Publications & Testimony

During a recent meeting of the European Union’s full assembly, European Parliament president Josep Borrell called on the 76 countries around the world that continue to retain the death penalty to discontinue use of capital punishment. He noted that the United States is the only democratic state that makes “widespread use” of the death penalty and that the European Union has a duty to convince Americans to end the practice. “Most unfortunately, in the U.S. the 1000^th execution was carried out.

Former San Antonio District Attorney Sam Millsap, who once proclaimed himself a “lifelong supporter of the death penalty,” now opposes capital punishment. Millsap says his decision to oppose the death penalty was recently affirmed as evidence surfaced that Texas may have killed an innocent man when it executed Ruben Cantu, a San Antonio man who was sentenced to die while Millsap was DA. “It is troubling to me personally. No decision is more frightening than seeking the death penalty. We owe…

In a letter to acting New Jersey Govenor Richard J. Codey, Ocean County prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher called for an end to the death penalty in New Jersey because he feels the system is ineffective and fails to meet the needs of victims’ families. Kelaher, who has been a prosecutor for 23 years, said that life without parole would be a more appropriate sentencing option for those convicted of first-degree murder. “The history of nonapplication of the law has been a cruel hoax on families of the…

A recent editorial in The Birmingham News criticized the costly and unfair nature of Alabama’s capital punishment system. It also called on state legislators to, at a minimum, take steps that would limit the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty. The newspaper, which recently wrote a series of editorials changing its long-standing support for capital punishment and calling on the state to abandon the use of the death penalty, noted: More varieties of murder qualify for the death…

Tokyo, Japan December 6 – 7, 2005 Next we would like to welcome, Mr. Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center. I would like to thank the European Commission, the American Bar Association and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations for inviting me to speak about the death penalty in the United States. I first want to say that our Japanese hosts have been especially gracious — I immediately felt welcomed here, and I want to thank you for that. Today we are…

As evidence surfaces that Texas may have killed an innocent man when it executed Ruben Cantu in 1993, recent editorials by the Austin American-Statesman and the Dallas Morning News have criticized Texas’ death penalty and called on the state to take a closer look at its “flawed” capital punishment system. The Austin American-Stateman wrote: We all should remember (Ruben) Cantu’s case and the lessons it offers as the country carries out its 1000^th execution since 1976 scheduled for today in…

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two death penalty cases on Wednesday, December 7, 2005, including a case to determine the constitutionality of Kansas’ death penalty statute and a case that involves the issue of innocence. In Kansas v. Marsh, No. 04 – 1170, the justices will consider the constitutionality of Kansas’ death penalty, which requires that a death sentence be imposed when a jury finds that aggravating circumstance and mitigating circumstances have equal weight. The jury…

Sixty-five percent of voters in North Carolina favor suspending the death penalty until questions about its accuracy and fairness can be studied according to a recent Hart Research poll sponsored by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers.The poll found that even among voters who identify themselves as strong supporters of the death penalty, 43% still favor a moratorium on executions while an in-depth study of capital punishment is conducted. Sixty-five percent of voters in North Carolina…

Two new books by American University Criminology Professor Robert Johnson, including one book of satire and a second book of short stories co-authored with prisoner Victor Hassine and criminologist Ania Dobrzanska, address life in prison and on death row in the United States. Johnson’s first book of satire, “Justice Follies,” offers a collection of parodies that seek to highlight a host of problems within the American prison system. “This book made me laugh out loud. It is outrageous… and the…

Cardinal William H. Keeler (pictured), archbishop of Baltimore and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, made an historic visit to Maryland’s death row and met with Wesley Eugene Baker, who is scheduled to be executed in a few days. Cardinals Keeler, Theodore McCarrick of Washington, DC, and Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Delaware also sent a letter to Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich urging him to commute Baker’s sentence to life in prison…