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: 4131 — 4140
Mar 04, 2011
NEW VOICES: Former Bush Official Urges Basic Review of Death Sentences Given Foreign Nationals to Protect Americans Abroad
A former State Department official in the Bush administration is urging Congress to help the U.S. comply with a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as a way of protecting U.S. citizens traveling abroad. John Bellinger, who argued before the ICJ, said in an op-ed in the Washington Post that “a key provision [of the Vienna Convention] requires parties to the treaty to promptly inform, upon arrest, nationals of other parties to…
Read More
Mar 03, 2011
LETHAL INJECTION: New Execution Drug Raises Its Own Concerns
Some states are turning to the widely available-drug pentobarbital for use in their lethal injections, instead of sodium thiopental, which is in short supply in the U.S. But some medical professionals have noted that, although the new drug shares many similarities with sodium thiopental, pentobarbital has rarely been used in humans. Dr. David Varlotta, who sits on the board of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, said that he has not used pentobarbital since 1986. Dr. Varlotta said, “If…
Read MoreMar 02, 2011
EDITORIALS: Chicago Tribune Urges Governor to Sign Death Penalty Repeal Bill
A recent editorial in the Chicago Tribune urged Gov. Pat Quinn to sign the bill to end the death penalty in Illinois. The paper noted that former Gov. Bill Richardson signed a similar bill in New Mexico, despite previously saying he supported the death penalty when he came into office. Richardson said that his mind was changed after studying the issue and seeing “too many mistakes” and evidence that the punishment was applied disproportionately to minorities. The Illinois bill would divert…
Read More
Mar 01, 2011
STUDIES: The Effect of Victim Impact Evidence in Capital Trials
A study recently published in the journal Criminology meaured the effects of victim impact evidence (VIE) on the likelihood of the jury returning a death sentence. The study was conducted by Professors Raymond Paternoster and Jerome Deise of the University of Maryland. It involved 135 participants who watched a video recording of an actual capital trial. Seventy-three participants watched the full video, while the remaining 62 participants watched a version with the victim impact evidence…
Read MoreFeb 28, 2011
STUDIES: Gender Bias in Death Sentencing
A recent study by Professor Steven Shatz of the University of San Francisco Law School and Naomi Shatz of the New York Civil Liberties Union suggests that gender bias continues to exist in the application of the death penalty, and that this bias has roots in the historic notion of chivalry. In a review of 1,300 murder cases in California between 2003 and 2005, the authors found gender disparities with respect to both defendants and victims in the underlying crime. The study revealed that the…
Read MoreFeb 25, 2011
Georgia Accused of Illegal Actions in Securing Execution Drugs
Attorneys representing Andrew DeYoung, a death row inmate in Georgia, have accused the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) of violating federal law by unlawfully importing an execution drug from a small pharmaceutical distributor in London, England — Dream Pharma Ltd. (pictured). The allegations are outlined in a letter delivered to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Feb. 24 and describe an attempt by the corrections agency to circumvent the law to secure sodium thiopental from foreign…
Read More
Feb 24, 2011
REPRESENTATION: Tennessee Inmate Faces Execution Because of Lawyer’s Failures
A forthcoming article in the ABA Journal reveals the tragic admissions of failure by a well-known defense lawyer that led to a death sentence and potential execution of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman (pictured) in Tennessee. Lionel Barrett, who represented Abdur’Rahman in 1987, now takes full responsibility for his lack of attention to critical details and for having his client end up on death row. Looking back on the case 24 years later, Barrett said, “It was the perfect storm. Everything I could have…
Read More
Feb 23, 2011
MULTIMEDIA: New Film Explores Risk of Wrongful Convictions in Capital Cases
Slick, a new short dramatic film directed and produced by Michael Frediani, follows the story of a fictional Texas death row inmate on the night of his execution. Garrett Lee Taylor, the film’s protagonist, faces execution for murder, despite strong claims of innocence. The film is comprised of a series of flashbacks revealing events on the night of the crime. The flashbacks show how evidence seemed to place Taylor at the scene of the crime and led investigators to wrongfully conclude he was…
Read MoreFeb 22, 2011
MENTAL ILLNESS: Death Sentences Vacated for Two with Severe Mental Illness
One death row inmate from Oregon and another from North Carolina recently had their death sentences removed because of concerns about their mental competency. In Oregon, Robert James Acremant’s sentence was reduced to life without the possibility of parole. Since 2003, prison psychiatrists have diagnosed him as mentally ill, and Acremant said he hears voices and has a transmitter in his head that allows others to control him. He still has a death sentence from a case in California. Isaac Stroud…
Read MoreFeb 21, 2011
Thirteen States Seek Help from Justice Department for Lethal Injection Drug
In January, attorneys general from 13 states wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice related to the recent shortage of sodium thiopental for lethal injections in the U.S. The state officials, including those in Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee, asked for help in “identifying an appropriate source for sodium thiopental or making supplies held by the Federal Government available to the States.” Earlier this year, the sole U.S.
Read More