Testimony and Statements

Tokyo, Japan December 6 – 7, 2005 Next we would like to welcome, Mr. Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center. I would like to thank the European Commission, the American Bar Association and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations for inviting me to speak about the death penalty in the United States. I first want to say that our Japanese hosts have been especially gracious — I immediately felt welcomed here, and I want to thank you for that. Today we are…

As the 1,000^th execution approaches, over 1,000 religious leaders from more than a dozen religious faiths have issued an open letter calling for an end to capital punishment in the United States. The letter reaffirms the leaders’ moral opposition to the death penalty and reiterates the groups’ belief in the sacredness of life and the human capacity for change. The faith leaders called on public officials to reexamine capital punishment and to seek better ways to help communities heal from…

A statement approved during this week’s meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) calls for an end to the death penalty in the United States and notes that the death penalty “contributes to a cycle of violence in our society that must be broken.” The statement, drafted by the USCCB Domestic Policy Committee, is the first comprehensive statement focused on the death penalty by the Catholic bishops of the United States in 25 years. It is part of the wider “Catholic Campaign to…

In testimony before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary regarding proposed legislation to initiate a “foolproof” death penalty, Columbia Law School Professor Jeffrey Fagan (pictured) analyzed recent studies that claimed that capital punishment deters murders. He stated that the studies “fall apart under close scrutiny.” Fagan noted that the studies are fraught with technical and conceptual errors, including inappropriate methods of statistical analysis, failures to consider all…

The dedication of the National Death Penalty Archive at the State University of New York at Albany will take place on August 9, 2005. Hugo Bedau of Tufts University will keynote the program, which will also feature William J. Bowers, Scott Christianson, David Kaczynski, and Michael Radelet. The Archive is a partnership between the Capital Punishment Research Initiative at the School of Criminal Justice and the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives at the University of…

Deterrence and the Death Penalty: A Critical Review of New Evidence contains the testimony of Professor Jeffrey Fagan of Columbia University Law School that he delivered to the New York State Assembly’s Standing Committees on Codes, Judiciary, and Correction on January 25, 2005. Read the testimony in PDF Format (145k)

DPIC has added a new easy-to-use state database of death penalty information to its Web site. In addition, Richard Dieter’s (DPIC’s Executive Director) testimony before the New York State Assembly Standing Committees on Codes, Judiciary, and Correction regarding the costs of the death penalty is also available. The Committees are holding hearings on whether New York should re-instate the death penalty. To access information on any state’s death row population, the number of exonerations…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brenda Bowser Tuesday, December 14, 2004 (202) 293‑6970, cell (301) 906‑4460 bbowser@deathpenaltyinfo.org DEATH PENALTY NUMBERS IN 2004 CONTINUE DRAMATIC FIVE-YEAR DECLINE DPIC’s Year End Report Highlights Drops in Death Sentences, Executions, Death Row Population, and Public Support for Capital Punishment WASHINGTON, DC – A five-year decline in death sentences, a 40% drop in executions, a shrinking death row population, and waning public support for capital…

American Correctional Association Annual Conference — Nashville, Tennessee The Death Penalty Today Richard C. Dieter August 14, 2003 I want to thank the American Correctional Association for the invitation to speak at this conference. It is an honor to be here. Some people may have the mistaken notion that challenging the death penalty before members of this organization would be a difficult task. But I am aware of the long and proud tradition of the ACA with regard to the treatment of…