For media inquiries, please contact TCADP Executive Director Kristin Houlé Cuellar:
512-552-5948 (cell)
kristin@tcadp.org
2024 Press Releases
February 27, 2024: Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to hold annual statewide conference in Fort Worth
Ms. Opal Lee to deliver keynote address; organization to honor stakeholders, leaders for raising awareness of death penalty flaws
Download PDF of the press release
2023 Press Releases
December 14, 2023: TCADP REPORT: Despite declining death penalty usage, Texas led the nation in executions in 2023, was one of just five states to carry out executions
Six of the eight men put to death in Texas had significant mental impairments
Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2023: The Year in Review
Download PDF of the press release.
October 4, 2023: Media Advisory: TCADP to Host World Day Against the Death Penalty Solidarity Events Across the State
Texas set to execute Jedidiah Murphy on World Day Against the Death Penalty, October 10
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June 1, 2023: Community forum to address Dallas death penalty case of Charles Don Flores
Experts will discuss common elements of wrongful convictions, including mistaken eyewitness identifications
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February 21, 2023: TCADP to mark 25th anniversary of annual statewide conference
Death row exoneree Anthony Graves to deliver keynote address; organization to honor several stakeholders and leaders for raising awareness of death penalty flaws
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2022 Press Releases
December 16, 2022: Texas’s death penalty a “lethal lottery” as State pursues executions in flawed cases that would not result in a death sentence today
Executions in 2022 raise troubling concerns about the fairness and utility of the death penalty as death sentences remain at historic low level
Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2022: The Year in Review
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February 22, 2022: Author and activist Sister Helen Prejean to address TCADP 2022 Annual Conference
Virtual event will honor five individuals & feature representatives of states that have abolished the death penalty in last three years
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2021 Press Releases
December 16, 2021: Texas’s death penalty mired in a mess of its own making as inconsistencies, dysfunction continue to plague system
More than three-fourths of scheduled executions in Texas halted in 2021 because of intellectual disability claims or religious freedom
Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2021: The Year in Review
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June 24, 2021: Three-quarters of Dallas voters prefer alternatives to the death penalty
Two-thirds of voters want the District Attorney to forgo seeking new death sentences; 83% support a review of all current death penalty cases from Dallas County
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February 24, 2021: Civil rights advocates, journalists, and capital attorneys to address TCADP 2021 Annual Conference
Virtual event will honor three capital defense attorneys for their zealous representation of individuals on death row in Texas
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2020 Press Releases
December 16, 2020: Sharp decline in Texas death penalty usage driven by COVID-19 pandemic, wave of reform-oriented prosecutors, and eroding public support
Texas and federal courts continue to confront the state’s arbitrary application of capital punishment and deeply flawed practices, particularly in assessing intellectual disability evidence
[Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2020: The Year in Review]
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February 25, 2020: Family members of Rodney Reed to address TCADP Annual Conference in San Antonio
Statewide gathering will honor former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge and member of Rodney Reed’s legal team, among others
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2019 Press Releases
December 17, 2019: Report finds Texas death sentences remain at historic lows in 2019 as jurors reject the death penalty in 50% of cases
Cases scheduled for execution in 2019 rife with errors, discrimination, and compelling innocence claims
[Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2019: The Year in Review]
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Comunicado de prensa en español
February 12, 2019: TCADP Annual Conference to offer views from the front lines of the criminal justice system
Statewide gathering will honor victim survivors, local defense attorney, and filmmaker, among others
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2018 Press Releases
December 14, 2018: Death sentences remained near historic low levels in Texas in 2018, yet state’s capital punishment system still plagued by racial bias, geographical disparities, and fundamental unfairness
All seven death sentences in 2018 imposed on people of color
[Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2018: The Year in Review]
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February 13, 2018: TCADP Annual Conference to Address Changing Death Penalty Landscape
Statewide gathering will honor advocates, exonorees, faith leaders, and victim survivors
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2017 Press Releases
December 14, 2017: Use of the death penalty continues to decline in Texas U.S.
Supreme Court rulings, stays from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and jury rejections keep state’s death sentences and executions near record-low levels
[Report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2017: The Year in Review]
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April 17, 2017: Texas House Committee to Hear Death Penalty Repeal Bill
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February 15 2017: TCADP 2017 Annual Conference to Address Changing Death Penalty Landscape
Statewide gathering will honor State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. and Texas death row exonoree Alfred Dewayne Brown
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2016 Press Releases & Interviews
December 15, 2016: State of Texas carries out fewest executions in two decades
Death sentences remain at record-low level; state’s highest criminal court stayed seven executions
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February 17, 2016: TCADP 2016 Annual Conference to Address Changing Death Penalty Landscape
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February 12, 2016: Episode of KOOP Radio’s People United devoted most of the hour to Kristin Houlé of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty on the future of capital punishment in the Lone Star State. Listen to the full episode here.
2015 Press Releases
December 16, 2015: Death sentences in Texas drop to lowest level on record
Juries reject the death penalty in more cases than they impose it
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March 9, 2015: More than 550 Texas Faith Leaders Call for Abolition of the Death Penalty
Interfaith Statement of Opposition to the Death Penalty endorsed by leaders from 25 different faith traditions statewide
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February 18, 2015: TCADP Annual Conference to Address Shifts in Death Penalty
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2014 Press Releases
December 18, 2014: Texas Executions Drop to Lowest Number Since 1996, According to New Report by TCADP
New death sentences decline nearly 80% since 1999, remain geographically isolated
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February 22, 2014: First Statewide Gathering of Anti-Death Penalty Movement in Fort Worth
Two state legislators to receive awards during annual conference
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2013 Press Releases
December 17, 2013: One Third of all New Death Sentences in 2013 Came from Dallas County, According to New Report by TCADP
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June 26, 2013: State of Texas Poised to Carry Out 500th Execution Since 1982
Troubling questions persist regarding arbitrary and biased imposition of the ultimate punishment
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April 29, 2013: House Committee Set to Hear Repeal Bill
Texas one of 17 states considering legislation to end the death penalty
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February 20, 2013: Abolitionists Gather in Austin for Annual Conference
Local filmmakers to receive 2013 Media Award
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2012 Press Releases
December 12, 2012: Use of Death Penalty Geographically Isolated, Arbitrarily Imposed in Texas, According to New Report by TCADP
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex led state in pursuit of the death penalty in 2012
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May 15, 2012: Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?
New article revisits haunting questions about the case of Carlos DeLuna
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April 20, 2012: Death Row Survivor Tours San Antonio
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February 18, 2012: Abolitionists Gather in San Antonio for Annual Conference
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2011 Press Releases
December 15, 2011: State of Texas Carries Out Fewest Executions Since 1996, According to New Report from TCADP
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Spanish PDF
October 24, 2011: San Antonio Religious Leaders Gather for Dialogue on the Death Penalty
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March 29, 2011: House Committee Set to Hear Repeal Bill
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March 9, 2011: Illinois repeals the death penalty
Bipartisan action part of growing national trend away from the death penalty
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February 17, 2011: Abolitionists Gather in Austin for Annual Conference
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2010 Press Releases
December 13, 2010: Only 2% of Texas Counties Imposed Death Sentences This Year, According to New Report from TCADP
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March 24, 2010: TCADP Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Decision to Grant Stay of Execution for Hank Skinner
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February 17, 2010: TCADP Calls for “Statewide Day of Action” on Anniversary of Willingham Execution
State poised to carry out execution in another case with lingering questions
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February 17, 2010: Abolitionists Gather in Dallas for Annual Conference
Judge, priest, journalist and others to be recognized
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2009 Press Releases
December 7, 2009: TCADP Report Shows New Death Sentences in Texas at Record Low
Concerns about Wrongful Execution Spark Scrutiny of State’s Death Penalty System
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November 19, 2009: TCADP Response to Governor’s Decision to Reject Clemency for Robert Lee Thompson
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November 5, 2009: Death Row Survivor to Tour the Rio Grande Valley
Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon will visit at critical moment in state’s death penalty debate
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August 31, 2009: New Investigation Confirms Execution of an Innocent Man
Broad Body of Evidence Points to Wrongful Execution of Texan Cameron Todd Willingham
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June 1, 2009: Texas Set to Carry Out 200th Execution during Perry Administration
State Remains Out of Step with Changing National Landscape
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March 11, 2009: House Subcommittee Set to Hear Repeal Bill
Texas one of a dozen states considering legislation to end the death penalty
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February 18, 2009: Abolitionists Gather in Austin for Annual Conference
Austin musician and others to be recognized for their contributions
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January 14, 2009: Texas Death Penalty Machinery Set to “High” as Executions Resume
14 Executions Scheduled Over the Next Four Months
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2008 Press Releases
December 4, 2008: Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Releases Report on Death Penalty Developments in 2008
“Average” Number of Executions Carried Out in Record Time as New Death Sentences Reach Lowest Level in Texas in 30 Years
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