Atlantic Center for Capital Representation (ACCR)

04/30/2026

04/02/2026

A well-funded and effective system of public defense is critical in death penalty cases. The overwhelming majority of people facing capital charges in Pennsylvania can't afford a private attorney and are represented by public defenders or court-appointed counsel who usually don’t have the resources to offer a vigorous defense. ACCR was founded to support attorneys representing people facing the death penalty.

Pennsylvania still has work to do.
https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/04/pennsylvania-indigent-defense-public-defender-state-funding-justice-system/

03/02/2026

Throughout Pennsylvania, a handful of district attorneys appear to be using the death penalty as a threat to gain leverage over defendants, not because the evidence supports a capital case. Longtime federal defender Jim Moreno explains why that’s a problem in a powerful new op-ed.
https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2026/02/pennsylvania-prosecutors-are-using-the-death-penalty-as-leverage-and-thats-an-abuse-of-power-opinion.html

01/15/2026

The public will in Pennsylvania is clearly moving away from the death penalty. Prosecutors are choosing not to file capital charges. Juries are opting not to issue death sentences. And public polling shows diminished support.

But even with the governor’s moratorium on executions, the death penalty churns on, as cases from decades ago move through the appeals process and several dozen capital cases are at the pre-trial stage. The time to end the death penalty in Pennsylvania is now.

12/19/2025

This week, ACCR’s work was featured in the Death Penalty Information Center’s nationwide year-end report, featuring our clients who are challenging the Washington County DA’s overuse and abuse of capital punishment.

Read our statement with our allies on the latest developments on the death penalty in Pennsylvania: https://www.atlanticcenter.org/press-briefing-2025

08/18/2025

We had the opportunity to lead a pre-trial training this past Friday, equipping defenders with tools to better advocate for their clients. Many thanks to the Defender Association of Philadelphia for generously sharing their space with us. Partnerships like this strengthen the fight for justice.

07/29/2025

🚨 BREAKING: The Washington County coroner has alleged that District Attorney Jason Walsh lied to a county judge and coerced the coroner to file a fraudulent death certificate in the case of Sawyer Clarke, a two-month-old child who died in Allegheny County in 2022. Today, we’ve filed a supplement to our previous petition to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, filed last week, to include the coroner’s testimony.