DPIC Podcasts

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Oct 15, 2020

In the October 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, for­mer Illinois Governor George Ryan speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about the events that per­suad­ed him to com­mute the death sen­tences of all 167 death-row pris­on­ers in Illinois in 2003. Ryan and Dunham delve into the Governor’s jour­ney from death-penal­ty sup­port­er as an Illinois state leg­is­la­tor to death-penal­ty oppo­nent as Illinois gov­er­nor, and dis­cuss his new book, co-authored with Pulitzer-prize win­ning jour­nal­ist Maurice Possley, Until I Could Be Sure: How I Stopped the Death Penalty in…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Sep 30, 2020

In the September 2020 episode of Discussions With DPIC, Native American Rights Fund senior staff attor­ney Joel Williams joins Death Penalty Information Center exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham for a con­ver­sa­tion about trib­al sov­er­eign­ty, the death penal­ty, and the his­toric U.S. Supreme Court rul­ing in McGirt v. Oklahoma.

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 con­gre­gate-liv­ing cir­cum­stances, such as death-row.

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 chal­leng­ing their death sentences.

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 execution.

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 penal­ty. In her dis­cus­sion with Dunham, she describes the major soci­etal shift away from cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, Colorado’s efforts…

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 U.S.

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 that have blocked his claims of inno­cence and intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty from being heard in court.

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 2019.

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 ​“com­pelling evi­dence of inno­cence.” In the pod­cast, they dis­cuss why they chose to focus on unre­dressed wrongful…