Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

On April 23, the Connecticut Supreme Court will consider whether the 11 inmates who remained on the state’s row after the legislature voted to repeal the death penalty in 2012 can still be executed. Mark Rademacher, an attorney for one of the inmates, argued that the legislature’s repeal of the death penalty demonstrated the punishment is no longer necessary and, hence, executing his client would be cruel and unusual punishment. Rademacher also asserted that the law’s prospective nature…

A recent editorial in the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star highlighted some of the conservative arguments opposing the death penalty. Edward Crane (pictured), founder of the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, said, “My own view on capital punishment is that it is morally justified but that the government is often so inept and corrupt that innocent people might die as a result. Thus, I personally oppose capital punishment.” The editorial also quoted Mary Kate Cary, former speechwriter for…

A recent article in the Liberty Champion, a publication of Liberty University, discussed the concerns some conservative Christians have about the death penalty. The article by student Whitney Rutherford focused on the financial costs of the death penalty and its emotional toll on murder victims’ families: “Rather than providing victims, their families, and the family of the accused an expedient result, these groups are dragged through the emotional upheaval of waiting and watching the justice…

Two bills under consideration in Texas aim to address issues in the state’s death penalty. House Bill 2458 would allow defendants to appeal their death sentences if they can prove that race was a significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the death penalty. Statistical evidence of bias can be used to support such a claim. Similar bills, referred to as the Racial Justice Act, have been considered in other states. Testimony in favor of the bill mentioned the case of Duane Buck, an…

On April 11, a jury in Puerto Rico rejected a death sentence for a defendant convicted of murdering an undercover policeman. Instead, Lashaun Casey will be sentenced life in prison without parole. The defendant was eligible for the death penalty because the case was tried under federal law rather than the law of Puerto Rico, which abolished the death penalty under the constitution it enacted in 1952. The Commonwealth has not carried out an execution since 1927. Anti-death penalty protestors…

George F. Will, conservative commentator of the Washington Post, recently drew a lesson about the death penalty from the documentary The Central Park Five, which airs on PBS on Tuesday, April 16. Will wrote, “[T]his recounting of a multifaceted but, fortunately, not fatal failure of the criminal justice system buttresses the conservative case against the death penalty: Its finality leaves no room for rectifying mistakes.” The Central Park Five tells the story of five juvenile defendants (four…

Today, in lieu of our daily “What’s New,” we are making a special request. Please take a moment to consider the importance of DPIC’s work on the death penalty and make a donation to support these efforts. Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Raymond Bonner called DPIC “the best single source of facts, figures, and other information about capital punishment in America.” DPIC reaches almost 3 million visitors per year through its website and millions more through our work with the media, such as our…

A new report from the Death Penalty Project, titled The Death Penalty in Japan, provides an assessment of that country’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty which both Japan and the U.S. have ratified. While retaining the death penalty is not itself a breach of the treaty, the report states Japan is under an obligation to develop domestic laws and practices that progressively restrict the use of the death penalty. According to the report…

A new book by Kathleen Cairns explores the intriguing story of Barbara Graham, who was executed for murder in California in 1955, and whose case became a touchstone in the ongoing debate over capital punishment. In Proof of Guilt: Barbara Graham and the Politics of Executing Women in America, Cairns examines how different narratives portrayed Graham, with prosecutors describing her as mysterious and seductive, while some of the media emphasized Graham’s abusive and lonely childhood. The book…

According to a new report from Amnesty International, the international trend away from the death penalty generally continued in 2012. The number of countries in which death sentences were imposed fell from 63 to 58. The number of countries that have completely abolished the death penalty stood at 97. Ten years ago, this figure stood at 80. In total, 140 countries worldwide have ended the death penalty in law or in practice. However, 3 countries — India, Pakistan, and the Gambia — returned to…