Publications & Testimony

A report of the United Nations Human Rights Council issued on May 15 has urged the United States to end capital punishment. The report, produced as part of the United Nations’ periodic review of the human rights records of each of its member nations, identified capital punishment in the United States as a major human rights concern. At a hearing on the report on May 11, U.S. deputy assistant attorney general David Bitkower acknowledged that the death penalty is an issue of “extensive debate and…

A recent publication from Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation and an op-ed in the Kansas City Star highlight the views of Kansas murder victims’ families on capital punishment. In Voices of Kansas, 13 families that have been affected by murder share their experiences in the aftermath of a loved one’s murder and how that shaped their beliefs about the death penalty. Neely Goen, whose father, Conroy O’Brien, was killed while working as a Kansas State Trooper, said, “The death penalty…

The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective by Roger Hood and Carolyn Hoyle, now in its Fifth Edition, is “widely regarded as the leading authority on the death penalty in its international context.” The book explores the movement toward worldwide abolition of the death penalty, with an emphasis on international human right principles. It discusses issues including arbitrariness, innocence, and deterrence. Paul Craig, Professor of English Law at Oxford University, said of the fourth edition…

Two recent media reports reveal additional details of irregularities in Oklahoma’s administration and defense of its lethal injection procedures. A story in The Atlantic describes in detail the botched execution of Clayton Lockett and the failed attempts made by a paramedic and a doctor to insert the IV into Lockett’s veins. A Buzzfeed report asserts that Oklahoma’s brief to the Supreme Court in the lethal injection case, Glossip v. Gross, made misrepresentations about the state’s efforts to…

On May 12, the editorial board of USA Today affirmed its opposition to the death penalty in an editorial urging that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev be sentenced to life without parole, rather than the death penalty, for his role in the Boston marathon bombing. “Laws aren’t written for a single individual, and the death penalty applies to many people,” the editorial said. “Tsarnaev and other infamous defendants … demonstrate the penalty’s arbitrary nature. While Tsarnaev has a superb legal team, most…

Two prominent Georgians, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher (pictured, l.), and David J. Burge (pictured, r.), the Chairman of Georgia’s 5^th Congressional District Republican Party, have recently voiced their opposition to the death penalty. Justice Fletcher voted to uphold numerous death sentences during his 15 years on Georgia’s highest court. Since retiring from the Court in 2005, his views have changed. “With wisdom gained over the past 10 years, I am now convinced…

A recent editorial in The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) has criticized legislative efforts to restart North Carolina’s death penalty as “retrogressive” and “macabre.” The editorial opposes a bill that would allow executions to resume in North Carolina by “expanding the list of medical personnel who can monitor executions.” In 2007, the North Carolina Medical Board said that doctor participation in executions violates professional ethics, effectively blocking any doctors from participating in…

Harris County (Houston), Texas, has executed more men and women than any other county in the United States, but a recent poll shows that a strong majority of its residents now support alternative sentences. A report by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University found that only 28% of respondents in Harris County prefer the death penalty to life without parole as punishment for first-degree murder. The poll also found that overall support for the death penalty was at a 20-year…

Today, DPIC is posting the first item in a new series: “50 Facts About the Death Penalty.” Each weekday for the next 10 weeks, we will share a short but significant fact about capital punishment. These items, which have accompanying images, will cover topics including innocence, public opinion, deterrence, race, and more. This series is intended as a resource for anyone looking to learn more about the death penalty. Each of the individual 50 Facts is accompanied by a link to a source that…

Calling the death penalty “an instrument of imperfect justice,” Governor Jack Markell (pictured) of Delaware announced on May 7 that he will sign the death penalty repeal bill under consideration in the state legislature if the bill reaches his desk. The Delaware Senate passed repeal in April by a vote of 11 – 9. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a hearing soon. Markell had not previously taken a stance on abolishing the death penalty. Upon announcing his decision, he said, “This…