Publications & Testimony

On September 28, 2023, the Western District Court of Texas ruled that the state cannot execute Scott Panetti (pictured), a death row prisoner with a decades-long history of serious mental health issues and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Despite a state expert conceding Mr. Panetti’s serious mental illness, Texas argued that he is competent to face execution because he has “some degree” of rational understanding. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled, however, that “[Mr.] Panetti is not sane…

On September 21, 2023, a military judge in Guantanamo Bay ruled that Ramzi Bin al Shibh, one of five defendants in the 9/11 case for whom the death penalty is being sought, is mentally incompetent to stand trial. Mr. Bin al Shibh, who has been detained for 21 years, will remain in custody at Guantanamo as authorities attempt to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder caused when he was forced to undergo “enhanced interrogations” by the U.S. government. “[T]he totality of the facts…

On September 18, 2023, former Texas death-sentenced prisoner Clinton Young filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the Western District of Texas, accusing two Midland County district attorneys, the prosecutor on his case, and Midland County itself, for violating his constitutional right to a fair trial. Just four months after his 18^th birthday in 2001, Mr. Young and two others, David Page and Darnell McCoy, went on a drug-induced spree that resulted in the deaths of two individuals. In 2003…

In the September 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, speaks with Pastor Rich Nathan (pictured), founding pastor of Vineyard Columbus, an evangelical Christian church based in Ohio. Mr. Nathan shares how religious teachings inform his position on the death penalty. “For me, the opposition to capital punishment has just been a natural extension of our pro-life position of building an inclusive society, a society that welcomes everyone into the human…

On September 26, 2023, the New York Metropolitan Opera will premiere “Dead Man Walking” created by American composer Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally and featuring a new staging by Ivo van Hove. The opera is based on Sister Helen Prejean’s 1993 memoir which details her journey as a pen pal and spiritual adviser to a death-sentenced prisoner at Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. It is the most performed contemporary opera in the world. “I can only think that somehow we told this human drama very…

On September 19^th, 2023, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and the South Carolina Department of Corrections issued a joint statement informing the public that the state is “now prepared” to carry out lethal injection executions, as they have retained the drug needed to do so. Gov. McMaster and Department of Corrections officials filed a brief with the South Carolina Supreme Court, notifying the courts of their procurement of pentobarbital, a sedative that can be lethal in high doses, and…

Glynn Simmons, who was convicted and sentenced to death in Oklahoma in 1975, has been exonerated after Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna dropped charges against him. Mr. Simmons told The Black Wall Street Times, “I’m happy, and I’m free. It’s a long, long struggle. … We need to reimagine justice and how we do it.” DA Behenna said of the case, “One of the things that I stand by very strongly is a defendant’s right to a fair trial, where he has all the evidence to defend himself.

On September 14^th, 2023, the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project held its annual Volunteer Recognition & Awards Program, honoring Venable LLP for its pro bono representation of death row prisoners, and capital defense attorney and Florida State University College of Law professor Mark E. Olive, for his lifetime commitment to providing those on death row with quality representation. Director of the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project Emily Olson-Gault noted…

According to a September 14, 2023, article from The Intercept, four medical supply manufacturers are refusing to sell their equipment for use in lethal injection executions. This limitation may further hamper the ability of states to carry out executions, as a multitude of pharmaceutical companies have already placed restrictions on selling their drugs to departments of correction. Joining these companies are Baxter International Inc., B. Braun Medical Inc., Fresenius Kabi, and Johnson &…

On September 12, 2023, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore filed a request for injunctive relief, asking the 19^th Judicial District Court to vacate hearings scheduled for three East Baton Rouge Parish prisoners who have requested clemency. In June 2023, 51 death-sentenced individuals filed clemency applications with the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, requesting a commutation of their death sentences to life without parole. Five additional applications from death…