Publications & Testimony

On March 12, 2026, a diverse group of voices filed amicus curiae briefs in support of Charles Flores (pictured), a Texas death-sentenced prisoner, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case. Mr. Flores has spent more than 25 years on death row for a murder he maintains he did not commit. His conviction relied on the testimony of a neighbor who identified him — for the first time, at trial — only after being hypnotized by police. The briefs were filed by a coalition including the entertainers…

In the March 2026 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Elizabeth Vartkessian (pictured), the executive director of Advancing Real Change (ARC), a national non-profit that works to provide mitigation investigation services and training that ensure the full life histories of individuals facing extreme sentences are presented to judges and juries. Ms. Vartkessian is a mitigation specialist who has spent decades investigating the lives and…

On March 5, 2026, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christopher McDowell “formally vindicated” death-sentenced exoneree Derrick Jamison, allowing him to seek monetary compensation from the state for his wrongful incarceration 21 years after prosecutors dropped charges. Mr. Jamison, who was scheduled for execution six times while imprisoned, filed a lawsuit seeking a formal declaration of wrongful imprisonment in 2024. With this formal declaration, he can now file a civil claim for monetary…

On March 2, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Alabama’s appeal of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that reversed and remanded Michael Sockwell’s case on the grounds that the trial prosecutor violated his constitutional rights by intentionally removing Black jurors. The Court’s denial of review clears a path for Mr. Sockwell to receive a new trial, some 36 years after a judge first sentenced him to death. A November 2025 federal court ruling ordered…

A March 9, 2026, competency hearing for Andre Thomas, a death-sentenced prisoner in Texas, has been postponed to an unspecified date because of concerns that Mr. Thomas is too mentally ill to be transported to his competency hearing and he could not be re-examined by the State’s expert. Mr. Thomas was scheduled to be executed in April 2023; however, his execution date was withdrawn in March 2023, citing concerns with his severe mental illness (SMI) and competency to face execution. “In my…

After spending 32 years under a death sentence, on February 9, 2026, the Superior Court of the State of California, Alameda County vacated the conviction and sentence of Franklin Lynch and ordered a new trial under California’s Racial Justice Act (CRJA). Mr. Lynch’s attorneys argued that racial bias pervaded his trial, alleging the discriminatory use of preemptory strikes in jury selection in violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Batson v. Kentucky, and the use of racially discriminatory…

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. This installment looks at the costs associated with pursuit of death sentences and executions. Why it matters: The question at the heart of this issue is whether the assumed benefits of the death penalty are worth its costs and whether other systems might provide similar benefits at less cost. It is a…

On February 18, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments in a case seeking to open executions in Indiana to press witnesses. The First Amendment challenge to Indiana’s absolute ban was initiated a year ago by a broad coalition of media outlets seeking, at that time, to witness the execution of Benjamin Ritchie. The coalition was unsuccessful in that endeavor; Mr. Ritchie’s May 20, 2025, execution would be later described by non-media…