For months, Florida has been considering execution dates for a veteran on its death row, James Dailey. Dailey has significant evidence of innocence that has yet to be examined, including the statement of another inmate that exonerates anyone else of the crime.
Despite its terrible legacy of wrongful convictions, leading the nation with 29 exonerations from death row, Florida has yet to take meaningful action on this case and Dailey’s life is still in danger.
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty has joined with eight former and
current prosecutors and attorneys general, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops to file a friend of the court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on James Dailey’s behalf.
Our brief can be read here.
The Colorado state senate has voted 19 to 13 to pass legislation that will repeal the state’s death penalty statute. The senate has, for many years, been the hold-up on such passage.
Republican Senators Jack Tate, Owen Hill, and Kevin Priola were all sponsors of the bill.
Now, the bill will go to the state house, which is expected to present an easier pathway forward.
The job is not done, but Colorado is well on its way to being the 22nd state to repeal the death penalty.
Read more here.
Wyoming got a lot of attention last year as the very red little state fell only four votes shy of repealing the death penalty.
While the news caught the media off-guard, it didn’t surprise those familiar with the state’s politics. Wyoming is a state that takes fiscal responsibility and individual liberty seriously, and the death penalty obviously fails to line up with those values.
In response, CCATDP hired a state coordinator last year who will be working to organize supporters in the state and educate conservatives on the ways capital punishment fails residents, victims, and families.
In January, we also launched our official chapter of Wyoming Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. This robust coalition of murder victims’ family members, faith leaders, former members of the judicial system, and other conservative activists will be seeking to elevate the need for repeal in the state.
Will Wyoming become the most conservative state to repeal the death penalty yet? The odds are definitely in their favor.
The Death Penalty Information Center has released its annual end-of-year report, and the findings are as expected.
For the fifth year in a row the country carried out fewer than 30 executions, a stark contrast to the numbers seen at the height of the death penalty’s usage in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. New death sentences are also at historic lows, in keeping with a recent Gallup poll that found the majority of Americans now support life in prison without parole over capital punishment.
And with two more states ridding their books of executions this year (New Hampshire legislatively and California through executive moratorium), there are officially less than fifty percent of states still using this antiquated practice.
You can read the full report here.
For the first time in history, a recent Gallup Poll found that the majority of Americans now support life in prison over the death penalty. This is a significant shift in the poll’s 34 year trend, with a 60% to 36% margin siding against the death penalty.
These results come as the country consistently faces high-profile executions where the inmates have substantial innocence claims. Americans are also becoming more aware of the wasted costs of capital punishment, a system that provides no deterrent to crime while also flushing millions down the drain that could be better spent on responses to violence that actually work.
You can read more here.
A Texas tour of “The Penalty” begins this week and runs through mid-November. The screenings are free and open to the public. Click on one of the links below for more information.
10/29 – University of Texas school of law, Austin – 6pm
Francis Auditorium at the University of Texas Law School
10/30 – St Edward’s University, Austin, 7pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1264629050382859/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/st-edwards-austin
10/1 – UIW, San Antonio, 3pm (not open to the public)
11/3 – Blue Starlite, Austin, 8pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/716000415540552/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/blue-starlite-austin
11/4 – Northwest Vista College, San Antonio, 7pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2553721504685853/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/nvc
11/4 – Texas State University, San Marcos, 7-9:30pm
11/6 – University of Houston Downtown, 6pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/424224611618926/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/uhd
11/7 – Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Houston, 5pm
11/8 – 14 Pews, Houston, 7pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/539339013291583/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/14pews
11/13 – Angelika Film Center, Dallas, 7pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/510959866353669/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/angelika-dallas
11/14 – Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 5:30pm
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/409525876427198/
Website: http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings/smu
IN WAKE OF PLANS TO RESUME FEDERAL EXECUTIONS
HUNDREDS OF CONSERVATIVES CALL TO END DEATH PENALTY
As the federal government plans to resume executions, more than 250 politically active conservatives from 44 states have signed a Conservative Statement of Support to End the Death Penalty outlining concerns over the death penalty’s risks, cost, ineffectiveness, and more.
On October 28th, three signatories to the statement held an online news conference.
The statement says, “We have come to the conclusion that the death penalty does not work and can’t be made to work, not in spite of our conservative principles, but because of them.”
The news conference was moderated by Hannah Cox, National Manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.
“Increasing numbers of conservatives nationwide, especially Republican state legislators, are turning against capital punishment because it is a costly, ineffective and error-prone government program that does not value life,” Cox said.
The letter with the full list of signatories can be accessed at this link.
Next week, our national manager will join a panel of powerhouse criminal justice reform advocates at the legendary Cooper Union Hall in New York City!
The event will be a part of Cooper Union’s “Right Makes Might” series, following in the footsteps of many great historical events that took place in this same space. Abraham Lincoln gave his speech of this same name in the Hall, the NAACP was founded here, and previous speakers include W.E.B. Du Bois and Frederick Douglass.
The event will also feature a sneak peak at the Sundance Award winning film, “Clemency,” and will include some of the stars from the film.
Tickets are free but will go quickly. Reserve your spot here!
This past weekend, conservatives from across the country gathered in New Orleans for the first national meeting of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty!
The group examined its numerous recent wins in New Hampshire, California, and Washington, as well as trends in the country that continue to prove the death penalty is dying out.
Questioning a system marked by inefficiency, inequity, and inaccuracy.
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty is a network of political and social conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values.
We are a project of Equal Justice USA, a national organization working to end the death penalty in the United States.
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