DPI Podcasts

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Mar 23, 2023

In the lat­est episode of​“Discussions with DPIC,” Robert Dunham, for­mer Executive Director of DPIC inter­views Karen Steele (pic­tured), a researcher and defense attor­ney in Oregon, regard­ing the spe­cial char­ac­ter­is­tics of late ado­les­cent defen­dants fac­ing the death penal­ty. Research by Steele and oth­ers points to the incom­plete brain devel­op­ment in those aged 18 – 21 and how that can be exac­er­bat­ed in those suf­fer­ing from fetal alco­hol spec­trum dis­or­der. The…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Feb 21, 2023

In the February 2023 edi­tion of *Discussions with DPIC*, for­mer Oregon Superintendent of Prisons Frank Thompson speaks with DPIC Managing Director Anne Holsinger about how his expe­ri­ences as a cor­rec­tions offi­cer — as well as being a mur­der victim’s fam­i­ly mem­ber — have affect­ed his views on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Thompson over­saw the only two exe­cu­tions per­formed in Oregon in the past 50 years and was respon­si­ble for devel­op­ing the exe­cu­tion pro­to­col. He said the…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Jan 06, 2023

Longtime civ­il and human rights lawyer, Diann Rust-Tierney, the exec­u­tive direc­tor of Georgetown University’s Racial Justice Institute, joins DPIC exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham for a dis­cus­sion of race, human rights, and the U.S. death penal­ty. Prof. Rust-Tierney argues that the death penal­ty has long been mis­per­ceived as a nor­mal pub­lic safe­ty tool. The real­i­ty, she says, is that​“from its very begin­ning in his­to­ry, \[the death penal­ty\] was part of a legal and…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Oct 31, 2022

In the October 2022 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center Deputy Director Ngozi Ndulue and Data Storyteller Tiana Herring dis­cuss DPIC’s recent­ly released report *Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty*. The report looks at the racial his­to­ry, present, and future of Oklahoma’s death penal­ty. Ndulue and Herring explore Oklahoma’s unique his­to­ry, the key find­ings of the report, its rela­tion­ship to DPIC’s ear­li­er work, and…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Aug 24, 2022

Former Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and for­mer U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester, who co-chaired the bipar­ti­san Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, join DPIC exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham in the August 2022 *Discussions With DPIC* pod­cast. Governor Henry, a Democrat, and Judge Lester, a Republican, dis­cuss the find­ings of the commission’s review that led them to call for a halt to the state’s planned exe­cu­tions of 25 pris­on­ers, at least until sig­nif­i­cant reforms have…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Jul 20, 2022

In the July 2022 episode of *Discussions with DPIC*, Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham and 2021 – 2022 DPIC Data Fellow Aimee Breaux dis­cuss the mak­ing of DPIC’s ground­break­ing Death Penalty Census data­base and some of its key find­ings. The project, the cul­mi­na­tion of near­ly five years of work, tracks the demo­graph­ics and sta­tus of more than 9,700 death sen­tences imposed across the U.S. since the Supreme Court struck down exist­ing death penalty…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: May 11, 2022

In the May 2022 episode of *Discussions With DPIC*, Professor Alexis Hoag (pic­tured) of Brooklyn Law School joined DPIC Deputy Director Ngozi Ndulue for a wide-rang­ing con­ver­sa­tion mark­ing the 35^th anniver­sary of *McCleskey v. Kemp*, a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court deci­sion that reject­ed a con­sti­tu­tion­al chal­lenge to the death penal­ty that showed strong sta­tis­ti­cal evi­dence of racial dis­par­i­ties in cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions and death sen­tences. Professor Hoag, formerly an…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Mar 31, 2022

In the March 2022 episode of *Discussions With DPIC*, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Senior Lecturer **Meredith Rountree** speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about her study of the types of evi­dence that influ­ence juror deci­­sion-mak­ing at the sen­tenc­ing stage of cap­i­tal cas­es. Rountree and her co-author Dr. Mary Rose of the University of Texas, reviewed and ana­lyzed 176 ver­dict forms com­plet­ed by juries in fed­er­al death penalty…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Mar 30, 2022

New Hampshire State Representative Renny Cushing passed away ear­li­er this month. In mem­o­ry of Cushing’s life and lega­cy, DPIC is reis­su­ing the June 2019 pod­cast in which Cushing spoke with DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham. Cushing described the life-alter­ing expe­ri­ence of hav­ing a close fam­i­ly mem­ber mur­dered and his jour­ney from being a mur­der-fam­i­­ly sur­vivor to spear­head­ing New Hampshire’s repeal of the death…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Feb 25, 2022

In the February 2022 episode of *Discussions with DPIC*, fed­er­al pub­lic defend­er, **Amanda Bass** (pic­tured, right) and Justice for Julius advo­cate **Cece Jones-Davis** (pic­tured, left) speak with Death Penalty Information Center Managing Director Anne Holsinger about the ques­tion­able con­vic­tion and near exe­cu­tion of for­mer **Oklahoma** death-row pris­on­er, **Julius Jones**. They dis­cuss how incom­pe­tent rep­re­sen­ta­tion and pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct sent Jones to…