York County Man to be Released After Nearly Two Decades on PA Death Row
Media Inquiries: Kathleen Lucas, Executive Director, Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty 717-236-4840 YORK, PA, December 18, 2023 – Today, the York County District Attorney dismissed murder charges against…
Death row exonerees hold Biden accountable
They were innocent and on death row. Now, the exonerated want to ensure Biden keeps pledge By Christina Carrega, CNN Updated 6:01 AM ET, Sun March 21, 2021 (CNN)Sabrina Smith…
Richard Glossip
https://www.city-sentinel.com/2021/02/don-knight-attorney-for-death-row-prisoner-richard-glossip-says-district-attorney-david-prater-is-withholding-evidence/
Feb. 18, 2021 Updates
February 18, 2021 Death Penalty Updates Death Penalty Information Center adds 11 more people to its innocence list. This brings us to the point where for every eight persons executed…
Feb. 18, 2021 Updates
February 18, 2021 Death Penalty Updates Death Penalty Information Center adds 11 more people to its innocence list. This brings us to the point where for every eight persons executed…
On the Resumption of Federal Executions
Two murders never make a right. This “eye for an eye” approach to delivering punishment must come to an end.
Starvin’ 4 Justice
27 years ago three activists gathered outside the Supreme Court for four days and three nights, Starvin’ 4 Justice. *** 48 years ago, on June 29, 1972 the U.S. Supreme…
PA Auditor General Cites Costly Death Penalty in Criminal Justice Report
June 9, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathleen Lucas, klucas@padp.org, 717-236-4840 Pa. Auditor General’s Criminal Justice Report Cites Costly Death Penalty June 9, 2020 York, PA — Pa. Auditor General…
Walter Ogrod Freed From Death Row After Nearly 30 Years
June 5, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathleen Lucas, klucas@padp.org, 717-236-4840 WALTER OGROD TO BE FREED TODAY FROM PENNSYLVANIA DEATH ROW AFTER ALMOST 30 YEARS York, PA– Today, Walter…
PADP Statement Condemning Police Brutality and Racial Injustice
It is not easy or simple, but there is hope. Akin Adepoju, President of PADP, joins with our community of civil rights organizations, advocates, organizers, and citizens in mourning the…
Why is an innocent man still on death row and who’s responsible if he dies there?
While the rest of us shelter in place, Walter Ogrod is on Pennsylvania’s death row. He checks all the boxes on the list of symptoms for the Coronavirus disease: high…
Film Screening & Speakers
Join us for a screening of the film In the Executioner’s Shadow. Vicki and Syl Schieber, whose daughter Shannon was raped and murdered in Philadelphia, will speak after the film….
PADP MOURNS DEATH OF VICE-CHAIR KENNETH L. FOX
Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) announces with sadness the passing away of Kenneth Lawrence Fox, the Vice-Chair of the organization’s board of directors, on Thursday, February 13,…
Go see Just Mercy and then TAKE ACTION!
Once you and your friends have seen this movie, they’ll want to join the fight to end capital punishment in Pennsylvania. Make sure to welcome them aboard. Ask them to…
Vicki Schieber: PA’s death penalty doesn’t serve victims like me
The only way to ensure that the state does not execute an innocent person is to stop using the death penalty altogether When I was a young mother of my…
Prosecution How Overzealous Personalities Drive The Death Penalty Capital Punishment in Pennsylvania DEATH-PENALTY STEWARDSHIP AND THE CURRENT STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA CAPITAL JURISPRUDENCE ABA Study Finds PA Death Penalty Flaws Innocence Carlos…
Forensic Pseudoscience: The Unheralded Crisis of Criminal Justice by Nathan J. Robinson Nov. 16, 2015
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Declares Moratorium
Today, Governor Gavin Newsom took the historic step of declaring a moratorium on executions in California. Four other states have a moratorium in place — Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington….
Alfred Dewayne Brown Declared Actually Innocent | Death Penalty Information Center
Death-row exoneree Alfred Dewayne Brown (pictured) was declared “actually innocent” by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on March 1, 2019, making Brown eligible for state compensation for the time he spent…
Death penalty has fallen out of favor with Pennsylvania prosecutors
Pennsylvania’s death penalty is, by all accounts, embattled. There hasn’t been an execution in two decades, even before Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a moratorium on them in 2015. The courts…
My Reflections on Tree of Life Tragedy
With Vicki Schieber, Pittsburgh October 2018 To My Concerned Friends, This past Saturday morning, I was in synagogue, standing next to the Torah. As we were reading of the binding…
Sister Prejean Discusses Social Justice and Death Penalty as Common Read Speaker
“People need to know,” said Sister Helen Prejean. “Most people have never thought about the death penalty, because it doesn’t touch their daily lives. Together, we need to change it.”
Death Penalty Is Arbitrary
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] The arbitrariness of the death penalty is one of its worst attributes. If the government is going to carry out capital punishment on its citizens,…
Death Penalty Wastes Too Much Money
This letter was published on February 22, 2018 at GoErie.com Abolish the death penalty; it wastes too much money Feb. 13 marks the third anniversary of a moratorium that halted…
Pennsylvania has fewest number of inmates on death row in nearly 25 years
September 6, 2017 More than a dozen inmates in Pennsylvania have been removed from death row this year, leaving the commonwealth with the fewest under a death sentence in nearly…
Pa. high court orders new death penalty hearing in ’84 murder of Germantown deacon
August 22, 2017 In a case that reignited scrutiny of Pennsylvania’s death penalty and the workings of the state’s highest court, an evenly divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered a…
Innocent man who survived 22 years on Pennsylvania death row speaks out
June 29, 2017 An innocent man who survived 22 years in solitary confinement on death row has spoken out about living among some of America’s most dangerous criminals. …
Capital punishment too costly to justify
June 3, 2017, Centre County voters favored a new DA, Bernie Cantorna, in the recent primary election. I can find no record of his position on capital punishment.…
Three Murders in Philadelphia
May 12, 2017, In the early 1990s, the police arrested three men for crimes they didn’t commit. It’s taken more than 25 years for justice to be served.…
Arkansas’s Execution Spree and the Problems with Capital Punishment
April 25, 2017, Over the past few weeks, the state of Arkansas has been trying to obtain warrants to execute eight death row inmates before the end of the month….
Refusing to Make a Monster out of God: Shane Claiborne on the Death Penalty
April 19, 2017 Activists campaigning to abolish the death penalty recently confronted a new and urgent occasion for their efforts, when the state of Arkansas announced it would execute eight…
Supports repeal of death penalty
March 14, 2017, State Rep. Chris Rabb, of Philadelphia, has confirmed the rumor that he is planning to introduce a bill to repeal Pennsylvania’s death penalty law. I fully support…
Commentary: Next DA must end capital punishment in Philly
March 7, 2017 Companion reports released on March 7 by the National Registry of Exonerations found record numbers of exonerations and wrongful convictions involving official misconduct in 2016, and striking…
Commentary: Next DA must end capital punishment in Philly
February 22, 2017 With Seth Williams’ decision not to seek a third term as district attorney, Philadelphia now has a chance to join the rest of the Northeast in moving…
Wake up call
February 21, 2017 At 6:19 a.m. Saturday morning ACCR staff got the call: 38 years, 3 months and 4 days after the 14-year-old Ricky Olds went to prison for buying…
More needs to be done to fix flawed system
February 20, 2017 Most people probably don’t associate Valentine’s Day with the death penalty, but i do…
Pa. should permanently end the flawed and costly death penalty
February 13, 2017 is the second anniversary of Gov. Tom Wolf’s moratorium on executions. The moratorium was wise because it halted a system that is filled with flaws…
Three years late, seminal death penalty report still unfinished
January 3, 2017, Already three years behind schedule, a committee studying flaws in Pennsylvania’s death penalty is still a long way away from issuing its much-anticipated report…
Troubling implications
October 22, 2016 Last Thursday, a Centre County court ordered Kevin Siehl to be released from prison. Judge David Grine dismissed the murder charges against Siehl in part because prosecutors…
Pennsylvania’s Shame
October 12, 2016 In 1991, the Philadelphia district attorney’s office indicted a 20-year-old black man named Anthony Wright on a charge of capital murder. The alleged crime was heinous…
Support for death penalty lowest in more than four decades
September 29, 2016 As the Supreme Court prepares to hear the first of two death penalty cases in this year’s term, the share of Americans who support the death penalty…
Recent court ruling in James Dennis case shows why Pa. should abolish death penalty: PennLive letters
September 11, 2016, On Aug. 24, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of James A. Dennis. Dennis was convicted and sentenced to death over two decades…
Group: Court Ruling Proof of Death-Penalty Reform Need
August 26, 2016, A recent court ruling that a man on death row was denied a fair trial is yet another sign that the state’s death penalty should be abolished,…
Letters: Ruling points to flaws in death penalty
August 26, 2016 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit showed us that the death penalty is a flawed system (“New trial ordered in 1991 slaying,” Wednesday)…
More evidence for Pa. to abolish death penalty | Letter
August 25, 2016 Justice has finally come for James “Jimmy” Dennis. Twenty-four years ago, Dennis was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 17-year-old Chedell Williams. But the…
Delaware Supreme Court Rules State’s Death Penalty Unconstitutional
August 2, 2016, Delaware’s rules for imposing the death penalty are unconstitutional, the state’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, a decision that could mean an effective end to capital punishment…
The Sordid Ways Death-Penalty States Obtain Execution Drugs
August 2, 2016 One afternoon, Donnie Calhoun, owner of Calhoun Compounding Pharmacy in Anniston, Alabama—”Compounding for Life’s Problems”—came back from a meeting to find a strange request from the Alabama…
Death by blackness?
by PADP Board Member Shane Claiborne The color of your skin shouldn’t determine whether you live or die. But that is precisely the case for Duane Buck, a Texas man…
Williams v. Pennsylvania at the US Supreme Court
This morning, the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that goes to the very heart of the issue of fairness. The question in Williams v. Pennsylvania is…
Warning: If you want to cling to your ignorance, don’t read this.
Next time you defend the death penalty by saying that it’s the appropriate punishment for a person who confesses or when the crime is unspeakable, you might want to remember…
Governor Wolf has the high ground here
The wording of House Resolution 143 calls Governor Wolf’s moratorium on the death penalty unconstitutional. The action taken by the governor was a moratorium on executions until a study is…
Nebraska repealed the death penalty!
Nebraska makes history! The Nebraska legislature, having passed a death penalty repeal bill last week, sustained that repeal by overriding today Governor Pete Ricketts’ veto by a vote of…
Great news on the death penalty abolition front
Repeal bill passed the senate in Delaware Former Alabama Death Row inmate Anthony Ray Hinton to be freed after new testing on bullets And for more proof of…
Proper etiquette for handling exoneration from death row
Dear Emily Post, I’m faced with an etiquette dilemma and I could sure use your help. How, precisely, does one make up for sentencing an innocent person to death? Does…
DA Stedman disregarded my opposition to the death penalty
Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2015 6:00 am LINELL PATTERSON l SPECIAL TO LNP I was shocked and saddened when I opened the newspaper several weeks ago and read an op-ed…
Widow: I don’t want to see him executed
Over two years ago, Mrs. Norwood stated, in writing, that she did not want Terry Williams to be executed for her husband’s murder. Today, she reasserted her position. But the…
Upcoming Events
Joe D’Ambrosio: Death Row Story Thursday, March 19, 2015 – 7:00pm Taylor Little Theatre, Main Drive, Erie, PA 16504, USA Mercyhurst University Meryhurst University is bringing Joe D’Ambrosio, who was…
District Attorney Tom Kearney Uses Families as Talking Points
Letter to the Editor I’m wondering what qualifies Tom Kearney to speak for the loved ones of murder victims, and why I should presume he understands the “pain and anguish…
PA Supreme Court leaves reprieve in place
Just a few minutes ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Terry Williams reprieve challenge filed by the Philly DA’s office. The court left the reprieve in…
“A civilized society, effective law enforcement and the honor of our Commonwealth require no less.”
A civilized society, effective law enforcement and the honor of our Commonwealth require no less.
It’s Official. We have a moratorium!
From the Desk of Governor Tom Wolf M E M O R A N D U M Pursuant to authority granted in Article IV, § 9 of the Constitution of…
Internship Openings
Interns play a key role in our organization and are given responsibility accordingly, working on substantial projects and products. Internships are unpaid, but we will provide supervision for academic credit….
When lawyers stumble, only their clients fall
In at least 80 capital cases in which attorneys have missed the deadline, it is almost always the prisoner alone who suffers the consequences. In the fall of 2006, a…
The Death Penalty: Beyond the Numbers
Monday, November 17, 2014 Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m. Dickinson College 208 W Louther St., Carlisle PA Panelists: Kathleen Lucas (moderator), Executive Director, Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death…
Rethink Executions from Philly.com
Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2014, 1:08 AM Nearly surrounded by states that wisely have scrapped the death penalty – and with ample concerns already raised about the fairness and risk…
NY Times Editorial: The Innocent on Death Row
September 3, 2014 The exoneration of two North Carolina men who spent 30 years in prison — one on death row — provides a textbook example of so much that…
Is Torture Justice?
I am sickened by the news of another botched execution. The line between a death sentence and torture is beginning to be blurred. There are no regulations for the unethical…
Arizona Ignored Real Risks
This past Wednesday the state of Arizona carried out a botched execution on Joseph Wood, a man convicted of double murder in 1989. Wood was sentenced to death after being…
Fifth Circuit grants Campbell stay of execution
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a stay for Robert James Campbell who was scheduled to be executed today by the state of Texas. The court’s full decision…
Gambling With the Lives of Innocent Men: End the Death Penalty
Suspected of murder, held for two years, man has charges dropped Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140510_Held_for_two_years__a_murder_suspect_is_cleared.html#uT31uUBBtBzbIhT7.99 Suspected of murder, held for two years, man has charges dropped Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140510_Held_for_two_years__a_murder_suspect_is_cleared.html#uT31uUBBtBzbIhT7.99…
PA high court ends litigation over lawyers' pay in death penalty cases
Cross-posted from the Inquirer A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court has dismissed litigation to reform the way Philadelphia reimburses lawyers appointed to defend indigent clients facing the death penalty. The four-justice…
An Innocent Woman? Michelle Byrom vs. Mississippi
cross-posted from Jackson Free Press written by Ronni Mott “I sit in my room for a good 1 1/2-2 hours, and dad comes in my room, and goes off on…
Glenn Ford and An Activist Joke
How many death row exonerations does it take before the death penalty is eliminated in Pennsylvania? Ummmm, I give up. How many does it take? I don’t know. We’re still…
Bringing Human Rights Home
Bringing Human Rights Home: A Forum on LGBTQ Rights and Death Penalty Abolition Hosted by Philadelphia and South Jersey Amnesty International and Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Saturday,…
No Capitalizing on Capital Punishment
cross-posted from The Slate Online By CASSANDRA CLARHAUT | Asst. Opinion Editor It is 2000. The year of Y2K, Backstreet’s Back, and Nintendo’s Game Cube. According to The Death Penalty…
What prompts county to seek death penalty?
What prompts county to seek death penalty? February 22, 2014 11:24 PM By Paula Reed Ward / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette On March 11, 2013, David Mazzocco shot three people in a…
Washington Governor Inslee’s Remarks Announcing a Capital Punishment Moratorium
Feb. 11, 2014 Remarks as prepared Good morning. I’m here today to talk to you about an important criminal justice issue. Over the course of the past year, my staff…
Last Meals of the Executed, But (Inconveniently) Innocent
Amnesty International Puerto Rico has fronted a campaign for the exoneration of Death Row inmates by displaying food requested by the wrongfully accused before their deaths. Here were their last…
Federal Public Defenders? Dr. King Thinks They're Cool
We celebrate the life of Dr. King on Monday, so mentioning a milestone from 2013 seemed proper to me. We had this milestone when, in a dreary Bucks County hearing…
Robert Carl Nordvall, Dedicated Abolitionist
Robert Carl Nordvall Robert Carl Nordvall, 73, formerly of Gettysburg, passed away January 2, 2014 in Pistoia, Italy. Born March 23,1940 in Oak Park, Illinois, he was the son of…
Podcast: Paul Dacier explains reasons for Boston Bar Association’s opposition to death penalty
By: David E. Frank January 7, 2014 The Boston Bar Association announced today that, for the first time in its 250-year history, the organization is taking a stand against…
PA Death Sentence Nixed for 'Shocking' Error by Lorraine Bailey
Taken From Courthouse News: (CN) – Vacating the death sentence imposed against a convicted murderer, the Pennsylvania high court called it “shocking” that jurors were told that killing an unborn…
Philly Leads the (Wrong) Way!
Philadelphia County has sent more inmates to death row than any other county in Pennsylvania. However, a study of criminal cases overturned in the state because of prosecutorial misconduct found…
If Jimmy Dennis Was Unjustly Sentenced, Why Is He Still on Death Row?
cross-posted from www.newsworks.com On Aug. 21, 2013, a judge in Philadelphia said Jimmy Dennis, convicted 21 years ago of the murder of Chedell Ray Williams, deserved to be retried within…
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Opposes Death Penalty in United States
From Marshall Dayan, Board Chair of Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty I just learned that the committee on law of the Conservative Jewish movement, United Synagogue of Conservative…
Supreme Court Rejects Warren Hill's Petition for Stay of Execution
By Brian Evans, Amnesty International Georgia authorities continue to pursue the execution of Warren Hill despite the fact that: The victim’s family opposes the execution Several jurors from the…
(Un)Happy 100th Pennsylvania!
Pennsylvania, I’d like to wish you an Unhappy 100th. Yesterday, you reached a noteworthy milestone in your tireless quest to kill your citizens. David Ramtahal was resentenced to life without…
"A grave miscarriage of justice"
Last week, after 21 years on Pennsylvania’s death row, James Dennis of Philadelphia finally had his moment of justice. Federal district court Judge Anita Brody ruled that the 1992 conviction…
Prosecutorial Misconduct in Philly… Again
District Attorney Seth Williams says he’s “upset and disgusted†at the Judge Anita Brody’s ruling in Jimmy Dennis’s case.  He should be. His solution is to “appeal it to the…
Judge Orders the Release of Jimmy Dennis from Death Row
It looks like Jimmy Dennis may finally be freed. Today, Senior US District Judge Anita Brody overturned his conviction and ordered his release. Unless, that is, the District Attorney’s office…
Executing Compassion
 I often hear the usual justifications for ending capital punishment. Deterrence is a fallacy. Innocents and the mentally ill are killed off all the time. Racial inequality is rampant in…
PA Gubernatorial Candidate Announces Opposition to Death Penalty
John Hanger, one of the Democratic candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania, announced his opposition to the death penalty at an event in Pittsburgh Thursday morning. Members of the Pittsburgh chapter…
West Chester: We have a problem
Make that several problems.There’s a first degree murder trial happening right now. The accused could be sentenced to death if he is found guilty. For a capital trial (one where…
Kelvin Morris Released From Pennsylvania's Death Row
This is HUGE news! After spending 33 years on death row, Kelvin Morris is now at home. He maintained his innocence the whole time, and the evidence pointed away from him…
Justin Michael Wolfe — Justice Denied
The prosecution is determined to keep Justin in prison, despite a court ruling that vacated his conviction and ordered his release. The prosecution cheated and he has to pay the…
Exoneration & Plea Deals: What the Release of Timothy McKinney Should Teach Us
Off-duty police officer Donald Williams was shot on Christmas Day, 1997 and later died. Timothy Mckinney was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death for it. This, despite…
Just Test the DNA: On Willie Jerome Manning and the Death Penalty
May 8, 2013 · by Alyssa Röhricht · in Uncategorized Image from AP. On Tuesday afternoon in Mississippi, Willie Jerome Manning was granted a last-minute stay…
Crime and Capital Punishment: Maryland Abolishes Death Penalty
by Alyssa Röhricht After a series of votes through the Maryland House and Senate, SB 276 was passed through the Maryland House of Delegates on March 15, 2013, to repeal the…