Personal Reflection: Loss of DPI Board Member Ronald Tabak

DPI Board Member Ronald J. Tabak died on July 22, 2025 after a long ill­ness at the age of 75. Among his many accom­plish­ments, Ron was a long­time sup­port­er of the Death Penalty Information Center, a pas­sion­ate advo­cate for peo­ple sen­tenced to death, and a trea­sured friend. Ron had a heart of gold and will be dear­ly missed by his many friends and family. 

Ron joined the law firm of Skadden Arps in 1985 to launch and man­age its for­mal pro bono pro­gram, direct­ing crit­i­cal law firm resources to ensur­ing com­pe­tent rep­re­sen­ta­tion of death-sen­tenced peo­ple. Ron worked on many death penal­ty cas­es him­self, includ­ing help­ing secure Georgia pris­on­er Johnny Lee Gates’ removal from death row after 26 years of lit­i­ga­tion. He also recruit­ed and super­vised hun­dreds of Skadden lawyers who shared his unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to pro bono work. 

As an active mem­ber of the American Bar Association, he worked close­ly with the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, the ABA Due Process Project, and the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. Each year Ron authored an annu­al chap­ter on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment devel­op­ments for the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section report. He was active in many orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing the NYC Bar’s Capital Punishment Committee, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the New York Civil Liberties Union. 

Ron was a beloved fix­ture at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Annual Capital Punishment Defense Training, where his leg­endary ​“Top Ten List” was always a high­light. We at the Death Penalty Information Center will espe­cial­ly miss his sense of humor, thought­ful guid­ance, and warm friend­ship. In 2019, when he was hon­ored by the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, fel­low DPI Board Member George Kendall remarked that ​“It is impos­si­ble to assem­ble in one place all of Ron’s con­tri­bu­tions to improv­ing our jus­tice sys­tem and fight­ing for fair­ness for his cap­i­tal clients. We would live in a decid­ed­ly dark­er soci­ety with­out Ron’s decades of service.” 

We are hum­bled that Ron’s fam­i­ly has iden­ti­fied DPI as one of the orga­ni­za­tions ​“espe­cial­ly close to his heart.” Those wish­ing to hon­or Ron’s life and work may make a con­tri­bu­tion to DPI at https://​death​penal​ty​in​fo​.org/​a​n​n​o​u​n​c​e​m​e​n​t​s​/​d​o​n​a​t​e​-​t​o​-​t​h​e​-​d​e​a​t​h​-​p​e​n​a​l​t​y​-​i​n​f​o​r​m​a​t​i​o​n​-​c​e​n​t​e​r​-​i​n​-​m​e​m​o​r​y​-​o​f​-​r​o​n​a​l​d​-​j​-​tabak