Message from the Director

Get Involved!

Learn how you can volunteer to assist a pro bono prisoner in need, or make a donation to support the Project's efforts.

Welcome to the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project's 2022 Year End-Report and Newsletter, which also marks the relaunch of our quarterly newsletter publication, Project Press*.

We hope you enjoy this update on the Project’s activities and will be inspired to join our fight as we face a need for pro bono volunteers that has not been seen in decades. The Supreme Court’s decision in Shinn v. Ramirez in May 2022 all but closed the door on a critical pathway to relief in federal courts for prisoners who received ineffective counsel at their trial and state habeas proceedings. The Project is prepared to respond, using the tools and resources we have developed over the past 37 years to help prisoners whose rights have been placed in grave jeopardy—but we cannot do so without your help. Although our staff has exceptional knowledge, enthusiasm, and experience to offer, we remain a small four-person team with very limited resources. But when we join forces with our pro bono volunteers—and  with the generous financial support of our donors—we  have the power to change the landscape of capital representation for the better and provide life-saving help to prisoners in need.

Our featured story about Shinn v. Ramirez explains in more detail why the need for pro bono counsel is so exceptionally urgent right now. Other stories in this edition include:

• A remarkable success story from one of our award-winning pro bono firms in Georgia that has halted executions throughout the state;
• Reflections on a notable Project milestone: 400 prisoners assisted by pro bono law firms;
• A review of the detrimental impact that execution sprees continue to have on representation for death-sentenced prisoners; and
• Overviews of Supreme Court decisions and pending cases from 2022 that are likely to affect death row prisoners and their counsel.

This edition also contains a special profile on the Project’s staff, including our two newest staff members, Taylor Smith and Laura Berg, and a recap of our 2022 Volunteer Recognition & Awards Event, which was held in person this year for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Thank you for reading and for supporting the Project’s mission. We look forward to working together in 2023 to face these new challenges head on and to ensure high quality representation for all. 

* A special note: In past years, Project Press has been a mix of death penalty news and Project updates. With the addition of the platform provided by our Project Blog, however, we are shifting away from general death penalty news here in the newsletter. On the blog you can still find our updates on major case decisions and legal updates, in an abbreviated format that allows for more frequent posts. Our quarterly newsletter will focus instead on the work of the Project and its volunteers, along with legal issues directly related to representation standards and access to counsel for people facing the death penalty.