Publications & Testimony

Testimony and Statements on the Death Penalty

FROM DPIC

For testimony by Executive Director Robert Dunham and former Executive Director Richard C. Dieter, please visit our page DPIC Testimony.

FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS

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

FROM ADVOCACY GROUPS

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

Resolution Supporting Repeal of the Death Penalty, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (August 11, 2016)
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)

Latest

Articles

Aug 24, 2017

Florida Death-Penalty Practices, Mark Asay Execution Draw Criticism From Human Rights Groups, Johnson & Johnson

As Florida prepared to execute Mark Asay (pictured) on August 24, the state’s death-penalty practices came under fire from human rights groups, criminal justice reformers, and one of the world’s largest pharmaceut…

Articles

Aug 03, 2017

Political Analysis: Is Conservative Support the Future of Death-Penalty Abolition?

In a forthcoming article in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, released online in July, Ben Jones argues that, despite the popular conception of death-penalty abolition as a politically progressive cause, its future succ…

Studies

Aug 01, 2017

NEW RESOURCES: Capital Punishment and the State of Criminal Justice 2017

The American Bar Association has released a new publication, The State of Criminal Justice 2017, an annual report examining major issues, trends, and significant changes in America’s criminal justice system. In a chapter …

Studies

Jul 17, 2017

Report Finds High Levels of Misconduct in Four Top Death Sentencing Counties

Four counties that rank among the most aggressive users of capital punishment in the United States have prolonged patterns of prosecutorial misconduct, according to a new report by the Harvard-based Fair Punishment Project. The report, “The Recidi…

Books

Jul 14, 2017

Pioneers in Efforts to Defend Death-Penalty Cases, End Capital Punishment Remembered in New Book, Obituary

The legacies of Scharlette Holdman (pictured) and Marie Deans — two women wh…