Publications & Testimony

Civil rights lit­i­ga­tor and death penal­ty expert Ronald J. Tabak recent­ly pub­lished ​“The Private Bar’s Efforts to Secure Proper Representation for those Facing Execution” in the Justice System Journal. The arti­cle presents an in-depth review of the American Bar Association​’s (ABA) role in ensur­ing effec­tive coun­sel in cap­i­tal cas­es. Tabak recounts the ABA’s efforts since the mid-1980’s to secure com­pe­tent rep­re­sen­ta­tion at every state of legal pro­ceed­ings, stat­ing that…

The US Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit issued a stay for Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis on October 24. The fed­er­al appeals court’s three-judge pan­el ordered both sides to draft briefs to address wheter Davis can be exe­cut­ed if he can demon­strate his like­ly inno­cence. Davis’ case has gar­nered both inter­na­tion­al and nation­al atten­tion. Former President Jimmy Carter and the European Union were among those call­ing for a stay of exe­cu­tion. Davis was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on…

Elon University School of Law’s Professor Victor Streib has released a new edi­tion of his book, Streib’s Death Penalty in a Nutshell. It cov­ers both the sub­stan­tive and the pro­ce­dur­al law of the death penal­ty and begins with argu­ments for and against the death penal­ty and an expla­na­tion of its basic con­sti­tu­tion­al chal­lenges and lim­i­ta­tions. Professor Streib cov­ers cap­i­tal crimes and defens­es, as well as tri­al lev­el and post tri­al pro­ce­dur­al issues. Other top­ics include race and gender…

The Tennessean called for a more just legal sys­tem as a state leg­isla­tive study com­mit­tee on the death penal­ty con­tin­ues to meet. The com­mit­tee began its work this year after a series of embar­rass­ing mis­takes in apply­ing the death penal­ty in Tennessee. Executions cur­rent­ly are on hold due to a lethal injec­tion chal­lenge brought last year by a death row inmate. The edi­to­r­i­al called the com­mit­tee’s work a ​“sliv­er of hope for improve­ment” after ​“cost­ly con­fu­sion and…

Select pages of DPIC’s Web site are now avail­able in Spanish, German and French. DPIC’s Death Penalty Fact Sheet and oth­er infor­ma­tion are in Spanish. DPIC’s Innocence List Case Descriptions are avail­abile in German. DPIC’s 1998 Report The Death Penalty in Black & White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides is avail­able in…

The U.S. Supreme Court denied cer­tio­rari in the Troy Davis case on October 14, despite his claim of inno­cence. Davis had peti­tioned the Court to inter­vene in his case after sev­en of the nine non-police wit­ness­es against him recant­ed their tes­ti­mo­ny. His lawyers said the new evi­dence demon­strat­ed his inno­cence and that anoth­er man had even con­fessed to the killing. The Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles could still review its ear­li­er deci­sion to deny clemen­cy to…