Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

A former state court administrator in Montana recently wrote that the death penalty is too expensive for a “court system that was underfunded, understaffed, and had more work to do than was humanly possible.” Jim Oppedahl, who worked with the Montana courts for ten years, offered his views in the Helena Independent Record: “The reality is that the death penalty pumps millions of dollars of very scarce public resources into a handful of executions and then buries those costs in a thicket of…

Before his retirement from the court, Judge Ronald Reagan had sentenced a defendant to death and kept his views on the death penalty to himself. However, as Nebraska is considering a bill to abolish capital punishment, he spoke in favor of its repeal. “I’m a citizen here. I’d just as soon not have a death penalty,” Judge Reagan testified. “It just seems to me that people are recognizing that the death penalty is not an appropriate punishment in a civilized society.” Calling capital punishment…

Life and Death Matters: Seeking the Truth About Capital Punishment is a new book that documents author Robert Baldwin’s personal journey in confronting racism and the death penalty in the Deep South. Baldwin shares his evolution in a conversational, first-person style with a declared faith perspective. Written for people of all beliefs and backgrounds, he focuses on the myths and misconceptions about prisons and the death penalty discovered through his personal experiences. Baldwin began his…

A bill is being introduced in Colorado to end the state’s death penalty and to use the resultant savings to investigate the state’s more than 1,300 unsolved crimes. More than 500 residents who have lost friends and family to unsolved murders are pushing for the bill, which is expected to be introduced by House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann. The proponents estimate that 3 in 10 killers in the state walk free, and catching more killers would be a more effective deterrent than capital punishment…

Five people in Nebraska were recently pardoned for a 1985 murder after new DNA evidence excluded their participation in the crime. The group was also known as the “Beatrice Six.” The sixth man, the only one who had insisted on a jury trial, was exonerated in October 2008 when prosecutors declined to seek a new trial. The State Board of Pardons voted unanimously on January 26 to pardon the five people who had pleaded guilty or no contest in relation to the rape-murder. Nebraska Attorney General…

The Future of America’s Death Penalty, edited by Charles S. Lanier, William J. Bowers, James R. Acker, is a new book comprised of original chapters authored by nationally distinguished scholars. It is an ambitious effort to identify the most critical issues confronting the future of capital punishment in the United States and the steps that must be taken to gather and analyze the information that will be necessary for informed policy judgments. Contributors articulate the most pressing issues…