Welcome to Death Row Speaks

A Letter from David Paul Hammer

It has been a struggle rife with adversity and more, but we are proud to once again be online and updated. Many of you may have visited Death Row Speaks in the past. We want to thank each of you for your continued interest in this site and, even more importantly, for your interest in abolishing capital punishment.

This site is a work in progress and will be updated regularly by our team of volunteers who have undertaken the daunting task of rebuilding the site. Please bear with us all as we strive to make Death Row Speaks a source of news and information for those wanting to know more about the death penalty and death row.

At present it is our intent to focus on the use of capital punishment by the United States Government. We will feature information relating to the Federal Death Row Unit in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the Military Death Row Unit at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

This site is unique in that we provide an outlet for men and women on death row to express themselves in writing and through their artwork. We want to highlight the humanity of these individuals who are more than the crimes for which they have been convicted and sentenced to death. Like it or not, we are all human beings.

Death Row Speaks is a site which opposes the use of capital punishment. Our mission statement sets forth our goals. In the past we have posted the views of those in favor of the death penalty. That practice has been discontinued. While we respect the rights of all persons to express their opinions, we reserve the right to disagree and to not promote a viewpoint that is inconsistent with the goals and purposes of Death Row Speaks.

As resources allow, this site will be expanded to include writings and art work from inmates on states' death rows.

We welcome comments and suggestions on how to make Death Row Speaks better. Please E-mail comments to us. Please feel free to E-mail us articles on the death penalty, death rows, or any other issues related to the use of capital punishment by any state or the Federal government. We will post those on our News or Information page.

From all of us at Death Row Speaks, thanks for accessing this site and for your interest.

David Paul Hammer
Co-founder of Death Row Speaks