Publications & Testimony

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 of 60% in death penalty cases, a lack of standards for eyewitness identification and interrogations, and…

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 — sentences imposed prior…

UPDATE (2015): There have been wide variations among states in exempting defendants with intellectual disability from the death penalty. Professor John Blume (l.) of Cornell Law School, along with three co-authors, analyzed claims filed under the Supreme Court’s decision in Atkins v. Virginia (2002) against executing defendants with intellectual disability (formerly, “mental retardation”). Overall, from 2002 through 2013, only about 7.7% (371) of death row inmates or capital defendants have…

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 include: The death row population dropped to 2,979 inmates as of 12/31/13, with 60% held in just 5 states (California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Alabama). 2013 was the 13^th consecutive year in which the population of…

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 women, or people…

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 executed: “We have read postings on…

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 case.” Stinney, a black, 14-year-old boy, was convicted by an all-white jury of killing two young white girls. Police said Stinney confessed to the crime, but no confession was ever produced.

Whether the death penalty will be sought in a murder may depend more on the budget of the county in which it is committed than on the severity of the crime, according to several prosecutors. A report by the Marshall Project found that the high costs of capital cases prevent some district attorneys from seeking the death penalty. “You have to be very responsible in selecting where you want to spend your money,” said Stephen Taylor, a prosecutor in Liberty County, Texas. “You never know how long…

On December 18, DPIC released its annual report on the latest developments in capital punishment, “The Death Penalty in 2014: Year End Report.” In 2014, 35 people were executed, the fewest in 20 years. Death sentences dropped to their lowest level in the modern era of the death penalty, with 72 people sentenced to death, the smallest number in 40 years. Just seven states carried out executions, and three states (Texas, Missouri, and Florida) accounted for 80% of the executions. The number of…

In a series of articles analyzing Pennsylvania’s death penalty, the Reading Eagle found that taxpayers have spent over $350 million on the death penalty over a period in which the state has carried out just three executions, all of inmates who dropped their appeals. Using data from a Maryland cost study, which concluded that death penalty cases cost $1.9 million more than similar cases in which the death penalty was not sought, the newspaper estimated that the cases of the 185 people on…