Publications & Testimony

On July 31, 2025, the state of Florida exe­cut­ed its ninth per­son this year, Edward Zakrzewski, mark­ing the high­est num­ber of exe­cu­tions in a sin­gle year in Florida in mod­ern death penal­ty his­to­ry. The haste with which Governor DeSantis is sched­ul­ing exe­cu­tions has prompt­ed many ques­tions and addi­tion­al scruti­ny about a process that is cloaked in secre­cy and a deci­­sion-mak­er who is untrou­bled by the seri­ous issues in many of the cas­es set for execution. ###…

An unde­ni­able truth of the death penal­ty is that it car­ries the inher­ent risk of exe­cut­ing inno­cent indi­vid­u­als. Many may believe that the exe­cu­tion of an inno­cent per­son is an anom­aly and that the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem has ade­quate safe­guards in place to rec­ti­fy wrong­ful con­vic­tions. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Fact: For Every 8 Individuals Executed in the Modern Era, One Other Death-Sentenced Person has been Found Innocent. Since 1973, 200…

In a July 10, 2025, order, Marion County Alabama Circuit Court Judge Talmage Lee Carter issued a tem­po­rary stay of exe­cu­tion for David Lee Roberts because of con­cerns regard­ing his men­tal com­pe­ten­cy. Mr. Roberts was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on August 21. Judge Carter’s order tasked the Alabama Department of Mental Health with deter­min­ing whether Mr. Roberts has a​“ratio­nal under­stand­ing” about why the state will exe­cute him. In his order, Judge Carter wrote, “[t]he issue…

On July 22, 2025, attor­neys with the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation filed a peti­tion on behalf of two crim­i­nal defen­dants — Jordan Clarke and Joshua George — alleg­ing Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh has demon­strat­ed a pat­tern of improp­er­ly threat­en­ing or seek­ing death sen­tences in vio­la­tion of the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. The attor­neys are ask­ing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to use its​“extra­or­di­nary…

Religious belief has always been at the cen­ter of debate about the death penal­ty – cit­ed both in sup­port and in oppo­si­tion. The often-cit­ed​“eye for an eye” Biblical phrase has led many to assume that reli­gious belief requires sup­port for the death penal­ty. But a clos­er look tells a dif­fer­ent sto­ry. Fact: The Majority of Judeo-Christian Religious Organizations Oppose the Death Penalty While it is true that peo­ple who iden­ti­fy as Atheists and Agnostics tend to be less in…

DPI Board Member Ronald J. Tabak died on July 22, 2025 after a long ill­ness at the age of 75. Among his many accom­plish­ments, Ron was a long­time sup­port­er of the Death Penalty Information Center, a pas­sion­ate advo­cate for peo­ple sen­tenced to death, and a trea­sured friend. Ron had a heart of gold and will be dear­ly missed by his many friends and fam­i­ly. Ron joined the law firm of Skadden Arps in 1985 to launch and man­age its for­mal pro bono pro­gram, direct­ing critical law…