Publications & Testimony
Items: 2681 — 2690
Jan 06, 2015
EDITORIALS: Newspapers Around the Country Echoed Themes in DPIC’s Year End Report
DPIC’s 2014 Year End Report was featured in numerous editorials since its release on December 18,…
Read MoreJan 05, 2015
NEW VOICES: Former Prosecutors Call for Repeal of Kentucky’s Death Penalty
In a recent op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal, three former Kentucky prosecutors advocated for repeal of the death penalty. Citing the findings of a study by the American Bar Association on Kentucky’s law, Joseph P. Gutmann (pictured), Stephen Ryan, and J. Stewart Schneider said, “[T]he death penalty is broken beyond repair in Kentucky.” Among the report’s findings were a reversal rate…
Read MoreJan 02, 2015
Maryland Governor Will Commute Sentences of Remaining Death Row Inmates
On December 31, 2014, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley announced he will commute the sentences of the four men remaining on the state’s death row to life without parole. O’Malley signed Maryland’s death penalty repeal bill into law in 2013, but the repeal was not retroactive. In a statement, O’Malley said, “Recent appeals and the latest opinion on this matter by Maryland’s Attorney General have called into question the legality of carrying out earlier death sentences —…
Read MoreJan 01, 2015
Outcomes of Death Warrants in 2014
Dec 31, 2014
Sentence Reversals in Intellectual Disability Cases (2002 – 2012)
Defendants Whose Death Sentences Have Been Reduced Because of a Finding of “Mental Retardation” since Atkins v. Virginia (2002) Compiled by Prof. John Blume, Cornell University Law School, as of May 8, 2008. (83 Cases). Subsequent cases added below chart from the Atkins Project, Cornell Univ., as of July 19, 2012 (15…
Read MoreDec 31, 2014
Stays of Execution in 2014
Dec 30, 2014
NEW RESOURCES: Bureau of Justice Statistics Releases “Capital Punishment, 2013”
On December 19, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released its annual statistical report on capital punishment in the United States, with information for 2013. It noted a continuing decline in the death row population and the number of executions. Highlights of the report…
Read MoreDec 29, 2014
INTERNATIONAL: United Nations Passes Death Penalty Moratorium Resolution With Record Support
On December 18, the United Nations voted to adopt a resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, with an eye toward abolition. A record high 117 countries voted in favor of the resolution. The United States was one of just 38 nations that opposed it, and 34 nations abstained. Two years ago, a similar resolution passed with 111 “yes” votes. This year’s resolution also urged those countries that still carry out executions not to execute juveniles, pregnant…
Read MoreDec 23, 2014
MENTAL ILLNESS: Parents of Accused Colorado Shooter Plead for Mercy
The parents of James Holmes recently explained that their son is severely mentally ill and asked he be spared the death penalty. Holmes is accused of killing numerous people at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Robert and Arlene Holmes said they were aware of the great harm their son caused, noting, “We are always praying for everyone in Aurora. We wish that July 20, 2012, never happened.” They also recognized the sentiments among some that their son be…
Read MoreDec 22, 2014
South Carolina Vacates the Conviction of 14-Year-Old Executed in 1944
On December 16, 2014, a South Carolina judge vacated the conviction of George Stinney, Jr., the youngest person executed in the U.S. in the last century. Judge Carmen Mullen wrote: “I can think of no greater injustice than the violation of one’s Constitutional rights which has been proven to me in this…
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