Publications & Testimony
Testimony and Statements on the Death Penalty
FROM DPIC
For testimony by former Executive Director Robert Dunham and former Executive Director Richard C. Dieter, please visit our page DPIC Testimony.
FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
- News Brief: Pope Francis Calls for Prayer to Abolish the Death Penalty (September 1, 2022)
- Jewish Congregation Renews Request for Department of Justice to Drop Death Penalty in Tree of Life Synagogue Killings (June 24, 2021)
- Orthodox Church Patriarch Calls Death Penalty Incompatible with Christian Beliefs (October 20, 2020)
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — Statement on the Federal Death Penalty (August 5, 2019)
- Louisiana Christian Faith Leaders Call for State to Abolish Death Penalty (April 25, 2019)
- Pittsburgh Rabbi’s Wife Opposes Death Penalty for Tree of Life Synagogue Killings (March 18, 2019)
- Orthodox Jewish Organization Calls for an End to Capital Punishment in the U.S. | Death Penalty Information Center (February 17, 2016)
- Baptist Theologian Says Death Penalty Does Not Fit With Christian Theology (March 8, 2016)
- Civil and Human Rights: Death Penalty — Church & Society, The United Methodist Church
- Religious Views: Over 150 Catholic Theologians Call for Repeal of the Death Penalty (September 27, 2011)
- Power Over Life and Death — The Power to Save a Life (January 15, 2005)
- Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice (November 2000)
- The Challenge of Holiness: A Sermon on the Death Penalty (January 10, 2000)
- General Assembly of the Texas Conference of Churches — Resolution Opposing the Death Penalty (February 24, 1998)
- Statement by Catholic Bishops of Texas on Capital Punishment (October 20, 1997)
- Catholic Church Expresses Strong Opposition to Capital Punishment in Catechism (September 9, 1997)
- Catholic Bishops of Iowa Issue Statement on Death Penalty (February 4, 1998)
- To End the Death Penalty: A Report of the National Jewish/Catholic Consultation
- Transcript of Dr. Pat Robertson’s Speech on the Role of Religion and the Death Penalty at The College of William and Mary
- Collection of Official Catholic Statements on the Death Penalty (1980)
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
- UN experts call for universal abolition of the death penalty | OHCHR (October 9, 2023)
- Zambia Becomes 25th Sub-Saharan African Nation to Abolish Death Penalty (December 23, 2022)
- Belgium Wants a World Without the Death Penalty (October 20, 2022)
- As France Prepares to Assume Presidency of European Union, Emmanuel Macron Announces Initiative for Worldwide Abolition of Death Penalty (October 11, 2021)
- U.N. Secretary-General, European Union Ambassador Call for Abolition of “Barbaric” Death Penalty (October 11, 2017)
- European Union Calls for Abolition of Capital Punishment as World Coalition Hosts International Death Penalty Conference (June 27, 2017)
- U.N. Investigator Talks About the Future of Solitary and the Death Penalty (November 7, 2016)
- World Congress Against the Death Penalty Renews Call for Global Moratorium, Pope Sends Message of Support (June 27, 2016)
- Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the 400th execution in Texas from the Council of the European Union (August 21, 2007)
- Resolution Supporting Worldwide Moratorium on Executions from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 1999)
- Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights — Message to the Press Conference organized by the Death Penalty Information Center for the release of the report, “International Perspectives on the Death Penalty” (October 12, 1999)
- Status of the International Covenants on Human Rights from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 1998)
FROM ADVOCACY GROUPS
- Advocacy Group Tells Supreme Court that Negative Stereotypes Distort Perception that Latinos in Death-Penalty Cases Pose Future Danger to Society (April 15, 2022)
- Disability Rights Groups, Legal Experts, and Conservative Advocates Urge Supreme Court to Strike Down Georgia’s Uniquely Harsh Proof Requirements in Death-Penalty Intellectual Disabilities Cases (January 11, 2022)
- NAACP Reaffirms Its Support of Abolishing the Death Penalty (2022)
- More Than 80 Civil Rights and Advocacy Organizations Urge President Biden to End Federal Executions | Death Penalty Information Center (February 9, 2021)
- More Than 250 Conservative Leaders Join Call to End Death Penalty (October 29, 2019)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: The Death Penalty
- Florida League of Women Voters Calls for Halt to Executions (May 28, 2007)
- Victims Organizations Issue Joint Statement for National Victims’ Rights Week (April 19, 2007)
FROM JUDGES, LEGISLATORS, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
- Republican-led Oklahoma committee considers pause on executions amid death case scrutiny (October 5, 2023)
- Former Pro-Death Penalty District Attorney Explains Why He Now Supports Abolition, and Fears Political Promises to Expand the Use of the Death Penalty (August 20, 2023)
- Pressley, Durbin Reintroduce Bill to End the Federal Death Penalty (July 13, 2023)
- The Lancet Editorial: Physician Involvement in Executions Violates Medical Ethics | Death Penalty Information Center (May 20, 2023)
- APA calls for extending ineligibility for the death penalty to adolescent offenders younger than age 21 (August 4, 2022)
- Why some Republicans are turning against the death penalty | Ron Ferguson | Ohio House of Representatives (March 8, 2022)
- Eight years on Texas’ highest criminal court turned Elsa Alcala into a death penalty skeptic. How will the court change without her? (January 26, 2019)
- AMA to Supreme Court: Doctor participation in executions unethical (August 22, 2018)
- Former Governor Bill Richardson: Death Penalty Is Bad for Business, Out of Step With World’s Views (June 16, 2017)
- Capital Punishment and Nurses’ Participation in Capital Punishment (2016)
- Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro Says Death Penalty Unfixable, “Not Worth It Any More” (September 12, 2016)
- Resolution Supporting Repeal of the Death Penalty, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (August 11, 2016)
- Retired Police Captain Says Repealing Death Penalty Is “Smart on Crime” (November 24, 2014)
- Resolution Supporting Abolition of the Death Penalty, Natl. Assoc. of Black Psychologists (2012)
- The Road to Justice and Peace by New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak (February 1, 2009)
- Statement On The Federal Death Penalty System by Senator Feingold (June 7, 2001)
- Statement on the Need for a Federal Moratorium on the Death Penalty Senator Feingold (October 29, 2000)
- Death Penalty: The Torah and Today (August 23, 2000)
- Press Release for Senator Russ Feingold’s Introduction of Senate’s First Death Penalty Moratorium Bill (April 20, 2000)
- Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference: Orlando, Florida Remarks by Former Florida Chief Justice Gerald Kogan (October 23, 1999)
- American Bar Association Resolution on the Death Penalty (February 3, 1997)
FROM MURDER VICTIMS’ FAMILY MEMBERS
Items: 361 — 370
Dec 10, 2024
Federal Court Stays Clemency Hearing of Oklahoma Prisoner with December Execution Date
On December 9, 2024, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay for Kevin Underwood’s clemency hearing scheduled that same-day with the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, which is lacking its full five-member compliment after two resignations in recent months and one last minute addition on December 6. This decision marks the second time Mr. Underwood’s clemency hearing has been canceled. Meanwhile, Mr. Underwood, age 44, is facing a December 19 execution date, and if it were to…
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Dec 09, 2024
Religious Groups, Former Corrections Officials, Pro-life Voices, and Many Others Urge President Biden to Commute Federal Death Sentences
In letters released on December 9, 2024, hundreds of stakeholders urged President Joe Biden (pictured) to commute all federal death sentences before his term ends, citing racial bias, systemic arbitrariness, and the failure of the federal death penalty to enhance public safety. This collective request reflects broad, bipartisan acknowledgement of the flaws in the capital punishment system and aligns with the national downward trend of support for the death penalty, now at historic lows. 40 men…
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Dec 06, 2024
Indiana Plans to Resume Executions after 15-Year Pause with a Severely Mentally Ill “Volunteer”
The state of Indiana is scheduled to carry out its first execution in 15 years on December 18, 2024, with the scheduled execution of Joseph Corcoran (pictured). Sentenced to death for the 1997 murders of four people, including his brother, Mr. Corcoran has a long history of serious mental illness. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, which includes symptoms of hallucinations and delusions, and multiple experts have testified that he is incompetent to face execution. Mr. Corcoran holds the…
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Dec 05, 2024
Hidden Casualties: Executions Harm Mental Health of Prison Staff
In March, Oklahoma officials asked the state’s high court to increase the time between executions from 60 to 90 days, citing the “lasting trauma” and “psychological toll” of executions on corrections officers. But Judge Gary Lumpkin dismissed these concerns, telling officials that prison staff needed to “suck it up” and “man up.” A few weeks later, Brian Dorsey was executed in Missouri after the governor ignored the pleas of an unprecedented 72 corrections officers to grant him clemency. “We…
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Dec 04, 2024
Worldwide Monthly Roundup: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Vietnam
According to numbers reported by Agence France-Presse, Saudi Arabia executed 303 people in 2024 — the nation’s highest ever total, and currently the second highest known execution total worldwide for this year. November alone saw the execution of more than 100 foreign nationals, nearly triple the number in each of the past two years. UN human rights experts expressed concern following the December 3 execution of three Egyptian nationals, calling on the government to halt the pending…
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Dec 03, 2024
On Giving Tuesday, what does the truth about the death penalty mean to you?
For nearly 35 years, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI) has served the public, the media, policymakers, attorneys, and educators with data and analysis on issues concerning capital punishment and the people it affects. DPI is entirely supported by the generosity of foundations and individual donors, like you. If our work is valuable to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation here or setting up a recurring monthly donation via PayPal. In addition to our annual report…
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Dec 02, 2024
Arizona Attorney General Announces State Ready to Resume Executions as Governor Hobbs Abruptly Ends Independent Review of Execution Protocols
On November 26, 2024, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced her office will resume seeking execution warrants. AG Mayes’ announcement comes after Governor Katie Hobbs ended the state’s independent review of its execution protocol and processes, dismissing retired federal magistrate David Duncan before he had completed his review. In a letter to Judge Duncan, Gov. Hobbs said his actions during the review went beyond his mandate. The review was launched in 2023, as newly elected Gov.
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Nov 27, 2024
Biden Contemplates Federal Commutation Requests
On November 25, 2024, President Joe Biden pardoned two Thanksgiving turkeys, an annual, symbolic tradition that highlights the president’s constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations. Now, as President Biden sets to leave office in January 2025, 60 members of Congress and many others are urging him to grant clemency to the 40 men currently on federal death row. During his 2020 presidential campaign, President Biden said he would work to abolish the federal death penalty but there…
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Nov 26, 2024
Article of Interest: 9/11 Victim’s Daughter Writes Why She Supports Plea Deals for Perpetrators
In a Washington Post op-ed, Chanel Shum, a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, explains her support of plea agreements that would end decades of legal uncertainty and sentence three of the accused 9/11 defendants to life without parole. Ms. Shum was starting preschool when her father, See Wong Shum, was killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Describing her first time attending hearings at Guantánamo Bay, she writes, “Like many, I assumed that justice had been…
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Nov 25, 2024
Discussions with DPI Podcast: Earwitness Podcast Creator Beth Shelburne on Toforest Johnson’s Case
In this month’s episode of Discussions with DPI, Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Beth Shelburne, a journalist who has reported on the criminal legal system for over 25 years and creator of the podcast Earwitness. Released in 2023 to critical acclaim, Earwitness tells the story of Toforest Johnson, a death-sentenced man who is facing execution in Alabama despite strong evidence of his innocence. On November 14, 2024, Mr. Johnson filed a petition with the Jefferson County Circuit…
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