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: 11 — 20
Aug 24, 2026
Article of Interest: Law Review Article Considers the Human Cost of Execution Work
In her forthcoming article in the U.C. Irvine Law Review, Professor Alexandra L. Klein argues that the effect of executions on the people who carry them out has been largely overlooked in both legal scholarship and constitutional doctrine. If the state chooses to execute someone, she writes, someone must perform the killing, and the psychological consequences deserve a central place in conversations about cruelty under the Eighth Amendment. The author argues…
Read MoreAug 20, 2026
Former North Carolina Death Row Prisoner Frank Chambers Resentenced
On August 11, 2026, former North Carolina death-sentenced prisoner Frank Chambers, a Black man, was resentenced to two consecutive life sentences in connection with the 1992 shooting deaths of an elderly white couple in Rowan County. Evidence of significant misconduct emerged in Mr. Chambers’ case, and prosecutors ultimately conceded that this evidence tainted the fairness of Mr. Chambers’ death sentence and led to his resentencing. According to his counsel,…
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Aug 19, 2026
Tenth Circuit Declines to Rehear Appeal in Brenda Andrew’s Case Over Powerful Dissent
UPDATE: Nathalie Greenfield, an attorney for Ms. Andrew, told KGOU that her team would be filing an appeal to the United States Supreme Court within the next 90 days. On August 14, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit declined to reconsider Brenda Andrew’s case and the totality of the evidence in determining whether her trial was fundamentally unfair — leaving in place a panel ruling that found gender-biased evidence at her trial did not…
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Aug 18, 2026
Article of Interest: Law Review Article Examines How the Federal Death Penalty Reflects National Death Penalty Trends
In her February 2026 article published by the Georgia State University Law Review, University of the District of Columbia Law Professor Ngozi Ndulue argues that recent trends have shifted the federal death penalty“from being a laggard to being a leader in national death penalty trends.” Written before the most recent changes to federal death penalty policy by the Trump administration were implemented, her article highlights how federal death penalty cases, though…
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Aug 17, 2026
Lebanon Parliament Abolishes Death Penalty After 22-Year-Long Unofficial Moratorium
On August 11, 2026, the Parliament of Lebanon passed legislation formally abolishing the death penalty. The country’s abolition marks the first country in the Middle East to abolish the practice and the second country among the League of Arab States to do so (Djibouti abolished in 1995). A majority of the members in Lebanon’s 128-seat Parliament voted in favor of this legislation, with Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc voting against it. The legislation will now be…
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Aug 13, 2026
DPI Podcast 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context: Rafiah Muhammad-McCormick on Violence Prevention and the Death Penalty
In the August 2026 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Racial Justice Storyteller Taylor Bonner speaks with Rafiah Muhammad-McCormick (pictured left), Director of Community Outreach for Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP) and founder of Rodney’s Village, a violence prevention non-profit. A murder victim’s family member and community advocate, Ms. Muhammad-McCormick discusses how the loss of her son shaped her approach to violence…
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Aug 12, 2026
Tennessee Court Holds Multi-Day Hearing on Christa Pike’s Lethal Injection Challenge
UPDATE: The three-day evidentiary hearing concluded on August 13. Testimony centered on three contested issues: whether Ms. Pike’s thrombocytosis creates an unconstitutional risk of IV complications and pulmonary edema during lethal injection; whether transferring her to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution and placing her under close observation before execution would retraumatize her given her documented history of childhood sexual abuse and PTSD;…
Read MoreAug 11, 2026
What to Know: Junk Science in Death Penalty Cases
DPI’s“What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. This installment looks at junk science: how flawed or overstated forensic evidence has contributed to wrongful capital convictions, and what happens when the understanding of evidence underlying a conviction changes. Why this Matters: Forensic evidence is…
Read MoreAug 10, 2026
Virginia Crime Commission to Review Eight Executions Linked to Potentially Mishandled DNA Evidence
The cases of eight men executed between 1986 and 1998 will be part of a Virginia State Crime Commission review into the practices of Mary Jane Burton, a forensic scientist who allegedly mishandled DNA evidence and gave inaccurate testimony in court. The cases are among more than 7,000 cases linked to Ms. Burton that are being assessed after journalist Tessa Kramer uncovered concerns about Ms. Burton’s methods. Ms. Kramer’s podcast, Admissible: Shreds of Evidence,…
Read MoreAug 06, 2026
What to Know: Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty
DPI’s“What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. Why it matters: More than 100 citizens of other countries are under sentences of death in the United States, and in nearly every reported case, arresting authorities failed to promptly inform them of their treaty right to consular assistance. — Article 36 of the 1963…
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