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: 4601 — 4610
Mar 24, 2008
After Two Supreme Court Reversals, Texas Man Sentenced to Life
Thomas Miller-El received a life sentence from a Texas judge after pleading guilty to a Dallas murder in exchange for the prosecution’s agreement not to seek the death penalty. Miller-El had originally been sentenced to death in 1986. He raised an appeal asserting that potential black jurors had been improperly stopped from serving at his trial. The appeal was denied by the lower courts, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (8 – 1) in 2003 that he should have been…
Read MoreMar 20, 2008
New Poll Finds Increase in Opposition to Death Penalty
A recent Harris Interactive poll of over 1,000 American adults found that the number of people who oppose the death penalty has increased since 2003. Thirty-percent (30%) of those sampled oppose the death penalty, an increase of 8 percentage points in the past 5 years. The percentage of respondents who“believe in capital punishment” has dropped significantly since 1997, when 75% supported the death penalty. In 2008, that number had declined to 63%, the lowest…
Read MoreMar 19, 2008
Supreme Court Strikes Down Conviction of Death Row Inmate Because of Bias in Jury Selection
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7 – 2 on March 19 that the conviction and death sentence of Allen Snyder should be overturned because the trial judge allowed a potential juror to be rejected on what appeared to be racial grounds. The decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, focused on the elimination of an African-American man from jury panel. The Court rejected the prosecution’s non-racial reasons for striking this juror:“The implausibility of this explanation is…
Read MoreMar 17, 2008
NEW VOICES: U.S. Attorney General Opposes Death Sentences in Military Commission Trials
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that he hopes that the Guantanamo prisoners accused of terrorism do not receive the death penalty in the upcoming Military Commission trials because it would give them the martyrdom that they want. In a recent talk to British economic students, Mukasey said he supports the death penalty, but,“In a way I kind of hope from a personal standpoint … I kind of hope they don’t get it. Because many of them want to be martyrs .…”…
Read MoreMar 17, 2008
Georgia Supreme Court Denies New Trial to Death Row Inmate with Innocence Claim
On March 17, the Georgia Supreme Court voted 4 – 3 against Troy Davis’ request for a new trial. Davis, who is on death row for the 1989 murder of a police officer, claims he is innocent and that he was a victim of mistaken identity. Since his trial in 1991, seven of the witnesses called by the prosecution have recanted their testimony. Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in the dissenting opinion that Davis should at least have a hearing because,“In this case,…
Read MoreMar 13, 2008
NEW RESOURCES: Native Americans and the Death Penalty
The Death Penalty Information Center is pleased to announce the introduction of a new Web page on Native Americans and the death penalty. The page contains information on the use of the death penalty against Native Americans and includes the results of an extensive historical study conducted by David V. Baker. His research was recently published in the December 2007 edition of Criminal Justice Studies, and is the first of its kind. Baker reported 464 executions of…
Read MoreMar 13, 2008
NEW VOICES: Murder Victims’ Families Testify in Maryland on the Death Penalty
Family members of murder victims testified before the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee on March 6 about the painful toll the death penalty has taken on their lives, stating that the resources spent on seeking death sentences could be better used elsewhere.“I’ve watched too many families go through this to make me believe the system will ever work,” said Kathy Garcia, whose nephew was murdered 20 years ago. She continued, “The death penalty…
Read MoreMar 12, 2008
Death Sentence and Conviction of Mentally Ill Tennessee Man Reversed
On March 7, 2008, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction and death sentence of Richard Taylor. The court’s ruling grants Taylor a new trial due to a variety of constitutional errors at his original trial. These errors include the denial of his constitutional right to counsel at a pre-trial competency hearing, the failure of the trial court to hold a competency hearing during the trial, and the failure of the trial court…
Read MoreMar 11, 2008
BOOKS: “Last Rights” by Rev. Joseph Ingle with Introduction by Mike Farrell
Reverend Joseph B. Ingle’s book, Last Rights: Thirteen Fatal Encounters with the State’s Justice, will be re-released in May with a new introduction by Mike Farrell (of MASH) and with its original forward by William Styron. Rev. Ingle, who has counseled inmates on death row for over 30 years, recounts his close relationships with 13 of these inmates before their executions. Devoting a chapter to each one, Ingle stresses the need to see each inmate as an individual. He…
Read MoreMar 10, 2008
EVENTS: “The Legislative Abolition of the Death Penalty in New Jersey”
On Monday, April 14, 2008, Seton Hall Law School will be hosting a conference on the recent abolition of the death penalty in New Jersey.“Legislation, Litigation, Reflection, and Repeal: The Legislative Abolition of the Death Penalty in New Jersey” is an all-day event sponsored by Fordham Law School, The New Jersey State Bar Association, The New York Bar Association Capital Punishment Committee, and Seton Hall Law School. Four panels will examine New Jersey’s death penalty from…
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