Discussions With DPIC

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Jul 20, 2020

In the July 2020 episode of Discussions With DPIC, David Fathi, the direc­tor of the ACLU’s National Prison Project, speaks with DPIC’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger about death-row con­di­tions across the coun­try. Fathi speaks about the ​“shat­ter­ing” effects of long-term death-row soli­tary con­fine­ment, the move­ment away from auto­mat­ic soli­tary con­fine­ment for death row pris­on­ers, and the impact of COVID-19 in…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Jun 26, 2020

In the June 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Henderson Hill (pic­tured), Senior Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project, speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act. Hill, who has spent decades as a pub­lic defend­er, cap­i­tal defense attor­ney, and civ­il rights advo­cate, is cur­rent­ly rep­re­sent­ing North Carolina death-row pris­on­ers in the Racial Justice Act litigation…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: May 07, 2020

In the May 2020 edi­tion of Discussions with DPIC, Executive Director Robert Dunham speaks with Kelley Henry, a Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender in Nashville, Tennessee who has rep­re­sent­ed Tennessee death-row pris­on­ers for more than twen­ty years. They dis­cuss the effects of the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic on cap­i­tal lit­i­ga­tion, espe­cial­ly the final inves­ti­ga­tions and clemen­cy efforts that take place in the months lead­ing up to an…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Apr 10, 2020

In the April 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann (pic­tured) speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about Colorado’s repeal of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. McCann was elect­ed DA in 2016, as part of a nation­wide wave of reform-ori­ent­ed pros­e­cu­tors. Both as pros­e­cu­tor and in her eight years in the Colorado leg­is­la­ture, McCann has advo­cat­ed for broad crim­i­nal jus­tice reforms, includ­ing the abo­li­tion of the death…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Mar 04, 2020

In the March 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Hannah Cox (pic­tured), National Manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP) speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about the con­tin­u­ing move­ment by social and polit­i­cal con­ser­v­a­tives away from cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, how the death penal­ty is out of step with core con­ser­v­a­tive val­ues, and the key role that con­ser­v­a­tive leg­is­la­tors are play­ing in abo­li­tion efforts across the…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Feb 13, 2020

In the February 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, mem­bers of Myers’ legal team tell the sto­ry of how racial bias, poor rep­re­sen­ta­tion, and judi­cial over­ride led to the pos­si­ble wrong­ful con­vic­tion of an intel­lec­tu­al­ly dis­abled man. Assistant Federal Defender Kacey Keeton and Investigator Sara Romano speak with DPIC Managing Director Anne Holsinger and describe the shod­dy evi­dence used to con­vict Myers, his aban­don­ment by his orig­i­nal appel­late attor­ney, and the legal hurdles…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Dec 27, 2019

In the December 2019 edi­tion of the Discussions with DPIC pod­cast, Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham and Managing Director Anne Holsinger dis­cuss DPIC’s 2019 Year End Report. The pod­cast explores the major themes pre­sent­ed in the year’s death-penal­ty news and devel­op­ments, includ­ing inno­cence, declin­ing use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, and sys­temic prob­lems revealed by the new death sen­tences and exe­cu­tions in…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Nov 12, 2019

Rob Warden and John Seasly speak with Anne Holsinger about their law review arti­cle and pro­file series, ​“Unrequited Innocence,” which exam­ine death-penal­ty cas­es in which pris­on­ers have not been exon­er­at­ed, despite strong evi­dence of inno­cence. Warden, the Executive Director Emeritus of the Center on Wrongful Convictions and a co-founder of both the National Registry of Exonerations and Injustice Watch, and Seasly, a reporter at Injustice Watch, pro­filed 24 cas­es involv­ing 25 defen­dants with…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Oct 03, 2019

James Rytting, an attor­ney who rep­re­sent­ed Texas pris­on­er Larry Swearingen, describes the junk sci­ence used to con­vict his client. Swearingen was exe­cut­ed on August 21, 2019, after mul­ti­ple courts declined to con­sid­er new evi­dence that revealed flaws in the foren­sic evi­dence pre­sent­ed at tri­al. Rytting also explains how Swearingen’s case high­lights flaws that con­tribute to wrong­ful con­vic­tions through­out the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem: unsci­en­tif­ic analy­sis of foren­sic evi­dence, lack of…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Aug 27, 2019

Writer/​director Chinonye Chukwu speaks with DPIC Senior Director of Research and Special Projects Ngozi Ndulue about her award-win­ning new film, Clemency. Chukwu dis­cuss­es her inspi­ra­tion for the sto­ry, the years-long process of research and immer­sion that helped her shape the nar­ra­tive, and her hopes for how this film will be…