Welcome to October!
International Wrongful Convictions Day
This Tuesday, October 2nd is the Fifth Annual International Wrongful Conviction Day. According to the organizers, this is a day set aside to raise awareness of the causes and remedies of wrongful convictions and to recognize the tremendous personal, social, and emotional costs of wrongful conviction for innocent people and their families.
Help raise awareness for this day on your social media accounts with the hashtag #WrongfulConvictionDay and be sure to tag us @CCATDP! Here us a good resource to share along with posts.
CCATDP National Manager Tapped as Newsmax Insider
The leader of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty is now a Newsmax Insider. Twice a month, Hannah Cox will be writing about the failures of the criminal justice system and especially the death penalty.
Newsmax is a leading conservative news outlet that receives nearly 70,000 unique daily visitors. The company is ranked as the 3rd most trafficked political website.
You can follow her blog Life and Liberty here and read her first article, “Do You Support the Death Penalty,” here.
Execution Scheduled for October 11th in Tennessee
In August, Tennessee carried out its first execution in nearly a decade and thus far it is on track to carry out its second this month. Barring action from Governor Haslam, the state will execute Edmund Zagorski on October 11th.
Zagorski’s case points out the randomness of Tennessee’s death penalty, an arbitrariness that was dubbed the state’s “Cruel Death Penalty Lottery” in a recent study. Zagorski was convicted of killing two men in a drug deal gone bad 34 years ago. Now, the correctional officials who guard him speak of a reformed and ideal inmate, one who makes them “feel safe to work there” and who has helped break up prison fights. They have asked for clemency on his behaf.
Multiple jurors who ruled on Zagorski’s case, and who were not given the option of a life without parole sentence, have also spoken out and said they would not have voted to give him a death sentence had this option been available to them. Lastly, the wife of one of the victims has also spoken out in favor of leniency and a life without parole sentence.
CCATDP in Salt Lake City for SPNAM
CCATDP is heading to Salt Lake City, Utah this month for the State Policy Network’s Annual Meeting. We’ll be in town October 9th through 12th, so let us know if you’ll be at the conference or in the area, we’d love to say hello!
Be sure to follow us on social media!
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@CCATDP on Twiiter
