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: 4671 — 4680
Feb 20, 2009
BOOKS: No Winners Here Tonight
A new book, No Winners Here Tonight: Race, Politics, and Geography in One of the Country’s Busiest Death Penalty States, by Ohio journalist Andrew Welsh-Huggins, explores the history of Ohio’s death penalty and raises questions of fairness by examining the state’s experience with capital punishment. Citing historical examples, the author argues that the death penalty has been carried out in an arbitrary fashion from its earliest days and has fallen short of the state’s standard of executing…
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Feb 20, 2009
SUPREME COURT: Is There a Constitutional Right to DNA Testing? Forum at Georgetown Law
On March 2, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne concerning a defendant’s right to post-conviction DNA testing. In this non-capital rape case, Alaska has repeatedly refused William Osborne’s request for DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene despite the fact that it would be at no cost to the State, and the fact the evidence could demonstrate Osborne’s innocence of the 1993 rape and attempted murder for which he was convicted. A…
Read MoreFeb 20, 2009
Texas Commission Charges Misconduct By Chief Judge in Death Penalty Appeal
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct filed seven charges of misconduct against Chief Justice Sharon Keller (pictured) of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) stemming from her actions in a death penalty appeal in 2007. Judge Keller is charged with not following court procedure and improperly closing the court to the appeal of Michael Richard shortly before he was to be executed. Among other charges, the Commission stated, “Judge Keller did not disclose to the other judges her…
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Feb 18, 2009
NEW VOICES: Maryland’s Former Speaker of the House Says “End Capital Punishment”
Casper Taylor, Jr., a long-time Maryland House of Delegates member and former supporter of the death penalty, has written an op-ed calling for the end of capital punishment in Maryland. “In 28 years in the Maryland House of Delegates, nine as speaker, I cast thousands of votes,” wrote Taylor. “I have few regrets. But there is one vote I wish I could take back — my 1978 vote to reinstate the death penalty in Maryland.” Taylor continued, “Today, that vote haunts me. Since reinstatement…
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Feb 17, 2009
Developments in Montana and New Mexico May Lead to Abolition of Death Penalty
Recent developments in Montana and New Mexico may affect the outcome of legislative efforts to abolish the death penalty. In Montana, the Senate voted 27 – 23 to end the death penalty in favor of life in prison without parole. It is the second session in a row that such a proposal has cleared the Senate. New Mexico’s House passed a bill replacing capital punishment with life in prison without parole and the bill is pending in a Senate committee. Legislatures in both states cited the risk of…
Read MoreFeb 16, 2009
Virginia Scheduled to Execute Man Whose Lawyers Failed Him
Edward Bell, a Jamaican immigrant convicted of killing a police officer, is scheduled to be executed in Virginia on February 19 despite a conclusion by a federal District Court that his lawyers failed to present any mitigating evidence at his trial. Judge James Jones of the Eastern District of Virginia held that the representation Bell received violated constitutional standards. However, a new sentencing hearing to explore the ample mitigating evidence that existed was never granted. According…
Read MoreFeb 13, 2009
Ohio Governor Grants Death Row Inmate Clemency
Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio has granted clemency to death row inmate Jeffrey Hill (pictured), who was scheduled to be executed on March 3. “After the review of extensive material associated with this case, I concur with the unanimous rationale and recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board,“ Strickland said in a statement. The Board had voted unanimously for Hill’s commutation in part because of the victim’s family’s testimony that they wished Hill’s life be spared. The Governor explained in…
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Feb 12, 2009
New Mexico House Votes to Repeal Death Penalty
The New Mexico House of Representatives voted February 11 to repeal the death penalty. After a more than two-hour debate, the House voted 40 to 28 in favor of replacing the death penalty with life in prison without parole. This is the third time in recent years New Mexico’s House of Representatives has voted to ban capital punishment. House Bill 285 will now move to the senate. (S. Terrell, “House Votes to Abolsih the Death Penalty,” The New Mexican, February 11, 2009). See Recent Legislation.
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Feb 11, 2009
Florida Scheduled to Execute Defendant with Strong Claim of Innocence
Wayne Tompkins is scheduled to be executed in Florida at 6 pm on February 11 despite evidence that he could be innocent. Tompkins was sentenced to death for a murder in which even the victim’s death is in question. The body used as evidence in the case was identified by partial dental records matching one tooth, and several individuals have signed affidavits saying they saw the victim alive after the alleged murder. Gov. Crist could stay the execution. Update: Wayne Tompkins was executed on…
Read MoreFeb 10, 2009
States Introduce Bills to Abolish Death Penalty
Several states have recently introduced legislation to abolish or limit the death penalty. Bills to end capital punishment have been introduced in at least eight states: Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, New Hampshire, Maryland, Washington, and Kansas. For some of these states, the high costs of the death penalty has been an important factor in the legislative debates. For example, Colorado’s bill to abolish the death penalty specifies that the money saved from not pursuing executions…
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