Bill Pelke traveled the country telling his story and the story of his grandmother until finally the state of Indiana spared Paula's life -- sentencing the teenager to 40 years in prison. Even when Paula was safe from execution, Bill Pelke's work did not end. Read More
The Imperative of Ending Capital Punishment to Achieve Racial Equality Read More
NCADP has long understood that ending the death penalty is an essential part of building a more fair and just society. Read More
It is with great sadness that we share the news of Jerry Given’s death. At one of our earliest screenings, at a Human Rights Film Festival in Los Angeles, an audience member asked, “What are among your biggest surprises filming this documentary? Without hesitation Maggie answered, “Never in my life did I imagine I’d be calling an executioner my friend.” Read More
Just Mercy is a fact-based courtroom drama that tackles the subjects of the death penalty and racial injustice. Stevenson’s commitment to persevere, to doing the right thing, and to fighting for those who need it the most remains the main theme of the movie. The film leaves theatre-goers with the message that our criminal justice system is irreparably broken and not reliable enough to condemn a fellow human being to death. Read More
The U.S. death penalty continued to erode in 2019, as New Hampshire became the 21st state to abolish capital punishment and California put all executions on hold. With Indiana reaching the ten-year mark since its last execution, 32 U.S. states have now either abolished the death penalty or not carried out an execution in more than a decade, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Read More
There is no question that gun violence is a public health crisis. It penetrates communities physically, taking loved ones abruptly, and retraumatizes victim families with persistence. Read More
"In every corner of America, a conversation about the need to reform our criminal justice system is taking place. The Trump Administration decision to jump start the broken death penalty is another tilt in the direction of authoritarian and anti-democratic values." Read More
Iowans Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International Group 40, and League of Women Voters of Ames & Story county sponsored a screening of the award-winning documentary 'In the Executioners Shadow'. Held at the Ames Public Library, the event featured a post-screening discussion featuring Amnesty International, Iowans Against the Death Penalty and member of the Iowa Legislature, Mary Wolfe. Read More
In the wake of the execution of the murderer of James Bryd Jr., NCADP would like to revisit this important message from Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Read More
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) and the entire abolitionist community celebrates the encouraging news out of the State of California. Read More
The Death Penalty Information Center 2018 Year-End report: “The Death Penalty in 2018” highlights the erosion of support for the death penalty nationwide. Read More
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty stands in solidarity and grief with members of the Tree of Life Synagogue Read More
We have compiled a list of valuable books for your reading list that discuss capital punishment, the criminal justice system, and social reform. Read More
Lethal injection drug shortages resulting from conflicts between the pharmaceutical companies and correctional institutions have led to individuals on death row at risk for experiencing ineffective executions— potentially infringing on their 8th Amendment rights, protecting them form cruel and unusual punishment. News media in California is now demanding transparency by suing the state. Read More
Starting with documentary film, The Penalty, NCADP has kicked off its three month campaign of using documentary film to cultivate sustainable advocacy across our network of abolition advocates. We will be using our monthly webinar, Justice Powered By Information, as the platform for this series. Read More