Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

During a recent meet­ing of the European Union’s full assem­bly, European Parliament pres­i­dent Josep Borrell called on the 76 coun­tries around the world that con­tin­ue to retain the death penal­ty to dis­con­tin­ue use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. He not­ed that the United States is the only demo­c­ra­t­ic state that makes​“wide­spread use” of the death penal­ty and that the European Union has a duty to con­vince Americans to end the prac­tice.​“Most unfor­tu­nate­ly, in the U.S. the…

Former San Antonio District Attorney Sam Millsap, who once pro­claimed him­self a​“life­long sup­port­er of the death penal­ty,” now oppos­es cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Millsap says his deci­sion to oppose the death penal­ty was recent­ly affirmed as evi­dence sur­faced that Texas may have killed an inno­cent man when it exe­cut­ed Ruben Cantu, a San Antonio man who was sen­tenced to die while Millsap was DA.​“It is trou­bling to me per­son­al­ly. No deci­sion is more frightening than…

In a let­ter to act­ing New Jersey Govenor Richard J. Codey, Ocean County pros­e­cu­tor Thomas F. Kelaher called for an end to the death penal­ty in New Jersey because he feels the sys­tem is inef­fec­tive and fails to meet the needs of vic­tims’ fam­i­lies. Kelaher, who has been a pros­e­cu­tor for 23 years, said that life with­out parole would be a more appro­pri­ate sen­tenc­ing option for those con­vict­ed of first-degree mur­der.​“The his­to­ry of non­ap­pli­ca­tion of the law has been…

A recent edi­to­r­i­al in The Birmingham News crit­i­cized the cost­ly and unfair nature of Alabama’s cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment sys­tem. It also called on state leg­is­la­tors to, at a min­i­mum, take steps that would lim­it the num­ber of crimes eli­gi­ble for the death penal­ty. The news­pa­per, which recent­ly wrote a series of edi­to­ri­als chang­ing its long-stand­ing sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and call­ing on the state to aban­don the use of the death…

As evi­dence sur­faces that Texas may have killed an inno­cent man when it exe­cut­ed Ruben Cantu in 1993, recent edi­to­ri­als by the Austin American-Statesman and the Dallas Morning News have crit­i­cized Texas’ death penal­ty and called on the state to take a clos­er look at its​“flawed” cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment sys­tem. The Austin American-Stateman wrote: We all should remem­ber (Ruben) Cantu’s case and the lessons it offers as the coun­try car­ries out its 1000^th exe­cu­tion since 1976…

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear argu­ments in two death penal­ty cas­es on Wednesday, December 7, 2005, includ­ing a case to deter­mine the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Kansas’ death penal­ty statute and a case that involves the issue of inno­cence. In Kansas v. Marsh, No. 04 – 1170, the jus­tices will con­sid­er the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Kansas’ death penal­ty, which requires that a death sen­tence be imposed when a jury finds that aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stance and mitigating…

Sixty-five per­cent of vot­ers in North Carolina favor sus­pend­ing the death penal­ty until ques­tions about its accu­ra­cy and fair­ness can be stud­ied accord­ing to a recent Hart Research poll spon­sored by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers.The poll found that even among vot­ers who iden­ti­fy them­selves as strong sup­port­ers of the death penal­ty, 43% still favor a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions while an in-depth study of capital…

Two new books by American University Criminology Professor Robert Johnson, includ­ing one book of satire and a sec­ond book of short sto­ries co-authored with pris­on­er Victor Hassine and crim­i­nol­o­gist Ania Dobrzanska, address life in prison and on death row in the United States. Johnson’s first book of satire,​“Justice Follies,” offers a col­lec­tion of par­o­dies that seek to high­light a host of prob­lems with­in the American prison sys­tem.​“This book made me laugh out loud. It is…

Cardinal William H. Keeler (pic­tured), arch­bish­op of Baltimore and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, made an his­toric vis­it to Maryland’s death row and met with Wesley Eugene Baker, who is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in a few days. Cardinals Keeler, Theodore McCarrick of Washington, DC, and Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Delaware also sent a let­ter to Maryland…

Virginia Governor Mark Warner (pic­tured) com­mut­ed the death sen­tence of Robin Lovitt to life in prison with­out parole, a deci­sion he made to​“ensure that every time the ulti­mate sanc­tion is car­ried out, it is done fair­ly.” Warner not­ed his deci­sion was based on con­cerns that Lovitt could not pur­sue new DNA test­ing on cru­cial evi­dence that could prove his inno­cence. The evi­dence, a pair of scis­sors that pros­e­cu­tors say Lovitt used as the mur­der weapon, had been thrown…