Publications & Testimony

James Broadnax, a Texas death-sentenced prisoner, is scheduled to be executed on April 30, 2026. He was convicted in 2009 by a Dallas County jury for the murders of two music producers, Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler, who were shot and killed outside their recording studio in 2008. On March 19, 2026, a little more than a month before his scheduled execution, attorneys for Mr. Broadnax filed a new appeal and a sworn affidavit from his codefendant and cousin Demarius Cummings, in which Mr.

For 35 years, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI) has carefully tracked and analyzed how the death penalty is used in the United States. DPI is the only national organization that monitors new death sentences, executions, public opinion, legislation, and newsworthy events, providing critical context to facilitate meaningful public debate and inform sound policy decisions about the death penalty. DPI’s most popular educational resource, “Facts About the Death Penalty,” presents critical…

Texas prosecutors sent Rodney Reed to death row for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, whom they argued was strangled with her own leather belt. Yet for over a decade, state officials have fought Mr. Reed’s requests to test that belt for the killer’s DNA. In 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Reed’s lawsuit seeking the test was timely, and last year it struck down Texas’ attempts to block DNA testing in two other capital cases. However, on March 23, the Court refused to hear…

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…