Publications & Testimony

On April 4, the Alabama House of Representatives voted 103 – 0 in favor of a bill to posthumously pardon the “Scottsboro Boys,” nine black teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of the rape of two white women in 1931. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 29 – 0, and Gov. Robert Bentley has indicated he will sign it. All but one of the group were sentenced to death by all-white juries with virtually no legal representation. The military had to protect them from angry mobs. They lingered on death…

Criminal Justice Professor James Acker of the University at Albany recently discussed the decision by the District Attorney to seek the death penalty against James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding many others at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. In addition to concerns about the defendant’s possible mental illness, Acker raised a number of questions about this course of action: “Will the victims and their families somehow be made whole? Would the time and money…

Since the 1990s, almost every death penalty state has experienced a dramatic decline in its annual number of death sentences. DPIC has prepared a series of graphs illustrating this trend in each state: State Death Sentences by Year. This page contains graphs showing the annual number of new sentences in each state between 1994 and 2012. These same graphs can be found individually on each state’s State Information page. Nationally, there was a 75% decrease in new death sentences between 1994 and…

A new international manual covering psychiatric and psychological issues arising in capital cases has been prepared by a team of forensic psychiatrists for use by attorneys, judges, and mental health officials. The Handbook of Forensic Psychiatric Practice in Capital Cases sets out model structures for psychiatric assessment and report writing for every stage of a death penalty case, from pre-trial to execution. It also discusses ethical issues, particularly with regard to an inmate’s…

A recent editorial in the Nebraska Star-Herald indicated a shift in its position on capital punishment. Although the paper has always supported the death penalty in the past, its latest editorial described the death penalty as “a mockery of justice” and a “charade.” The editors continued to express the belief that some murderers might deserve capital punishment, but the infrequency and unpredictability of executions led them to conclude that “[S]o few killers are actually put to death that it’s…

On March 26, Delaware’s Senate passed (11 – 10) a bill to repeal the death penalty, after amending it to exclude current death row inmates. Those who testified in support of the repeal cited racial disparities, a lack of deterrent effect, and the high costs associated with capital punishment. The bill will now move on to the House of Representatives, which is expected to consider the measure in April. On the same day, Colorado’s House Judiciary Committee voted (6 – 4) against a repeal bill.

Controversies surrounding lethal injections continue in many parts of the country. In Georgia, the legislature passed a bill to classify the names of those involved in executions as “state secrets.” The bill requires the identity of any entity that “manufactures, supplies, compounds or prescribes” lethal injection drugs to be kept secret. In Arkansas, a state judge ruled that death row inmates cannot use the state’s Freedom of Information Act to obtain information about the source, history, or…

A new organization — Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty — made its debut at the recent 2013 Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference near Washington, D.C. The group questions whether capital punishment aligns with conservative principles and includes prominent conservative leaders from across the country, including Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, Roy Brown, former Montana House Majority Leader, and Richard Viguerie (pictured), a…