The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) is an organization dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty in the United States. Founded in 1976 (the same year the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court of the United States) by Henry Schwarzschild, the NCADP is the only fully staffed nationwide organization in the United States dedicated to the total abolition of the death penalty. It also provides extensive information regarding imminent and past executions, death penalty defendants, numbers of people executed in the U.S., as well as a detailed breakdown of the current death row population, and a list of which U.S. state and federal jurisdictions use the death penalty.
NCADP works to abolish the death penalty in the United States and supports efforts to abolish the death penalty worldwide.
Providing education and outreach to state and local affiliates is a key priority for the national office. NCADP works with state and local affiliates on campaign strategies, national and state specific reports on critical issues for policy makers, media support, networking and coalition building, technical assistance and training for volunteers. Additionally, NCADP holds annual conferences and training for staff and volunteers. [1]
NCADP is dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty. Below are some of the reasons the organization believes in this doctrine: [2]
The NCADP uses a number of non-violent methods to draw attention to, and advance, their campaign at local, state and national levels: [3]
The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) [4] is a grassroots Texas organization that works to end the death penalty. TCADP is an affiliate of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty [5] and the World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. [6] TCADP is composed of human rights activists; death row prisoners and their families; crime victims and their families; persons working within the criminal justice system; and citizens in opposition to the death penalty.
New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty The New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty [usurped] (NM Repeal) [7] was developed in 1997; it is a grassroots organization to abolish the death penalty. The main focus of the NM Repeal is to abolish the death penalty and replace it with the sentencing of life without the possibility of parole. The NM Repeal is founded on six principles: Victims' Families first, Innocence, Fairness, Cost, Deterrence, and International. These principles are the justification given to other people for education as to why individuals should support "repeal" of capital punishment. The organization educates the community on the effects of the death penalty on victims and their families, as well as on convicts and their families.
North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium The North Carolina coalition for a Moratorium (NC Moratorium) [8] is based in Durham, North Carolina but works closely with the Western and Eastern areas of the state. The NC Moratorium hosts a campaign that is non-partisan, housing members that are Democrats and Republicans. The mission of the campaign is to abolish the Death penalty and to eliminate "the arbitrariness, racial disparities, hidden evidence and classist approach that has characterized NC's death penalty since its inception" as quoted on the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratoriums' official website. The campaign states that it needs a moratorium in North Carolina to temporarily suspend executions while the legislature reconstructs the Capital Punishment process. As of April 2008 [update] , North Carolina has put a hold on executions as the state legislature debates whether or not lethal injection is considered unconstitutional, how the act will be carried out, and whether a doctor should be present during a lethal injection procedure.
Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (Project Hope) [9] is an organization established in 1989 in the state of Alabama. It is a non-profit, non-denominational religious organization founded and operated by Death Row inmates. Project Hope strives to educate the public on the death penalty and to raise awareness to gain support for abolition of the death penalty in Alabama. Project Hope publishes a newsletter, Wings of Hope, four times a year. Articles are written by current inmates on death row. The publication is offered to the public, and it discusses the number of executions that has been committed in the State of Alabama or autobiographical stories of the inmates on death row. Project Hope uses Wings of Hope to educate the "outside" world on executions that occur in the state of Alabama. This organization has also taken strides to establish a moratorium in Alabama.
New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty The New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty (NYADP) [10] is a grassroots organization formed in 1992 that advocates through education to abolish capital punishment. It has local chapters in Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Nassau County, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, and Westchester. In 2007, the NYADP was successful in gaining abolition of the death penalty by the state legislature. Most of the bill's supporters wanted to establish a sentence of life without parole as the alternative. The NYADP has stated that they have revamped their mission statement to bring together victims, law enforcement, advocates for the mentally ill, restorative justice practitioners, and families of the incarcerated, around policies that address needs and reduce the likelihood of violent crime.
Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty The Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (WCADP) [11] aspires to abolish the death penalty by educating, advocating, and informing the public as well as political leaders. WCADP publishes newsletters, supports Washington's death row inmates, organizes activities that are anti-death penalty, and works with the media to gain coverage on the cause.
Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty The Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty (MADP) [12] was founded in 1987 to oppose the death penalty in the state. It has chapters in Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis and Columbia, twenty-one affiliate groups, and individuals across the state who support abolition of the death penalty. The coalition organizes opposition to the death penalty, works with state legislators to pass a moratorium, educates state residents, monitors events pertaining capital punishment, advocates alternatives other than death as punishment for crimes; and supports death row prisoners, victims and their family members as well as others affected by the action of death penalty.
With its "Stop Killing the Kids Campaign," NCADP played a paramount role in the abolition of the death penalty for juveniles in the United States. The campaign encouraged NCADP staff to work with citizens in South Dakota and Wyoming to pass measures to ban the death penalty for crimes committed by those under the age of 18. Additionally, the victories in South Dakota and Wyoming added to evidence for the Supreme Court to rule that the death penalty for juvenile offenders violated the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. [1]
A Wisconsin ballot initiative attempted to revive the death penalty after more than 100 years; however, after NCADP's successful campaigning with local activists, the initiative was defeated. [1]
Funding for NCADP mostly comes from voluntary contributions made to the organization while the least amount of money comes from membership dues. The greatest expenses NCADP spends their money on is for program expenses to promote their campaigns. [13]
Helen Prejean is a Catholic religious sister and a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 7, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.
Capital punishment is not allowed to be carried out in the U.S. state of California, due to both a standing 2006 federal court order against the practice and a 2019 moratorium on executions ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. The litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Should the moratorium end and the freeze concluded, executions could resume under the current state law.
The U.S. state of Washington enforced capital punishment until the state's capital punishment statute was declared null and void and abolished in practice by a state Supreme Court ruling on October 11, 2018. The court ruled that it was unconstitutional as applied due to racial bias however it did not render the wider institution of capital punishment unconstitutional and rather required the statute to be amended to eliminate racial biases. From 1904 to 2010, 78 people were executed by the state; the last was Cal Coburn Brown on September 10, 2010. In April 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB5087 which formally abolished capital punishment in Washington State and removed provisions for capital punishment from state law.
An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a maximum-security prison, although not always at the same prison where the death row population is housed. Inside the chamber is the device used to carry out the death sentence.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Texas for murder, and participation in a felony resulting in death if committed by an individual who has attained or is over the age of 18.
Texas Moratorium Network (TMN) is a grassroots non-profit organization with the primary goal of mobilizing statewide support for a moratorium on executions in Texas. It has about 20,000 members, about 85 percent of whom reside in Texas.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Taiwan. The long list of capital offences, for which the death penalty can be imposed, includes murder, treason, drug trafficking, piracy, terrorism, and especially serious cases of robbery, rape, and kidnapping, as well as for military offences, such as desertion during war time. In practice, however, all executions in Taiwan since the early 2000s have been for murder.
Death Penalty Focus (DPF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty through public education, grassroots and political organizing, media engagement, and coalition building. DPF also serves as a support network and as a liaison among anti-death penalty groups nationwide and across the world.
The Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CCADP) is a not-for-profit organization which was co-founded by Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson of the Greater Toronto Area. The couple formed the CCADP to speak out against the use of capital punishment around the world, to educate and encourage fellow Canadians to resist the occasional calls for a renewal of the death penalty within their own country, and to urge the Canadian government to ensure fair trials and appeals, as well as adequate legal representation, for Canadians convicted of crimes abroad. The CCADP website also quickly evolved into a space where death row inmates and their supporters could post their stories and seek contact with the outside world.
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is an international alliance of NGOs, bar associations, local governments and trade unions that aims to strengthen the international dimension of political opposition to capital punishment.
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution, even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. In the United States, after an individual is found guilty of a capital offense in states where execution is a legal penalty, the judge will give the jury the option of imposing a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. It is then up to the jury to decide whether to give the death sentence; this usually has to be a unanimous decision. If the jury agrees on death, the defendant will remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures, which may continue for several decades.
Capital punishment was abolished in the U.S. state of New Mexico in 2009.
The debate over capital punishment in the United States existed as early as the colonial period. As of April 2022, it remains a legal penalty within 28 states, the federal government, and military criminal justice systems. The states of Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Washington abolished the death penalty within the last decade alone.
Witness to Innocence (WTI) is a non-profit organization based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the effort of abolishing the death penalty in the United States. WTI began as a project of The Moratorium Campaign, led by Jené O'Keefe. Kurt Rosenberg took over in 2005 with sponsorship from Sister Helen Prejean, Witness to Innocence is the only nationwide organization composed of exonerated former death row prisoners, men who were sentenced to death only to later have their innocence revealed. WTI supports these exonerated death row survivors through semi-annual retreats and by running a speakers' bureau.
Capital punishment in New Jersey is currently abolished, after Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine signed a law repealing it in 2007. Before this, capital punishment was used and at least 361 people have been executed.
Capital punishment in Malawi is a legal punishment for certain crimes. The country abolished the death penalty following a Malawian Supreme Court ruling in 2021, but it was soon reinstated. However, the country is currently under a death penalty moratorium, which has been in place since the latest execution in 1992.
Capital punishment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is legal; however, the nation has not carried out any executions since 2003, meaning that the country experienced a de facto moratorium on the death penalty from their latest executions in 2003 until March 2024.
Capital punishment in Burkina Faso has been abolished. In late May 2018, the National Assembly of Burkina Faso adopted a new penal code that omitted the death penalty as a sentencing option, thereby abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Uganda. The death penalty was likely last carried out in 1999, although some sources say the last execution in Uganda took place in 2005. Regardless, Uganda is interchangeably considered a retentionist state with regard to capital punishment, due to absence of "an established practice or policy against carrying out executions," as well as a de facto abolitionist state due to the lack of any executions for over one decade.
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