Publications & Testimony

In 2002, a Gallup poll found that 75% of Americans opposed exe­cut­ing indi­vid­u­als who have severe men­tal ill­ness­es. Many peo­ple believe that the U.S. does not exe­cute peo­ple who suf­fer from seri­ous men­tal ill­ness. This is only par­tial­ly true. In fact, the Constitution bars the exe­cu­tion only of peo­ple who are legal­ly deemed​“insane” or men­tal­ly incom­pe­tent. But the legal stan­dard for demon­strat­ing men­tal incom­pe­tence is high and exemp­tions from execution for…

During elec­tion cycles, it is not uncom­mon to see some politi­cians and elect­ed offi­cials talk­ing more about the death penal­ty than usu­al – often in an attempt to bol­ster their​“tough on crime” cre­den­tials. This phe­nom­e­non is based on the out­dat­ed assump­tion that use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment is a pop­u­lar way of address­ing vio­lent crime. The data show oth­er­wise. An October 2025 Gallup poll con­firms a thir­­ty-year trend: every year since 1994, the death penalty has…

*On Veterans Day, the Death Penalty Information Center will release a new report about vet­er­ans and the death penal­ty, explor­ing the last­ing effects of mil­i­tary ser­vice and explain­ing why mil­i­tary expe­ri­ences mat­ter when vet­er­ans inter­act with the legal sys­tem. This arti­cle tells the sto­ry of Navy vet­er­an David Hosier who was sen­tenced to death with­out a jury ever learn­ing about his men­tal health strug­gles, hon­or­able mil­i­tary ser­vice, and childhood…

A new report pub­lished on the 40^th anniver­sary of the United Nation’s cre­ation of the​‘abo­li­tion­ist de fac­to’ (ADF) cat­e­go­ry, Between Retention and Abolition: Making Sense of a Death Penalty Without Executions, exam­ines the legal, polit­i­cal, and sym­bol­ic role of the death penal­ty in coun­tries that retain the death penal­ty but have either not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion in 10 years or have estab­lished an offi­cial mora­to­ri­um. Authored by researchers at UK-based The…

Indiana’s seem­ing­ly para­dox­i­cal resump­tion of exe­cu­tions, with three over the last year, is draw­ing scruti­ny from many cor­ners of the state. Governor Mike Braun, leg­is­la­tors from both polit­i­cal par­ties, pub­lic defend­ers and even pros­e­cu­tors have raised ques­tions about the costs of pros­e­cut­ing cap­i­tal cas­es and obtain­ing drugs for exe­cu­tions; the fail­ure of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to deter crime; and the increas­ing reluc­tance of Indiana juries to sentence…

On Veterans Day, the Death Penalty Information Center will release a new report about vet­er­ans and the death penal­ty, explor­ing the last­ing effects of mil­i­tary ser­vice and explain­ing why mil­i­tary expe­ri­ences mat­ter when vet­er­ans inter­act with the legal sys­tem. This arti­cle takes a moment to reflect on* Battle Scars *— DPI’s first path­break­ing report about vet­er­ans and the death penal­ty released a decade ago — and two of the pow­er­ful indi­vid­ual stories of…

On October 23, 2025, Alabama exe­cut­ed Anthony Boyd, despite his unwa­ver­ing claim of inno­cence and a fiery dis­sent authored by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, renew­ing the seri­ous con­cerns that have been con­sis­tent­ly raised about the state’s use of nitro­gen gas. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, dis­sent­ed from the Court’s October 23, 2025, denial of a stay of exe­cu­tion, writ­ing that Alabama’s use of nitro­gen gas​“vio­lates the Constitution…

On October 17, 2025, the fed­er­al judi­cia­ry announced that start­ing on October 20, the branch would no longer have the funds need­ed to​“sus­tain full, paid oper­a­tions.” This lat­est devel­op­ment is a direct result of the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment shut­down that began on October 1. Until fund­ing is restored, fed­er­al judges will con­tin­ue their bench duties, but court staff may only per­form​“activ­i­ties” nec­es­sary for con­sti­tu­tion­al func­tions — all with­out pay. The current…

On Veterans Day, the Death Penalty Information Center will release a new report about vet­er­ans and the death penal­ty, explor­ing the last­ing effects of mil­i­tary ser­vice and explain­ing why mil­i­tary expe­ri­ences mat­ter when vet­er­ans inter­act with the legal sys­tem. This arti­cle shares the sto­ry of one death-sen­­tenced vet­er­an, Frederick Mendoza. Frederick Mendoza enlist­ed in the Marine Corps in 1967 as a basic rifle­man and served over 18 months in Vietnam. He was on the…