Publications & Testimony
Testimony and Statements on the Death Penalty
FROM DPIC
For testimony by former Executive Director Robert Dunham and former Executive Director Richard C. Dieter, please visit our page DPIC Testimony.
FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
- News Brief: Pope Francis Calls for Prayer to Abolish the Death Penalty (September 1, 2022)
- Jewish Congregation Renews Request for Department of Justice to Drop Death Penalty in Tree of Life Synagogue Killings (June 24, 2021)
- Orthodox Church Patriarch Calls Death Penalty Incompatible with Christian Beliefs (October 20, 2020)
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — Statement on the Federal Death Penalty (August 5, 2019)
- Louisiana Christian Faith Leaders Call for State to Abolish Death Penalty (April 25, 2019)
- Pittsburgh Rabbi’s Wife Opposes Death Penalty for Tree of Life Synagogue Killings (March 18, 2019)
- Orthodox Jewish Organization Calls for an End to Capital Punishment in the U.S. | Death Penalty Information Center (February 17, 2016)
- Baptist Theologian Says Death Penalty Does Not Fit With Christian Theology (March 8, 2016)
- Civil and Human Rights: Death Penalty — Church & Society, The United Methodist Church
- Religious Views: Over 150 Catholic Theologians Call for Repeal of the Death Penalty (September 27, 2011)
- Power Over Life and Death — The Power to Save a Life (January 15, 2005)
- Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice (November 2000)
- The Challenge of Holiness: A Sermon on the Death Penalty (January 10, 2000)
- General Assembly of the Texas Conference of Churches — Resolution Opposing the Death Penalty (February 24, 1998)
- Statement by Catholic Bishops of Texas on Capital Punishment (October 20, 1997)
- Catholic Church Expresses Strong Opposition to Capital Punishment in Catechism (September 9, 1997)
- Catholic Bishops of Iowa Issue Statement on Death Penalty (February 4, 1998)
- To End the Death Penalty: A Report of the National Jewish/Catholic Consultation
- Transcript of Dr. Pat Robertson’s Speech on the Role of Religion and the Death Penalty at The College of William and Mary
- Collection of Official Catholic Statements on the Death Penalty (1980)
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
- UN experts call for universal abolition of the death penalty | OHCHR (October 9, 2023)
- Zambia Becomes 25th Sub-Saharan African Nation to Abolish Death Penalty (December 23, 2022)
- Belgium Wants a World Without the Death Penalty (October 20, 2022)
- As France Prepares to Assume Presidency of European Union, Emmanuel Macron Announces Initiative for Worldwide Abolition of Death Penalty (October 11, 2021)
- U.N. Secretary-General, European Union Ambassador Call for Abolition of “Barbaric” Death Penalty (October 11, 2017)
- European Union Calls for Abolition of Capital Punishment as World Coalition Hosts International Death Penalty Conference (June 27, 2017)
- U.N. Investigator Talks About the Future of Solitary and the Death Penalty (November 7, 2016)
- World Congress Against the Death Penalty Renews Call for Global Moratorium, Pope Sends Message of Support (June 27, 2016)
- Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the 400th execution in Texas from the Council of the European Union (August 21, 2007)
- Resolution Supporting Worldwide Moratorium on Executions from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 1999)
- Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights — Message to the Press Conference organized by the Death Penalty Information Center for the release of the report, “International Perspectives on the Death Penalty” (October 12, 1999)
- Status of the International Covenants on Human Rights from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 1998)
FROM ADVOCACY GROUPS
- Advocacy Group Tells Supreme Court that Negative Stereotypes Distort Perception that Latinos in Death-Penalty Cases Pose Future Danger to Society (April 15, 2022)
- Disability Rights Groups, Legal Experts, and Conservative Advocates Urge Supreme Court to Strike Down Georgia’s Uniquely Harsh Proof Requirements in Death-Penalty Intellectual Disabilities Cases (January 11, 2022)
- NAACP Reaffirms Its Support of Abolishing the Death Penalty (2022)
- More Than 80 Civil Rights and Advocacy Organizations Urge President Biden to End Federal Executions | Death Penalty Information Center (February 9, 2021)
- More Than 250 Conservative Leaders Join Call to End Death Penalty (October 29, 2019)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: The Death Penalty
- Florida League of Women Voters Calls for Halt to Executions (May 28, 2007)
- Victims Organizations Issue Joint Statement for National Victims’ Rights Week (April 19, 2007)
FROM JUDGES, LEGISLATORS, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
- Republican-led Oklahoma committee considers pause on executions amid death case scrutiny (October 5, 2023)
- Former Pro-Death Penalty District Attorney Explains Why He Now Supports Abolition, and Fears Political Promises to Expand the Use of the Death Penalty (August 20, 2023)
- Pressley, Durbin Reintroduce Bill to End the Federal Death Penalty (July 13, 2023)
- The Lancet Editorial: Physician Involvement in Executions Violates Medical Ethics | Death Penalty Information Center (May 20, 2023)
- APA calls for extending ineligibility for the death penalty to adolescent offenders younger than age 21 (August 4, 2022)
- Why some Republicans are turning against the death penalty | Ron Ferguson | Ohio House of Representatives (March 8, 2022)
- Eight years on Texas’ highest criminal court turned Elsa Alcala into a death penalty skeptic. How will the court change without her? (January 26, 2019)
- AMA to Supreme Court: Doctor participation in executions unethical (August 22, 2018)
- Former Governor Bill Richardson: Death Penalty Is Bad for Business, Out of Step With World’s Views (June 16, 2017)
- Capital Punishment and Nurses’ Participation in Capital Punishment (2016)
- Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro Says Death Penalty Unfixable, “Not Worth It Any More” (September 12, 2016)
- Resolution Supporting Repeal of the Death Penalty, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (August 11, 2016)
- Retired Police Captain Says Repealing Death Penalty Is “Smart on Crime” (November 24, 2014)
- Resolution Supporting Abolition of the Death Penalty, Natl. Assoc. of Black Psychologists (2012)
- The Road to Justice and Peace by New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak (February 1, 2009)
- Statement On The Federal Death Penalty System by Senator Feingold (June 7, 2001)
- Statement on the Need for a Federal Moratorium on the Death Penalty Senator Feingold (October 29, 2000)
- Death Penalty: The Torah and Today (August 23, 2000)
- Press Release for Senator Russ Feingold’s Introduction of Senate’s First Death Penalty Moratorium Bill (April 20, 2000)
- Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference: Orlando, Florida Remarks by Former Florida Chief Justice Gerald Kogan (October 23, 1999)
- American Bar Association Resolution on the Death Penalty (February 3, 1997)
FROM MURDER VICTIMS’ FAMILY MEMBERS
Items: 101 — 110
Apr 16, 2026
Ohio Court Vacates Charles Maxwell’s Death Sentence Under State’s Serious Mental Illness Law
On April 7, 2026, a Cuyahoga County judge vacated the death sentence of Charles Maxwell and ordered his resentencing to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After an evidentiary hearing, the court found that Mr. Maxwell suffered from delusional disorder, caused by several traumatic brain injuries, at the time of the crime for which he was sentenced to death. According to data from the Ohio Attorney General’s office, Mr. Maxwell’s resentencing marks the 10th grant of relief under…
Read MoreApr 15, 2026
New Harm Reduction International Report: Drug-Related Executions Worldwide Reached Record High in 2025 Amid Intensification of “War on Drugs” Rhetoric
2025 marked the highest number of drug-related executions worldwide since Harm Reduction International (HRI) began reporting numbers in 2007. In its new report, The Death Penalty for Drug Offenses: Global Overview 2025, HRI explains that a “small but resolute group of countries” are responsible for a record 1,212 executions, which is likely an undercount due to secrecy laws in the high application nations of China, North Korea, and Vietnam preventing disclosure of death penalty-related…
Read MoreApr 14, 2026
Tennessee Scheduled to Execute Tony Carruthers Despite Untested DNA Evidence, Innocence Concerns, and Mental Illness
With weeks left before his scheduled execution on May 21, 2026, counsel for Tennessee death-sentenced prisoner Tony Carruthers has asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to order DNA testing that they argue could prove their client’s innocence. On April 9, lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an emergency motion seeking DNA testing “on specific pieces of probative physical evidence, most of which has never been tested, and which will likely point to the real perpetrator or…
Read MoreApr 13, 2026
Trends in Capital Punishment for Youth 18 to 20 Years Old
In April 2025, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI) released Immature Minds in a “Maturing Society”: Roper v. Simmons at 20, which found that “[a] meaningful examination of all the evidence suggests that 18‑, 19- and 20-year-olds are equally deserving as those under 18 to be excluded from death penalty eligibility.” Included in the report was an analysis of trends in sentencing and executions of defendants age 18 to 20 based on twenty years of data, from the time of the Roper decision on…
Read MoreApr 09, 2026
Two Reports from Ohio Draw Starkly Different Conclusions about the Future of the State’s Death Penalty System
Ohio’s capital punishment system has come into sharp focus with the release of two reports that examine four decades of the state’s death penalty record and draw starkly different conclusions about the future of Ohio’s death penalty. On March 30, Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) published Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Confronting the Wrongful Conviction Crisis in the State of Ohio, documenting the record of mistakes and errors that resulted in 12 exonerations. “The death penalty in Ohio is a system…
Read MoreApr 08, 2026
New Idaho Law Shields Execution Procedures from Judicial Review and Public Scrutiny
Idaho law empowers state courts to review and block certain government actions, such as those imposed without notice or public input, as well as policy changes that are “arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.” However, a bill signed March 31 by Gov. Brad Little (R) exempts execution procedures from these oversight requirements. If the prison director decides to alter the execution protocol, death-sentenced prisoners will only be able to challenge those changes on constitutional…
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Apr 07, 2026
What to Know: Race of Victim Effect and the Death Penalty
DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. Why it matters:The race of victims weighs heavily in capital punishment decisions. Studies confirm that defendants with white victims are more likely to be charged capitally, sentenced to death, have those sentences upheld on appeal, and be executed. “The strongest…
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Apr 06, 2026
Israel Passes Mandatory Death Penalty for Palestinians Convicted of Terrorism, Flouting International Law and Drawing Widespread Condemnation
On March 30, 2026, lawmakers in Israel passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law by a vote of 62 to 48, making Israel one of few democracies to expand capital punishment in recent years. The law mandates death by hanging for offenses classified as “terrorism related” — and as written, applies exclusively to Palestinians. The new law also requires that sentences must be carried out within 90 days of a final ruling. UN experts have warned that under international law, including the International…
Read MoreApr 03, 2026
James Duckett’s Warrant Will Expire Without His Execution as Florida Supreme Court Issues New Briefing on Request to Analyze DNA Evidence
On April 2, 2026, the Florida Supreme Court ordered new briefing that will extend past the warrant deadline for James Duckett’s execution. The order was issued in connection with defense counsel’s request for further analysis of DNA evidence in Mr. Duckett’s case. Counsel for Mr. Duckett released a statement following the Court’s order, noting they “are relieved that the court has intervened to halt this execution and allow time to consider Mr. Duckett’s request for the necessary analysis of…
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Apr 01, 2026
Article of Interest: New Academic Article Explains Why Executions are Becoming “Crueler”
In a February 2026 article published in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Professor Deborah Denno charts how execution methods in the United States “have become crueler” over the past fifty years. Her article details execution procedures adopted across death penalty states from 1977 to 2025, analyzing their societal and cultural underpinnings, and exposing their “flaws, unscientific origins, and reliance on unqualified executioners.” “Boyd asks for the barest form of mercy: to die by…
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