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: 251 — 260
Jul 03, 2025
DPI’s Podcast 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context: Journalists Reflect on the Challenges and Importance of Media Reporting on the Death Penalty
In this month’s podcast episode of 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context, DPI’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Sam Levin, a correspondent with The Guardian who covers criminal justice and the legal system, and Jimmy Jenkins, a criminal justice reporter for The Arizona Republic, about the challenges they encounter when reporting on the increasing secretive use of the death penalty. Mr. Jenkins has witnessed executions in Arizona and Mr. Levin has recently investigated South Carolina’s…
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Jul 02, 2025
Facts About the Death Penalty — Does the Death Penalty Make Communities Safer?
Deterrence is one of the most commonly expressed reasons for use of the death penalty, both as a constitutional justification and as a public policy rationale. Elected officials have recently called the death penalty an “essential” deterrent to crime. The argument goes that if someone knows they could face the death penalty, they will not commit the crime. Following that reasoning would suggest that states with the death penalty are safer than states without it. According to several metrics…
Read MoreJul 01, 2025
Vietnam Eliminates Death Penalty for Eight Offenses
On June 25, 2025, Vietnam’s National Assembly approved a measure introduced by the government to reduce the number of death-eligible offenses from 18 to 10. Effective July 1, 2025, the formerly capital crimes of illegal drug transport, production and sale of counterfeit medicine, embezzlement, accepting bribes, espionage, jeopardizing peace and waging war, and vandalizing state property will be punishable by life imprisonment. Prisoners already sentenced to death for these offenses will have…
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Jun 30, 2025
Hundreds Rally to Urge Commutation of California’s Death Row
On June 26, 2025, more than 200 Californians and representatives of civil rights organizations gathered at the state Capitol to urge California Governor Gavin Newsom to commute all death sentences. Speakers at the gathering called California’s death penalty statute unconstitutional and noted persistent evidence of racial bias, historic ties to lynching, ineffective protection of innocent lives, and high costs. California, home to the nation’s largest death row, is currently experiencing an…
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Jun 27, 2025
U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Texas Death Row Prisoner Seeking DNA Testing
On June 26, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a rare 6 – 3 ruling in favor of a Texas death row prisoner, Ruben Gutierrez, holding that he may proceed with his lawsuit challenging Texas’s post-conviction DNA statute on constitutional grounds. Mr. Gutierrez was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder and robbery of an 85-year-old woman but has long maintained he did not know his codefendants would kill the victim. According to the decision, “Gutierrez has standing to…
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Jun 26, 2025
Arizona Legislature Moves Towards Compensating Exonerated Individuals, Including Eleven People Wrongfully Death Sentenced
The Arizona legislature is considering new legislation that will compensate exonerated individuals. HB 2813 was introduced in February by Republican Representative Khyl Powell and easily passed in the Arizona House of Representatives in a 59 – 1 vote two weeks later. The bill is now awaiting consideration by the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee, and according to reporting by the Daily Independent it is being “considered for inclusion as part of a final budget package.” The bill would…
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Jun 25, 2025
New Book of Interest: The “Slow Death” of U.S. Death Penalty
The death penalty in the Unites States is experiencing what scholars call a “slow death.” In their forthcoming book, “The Slow Death of the Death Penalty: Toward a Postmortem,” editors Todd C. Peppers, Jamie Almallen, and Mary Welek Atwell bring together death penalty experts to examine this shift in the use of capital punishment. New death sentences and executions still occur in a limited number of states; but Peppers et al reflect on the broader trends away from use of the death penalty. They…
Read MoreJun 23, 2025
In Unusual Move, Texas Attorney General Requests Execution Date for Robert Roberson Before a Court Has Heard New Evidence of His Actual Innocence
On June 16, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion in the Anderson County District Court requesting a new execution date for Robert Roberson, despite the fact that a motion from defense counsel with new evidence in support of Mr. Roberson’s actual innocence remains pending. As the Dallas Morning Editorial Board notes, it is “unusual” that “[AG] Paxton’s office is involved” in requesting the execution date. AG Paxton has actively sought Mr. Roberson’s execution and has publicly…
Read MoreJun 18, 2025
Iran, Saudi Arabia Lead the World in Use of Death Penalty for Drug Offenses
Nearly half of all known executions to date in 2025 in Iran (244) and Saudi Arabia (50) have been for drug-related crimes, tracking closely patterns documented by Harm Reduction International (HRI) for 2024. According to HRI’s new report, The Death Penalty for Drug Offenses: Global Overview 2024, the use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes reached “crisis levels” in 2024. At least 615 people were known to be executed on drug-related charges worldwide, 607 of which took place in Iran…
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Jun 17, 2025
Article of Interest: Maricopa County Investigation: Capital Cases are Costly, Lack Transparency in Charging Decisions, and Rarely End in Death Sentences
A joint investigation by ProPublica and ABC15 Arizona reviewed more than 300 cases over the past two decades where Maricopa County prosecutors sought the death penalty and found that only 13% resulted in death sentences. In most cases a jury never got close to considering whether to sentence someone to death: in more than three-quarters of cases, defendants pled guilty in exchange for lesser punishment, or prosecutors reversed course before trial. In only 41 of 76 cases (54%) that went all the…
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