Death Penalty Information Center

DPIC REPORTS

Dec 16, 2022

The Death Penalty in 2022: Year End Report

The death penalty continued its long-term decline in the U.S. in 2022, as Oregon commuted its death row and new death sentences and public support for the death penalty remained near 50-year lows. States botched a record 7 executions in 20 attempts.
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EVENTS

Nov 04, 2022

Webinar Series on Human Rights and the U.S. Death Penalty

DPIC hosted a series of webinars on human rights issues in the U.S. death penalty. Click below for recordings and descriptions of each webinar.
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DPIC REPORTS

Oct 14, 2022

DPIC Report — Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty

The report observes that Oklahoma is at an inflection point in its administration of the death penalty and explores the effects of Jim Crow and racial violence that persist into the present day.
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DEATH PENALTY CENSUS

Jun 29, 2022

New Resource: The Death Penalty Census

DPIC’s database of more than 9,700 death sentences imposed between the Supreme Court ruling striking down U.S. death penalty laws in 1972 and January 1, 2021 details the systemic arbitrariness, bias, and error of the modern U.S. death penalty.
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PROSECUTORIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Jun 30, 2022

DPIC Analysis Finds Prosecutorial Misconduct Implicated in More than 550 Death Penalty Reversals or Exonerations

A DPIC review of death sentences imposed and overturned in the United States since 1972 has found more than 550 prosecutorial misconduct reversals and exonerations, more than 5.6% of all death sentences imposed in the U.S. in the past half-century.
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INNOCENCE

Feb 18, 2021

DPIC Special Report: The Innocence Epidemic

A new Death Penalty Information Center analysis of 185 death-row exonerations shows most wrongful convictions are not merely accidental.
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Intellectual Disability

Dec 04, 2020

DPIC Analysis — Intellectually Disabled Defendants of Color, Foreign Nationals Disproportionately Subject to the Death Penalty

A DPIC analysis of death sentences overturned because of intellectual disability has found that intellectually disabled defendants are disproportionately likely to be sentenced to death if they are Black or Latinx.
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News & Developments

POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: New Evidence Regarding Missouri Man Facing Execution

Leonard Taylor (pictured) is a Missouri death-row prisoner who was convicted in 2008 of a quadruple murder that occurred in St. Louis in December 2004. His execution is scheduled for February 7, 2023. Taylor has consistently maintained his innocen…

Human Rights

Feb 02, 2023

California Supreme Court Grants New Trial in 30-Year-Old Death Penalty Case

The California Supreme Court granted Nvwtohiyada Idehesdi Sequoyah (tried as and referred to in court documents as Billy Ray Waldon) a new trial on January 23, 2023 after overturning his 1992 death sentence and conviction. Sequoyah was permitte…

Federal Death Penalty

Feb 02, 2023

Penalty Phase Scheduled to Begin in Federal Capital Trial of Sayfullo Saipov

Sayfullo Saipov (pictured) was found guilty in federal court on January 26, 2023 of killing eight people on a New York City bike path in 2017 by driving a truck into a crowd of people. He will now likely be the first person to face a federal capit…

Human Rights

Feb 01, 2023

Texas Death Row Prisoner Commits Suicide

On January 21, 2023, Texas death row prisoner Terence Andrus hanged himself at the age of 34, a little more than 6 months after the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of his case for a second time. His lawyer,Gretchen Sween, told the Los Angeles…

Jan 31, 2023

Robert Dunham to Leave Death Penalty Information Center After 8 Years as Executive Director, Board Names Richard Dieter as Interim Director

Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham will be leaving DPIC after eight years at its helm. He will be replaced on interim basis by former Executive Director Richard Dieter

Innocence

Jan 30, 2023

Attorneys for Kevin Cooper Respond to Special Counsel Report

Kevin Cooper (pictured) is a death-row prisoner in California who was convicted of murdering four people in 1985. He has maintained his innocence of the offense. On January 13, 2023, a special counsel appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to conduct …

Innocence

Jan 27, 2023

Oklahoma Attorney General Appoints Special Counsel to Conduct ‘Thorough Review’ of Richard Glossip’s Case

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has appointed a special counsel to conduct a ‘thorough review’ of the case of death-row prisoner Richard Glossip, who has faced nine execution dates despite strong evide…

Victims' Families

Jan 26, 2023

Family Members of Murder Victims Call on North Carolina, Nevada to Commute States’ Death Rows

In North Carolina and Nevada, family members of murder victims are speaking out against the death penalty, encouraging officials in both states to commute their death row. At a press conference (pictured) outside the North Carolina gove…

Representation

Jan 25, 2023

Alabama Court Removes Key Appeal Protection for Death Sentenced Defendants

The Alabama Supreme Court announced a change to its rules of appellate procedure on January 12, 2023, eliminating automatic plain error review for trial errors in death penalty cases. This new rule removes a significant safeguard for capital defen…

Upcoming Executions

Jan 24, 2023

Oklahoma Court Grants Attorney General’s Motion to Slow State’s Execution Spree

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) has reset the state’s execution schedule, slowing down the pace at which the 25-person execution spree it authorized in July 2022 would move forward. The order, issued January…

Georgetown Racial Justice Institute Director Diann Rust-Tierney on Reconceptualizing the U.S. Death Penalty as a Violation of Fundamental Human Rights

reports

More Information

Reports

Behind the Curtain: Secrecy and the Death Penalty in the United States

At least 20 people have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt.
Official misconduct is the leading cause of wrongful capital convictions.

On the Issues

Henderson Hill and the North Carolina Racial Justice Act

Tweets by @DPInfoCtr

The Death Penalty in 2022: Year End Report

Webinar Series on Human Rights and the U.S. Death Penalty

DPIC Report — Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty

New Resource: The Death Penalty Census

DPIC Analysis Finds Prosecutorial Misconduct Implicated in More than 550 Death Penalty Reversals or Exonerations

DPIC Special Report: The Innocence Epidemic

DPIC Analysis — Intellectually Disabled Defendants of Color, Foreign Nationals Disproportionately Subject to the Death Penalty