Experts Discuss New DPI Report on Veterans and the Death Penalty

In the November 2025 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Captain Art Cody, Dr. Steven Xenakis, and DPI Staff Attorney Leah Roemer about DPI’s new report, Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty. Their conversation covers the legal and scientific reasons behind the overrepresentation of veterans on death row. Captain Cody, a retired U.S. Naval officer, currently serves as Director of the Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy. Dr. Xenakis, a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and psychiatrist, works extensively with youth and adults and is a leading advocate for improving mental health care for veterans. Both bring extensive experience and a long-standing commitment to reform within the military and civilian justice systems. Ms. Roemer, the lead author of DPI’s new report Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds, describes how the legal system treats veterans sentenced to death and underscores the role of military service, trauma, and inadequate treatment in shaping case outcomes. As part of this report, DPI has produced the first comprehensive list of veterans sentenced to death in the modern era of the death penalty.