Publications & Testimony

Five books addressing religion and its role in coping with violent crime are now available: ​“Healing Violent Men: A Model for Christian Communities” — This book by religion professor David Livingston explores domestic violence. It offers practical advice for pastoral and programmatic efforts to embrace the twin Christian imperatives of forgiveness and responsiblity. (Fortress Press, 2002). ​“When Violence is No Stranger: Pastoral Counseling with Survivors of Acquaintance Rape” — In this book…

Stuart Streichler served as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Gregg v. Georgia. He observed many capital cases and now concludes: ​“A fundamental idea of American law is that all defendants should receive fair trials all of the time. The persistent failure to come close to that in death penalty cases undermines the integrity of the legal system.” Streichler’s op-ed appreared recently in the Miami Herald: This month…

North Carolina is poised to become the first state to establish an Innocence Inquiry Commission that would review inmates’ innocence claims. Legislation to create the panel recently passed the state Senate by a vote of 48 – 1, and it passed last year in the House of Representative by a vote of 80 – 23. The legislation now must go before a legislative conference to reconcile differences between the versions. The House version of the bill would establish a permanent Innocence Commission and allow…

According to a report by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, the police sergeant in charge of the investigation that led to the possible wrongful execution of Ruben Cantu in Texas had a record of wrongful arrests and was suspended three times for errors in judgment during his three decades with the San Antonio Police Department. Official documents examined by the papers revealed that Sergeant Bill Ewell, who supervised the homicide unit and was one of the driving forces…

A new report issued by the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project found that Alabama’s death penalty fails to meet fundamental ABA standards of fairness and accuracy. An eight-member assessment team assembled in Alabama by the ABA was so troubled by its findings that it called for a moratorium on executions in the state. The team urged lawmakers to take action to ensure effective representation at every stage of the capital process to protect innocent…

Anna Quindlen, writing in the June 26, 2006 issue of Newsweek, reflected on the underlying questions surrounding the death penalty: Hardly any other civilized place does this anymore. In the past three decades, the number of nations that have abolished the death penalty has risen from 16 to 86. Last year four countries accounted for nearly all executions worldwide: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States. … Much of the debate about the death penalty since it reared its ugly head again…

A new study examined all cases in which the death penalty was sought in Colorado over a 20-year period, from 1980 to 1999. The study identified 110 death penalty cases, and compared the race and gender of the victims. The authors concluded that the death penalty was most likely to be sought for homicides with white female victims. They also determined that the probability of death being sought was 4.2 times higher for those who killed whites than for those who killed blacks. (Michael Radelet…

A June 2006 TNS Poll (released by the Washington Post and ABC News) found little change in American opinion on the death penalty over the past three years. Sixty-five percent of American adults still favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder. Despite this, when respondents were given a choice between the sentencing options of life without parole and the death penalty, 46% favored life without parole. Fifty percent of respondents, however, selected the death penalty as their…

Professor Michael Meltsner, who worked as an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in its efforts to challenge the death penalty in the 1960s and 70s, recently assessed the U.S.’s application of the death penalty over the past 30 years. He noted that today’s death penalty system is ​“broken” and fails to make the nation a safer society. Writing in the Boston Globe, Meltsner wrote: The same week Americans enjoy the 230^th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, they might also consider…

In a recent op-ed, Jack Fuller, former editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, called for an end to capital punishment. Citing a series of mistakes by eyewitnesses, police and forensic experts, he stated that the criminal justice system is too deeply flawed to entrust with carrying out executions. Pointing to the likely innocence of Carlos DeLuna, a Texas man who was executed in 1989, Fuller concluded that the death penalty should be abolished because ​“no goverment is good enough to…