Publications & Testimony

In the September 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, speaks with Pastor Rich Nathan (pic­tured), found­ing pas­tor of Vineyard Columbus, an evan­gel­i­cal Christian church based in Ohio. Mr. Nathan shares how reli­gious teach­ings inform his posi­tion on the death penal­ty. ​“For me, the oppo­si­tion to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment has just been a nat­ur­al exten­sion of our pro-life posi­tion of build­ing an inclu­sive soci­ety, a society that…

On September 26, 2023, the New York Metropolitan Opera will pre­miere​“Dead Man Walking” cre­at­ed by American com­pos­er Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally and fea­tur­ing a new stag­ing by Ivo van Hove. The opera is based on Sister Helen Prejean’s 1993 mem­oir which details her jour­ney as a pen pal and spir­i­tu­al advis­er to a death-sen­­tenced pris­on­er at Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. It is the most per­formed con­tem­po­rary opera in the world. ​“I can only think that somehow we…

On September 19^th, 2023, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and the South Carolina Department of Corrections issued a joint state­ment inform­ing the pub­lic that the state is​“now pre­pared” to car­ry out lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tions, as they have retained the drug need­ed to do so. Gov. McMaster and Department of Corrections offi­cials filed a brief with the South Carolina Supreme Court, noti­fy­ing the courts of their pro­cure­ment of pen­to­bar­bi­tal, a seda­tive that can be…

Glynn Simmons, cen­ter, with members of…

On September 14^th, 2023, the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project held its annu­al Volunteer Recognition & Awards Program, hon­or­ing Venable LLP for its pro bono rep­re­sen­ta­tion of death row pris­on­ers, and cap­i­tal defense attor­ney and Florida State University College of Law pro­fes­sor Mark E. Olive, for his life­time com­mit­ment to pro­vid­ing those on death row with qual­i­ty rep­re­sen­ta­tion. Director of the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation…

According to a September 14, 2023, arti­cle from The Intercept, four med­ical sup­ply man­u­fac­tur­ers are refus­ing to sell their equip­ment for use in lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tions. This lim­i­ta­tion may fur­ther ham­per the abil­i­ty of states to car­ry out exe­cu­tions, as a mul­ti­tude of phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­nies have already placed restric­tions on sell­ing their drugs to depart­ments of cor­rec­tion. Joining these com­pa­nies are Baxter International Inc., B. Braun Medical…

Homononsapiens, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://​cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​— s​a/​4.0>, via Wikimedia…

Recent exonerees sen­tenced by non-unan­i­­­mous juries (clock­wise from top left): Ralph Wright (FL), Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin (FL), Anthony Ray Hinton (AL), Clifford Williams (FL), Isaiah McCoy…

On September 6, 2023, a bipar­ti­san group of Ohio state rep­re­sen­ta­tives rein­tro­duced a bill that would abol­ish the death penal­ty and replace the pun­ish­ment with life in prison with­out parole. Legislators in Ohio have debat­ed the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for near­ly a decade, but this renewed effort comes after state sen­a­tors intro­duced Senate Bill 101 ear­li­er in the year, which would also abol­ish the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Among the pri­ma­ry spon­sors of these…

Robert Roberson with daugh­ter Nikki. Courtesy of the…