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: 6561 — 6570
Aug 01, 2000
United States Supreme Court Decisions: 1999 — 2000 Term
Williams (Terry) v. Taylor, 98 – 8384. The Court, voting 6 – 3, held that the Virginia Supreme Court applied the wrong test when examining a claim that Williams’s lawyer was ineffective in the sentencing phase of his trial. The Court also disagreed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which had upheld Williams’s death sentence. Williams’s lawyer had failed to present evidence of child abuse, borderline mental retardation, and potential for reform in his client’s history. Such…
Read MoreApr 26, 2000
Press Release for Senator Russ Feingold’s Introduction of Senate’s First Death Penalty Moratorium Bill
April 26, 2000 Link to Web Archive
Read MoreApr 07, 2000
Transcript of Dr. Pat Robertson’s Speech on the Role of Religion and the Death Penalty at The College of William and Mary
Link to PDF
Read MoreJan 10, 2000
The Challenge of Holiness: A Sermon on the Death Penalty
By Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein, Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue Delivered at Riverside Church, January 10, 2000 Good morning. It is really humbling to be here on this pulpit in the presence of colleagues — ministers of this great church; to be with those who have devoted their lives fighting for a cause which I deem of ultimate importance; and to be with you, the members of a congregation which throughout its history has somehow always understood what needs to be done and somehow managed to…
Read MoreJan 01, 2000
DPIC Summary of “The Federal Death Penalty System: A Statistical Survey”
A Summary of the Report on the Federal Death Penalty by the Death Penalty Information Center Introduction This study was conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice at the request of President Clinton and was released on September 12, 2000. The purpose of the study was to describe the Department of Justice’s decision-making process in seeking the death penalty, and to present statistical information focusing on the racial, ethnic and geographical distribution of defendants and their victims…
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Dec 31, 1999
International News and Developments: 1999 – 1998
On December 27th, Turkmenistan became the first of the five former Soviet Central Asian republics to abolish the death penalty. The people’s council passed a resolution amending the constitution and removing the death penalty. “Now in our country neither the government nor anyone else has the right to take away human life,” said Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov. (Reuters, 12/27/99) After 8 hours of debate, the Bermudan House of Assembly voted to abolish the death penalty in the British…
Read MoreOct 23, 1999
Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference: Orlando, Florida Remarks by Former Florida Chief Justice Gerald Kogan
Speech given by Former Florida Chief Justice Gerald Kogan Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference Orlando, Florida October 23, 1999 Good morning, everybody. It’s my pleasure to be here this morning and it’s worth the trip up from Miami to come to Orlando to speak before a group such as this. I was commenting to Joe before we started that there are so many young-looking folks in the audience and Joe very politely said, “I’m glad to know there are those who will be able to carry on…
Read MoreOct 12, 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”
Message from Mary Robinson: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the Press Conference Organized by the Death Penalty Information Center New York City, USA Tuesday, 12 October 1999 Ladies and Gentlemen, I regret that I am not able to be with you today to share this important event. I am confident that today’s discussion will be fruitful and contribute to the continuing international effort aimed at limiting, and one day, eliminating the use of the death penalty throughout the…
Read MoreSep 15, 1999
Historic Illinois Hearings Address Innocence and the Death Penalty
Following a series of celebrated releases of innocent defendants from its death row, Illinois’s House of Representatives held hearings to address the state’s system of capital punishment on September 15 & 16, 1999. Among those who testified were Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; Mike Farrell, actor and human rights activist; Renny Cushing, Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Bryan Stevenson, Director of Equal Justice Initiative; Professor Lawrence Marshall…
Read MoreSep 15, 1999
Testimony of Richard C. Dieter, Esq. Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center to the Illinois House of Representatives addressing innocence and the death penalty
HISTORIC ILLINOIS HEARINGS ADDRESS INNOCENCE AND THE DEATH PENALTY Following a series of celebrated releases of innocent defendants from its death row, Illinois’s House of Representatives held hearings to address the state’s system of capital punishment on September 15 & 16, 1999. Among those who testified were Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; Mike Farrell, actor and human rights activist; Renny Cushing, Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Bryan Stevenson…
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