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
May 29, 2009
Nebraska Governor Signs Bill Changing Method of Execution to Lethal Injection
On May 28, Nebraska’s Governor Dave Heineman signed a bill changing the state’s method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection. Nebraska had been without a legal method of execution since February 2008 when the state’s Supreme Court found the electric chair unconstitutional. Before executions in the state can resume, Nebraska still needs to develop procedures for lethal injections and the new law will be tested in court. Nebraska was the last state to have the electric chair as its…
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May 28, 2009
Florida’s Execution Selection Process Appears Secretive and Arbitrary
Florida Governor Charlie Crist recently chose two death row inmates for execution from among many eligible prisoners on the state’s death row, but no reasons were given for his choice. He joins a long line of Florida governors who made the decision of who lives and who dies without explanation of their selection method. “I don’t know how they decide,” said John Marek’s lawyer, Marty McClain, a veteran death-row attorney who has defended hundreds of inmates. (Marek was one of those given an…
Read MoreMay 27, 2009
California Could Save $1 Billion in 5 Years By Eliminating Death Penalty
California is facing an unprecedented budget deficit and voters recently rejected a series of tax reforms. To meet the crisis, Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed selling state owned property, including San Quentin State Prison, to remedy the $21.3 billion deficit. Natasha Minsker of the Northern California ACLU, writing in the Daily Kos, has proposed that California eliminate or suspend the death penalty as a way of saving a large amount of money. According to her article, the state would save $1…
Read MoreMay 26, 2009
NEW VOICES: 3 Connecticut Senators Change Opinion on Death Penalty
The recent 19 – 17 vote in the Connecticut Senate to abolish the death penalty was made possible by three senators who moved from supporting the death penalty to opposing it. Sen. Gary LeBeau had long favored the death penalty, partly because of “political calculations.” His stance shifted in the last couple of years witnessing a series of high-profile exonerations of innocent people. At 61, LeBeau, a retired schoolteacher, came to view life as a gift, one “we shouldn’t take away from anybody …
Read MoreMay 24, 2009
COSTS: Complications of Death Penalty Cases Cost California Millions
The death penalty in California is enormously expensive compared to the sentence of life without parole. One death penalty case has already taken 28 years and may cost $5 million dollars. Chief Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette, head of the criminal division, said Michael Ray Burgener’s case has been delayed because of legally required reviews. “When you have a new judge, you have to have that judge take a look at the record and base their decision on the review of the record.”
Read MoreMay 22, 2009
Connecticut Legislature Votes to Abolish the Death Penalty
Connecticut’s Senate gave final legislative approval to a bill that would abolish the death penalty in an early morning vote on May 22. After a nearly 11-hour debate, the Senate voted 19 – 17 to end capital punishment, eight days after the House of Representatives approved the bill 90 – 56. The bill will now go to Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s desk. When asked the day before its passage if she would veto the bill, Rell said, “I haven’t seen it, but you know how I feel about the death penalty. I’ve always…
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May 21, 2009
27 Former Judges and Prosecutors File Amicus Brief with U.S. Supreme Court on Behalf of Troy Davis
On May 20, twenty-seven former judges and prosecutors from across the political spectrum filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. Signers of the amicus brief include Larry Thompson (Deputy Attorney General of the United States, 2001 – 2003), former Congressman Bob Barr (R‑GA; U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, 1986 – 1990); William S. Sessions (Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1987 – 1993), and John Gibbons (former…
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May 20, 2009
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Two Death Penalty Cases
On May 18, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in two death penalty cases. Both cases are likely to be argued in the fall. The Court accepted the defendant’s petition in Wood v. Allen (No. 08 – 9156), a case from Alabama. Holly Wood claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, mental retardation, and discrimination in the jury selection process during his trial. After the trial, state and defense experts found that Wood, with an IQ below 70, had serious deficits in intellectual functioning…
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May 19, 2009
EXONERATIONS: Jury Acquits Former Death Row Inmate of All Charges
Daniel Wade Moore was acquitted of all charges by a jury in Alabama on May 14. Moore was originally found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Karen Tipton in 2002. The judge overruled the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence and instead sentenced him to death in January 2003, calling the murder one of the worst ever in the county. A new trial was ordered in 2003 because of evidence withheld by the prosecution. A second trial in 2008 ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked at 8 – 4…
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May 15, 2009
NEW VOICES: Former Dallas Prosecutor Changes His Mind on Death Penalty
James Fry, a former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, changed his mind about the death penalty after learning that he successfully prosecuted an innocent man for rape. The defendant, Charles Chatman, was cleared 27 years later by DNA. In an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News, Fry asks, “For years, Texas has led the nation in the number of executions. Why don’t we now strive to lead the nation in a new direction: reforming a justice system in urgent need of reform?” Fry continued, “For…
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