value except the satisfaction of vengeance.” The Post-Gazette describes the death of 6‑week-old Leon Katz in June as an “almost unfathomable” crime and a “violation of primordial innocence” — but argues that Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.’s decision to seek the death penalty against Nicole Virzi, Leon’s alleged…
Read MoreThe DPIC Death Penalty Census
Aug 29, 2024
Death Penalty Census Now Complete Through January 1, 2024
The Death Penalty Information Center has updated its Death Penalty Census database to include new death sentences, exonerations, resentences, removals from death row, and other status changes up to January 1, 2024. DPI’s Census is a unique, comprehensive collection of every death sentence imposed since 1972, with information on the county and state of prosecution; the year and outcome of each sentence; and the name, race, and gender of the defendant. It contains information on 9,857 death…
Read More