Death Penalty Information Center

Recent Posts from Death Penalty Information Center

• BOOKS: The Last Lawyer--The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates

  The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates is a book by John Temple about the courageous work of a death penalty defense attorney in the south.  Ken Rose is an attorney at…

• Death Sentences Have Become Rare in Virginia

  Virginia has not had a death verdict from a jury since March 2008, the longest stretch of time without a death verdict since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s.  Nationally, there has also…

• Death Sentences Declining in Texas

  Inmates added to Texas death row by year: Click here to enlarge Death sentences have dropped significantly over the last few years in Texas according to a study by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The number…

• Supreme Court Decides One Capital Case and Agrees to Hear Another

  On November 16, the United States Supreme Court accepted for review and handed down a per curiam decision in Wong v. Belmontes (No. 08-1263). The Court reinstated Fernando Belmontes' death sentence and overturned the decision…

• NEW VOICES: Washington State Law Enforcement Officials Express Doubts About Death Penalty

  Walla Walla County (Washington) Sheriff Mike Humphreys said the death penalty does not deter homicides, and it may be time for the public to reconsider the law: "At the time, (perpetrators do not) think about…

• DPIC's Report on Costs and Police Views Subject of Bob Edwards Interview

  The Bob Edwards on Sirius XM Radio recently explored the high costs of the death penalty and the views of the country's police chiefs as discussed in DPIC's latest report, "Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the…

• Ohio Proposes Major Change to Its Execution Process

  On November 13, Ohio announced that it was adopting a single-drug protocol for lethal injection, making it the first state to embrace this change.  Ohio will inject inmates with a large dose of an anesthetic,…

• NEW VOICES: Former Kentucky Officials Rethinking the Wisdom of High Death Penalty Expenditures

  The former director of Kentucky's courts recently recommended that the state stop wasting money on the death penalty and direct those resources where they are needed more.  "We've got a system in Kentucky where there's…

• U.S. Supreme Court Restores Death Sentence for Ohio Inmate

  On November 9, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Bobby v. Van Hook (No. 09–144) and issued a per curiam opinion overturning a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for…

• The Death Penalty in the State of Washington

  The Walla-Walla Union Bulletin is focusing on the state's death penalty in a 4-part series entitled, "Executing Justice." The series examines issues such as the costs of the death penalty, arbitrariness, and the appeals process.…