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: 6491 — 6500
Mar 01, 2003
Prosecutorial Misconduct and Ineffective Counsel: The Case of Delma Banks, Jr.
By George Kendall, counsel for Delma Banks, Jr. Delma Banks, Jr., is a 43-year old African-American man. The State of Texas intends to execute him on March 12, 2003. In 1980, he was convicted and death-sentenced in Bowie County (east Texas) for the murder of sixteen-year-old Richard Whitehead, a white male. From the moment of his arrest, Mr. Banks has protested that he did not kill Mr. Whitehead and is innocent of this crime. He had never before been convicted of a crime. Deliberate…
Read MoreFeb 15, 2003
Whats New
DPIC-What’s New Last updated January 24, 2003 See also, Special from DPIC and New Links Another Innocent Inmate Freed From Florida’s Death Row Florida death row inmate Rudolph Holton was released on January 24, 2003, making him the 103rd person exonerated and freed from death row nationwide since 1973. Holton’s conviction for murder was overturned in 2001 and prosecutors announced today that the state was dropping all charges against Holten, who had spent 16 years on death row. Crucial…
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Feb 10, 2003
Part II: The Innocence Defense
By DAVID KARP, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published February 10, 2003 TAMPA — It had turned cold, the days had gotten shorter, and still they had not found Flemmie Birkins. On and off for three months, the private investigators drove around Tampa looking for him. Fourteen years earlier, Birkins’ testimony had put Rudolph Holton on death row. He said Holton admitted strangling a 17-year-old. Attorney Linda McDermott says the first time she read Holton’s case, she thought, “How…
Read MoreJan 24, 2003
ANOTHER FLORIDA DEATH ROW INMATE TO BE RELEASED AFTER STATE DROPS ALL CHARGES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2003 Contact: Richard Dieter: 202 – 293-6970 ANOTHER FLORIDA DEATH ROW INMATE TO BE RELEASED AFTER STATE DROPS ALL CHARGES Prosecution Withheld Crucial Evidence; DNA Helps Clear Rudolph Holton Washington, DC — Rudolph Holton will be released from Florida’s death row later today in Raiford, becoming the 103 person exonerated and freed from death row since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Holton’s conviction for murder was overturned in…
Read MoreJan 15, 2003
Illinois Death Row Inmates Granted Commutation by Governor George Ryan on January 12, 2003
Illinois Death Row Inmates Granted Commutation (sentences were commuted to life in prison unless otherwise indicated) 1. ALLEN, KENNETH (B) 2. ALVINE, RONALD (W) 3. ARMSTRONG, DONALD (B) 4. ASHFORD, JAMES (B) 5. BALLARD, MARK (W) 6. BANKS, RANDY (B) 7. BARROW, RONALD (W) 8. BEAN, HAROLD (W) 9. BRISBON, HENRY (B) 10. BRITZ, DEWAYNE (W) 11. BROOKS, TERRENCE (B) 12. BROWN, ANTHONY (B) 13. BROWN, ANTON (B) 14. BURGESS, RAY (W) 15. BURT, RONALD (W) 16. BURTON, PETER (W) 17. BUSS, TIMOTHY (W) 18.
Read MoreJan 12, 2003
Illinois Death Row Inmates Granted Commutation by Governor George Ryan on January 12, 2003
Illinois Death Row Inmates Granted Commutation (sentences were commuted to life in prison unless otherwise indicated) 1. ALLEN, KENNETH (B) 2. ALVINE, RONALD (W) 3. ARMSTRONG, DONALD (B) 4. ASHFORD, JAMES (B) 5. BALLARD, MARK (W) 6. BANKS, RANDY (B) 7. BARROW, RONALD (W) 8. BEAN, HAROLD (W) 9. BRISBON, HENRY (B) 10. BRITZ, DEWAYNE (W) 11. BROOKS, TERRENCE (B) 12. BROWN, ANTHONY (B) 13. BROWN, ANTON (B) 14. BURGESS, RAY (W) 15. BURT, RONALD (W) 16. BURTON, PETER (W) 17. BUSS, TIMOTHY (W) 18.
Read MoreJan 11, 2003
In Ryan’s Words: I Must Act
Following is the prepared text of Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s speech at Northwestern University College of Law before granting clemency to all inmates on the state’s death row (NYTimes.com, January 11, 2003) Four years ago I was sworn in as the 39th Governor of Illinois. That was just four short years ago; that’s when I was a firm believer in the American System of Justice and the death penalty. I believed that the ultimate penalty for the taking of a life was administrated in a just and fair…
Read MoreJan 09, 2003
Kentucky Death Penalty Legislation Dealing with Race
— — — — — — — — — — AN ACT relating to the fair and reliable imposition of capital sentences. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 532 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS: (1) No person shall be subject to or given a sentence of death that was sought on the basis of race. (2) A finding that race was the basis of the decision to seek a death sentence may be established if the court finds that race was a significant factor in decisions…
Read MoreJan 09, 2003
Statement of David C. Baldus
Prof. Baldus Statement Date: June 11, 2001 To: The Honorable Russell D. Feingold Committee on the Judiciary, U. S. Senate 716 Hart Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510 – 4904 From: David C. Baldus Joseph B. Tye Distinguished Professor of Law College of Law, University of Iowa Re: DOJ report on the Federal Death Penalty System (June 6, 2001) I have read U.S. Department of Justice, The Federal Death Penalty System: Supplementary Data, Analysis and Revised Protocols for Capital Case…
Read MoreJan 01, 2003
Juveniles News and Developments 2002
New York Times Condemns Capital Prosecution of Juvenile A recent New York Times editorial criticized the federal government’s decision to designate Virginia as the first state to prosecute Washington, DC-area sniper suspect Lee Malvo. Juvenile defendants, including 17-year-old Malvo, are eligible to receive the death penalty in Virginia. The editorial, which chastised police for questioning Malvo outside the presence of his court-appointed guardian, sharply objected to the government’s…
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