NCADP: Devoted to Abolishing Capital Punishment

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Fourth World Congress Against the Death Penalty Galvanizes Global effort to End Capital Punishment

More than 1,000 attorneys, civil and human rights activists, death row exonerees, abolitionists and representatives of non-governmental organizations convened the Fourth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Geneva, Switzerland February 24 - 26. In workshops, plenary sessions and a demonstration at the conclusion of the conference, they protested the use of capital punishment anywhere in the world, discussed ways to end it, and building a network of support for abolitionist organizations internationally. The Congress is sponsored by the French organization Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort under the patronage of the Swiss Confederation and in partnership with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The Congress took place against the backdrop of an international trend away from capital punishment’s use. One hundred forty out of 192 nations have repealed the death penalty or stopped implementing it. Fifteen out of 50 states in the U.S. have abolished it, the most recent being New Mexico in 2009.

Elizabeth Zitrin of the California-based Death Penalty Focus represented the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty at the opening ceremonies. Also included among American participants were:

• NCADP Board of Directors members Renny Cushing and Bill Pelke;
• Leading criminology and death penalty expert Michael Radelet;
• New Mexico State Representative Gail Chasey, author of her state’s repeal bill;
• Death row exoneree Curtis McCarty;
• Speedy Rice, international representative of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers;
• Maurice Possley, Chicago Tribune investigative criminal justice reporter;
• Carmelo Campos Cruz of the Puerto Rican Coalition Against the Death Penalty; and
• Abolitionist-author Sister Helen Prejean.

In his Congress address, Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, said that turnout for the event was testament to growing worldwide opposition to capital punishment. Another key speaker, Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Rodrigo Zapatero, called for a global moratorium on executions effective 2015. The date coincides with the United Nations’ deadline to meet its eight Millennium Development Goals. International human rights and climate change activist Bianca Jagger, told the Congress that global death penalty abolition is long overdue. Read the speech on The Huffington Post.

Kansas Repeal Vote Edged Closer To Passage

Due in large part to the dedicated and tireless work of the Kansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the recent vote in the state’s Senate on a death penalty repeal measure was tied at 20-20. The bill picked up even more votes than in 2009 when it was introduced, the Kansas House of Representatives expressed interest in debating it, and Kansas’ Governor Mark Parkinson said he would consider signing it. Bill Lucero, a member of the Kansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Journey of Hope . . . From Violence to Healing, and a state coordinator for Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, felt the close vote has positive implications for the progress of repeal in Kansas. See the Lawrence Journal-World & News account here. 

In Memoriam - Senator Charles McC. Mathias

By Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty marks the passing of the Honorable Charles McCurdy Mathias. Senator Mathias (R-MD) died Monday, January 25, 2010 at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland following a long illness. He retired from the United States Senate in 1985.

Senator Mathias was a champion for civil and human rights—noted for being committed to his ideas and uncompromising on matters of principle, always looking to the common good. He was a strong and vigorous opponent of capital punishment.

We thank you Senator for your leadership on this and so many issues of great importance to our nation. We promise to persevere until we have achieved our mission of ending the death penalty.

Our special condolences and gratitude are extended to his family, friends and colleagues.

Thanks for making the 2010 NCADP Annual Conference the best ever!

The NCADP 2010 Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, was successful beyond measure. More than 300 people from 37 states attended. In keeping with our conference theme, “Building Bridges to Wider Audiences,” plenary and workshop speakers were drawn from a variety of organizations and disciplines. Among them:

• Montana State Senator Roy Brown and Matt Randles of Montana’s Headwaters Covenant Church, whose participation reflected the growing involvement of political and religious conservatives in our movement.
• Dr. Howard Zehr, Professor of Restorative Justice at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, who discussed how restorative justice could be applied to resolving differences between victims’ families and offenders.
• Dr. David J. Harris, Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, who described the historic connection between racial politics and the death penalty.
• Susan Herman, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Pace University and former Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, the leading resource and advocacy organization for crime victims in the country.
• Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, which encourages urban youth to become involved in political and social change, and which includes ending capital punishment among its issue areas.

For information and links to news media coverage of the conference, click here.

Shouting from the Rooftops!

In 2006, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that there has not been "a single case - not one - in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent's name would be shouted from the rooftops."

Thanks to the September 7 New Yorker article, “Trial by Fire,” we can shout with authority the name of Cameron Todd Willingham, but we need your help to get the message out. Find out more about our “Shouting from the Rooftops” campaign here. 

You can also read a recent op-ed from Diann Rust-Tierney about Cameron Todd Willingham here.

DPIC Reports Show Cost, Innocence, Law Enforcement Issues with Death Penalty

A new report from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) shows that death sentences in the United States hit an all-time low in 2009. The report notes that the economic recession and budget issues forced many states to make cuts to essential areas like education and law enforcement in order to maintain their capital punishment system. In addition, nine people were exonerated from death row in 2009 - the second highest number of exonerated since reinstatement of capital punishment over thirty years ago. And, law enforcement officials point to the death penalty as the least effective tool in their arsenal, preferring dozens of other strategies over the threat of the death penalty.

Take ACTION and help us get the word out about the report and the failure of the death penalty system by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper.

DPIC earlier in 2009 released a study detailing the costs of the death penalty for states across the country, and NCADP responded with this statement. 

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Remembering Rachel - Supporting Survivors of Violence

Last summer, we lost one of our greatest abolition activists, Rachel King, after a long and valiant struggle with cancer.

Rachel was first a daughter, friend, wife and step-mother, but her personal and professional lives merged in her advocacy and efforts to make our world a better place. She did so in staff and volunteer capacities with various organizations, including Alaskans Against the Death Penalty, the ACLU Capital Punishment Project and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, where she served on the board of directors and as our chairperson. Rachel is the author of three books, two of which explore capital punishment from the perspective of the families who suffer the most as a result of the death penalty system.

We ask you to read more about Rachel’s history of successful advocacy here and here.

To celebrate Rachel's life and continue her legacy, NCADP has created Rachel's Fund to support the work of our state affiliates - both in the cause of abolition, and to support victims of violence. Rachel's Fund is a partnership supported by Rachel's husband Richard, her stepdaughter Lauren and her mother Jill, as well as the United Methodist Church, the National Association of Social Workers, Journey of Hope, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation and California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

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NCADP Job Positions Available

NCADP is hiring State Campaign Coordinators in Virginia and Texas, as well as a Rachel's Fund Program Director. For more information regarding the jobs’ responsibilities, the qualifications required for the positions, and how to apply, please click here.

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Download the most recent issue of NCADP Lifelines, our quarterly newsletter!

The United States is moving away from the death penalty because of growing concerns about innocence, unfairness, discriminatory application, lack of efficacy and other reasons, including the ways the death penalty causes more pain for the survivors of homicide victims. These concerns have led to an eight year decline in death sentences nationwide. In 2007, the number of defendants who received a death sentence was at its lowest point since the death penalty was upheld in 1976.

Today your work to oppose – and abolish – capital punishment is more important than ever before. To join NCADP’s abolition listserv, click here. To help NCADP pay for the work that needs to be done, please donate by clicking here.

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