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: 371 — 380
Nov 18, 2024
NEW POLL: Overall Support for the Death Penalty Remains at Five-Decade Low as Opposition to the Death Penalty Grows Among Younger Generations
According to October 2024 polling produced by Gallup, support for capital punishment remains at a five-decade low in the United States. Overall, Gallup found 53% of Americans in favor of the death penalty, but that number masks considerable differences between older and younger Americans. More than half of young adults aged 18 to 43 now oppose the death penalty. Among those expressing a political affiliation, support for the death penalty fell markedly in all groups and in all generations, with…
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Nov 15, 2024
Trial Judge Declares Melissa Lucio to be “Actually Innocent,” Recommends Texas CCA Overturn Conviction and Death Sentence
Texas death-sentenced prisoner Melissa Lucio is “actually innocent; she did not kill her [two-year-old] daughter,” explained Judge Arturo Nelson in his October 16th decision, which was made public on November 14, 2024. Judge Nelson’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law now go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA), which will make the final decision about whether to overturn Ms. Lucio’s conviction and 2008 death sentence. This decision marks the latest dramatic development for Ms.
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Nov 14, 2024
New DPI Report Connects Modern Use of Federal Death Penalty to its Racially Biased History
On Thursday, the Death Penalty Information Center (“DPI”) released a new report detailing the troubling racial history of the federal death penalty. Fool’s Gold: How the Federal Death Penalty Has Perpetuated Racially Discriminatory Practices Throughout History documents how racial discrimination has been a throughline in the application of the federal death penalty since the 1800s. The report explains that, despite often being mischaracterized as the “gold standard” of the death penalty, the…
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Nov 13, 2024
Despite Military Judge’s Approval of 9/11 Plea Deal, Defense Secretary and Prosecutors Continue to Push Back
Nov 12, 2024
New Trial Granted for Texas Death-Sentenced Prisoner Because of Trial Judge’s Antisemitic Bias
On November 6, 2024, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) voted 6 – 3 to grant death-sentenced prisoner Randy Halprin a new trial. The TCCA decided that the original trial judge, Vickers Cunningham, “was actually biased against him at the time of trial because Halprin is Jewish.” The Court wrote in its ruling that the “uncontradicted evidence,” including testimony from friends and family of Judge Cunningham regarding his use of derogatory and racial slurs both generally and specifically…
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Nov 08, 2024
The Role of Trauma and Mitigation in Capital Punishment
In the early 1990s, the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez captivated the American public, not only because of the brutality of their crime but also because of the defense they presented. The brothers, age 18 and 21 at the time of the crime, were charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. These special circumstances made the crime a death-eligible offense. Prosecutors alleged they were privileged young men acting out of greed, but…
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Nov 07, 2024
Idaho: Federal Judge Grants Stay of Execution for Thomas Creech; Defense Asks Court to Bar Death Penalty for Bryan Kohberger
After surviving a botched execution attempt in February, Thomas Creech was scheduled for execution a second time on November 13 in Idaho. On Wednesday, November 6, a federal district court issued a stay of execution to allow more time to consider Mr. Creech’s legal claims. The Idaho Department of Corrections announced that “execution preparations have been suspended” and the execution warrant will expire. Mr. Creech, 74, is the longest-serving prisoner on Idaho’s death row. On February 28, the…
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Nov 06, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam
According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), October saw the highest monthly execution total in Iran since 2007, when the organization began documenting executions. There were at least 166 executions last month, bringing the yearly total to 651 executions over the past 10 months. Of the October executions identified by IHRNGO, only 12%, or 20 executions, were reported by official sources. Eleven Baluch and nine Kurdish people were among those executed. The increase in number of Afghan…
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Nov 05, 2024
DPI Report Provides Valuable Context for 2024 Elections
As voters across the United States cast their ballots on election day, the Death Penalty Information Center’s July 2024 report, Lethal Election: How the U.S. Electoral Process Increases the Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty, provides valuable context on the intersection of politics and the death penalty. While all eyes are on the race for U.S. President, it is local races for prosecutor, state judge, legislator, and governor that will decide whether and how the death penalty is used. The…
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Nov 04, 2024
United States Supreme Court Sends Case of Alabama Death-Sentenced Prisoner Back to 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
On November 4, 2024, the United States Supreme Courts released its order in the case of Hamm v. Smith, 604 U.S. ___ (2024). The petition for certiorari, filed by the State of Alabama last year, involved a prisoner named Joseph Clifton Smith whose death sentence was vacated in 2021 after a United States district court found he had intellectual disability. Mr. Smith had taken five IQ tests, four of which placed his IQ in the low- to mid-70s, the range generally accepted by experts to be…
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