Publications & Testimony
Testimony and Statements on the Death Penalty
FROM DPIC
For testimony by former Executive Director Robert Dunham and former Executive Director Richard C. Dieter, please visit our page DPIC Testimony.
FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
- News Brief: Pope Francis Calls for Prayer to Abolish the Death Penalty (September 1, 2022)
- Jewish Congregation Renews Request for Department of Justice to Drop Death Penalty in Tree of Life Synagogue Killings (June 24, 2021)
- Orthodox Church Patriarch Calls Death Penalty Incompatible with Christian Beliefs (October 20, 2020)
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — Statement on the Federal Death Penalty (August 5, 2019)
- Louisiana Christian Faith Leaders Call for State to Abolish Death Penalty (April 25, 2019)
- Pittsburgh Rabbi’s Wife Opposes Death Penalty for Tree of Life Synagogue Killings (March 18, 2019)
- Orthodox Jewish Organization Calls for an End to Capital Punishment in the U.S. | Death Penalty Information Center (February 17, 2016)
- Baptist Theologian Says Death Penalty Does Not Fit With Christian Theology (March 8, 2016)
- Civil and Human Rights: Death Penalty — Church & Society, The United Methodist Church
- 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
- UN experts call for universal abolition of the death penalty | OHCHR (October 9, 2023)
- Zambia Becomes 25th Sub-Saharan African Nation to Abolish Death Penalty (December 23, 2022)
- Belgium Wants a World Without the Death Penalty (October 20, 2022)
- As France Prepares to Assume Presidency of European Union, Emmanuel Macron Announces Initiative for Worldwide Abolition of Death Penalty (October 11, 2021)
- U.N. Secretary-General, European Union Ambassador Call for Abolition of “Barbaric” Death Penalty (October 11, 2017)
- European Union Calls for Abolition of Capital Punishment as World Coalition Hosts International Death Penalty Conference (June 27, 2017)
- U.N. Investigator Talks About the Future of Solitary and the Death Penalty (November 7, 2016)
- World Congress Against the Death Penalty Renews Call for Global Moratorium, Pope Sends Message of Support (June 27, 2016)
- Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the 400th execution in Texas from the Council of the European Union (August 21, 2007)
- Resolution Supporting Worldwide Moratorium on Executions from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 1999)
- Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights — Message to the Press Conference organized by the Death Penalty Information Center for the release of the report, “International Perspectives on the Death Penalty” (October 12, 1999)
- Status of the International Covenants on Human Rights from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 1998)
FROM ADVOCACY GROUPS
- Advocacy Group Tells Supreme Court that Negative Stereotypes Distort Perception that Latinos in Death-Penalty Cases Pose Future Danger to Society (April 15, 2022)
- Disability Rights Groups, Legal Experts, and Conservative Advocates Urge Supreme Court to Strike Down Georgia’s Uniquely Harsh Proof Requirements in Death-Penalty Intellectual Disabilities Cases (January 11, 2022)
- NAACP Reaffirms Its Support of Abolishing the Death Penalty (2022)
- More Than 80 Civil Rights and Advocacy Organizations Urge President Biden to End Federal Executions | Death Penalty Information Center (February 9, 2021)
- More Than 250 Conservative Leaders Join Call to End Death Penalty (October 29, 2019)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: The Death Penalty
- 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
- Republican-led Oklahoma committee considers pause on executions amid death case scrutiny (October 5, 2023)
- Former Pro-Death Penalty District Attorney Explains Why He Now Supports Abolition, and Fears Political Promises to Expand the Use of the Death Penalty (August 20, 2023)
- Pressley, Durbin Reintroduce Bill to End the Federal Death Penalty (July 13, 2023)
- The Lancet Editorial: Physician Involvement in Executions Violates Medical Ethics | Death Penalty Information Center (May 20, 2023)
- APA calls for extending ineligibility for the death penalty to adolescent offenders younger than age 21 (August 4, 2022)
- Why some Republicans are turning against the death penalty | Ron Ferguson | Ohio House of Representatives (March 8, 2022)
- Eight years on Texas’ highest criminal court turned Elsa Alcala into a death penalty skeptic. How will the court change without her? (January 26, 2019)
- AMA to Supreme Court: Doctor participation in executions unethical (August 22, 2018)
- Former Governor Bill Richardson: Death Penalty Is Bad for Business, Out of Step With World’s Views (June 16, 2017)
- Capital Punishment and Nurses’ Participation in Capital Punishment (2016)
- Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro Says Death Penalty Unfixable, “Not Worth It Any More” (September 12, 2016)
- Resolution Supporting Repeal of the Death Penalty, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (August 11, 2016)
- Retired Police Captain Says Repealing Death Penalty Is “Smart on Crime” (November 24, 2014)
- 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)
FROM MURDER VICTIMS’ FAMILY MEMBERS
Items: 231 — 240
Aug 07, 2025
Florida’s Executions: Troubling Patterns of Secrecy and Inadequate Legal Representation
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. Executions of Prisoners with Inadequate…
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Aug 06, 2025
Facts About the Death Penalty – Has an Innocent Person Ever Been Executed?
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 death-sentenced people have been…
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Aug 05, 2025
Unless Governor Lee Intervenes, Tennessee Will Execute Byron Black, A Man with Intellectual Disability, and Risk a Torturous Execution Due to His Heart Defibrillator
Update August 5, 2025: All (multiple) media witnesses who observed the execution report that Mr. Black was observed repeatedly lifting his head, “sighing” and “groaning” during his execution, at one point saying “It’s hurting so bad.” He demonstrated “clear, audible signs of distress” for several minutes. “It was unanimous among all of us that he was in distress.” He was declared dead at 10:43 CT. On July 31, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated a preliminary injunction issued by the…
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Aug 04, 2025
Lethal Elections: Pro-Death Penalty Candidates Falter in Major State Races
Today’s elections feature viable candidates who criticize use of the death penalty and pledge reforms or even non-use in death penalty states, reflecting the continued decline in public support for the death penalty. Following up on its 2024 Report on elections and the death penalty, DPI canvassed a wide range of resources, drilling down on gubernatorial, court, and prosecutorial elections in the 2024 – 2025 election cycle to assess results in races that prominently featured the death penalty in…
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Aug 01, 2025
Exoneree Sandra Hemme’s Case Reflects Broader Pattern of Opposition to Innocence Claims from Missouri Attorney General’s Office
Sandra Hemme walked free from a Missouri prison in July 2024 after 43 years behind bars for a murder she did not commit; however, her release only came after a judge threatened state Attorney General Andrew Bailey with contempt of court for trying to keep Ms. Hemme incarcerated despite overwhelming evidence of her innocence. Now 65 years old, Ms. Hemme has filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Joseph, Missouri and eight police officers involved in her case for malicious prosecution, alleging…
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Jul 31, 2025
Alabama Circuit Court Judge Stays Execution Because of Concerns with Prisoner’s Mental Competency
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 is whether the…
Read MoreJul 29, 2025
Defendants Petition the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Alleging Washington County District Attorney Abused His Discretion in Death Penalty Cases
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 jurisdiction” to impose external…
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Jul 28, 2025
Facts About the Death Penalty – Do All Religions Support the Death Penalty?
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 favor of the death…
Read MoreJul 24, 2025
Tennessee Court Orders Heart Defibrillator Disconnected Ahead of Byron Black’s Scheduled Execution
On July 18, 2025, the Davidson County Chancery Court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) to ensure that Byron Black’s implanted heart device (cardiac implantable electronic device, or CIED) is switched off just ahead of his execution by a cardiac specialist or qualified technician working under such supervision. In June 2025, counsel for Mr. Black filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, explaining that because of his CIED, he faces a…
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Jul 23, 2025
Personal Reflection: Loss of DPI Board Member Ronald Tabak
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 firm resources to…
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