Publications & Testimony

By a vote of 5 – 4, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s grant of relief to Tennessee death row inmate Gregory Thompson. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had announced that its initial denial of Thompson’s appeal was mistaken. After first denying Thompson’s habeas corpus petition, the Sixth Circuit discovered previously unconsidered evidence that Thompson was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the offense. The court reconsidered the case in light of the evidence…

Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty, a new book by Judith W. Kay, uses the personal experiences of both crime victims’ families and those on death row to examine America’s beliefs about crime and punishment. Noting that researchers have raised questions about the execution of innocent people, racial bias in sentencing, and capital punishment’s failure to act as a deterrent, Kay asks why Americans still support the death penalty. She uses interviews with those most closely…

Texas Governor Rick Perry has announced the appointment of the members of the state’s new Criminal Justice Advisory Council, including three judges, two prominent state legislators, a defense attorney, a prosecutor, and 13 additional ex-officio members. The commission will study potential flaws and recommend changes to the state’s justice system. This is the first group in many years to have broad-ranging authority to look at the Texas criminal justice system from arrest to final appeal. Among…

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a capital case challenging the standard of proof needed for claims of innocence based on new evidence. The Justices will consider an appeal filed by Paul House, a Tennessee death row inmate who says new DNA evidence proves he was wrongfully convicted. In 1993 in Herrera v. Collins, a 5‑member majority of the Court said a claim of innocence based on new evidence alone is generally not enough to merit a new hearing in federal court. However, in 1995 in…

Retired Orange County, California Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin, who was once known as “the hanging judge,” recently called for an end to the death penalty. In a column he published in the Orange County Register, McCartin revealed that a number of recent death penalty cases and rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court have led him to now oppose capital punishment because it is expensive and can never be applied in a fair and balanced way. He wrote: This may seem strange coming from a man…

After an audit of Virginia’s Division of Forensic Science resulted in criticism of the crime laboratory’s procedures in testing DNA evidence, the state announced that it will now review the lab’s findings in 160 cases, including approximately 24 death penalty cases that hung on DNA evidence. Robert J. Humphreys, a Virginia Court of Appeals judge, is leading the review effort to examine cases that date from 1994. This marks the first time Virginia has volunteered to revisit findings in the cases…

An editorial in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette stated that the death penalty is more expensive than life without parole and offers Indiana residents no measurable benefit for their tax dollars. The paper said that ending the death penalty and reallocating funds currently put toward capital punishment would improve programs such as victim’s assistance, grassroots police programs, and social service agencies that work with at-risk youth. The Journal Gazette editorial noted: The death penalty is…

Texas Governor Rick Perry (pictured) has commuted the death sentences of 28 juvenile offenders to life in prison, an act that brings the state into compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that deemed the practice of executing those who were under 18 at the time of their crime unconstitutional. While some of these inmates will remain in more restrictive segregation, many will have their first exposure to prison work programs, schooling, and jobs within a prison unit. Current Texas…

In an editorial highlighting public support for the sentencing option of life without parole in death penalty cases and the need to take steps to protect against executing innocent people, USA Today recently stated that life without the possibility of parole is a “fitting replacement” for the death penalty. The editorial praised the historic enactment of a life without the possibility of parole statute in Texas and other recent activities around the nation that seek to address problems with…

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered a new sentencing trial for Pennsylvania death row inmate Ronald Rompilla after finding that he was inadequately represented by counsel during his 1988 capital trial. The 5 – 4 ruling marks the second time in one week that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence citing improper actions at trial. The Court noted that Rompilla’s trial attorney failed to investigate records showing possible mitigating evidence of mental retardation and a traumatic…