Publications & Testimony

In a recent op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called for the end of the death penalty. President Carter cited the risk of wrongful executions, the lack of evidence of deterrence, and the costs of prosecution as reasons to abolish capital punishment. He wrote, “[T]here has never been any evidence that the death penalty reduces capital crimes or that crimes increased when executions stopped. Tragic mistakes are prevalent. DNA testing and other factors…

A new book published in electronic format, The Death Penalty Failed Experiment: From Gary Graham to Troy Davis in Context by Diann Rust-Tierney, examines the problem of arbitrariness in the death penalty since its reinstatement in 1976. Through an analysis of the cases of Gary Graham and Troy Davis, the author argues that race, wealth and geography play a more significant role in determining who faces capital punishment than the facts of the crime itself. Both defendants had significant claims…

In an op-ed written for the 25^th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McCleskey v. Kemp, nationally acclaimed death penalty expert James Acker (pictured) called for a reassessment of how race is affecting death penalty decisions. Prof. Acker questioned the Court’s refusal to find bias in the wake of the strong statistical evidence presented in that case. He wrote, “The time has surely come for a sober reassessment of this ruling” and “we must question if justice truly has been…

On April 25, 2012, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy (pictured) signed into law a bill that replaces the death penalty with life without parole. At that time, Connecticut became the fifth state in five years, and the 17^th overall, to do away with capital punishment. Governor Malloy, who once supported the death penalty, offered the following statement: “My position on the appropriateness of the death penalty in our criminal justice system evolved over a long period of time. As a young man, I…

On April 20, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles reduced the death sentence of Daniel Greene (pictured) to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Board had stayed Greene’s execution, which was set for April 19, in order to further consider his clemency petition. Greene’s petition included letters from several members of the Taylor County community, where the murder occurred, urging the Board to spare Greene’s life. Among the letters was one from a former correctional…

On April 23, the SAFE California Act, an initiative to replace California’s death penalty with a sentence of life without parole, qualified for the November 2012 ballot by presenting an ample number of qualified signatures. The initiative garnered almost 800,000 signatures for the measure that would repeal the death penalty and make capital crimes punishable by life in prison without parole. The initiative would also require inmates to work in prison to help pay restitution to the families of…

(Superior Court, Judge Gregory Weeks, April 22, 2012) The first ruling under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act Read the complete opinion. Discrimination in jury selection frustrates the commitment of African-Americans to full participation in civic life. One of the stereotypes particularly offensive to African-American citizens is that they are not interested in seeing criminals brought to justice. African-Americans who have been excluded from jury service on account of race compare their…

Marcus Robinson was the first defendant to receive a hearing under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act. His sentence was reduced to life without parole due to evidence of racial bias in jury selection. Timeline of Robinson’s case: August 5, 1991: Marcus Robinson is indicted for the murder of Eric Tornblom. August 5, 1994: Robinson is sentenced to death. 1999: State post-conviction appeal is unsuccessful. 2006: Federal post-conviction appeal is unsuccessful. January 25, 2007: Judge orders…

On April 20, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks issued an historic ruling under the state’s Racial Justice Act finding intentional bias by the state in selecting juries for death penalty cases. In what may be the first ruling of its kind in the country, the court held that “race was a materially, practically and statistically significant factor in the decision to exercise peremptory challenges during jury selection by prosecutors” at the time of Marcus Robinson’s (pictured)…

In a recent op-ed in the Gainesville Sun, Florida Judge Charles M. Harris (pictured) called the state’s capital punishment system “totally defective” and “far less satisfactory” than alternatives like life without parole. Judge Harris, who has been on the bench for over 20 years, argued that life without parole “has rendered death by execution redundant and the amount we spend on it wasted.” He continued, “[D]eath by execution is excessively expensive. Most people who support the death penalty…