Testimony and Statements

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will hold its national conference at the Fair Lakes Hyatt Hotel in Fairfax, Virginia, October 26 – 29, 2006. The NCADP consists of a wide spectrum of groups and individuals opposed to the death penalty. Among the speakers at this year’s event are Theodore Shaw, President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Hugo A. Bedau, author and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Tufts University, and numerous individuals who were exonerated and…

A broad spectrum of religious leaders from Wisconsin issued a joint statement regarding their views on the death penalty on October 14. The statement follows: ‘Simply put, we cannot support the death penalty’ Posted: Oct. 14, 2006 There are many articulate and compelling arguments for rejecting the death penalty referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot. We will not rehearse those arguments here. As religious leaders, we wish to present a straightforward, values-based argument. We believe that it is…

Capital Punishment Research Initiative: The Future of Innocence by Richard C. Dieter (October 6 – 7, 2006)

The American Bar Association passed a resolution on August 8 at its annual conference recommending that jurisdictions refrain from sentencing to death or executing individuals with severe mental disorders. Using language adopted earlier by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, the resolution asserted that defendants should not be executed or sentenced to death if, at the time of the offense, they had “significant limitations in both their intellectual…

New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission: Testimony of Richard C. Dieter (July 19, 2006)

The Anniston Star Section: Opinion July 2, 2006 Author: Richard C. Dieter Special to The Star In deciding a narrow issue about an obscure part of Kansas’ death penalty law, the Supreme Court last week revealed a chasm of differing opinions regarding the fundamental reliability of capital punishment in this country. Although the opposing views were widely divergent and sharply expressed, the court did us all a service by identifying the key problem that may decide the future of the death…

In a letter issued prior to Easter, the Catholic Bishops in Missouri called for an end to executions in the U.S. and urged parishioners to “build a culture of life.” The letter noted that violence “is not a solution to society’s problems,” and it summarized church teachings regarding capital punishment and highlighted a campaign by U.S. Catholic Bishops to end the use of the death penalty. “(Christ) was unjustly sentenced to death and executed on a cross, the cruelest form of capital punishment…

The recent “Faces of Wrongful Conviction” conference at UCLA featured a wide variety of speakers, including California’s Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, former special prosecutor and federal judge Kenneth Starr, and former Bexar County (TX) District Attorney Sam Milsap. The conference was organized to examine mistakes in the criminal justice system and to explore reforms, particularly in California. A state Senate commission is preparing a study of California’s death penalty system, and…

Supplement Letter for the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights’ Hearing on the Death Penalty (Feb. 7, 2006)

New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Safety Committee: Testimony of Richard C. Dieter (Jan. 10, 2006)