National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

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The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) is a large 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.

Contents

Mission

NCADP works to abolish the death penalty in the United States and supports efforts to abolish the death penalty worldwide.

Objectives

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]

Principles

NCADP is dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty. Below are some of the reasons the organization believes in this doctrine: [2]

Tactics

The NCADP uses a number of non-violent methods to draw attention to, and advance, their campaign at local, state and national levels: [3]

Affiliate organizations

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 [5] is an affiliate of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty [6] and the World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. [7] 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 (NM Repeal) [8] 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) [9] 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, 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) [10] 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) [11] 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) [12] 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) [13] 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.

Other Affiliate groups in the United States not listed above can be found at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty website. [14]

Recent accomplishments

Ending the death penalty for juveniles

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. [15]

Fighting reinstatement efforts

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. [16]

Funding and expenses

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. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Prejean</span> Death penalty abolition advocate

Helen Prejean is a Catholic religious sister and a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Legal penalty in the United States

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 states have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in California</span> Legal penalty in the US state of California

In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is a legal penalty. However it is not allowed to be carried out as of March 2019, because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to the moratorium, executions were frozen by a federal court order since 2006, and the litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Thus, there will be a court-ordered moratorium on executions after the termination of Newsom's moratorium if capital punishment remains a legal penalty in California by then.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Utah.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Maryland</span>

Capital punishment was abolished via the legislative process on May 2, 2013, in the U.S. state of Maryland.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Texas</span> Overview of capital punishment in the U.S. state of Texas

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Europe</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Coalition Against the Death Penalty</span> International alliance

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 the fight against the death penalty.

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.

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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.

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References

  1. ↑ "NCADP - the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  2. ↑ "NCADP - the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  3. ↑ "NCADP - the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  4. ↑ "TCADP". tcadp.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  5. ↑ "TCADP". tcadp.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  6. ↑ http://www.ncadp.org/
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Wish4d : Situs Gacor Mahjong Ways Pasti Jackpot". www.nmrepeal.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  9. ↑ "North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium". www.ncmoratorium.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  10. ↑ "Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty - Prisoners, advocates, and supporters working to abolish state killing in Alabama" . Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  11. ↑ http://www.nyadp.org/main/home
  12. ↑ "Home". abolishdeathpenalty. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  13. ↑ "『カードローン審査』に高確率で通過できる？！業者一覧！". Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  14. ↑ "Affiliates by State".
  15. ↑ "NCADP - the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  16. ↑ "NCADP - the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  17. ↑ "Charity Navigator Rating - National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". www.charitynavigator.org. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22.
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