Publications & Testimony

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recommended that all executions be put on hold while the Supreme Court is considering Glossip v. Gross, a case involving Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedure. Speaking for himself, rather than the administration, at a press luncheon on February 17, Holder said, “I think a moratorium until the Supreme Court makes that decision would be appropriate.” Holder has previously criticized state secrecy in lethal injections, but voiced broader concerns about executing…

Attorneys for Rodney Reed, a death row inmate in Texas, have filed a petition in a county court with new evidence supporting an alternate theory of the crime that led to Reed’s conviction. Reed is scheduled to be executed on March 5 for the murder of Stacy Stites. The petition included affidavits from three forensic experts who contend Stites died much earlier than police originally said, and that her body was stored for several hours in a different location than where it was found. They also…

A recent article by Prof. Eric Berger of the University of Nebraska College of Law argued that defendants facing execution have a fundamental right to know important information about the lethal injection drugs they will be given. Berger wrote, “Judicial recognition of this due process right would both protect Eighth Amendment values and also encourage states to make their execution procedures more transparent and less dangerous.” After discussing the history of recent developments in lethal…

On February 13, 2015 Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania announced a moratorium on all executions in the state. He said no executions will take place at least until he has “received and reviewed the forthcoming report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment, established under Senate Resolution 6 of 2011, and there is an opportunity to address all concerns satisfactorily.” The legislature commissioned the report in 2011. In his statement, Governor Wolf said…

A new report from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) of Alabama has documented more lynchings in American history than previously reported, particularly of African Americans in the South, and has drawn parallels between this practice and the modern death penalty. According to EJI, the report — titled Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror —“makes the case that lynching of African Americans was terrorism, a widely supported phenomenon used to enforce racial subordination and…

In February 2015, the Brennan Center for Justice released a report examining potential explanations for the dramatic drop in crime in the U.S. in the 1990s and 2000s. The death penalty was one of the possible contributing causes the researchers evaluated. The report’s conclusion: the death penalty had no effect on the decline in crime. The authors explained: “Empirically, capital punishment is too infrequent to have a measureable effect on the crime drop. Criminologically, the existence and use…

On February 9, the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association unanimously passed two resolutions calling for unanimous juries in capital sentencing and greater transparency in lethal injection procedures. Resolution 108A stated: “Before a court can impose a sentence of death, a jury must unanimously recommend or vote to impose that sentence,” and, “The jury in such cases must also unanimously agree on the existence of any fact that is a prerequisite for eligibility for the death penalty…

A new Rasmussen poll found that 57% of American adults support the death penalty, down from 63% in the organization’s polls dating from 2009. The poll found 26% of respondents opposed the death penalty, with 17% undecided. Respondents were also asked whether they favored the death penalty for James Holmes if he is convicted of the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Just 55% said they believed Holmes should be sentenced to death, compared to 66% who held that view immediately…

A new book, Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward, explores the causes and related issues behind the many wrongful convictions in the U.S. Compiled and edited by four criminal justice professors from the State University of New York, the text draws from U.S. and international sources. Prof. Dan Simon of the University of Southern California said, ”This book offers the most comprehensive and insightful treatment of wrongful convictions to date,” noting that it delves into…

A group of conservative leaders has joined in an effort to save the life of Scott Panetti, a Texas death row inmate with a history of severe mental illness. Members include several law enforcement officials and notable conservatives, such as Mark Earley — former Attorney General of Virginia, Harold Stratten — former Attorney General of New Mexico, David Keene — the Washington Times opinion editor, James Miller III — director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan; and…