One week ago, the Death Penalty Information Center released its 2025 Year End Report. Since then, our data and analysis have appeared in hundreds of media reports across the country!

From The Washington Post to NPR to The Marshall Project, journalists turned to DPI’s verified information to tell the story of the death penalty in 2025. Our data shaped their reporting. Our analysis framed their coverage. Our three decades of rigorous tracking and analysis made their stories accurate and relevant.

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The Washington Post said: "These trends show there is a real disconnect between what the American public wants and what elected officials are doing with the death penalty,’ said Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI). The group does not take a position on the death penalty itself but is critical of how it has been applied.”

The Elizabeth Zitrin Foundation is still matching every donation, dollar-for-dollar, up to $20,000 before the end of the year. With just 9 days left in 2025, this is your chance to ensure DPI will continue serving as the trusted source behind the stories.

The death penalty is complicated. Telling the truth is not.  

Here’s another truth: DPI is a small, independent nonprofit organization that has become the national authority on death penalty data and analysis. We’ve never relied on government funding. We depend on individuals who understand that access to reliable, verified data is essential to making life and death decisions.

Your matched donation today ensures DPI can meet that demand — not just when we release our annual report, but every single day, all year long.

The stories you saw this week — that’s what your partnership makes possible. Thank you for helping DPI remain the source behind the stories.

With gratitude,

Robin M. Maher, Executive Director

On December 15, 2025, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole put a hold on the exe­cu­tion of Stacey Humphreys and post­poned his clemen­cy hear­ing, orig­i­nal­ly sched­uled for December 16, ​“indef­i­nite­ly.” Mr. Humphreys was to be exe­cut­ed December 17 — despite claims that his tri­al was taint­ed by what three Supreme Court jus­tices described as ​“extreme juror mis­con­duct.” He was the first per­son sched­uled for exe­cu­tion in Georgia in 2025. 

Last week, Mr. Humphreys’ attor­neys peti­tioned Fulton County Superior Court ask­ing that two of the five mem­bers of the parole board recuse them­selves from con­sid­er­ing his clemen­cy peti­tion, cit­ing poten­tial con­flicts of inter­est. One board mem­ber was a vic­tim advo­cate assigned to one of the vic­tims in Mr. Humphreys’ case and anoth­er was the sher­iff in the town where Mr. Humphreys’ tri­al was held. According to Mr. Humphreys’ attor­neys, just recus­ing the two mem­bers would not be suf­fi­cient to ensure his clemen­cy peti­tion received a fair hear­ing. They argue the two should be replaced so that Mr. Humphreys’ case is heard by a full five-mem­ber board with­out con­flicts of interest. 

Mr. Humphreys was accused of forc­ing two real­tors to undress at gun­point inside a mod­el home, then rob­bing and mur­der­ing both women. During jury selec­tion, defense attor­neys screened poten­tial jurors for any­one whose sim­i­lar expe­ri­ence might affect their abil­i­ty to fair­ly eval­u­ate the case. One poten­tial juror, Ms. Chancey, report­ed that she had been the vic­tim of a har­row­ing attack; she told the court that a con­vict­ed mur­der­er, on the run from a men­tal insti­tu­tion, had bro­ken into her home. However, she assured the court that she could be a fair juror despite that expe­ri­ence and would ​“hon­est­ly con­sid­er” all sen­tenc­ing options. She said that she had man­aged to escape before the attack­er entered her home. She was placed on the jury. 

Read More »

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Mississippi Death Penalty Case Alleging Race Based Jury Discrimination

The U.S Supreme Court announced on December 15, 2025, that it will hear the appeal of Mississippi death-sen­tenced pris­on­er Terry Pitchford, who has...

Ohio Prosecutors Dismiss Case Against Elwood Jones Nearly 30 Year After Wrongful Conviction

Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich for­mal­ly dis­missed the case against Elwood Jones on December 12, 2025, end­ing a near­ly 30-year saga that...