Publications & Testimony

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, May 11, 2001 CONTACT: Gretchen Engel, N.C. Center for Death Penalty Litigation, (919) 956‑9545 and Brenda Bowser, DPIC (202) 293‑6970 RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, INEPT DEFENSE, AND BASIC UNFAIRNESS MAKE PENDING NORTH CAROLINA EXECUTION CLOSER TO THE NORM With federal execution delayed, focus can shift to key problems as May 18 execution approaches WASHINGTON, DC — While much of the country has been focused on the prospect of the first federal execution in nearly…

Landmark North Carolina Study of Race and the Death Penalty to be Released Monday First Statewide review of race bias in the South since early 1980’s WASHINGTON, DC — On Monday, April 16, the most thorough statewide review in North Carolina’s history regarding racial bias and the death penalty will be released in Raleigh, NC. The study was conducted by Dr. Isaac Unah of the Department of Political Science of the University of North Carolina, and Professor John Charles Boger, a professor at…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, March 5, 2001 CONTACT: BRENDA BOWSER (202) 293‑6970 CONCERNS ABOUT AMERICA’S DEATH PENALTY POLICY RESONATE AS NATION APPROACHES 700^th SCHEDULED EXECUTION SINCE REINSTATEMENT OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Georgia to use electric chair for first time since 1998, Borderline mentally retarded juvenile offender to be executed on Wednesday WASHINGTON, DC — As the United States approaches its 700^th execution since capital punishment was reinstated, growing concerns in…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, January 15, 2001 CONTACT: BRENDA BOWSER (202) 293‑6970 ** PRESS ADVISORY ** IN RARE MOVE, FULL CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS WILL REVIEW DEATH ROW INMATE’S “SLEEPING LAWYER” CLAIM Judges to examine panel’s controversial ruling in Burdine’s denial of counsel case WASHINGTON, DC — The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will review an earlier ruling in the case of Calvin J. Burdine, a Texas death row inmate whose “sleeping lawyer” claim drew national…

The Death Penalty Information Center has assembled the following press materials and Web links to provide easy access to information regarding the work of the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment, a blue-ribbon panel that has recently completed the nation’s most comprehensive state review of the death penalty. The Commission’s findings and recommendations will surely capture the attention of lawmakers and legal experts throughout the nation who are watching closely to track the impact of…

The nation is embroiled in a debate over the death penalty. Each day brings fresh accounts of racial bias, incompetent counsel, and misconduct committed by police officers or prosecutors in capital cases. The public increasingly questions whether the ultimate penalty can be administered fairly — free from the taint of racism; free from the disgrace of counsel sleeping through a client’s trial; free from the risk of executing an innocent person. Support for the death penalty is falling, and…

Philippine President Commutes Over 100 Death Sentences On December 10, 2000, Philippine President Joseph Estrada commuted the death sentences for 105 convicts to life imprisonment. The move came after Estrada was urged by Bishop emeritus Antonio Fortich to release all political prisoners before Christmas. Estrada agreed to release the prisoners, and added that he would commute the sentences of those under sentence of death. Although Estrada announced plans to commute all of the country’s death…

The Georgia Supreme Court granted a stay in the case of Alexander Williams. Georgia, which has not had an execution in over 2 years, was scheduled to execute Alexander Williams in the state’s electric chair on August 24, 2000. Williams was only 17 years old at the time of the crime, and is a diagnosed schizophrenic. Williams was represented by an attorney who could not successfully name two criminal cases, and who was later officially removed from the list of those qualified to handle…