Robert Dunham

Special counsel @PhillipsBlackPr; Director, DP Policy Project; adjunct prof. @TempleLaw. B.A. @Penn; J.D. @GeorgetownLaw. Formerly @DPInfoCtr Exec. Dir.

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

On the front steps of Leonardo da Vinci's house, the Château du Clos Lucé, in Amboise, France in 2006 (left) and yesterday. Always good to take a refresher course on his brilliance.

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

The forensic dentist and doctor who concocted evidence to send a man to rot on Death Row for 30 years for a horrific crime he didn't commit. https://t.co/GG1zHs4kdu @DailyMail @DaveHarryRivers @JusticesPromise @LaRepeal @justice4ms @cifsjustice @WTIUSA @innocence @uscedp #JimmieDuncan #Louisiana #Mississippi #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Here's a very interesting study in the @WashULRev — Clemency and Public Opinion: A Survey of Missouri Voters. https://t.co/SQMQOTbifD by @Social_Ecology (Prof. Nicholas Scurich) @brandonlgarrett @MADPMO @MoJusticeOrg @uscedp @CCATDP #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Guantanamo Dispatches: Ahead of Jury Selection, Defense Psychiatrist Calls USS Cole Defendant Unfit for Trial. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri suffers flashbacks, memory loss, and confusion from his torture by the CIA, as well as brain damage that is visible on an MRI scan, that make him unable to competently assist in his own defense and understand the court proceedings against him, the doctor said. https://t.co/lrhxXPYWpV @just_security @carolrosenberg @GitmoWatch @uscedp @amnesty @Reprieve #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Commentary by Mark Olive — There must be room for clemency amid Florida’s execution spree. https://t.co/Fz2AbmlNel @SunSentinel @FLDeathPenalty @FADPorg @uscedp #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Ron DeSantis has issued another death warrant, this time scheduling the execution of Thomas Overton for November 19.

Florida's status as an extreme outlier continues to grow. If the execution is carried out, Mr. Overton will be the 15th person this year to be executed despite prosecutors being unable to obtain a unanimous jury vote for death. The jury votes in his case were 8-4 and 9-3. In 2026, that would not be a death sentence in any other state. @FLDeathPenalty @FADPorg @uscedp #Florida #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Commentary: Arkansas’ candidates for governor ignore warning from botched execution. https://t.co/AOSEGRnLIM @ArkAdvocate @ademillo @arkansasabolish @uscedp #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

A new article by Tim Lyman, recently published in the Advances in Social Science Research Journal, argues that prior statistical studies understate the extent of racial disparities in homicide prosecutions, particularly in Black defendant/White victim cases.
Its discussion of statistical methods can be challenging to read, but bear with it. Here's a link. https://t.co/nnwkZtzZkE @uscedp @NAACP_LDF @southerncenter @eji_org #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Tampa rapper convicted of murder requests death sentence in letter to judge. Four of his jurors voted for life. (My note: No state other than Florida permits a death sentence based upon an 8-4 jury vote.) https://t.co/v839mwaMV1 @FOX13News @kyliejonesontv @FLDeathPenalty @FADPorg @uscedp #BillyAdams #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

More coverage of Governor Ivey’s commutation of Toforest Johnson's death sentence.

From the Montgomery Advertiser
Gov. Ivey commutes death sentence for Toforest Johnson. https://t.co/GmZqHBCsjl
“Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted another death row prisoner's sentence to life in prison with no opportunity for parole.” @MGMAdvertiser @sarahgclifton

From the Alabama Reflector
Gov. Kay Ivey commutes death sentence of Toforest Johnson. https://t.co/kXjH1ApciK
“Johnson’s conviction for the 1995 murder of off-duty Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy has faced numerous questions.” @ALReflector
@innocence @WTIUSA @uscedp @PHADP @AlabamaArise @eji_org @CCATDP @amnestyusa #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

.@CAgovernor @GavinNewsom’s death row mulling has support — though tempered — in California Legislature. https://t.co/z4MJfCFYcr @sacbee_news @bystephenhobbs @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @Nor_Cal_United @ACLU_SoCal @ellabakercenter @WTIUSA @uscedp #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey spares death row prisoner Toforest Johnson, citing doubts about evidence. https://t.co/Y8Jurf2p1C @AP @StatehouseKim @innocence @WTIUSA @PHADP @AlabamaArise @eji_org @uscedp @CCATDP #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Attorney thanks Alabama governor for commuting Toforest Johnson’s death sentence.

“We are grateful to Governor Ivey for diligently reviewing Toforest’s case and taking action to spare an innocent man from execution,” said Ty Alper, one of Johnson’s attorneys, “This significant milestone was made possible by Alabamians from all sectors of society united in their belief that Toforest does not belong on death row. That list now includes Governor Ivey.”

“Toforest Johnson is innocent,” his attorney said. “Now it is up to the courts to overturn his conviction and grant him a new trial. We will keep fighting until he is home with his family.”

https://t.co/6Ex2YTz0TD @wsfa12news @JessicaUmbroTV @eji_org @PHADP @AlabamaArise @uscedp @WTIUSA @innocence @CCATDP #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

‘This is just the beginning’: Daughter of Toforest Johnson reacts after death sentence commuted to life. https://t.co/u8DWTVGZGA @WBRCnews @TaylorPollock96 @PHADP @eji_org @AlabamaArise @uscedp @WTIUSA @innnocence @CCATDP #Alabama #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Alabama man on death row for 3 decades gets clemency: 'Thank you, Lord.' https://t.co/9sjS8relQn @USATODAY @AmandaLeeUSAT @PHADP @AlabamaArise @eji_org @uscedp @WTIUSA @innocence @CCATDP #ToforestJohnson #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Alabama Man’s Death Sentence Is Commuted as Governor Cites Thin Evidence. https://t.co/wPlkoDLu73 @nytimes @byEduardoMedina @eji_org @PHADP @AlabamaArise @WTIUSA @innocence @uscedp @CCATDP #ToforestJohnson #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commutes death sentence of Toforest Johnson. https://t.co/DhFCA1iVI1 @aldotcom @IvanaSuzette @PHADP @AlabamaArise @eji_org @WTIUSA @innocence @uscedp @radleybalko #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

International human rights law prohibits extraditing, deporting, or otherwise transferring a person in custody of a country that does not have the death penalty to a country that does unless the country seeking custody provides assurances that the death penalty will not be sought or carried out.

That is the policy of Australia and New Zealand, every European democracy, and every country in the western hemisphere that does not have the death penalty. What Italy required as a condition of extraditing Lee Gilley to the United States is what all the countries whose company the U.S. would normally like to keep routinely require.

The non-transference doctrine was set out in a decision by the U.N. Committee on Human Rights in 2003 in the case of Philadelphia death row prisoner Roger Judge. You can read the decision in Judge v. Canada here. https://t.co/YsSnIvzikk. @TexDefender @TCADPdotORG @uscedp @amnesty @hrw @UNHumanRights @IACHumanRights

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Italy grants extradition of Houston man accused of killing pregnant wife, but only on charge that does not carry the death penalty. https://t.co/EZ9gzSkG6c @KHOU @HollyinHouston @rklein1010 @MeganReynatv @TexDefender @TCADPdotORG @texasccatdp @uscedp @ItalyinUS #Texas #LeeGilley

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Italy grants extradition of Houston man accused of killing pregnant wife, but only on charge that does not carry the death penalty. https://t.co/EZ9gzSkG6c @KHOU @HollyinHouston @rklein1010 @MeganReynatv @TexDefender @TCADPdotORG @texasccatdp @uscedp @ItalyinUS #Texas #LeeGilley

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

.@FADPorg released this statement in connection with William Reaves’ execution. It says, in part:

“There are two stories of William’s life. In the prevailing narrative, he’s a monster who shot a good cop as the man begged for his life. In the untold story, he’s a victim of circumstance—a sweet kid from a small town who was sent to war, trained to kill in the service of his country, and returned home a psychological ruin. Both stories are true. Only the first has been given moral weight in popular memory. The second—the tale of William the war hero—explains his crime.”

@FLDeathPenalty @uscedp #Florida #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

My note: Prosecutors were unable to persuade Mr. Reaves’ jury to unanimously vote for death. He never should have been on death row, let alone executed.

14 of the 18 men Florida has executed this year were sentenced to death despite non-unanimous votes by the sentencing jury. That’s 78% of the state’s executions. Florida is not only an extreme outlier in the number of people it executes, it is an extreme outlier in how the people it executes got to death row in the first place.

@FLDeathPenalty @FADPorg @uscedp @CCATDP @ABAdueprocess @amnesty @hrw @IACHumanRights @WCADP @AssoECPM @DeathPenaltyAct #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

“It’s finally over”: William Reaves Jr., a Vietnam vet who killed a Florida sheriff’s deputy, is executed.

“The execution of came over the strong objections from a group of military veterans who argued that Reaves deserved mercy because of trauma he endured during Vietnam.” https://t.co/MeKAVdYdEf @USATODAY @AmandaLeeUSAT @FLDeathPenalty @FADPorg @uscedp @DAVHQ @VFWHQ @NAMICommunicate @taccommunicate @MentalHealthAm @amnesty @hrw @UNHumanRights #deathpenalty