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: 4431 — 4440
Feb 01, 2010
No Further Punishment Recommended for Presiding Judge Who Closed Door on Death Penalty Appeal
On January 20, a special master appointed to review the conduct of an appeals court judge who would not order her court to stay open late to receive a death penalty appeal, concluded that her conduct did not merit removal from office. Special Master David Berchelmann of San Antonio found that the action of Judge Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, “does not warrant removal from office or further reprimand beyond the public humiliation she has surely suffered.”
Read MoreJan 29, 2010
PARADE MAGAZINE: The Cost of Capital Punishment
A recent article in Parade magazine looked at the cost of the death penalty, especially in light of the budgetary crises confronting most states in today’s economy. New Mexico and New Jersey recently abolished the death penalty, and costs played a significant role in their decisions. New Mexico State Rep. Gail Chasey (D., Albuquerque) noted, “We can put that money toward enhancing law enforcement, public works, you name it.” In New Jersey a commission found that using the alternative sentence…
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Jan 28, 2010
BOOKS: “Capital Punishment On Trial”
A new book by David Oshinsky entitled “Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America” takes a closer look at the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that stopped the death penalty in 1972. The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who is the holder of the Jack S. Blanton Chair at the University of Texas and a visiting professor at New York University, discusses the debates and controversy surrounding the case of Furman v. Georgia, including a focus on…
Read MoreJan 27, 2010
Declining Use of Death Penalty in North Carolina Challenges Wisdom of Retaining Costly Practice
In an opinion piece in the News & Observer, Professor Frank Baumgartner of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, recently wrote that the declining use and high costs of the death penalty in the state put into question the wisdom of retaining the punishment in North Carolina. Baumgartner noted that while murder rates in the state have remained relatively unchanged, the number of capital punishment trials and death sentences have declined sharply. Prosecutors formerly sought the death…
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Jan 26, 2010
NEW VOICES: Conservative Leaders Call for End to Death Penalty
Roy Brown, state senator and 2008 Republican nominee for governor of Montana, said that opposition to capital punishment aligns well with his conservative ideology. He is reaching out to social and fiscal conservatives, hoping to create a bipartisan movement against capital punishment. Brown noted, “I believe that life is precious from the womb to a natural death.” He continued, “Criminals should be prosecuted. I want it to be life without parole. In the long run, that’s much cheaper.” Richard…
Read MoreJan 25, 2010
NEW VOICES: Indiana Prosecutors Seeking Death Penalty Less
Higher costs, the exoneration of innocent death row inmates and jurors’ expectation of DNA proof are all being cited as reasons for prosecutors deciding not to seek the death penalty in Indiana. Recently, a high profile death penalty case cost the state $800,000 before it dropped the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea and life-without-parole sentence. “It’s the taxpayer dollars, stupid, when it comes to the death penalty,” said Indiana defense attorney Bob Hammerle. “We’ve got a…
Read MoreJan 22, 2010
Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence Despite Unexplored Evidence of Mental Retardation
On January 20, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence for Holly Wood for the 1993 shooting of his former girlfriend in Alabama, despite the fact that the attorney working on the penalty phase of the case failed to investigate or tell the jury about Wood’s borderline mental retardation. A federal District Court had overturned his death sentence because of the inadequate performance of the inexperienced lawyer, although other lawyers working on the case had seen a report on Wood’s…
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Jan 21, 2010
Supreme Court Underscores the Need for “Dignity and Respect” in Capital Cases – Reverses Judgment
On January 19, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Wellons v. Hall, ordering the lower court to re-examine the appeal of Marcus Wellons, who received the death penalty for a 1989 rape and murder in Georgia. The Court’s per curiam opinion described “unusual events going on behind the scenes” at Wellons’ trial, including contacts outside the courtroom between the jury and the judge, and the fact that some jury members gave…
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Jan 20, 2010
After Almost 30 Years, Florida Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence in Case “Rife with Misconduct”
On January 14, and almost 30 years after the crime, the Florida Supreme Court criticized the state for “lawless conduct” and vacated the death sentence of Paul Beasley Johnson because “the record here is so rife with evidence of previously undisclosed prosecutorial misconduct that we have no choice but to grant relief.” Because of popular sentiment and the notoriety of the crime, Governor Charlie Crist signed a death warrant for Johnson in 2009 even though Johnson’s legal issues were still…
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Jan 19, 2010
INTERNATIONAL: Mongolia President Calls for Moratorium on Death Penalty
On January 14, President Tsakhia Elbegdorj called for a moratorium on all executions in Mongolia. President Elbegdorj told the Mongolian parliament, “The majority of the world’s countries have chosen to abolish the death penalty. We should follow this path.” He vowed to pardon those on death row and suggested commuting the death sentences to a 30-year prison term. Amnesty International estimated that at least 5 people were executed in Mongolia in 2008 and nine were thought to be on death row as…
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