Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

Former FBI Director William Sessions recent­ly called on pros­e­cu­tors and law enforce­ment offi­cials to sup­port broad­er access to DNA test­ing to address grow­ing con­cerns about inno­cence. Sessions’ com­ments in an op-ed in The Washington Post came just weeks after Kirk Bloodsworth, the nation’s first death row inmate to be freed based on DNA test­ing, was informed that Baltimore County author­i­ties had genet­i­cal­ly linked anoth­er sus­pect to the crime using DNA evi­dence. Sessions…

Eight years after the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in New York, the num­ber of death sen­tences sought by pros­e­cu­tors has sharply declined. According to the New York Capital Defender Office, the num­ber of death penal­ty notices filed has dropped from a record-high 14 in 1998 to just two so far in 2003. Howard R. Relin, a long-time dis­trict attor­ney in Rochester and death penal­ty sup­port­er, noted: ​“D.A.‘s are being more and more care­ful in mak­ing that deter­mi­na­tion. There’s a sense of realism…

After U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft autho­rized a fed­er­al death penal­ty pros­e­cu­tion against two Massachusetts men accused of a gang mur­der, the local Suffolk County District Attorney, Daniel F. Conley, object­ed to using cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to end urban vio­lence, stating, ​“I do not believe the death penal­ty is a deter­rent or appro­pri­ate pun­ish­ment for inner-city homi­cide. The death penal­ty runs counter to the strate­gies for pre­vent­ing and pros­e­cut­ing urban crime — which include…

The Washington Post recent­ly respond­ed to Judge Jane Marum Roush’s deci­sion allow­ing Virginia to seek the death penal­ty for Lee Boyd Malvo despite treaties for­bid­ding such a sen­tence for juve­niles. The paper’s edi­to­r­i­al not­ed that while the judge’s deci­sion may be legal­ly cor­rect, it ​“does not ren­der Virginia’s (juve­nile death penal­ty) pol­i­cy any less abhor­rent.” The edi­to­r­i­al went on to…

In an effort to pre­vent wrong­ful con­vic­tions and ensure accu­rate eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission has rec­om­mend­ed new pro­ce­dures for state law enforce­ment agen­cies. The com­mis­sion was formed by state Supreme Court Justice Beverly Lake and is com­prised of judges, police, pros­e­cu­tors, defense attor­neys and oth­ers. Among the rec­om­men­da­tions were pol­i­cy changes requir­ing police to show eye­wit­ness­es line­up par­tic­i­pants one at a time in live lineups or…

An August 2003 Charlotte Observer/​NBC‑6 poll revealed that near­ly half of those sur­veyed in North and South Carolina say the states should pause exe­cu­tions until the death penal­ty sys­tem is deemed fair. Of the 908 respon­dents, 48% voiced sup­port for a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions and 41% were opposed. While men were about equal­ly split on the ques­tion, 50% of women favored a mora­to­ri­um and 35% opposed it. Among African American respon­dents, 67% favored a mora­to­ri­um, while 42% of white respondents…

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has issued a tem­po­rary reprieve for death row inmate Philip Workman, who was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on September 24^th. Noting that there is an ongo­ing fed­er­al crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tion that may shed light on Workman’s case, Bredesen stated, ​“So long as there are out­stand­ing issues that may be relat­ed to this case, the only prop­er thing to do is to wait until those ques­tions have been answered. I am a sup­port­er of the death penal­ty, but com­mit­ted that it be…

An International coali­tion of non-gov­­ern­­men­­tal orga­ni­za­tions will spon­sor a World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10^th, 2003. The coali­tion will host local events through­out the world to draw atten­tion to their con­cerns about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Among the events sched­uled are debates, con­certs, and lec­tures. The coali­tion will also host an Internet event urg­ing repeal of the death penal­ty in all coun­tries that main­tain the prac­tice, includ­ing the United States. (World Coalition…

As the October 1^st dead­line for Florida inmates to request DNA test­ing of evi­dence that could prove their inno­cence looms, Broward County pros­e­cu­tors have announced that they will allow inmates access to the cru­cial test­ing after the dead­line pass­es. Two of Florida’s high­­est-pro­­file DNA exon­er­a­tions, Frank Lee Smith, who died of can­cer on death row 11 months before he was exon­er­at­ed by DNA evi­dence, and Jerry Frank Townsend were both Broward County cas­es. Carolyn McCann, head of the Broward…

“The Wrong Men: America’s Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions” by Stanley Cohen is slat­ed for release in October 2003. This book tells the sto­ry of how more than 100 inno­cent peo­ple found them­selves on death row in the United States. Through an exam­i­na­tion of eye­wit­ness error, jail­house snitch­es, racism, junk sci­ence, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, and incom­pe­tent coun­sel, Cohen pro­vides a behind-the-scenes look at the prob­lems lead­ing to wrong­ful con­vic­tions. He also cap­tures the stories…