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A B O L I S H  t h e D E A T H  P E N A L T Y

NCADP Death Penalty Update - February 2005 Issue

NEWS

NACDP JOINS BROAD NATIONAL COALITION IN OPPOSING ALBERTO GONZALES FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

The U.S. Senate could take up the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be the country's next attorney general as 

soon as Thursday, Feb. 3.

Since December, NCADP has worked in coalition with other prominent national civil rights organizations in 

scrutinizing Gonzales' nomination. And after meticulously and carefully researching Gonzales record on the 

death penalty, NCADP decided in January to formally oppose the nomination.

Last week, our efforts were rewarded when Gonzales barely survived the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 

party-line 10-8 vote. Along the way, he endured in-depth questioning over his role in failing to provide

then-Gov. George W. Bush with thorough and comprehensive information on pending executions.

To read a letter delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee by NCADP Executive Director Diann 

Rust-Tierney, go here: http://www.ncadp.org/docs/GonzalesLetterFinal.pdf 

And to see the complete library of NCADP's Gonzales resources, including his 

Texas

 clemency memos, 

go here: http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/news.jsp?key=1112 

NEW YORK
 - AND 

KANSAS

 TOO!

In 
New York
, death penalty opponents are fighting efforts to reinstate capital punishment, after a state court 

ruled 

New York'

s law unconstitutional.

Thus far, legislators have had to add extra hearings about the topic in order to accommodate the many 

opponents of the death penalty who have signed up to offer testimony. And the abolition movement received 

momentum recently when the Democratic Speaker of the New York General Assembly - a longtime 

proponent of the death penalty - hinted strongly that he may be in the process of changing his mind.

"I question whether we need a death penalty," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, adding that the 

millions spent on the death penalty system may better be spent on education.

You can get involved by writing Speaker Silver, thanking him for his comments and urging him to oppose

reinstatement: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=355 

Meanwhile, in 

Kansas

, abolitionists also are fighting efforts to reinstate the death penalty - and the situation

is highly volatile. To read an Associated Press story about the complicated situation, go here:

The U.S. Supreme Court currently is in its winter recess. The earliest possible day that the court will resume 

handing down opinions is Tuesday, Feb. 22. So far, 2005 is shaping up to be an unusually busy year for the 

court, with at least one dozen death penalty related cases on the court's docket.

For a complete summary of the cases the court has heard and ruled on; the cases the court has heard but not 

yet ruled on; and the cases the court has yet to hear, please visit the Death Penalty Information Center's 

informative web site:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=248&scid=38#0405pend

NCADP IN THE NEWS

NCADP recently was invited to participate in a first-ever, worldwide Internet chat on the death penalty. 

The chat was hosted by Moving Ideas Network and Amnesty International. For a full transcript of the chat, 

please visit: http://www.movingideas.org/chat/deathpenalty.php

RESOURCES

Recently, the Capital Punishment Project of the American Civil Liberties Union developed a Model Legislation and Issues Briefing Kit. This package of useful information offers suggestions for NCADP affiliates and other organizations and individuals to use in their death penalty legislative work.

The kit contains model legislation in 12 areas:

1.       Creating Moratoria and Study Commissions

2.       Repealing the Juvenile Death Penalty

3.       Eliminating Pancuronium Bromide in Lethal Injections

4.       Data Collection in Capital Cases

5.       Addressing Prosecutorial Misconduct

6.       Compensation for Wrongfully Convicted People

7.       Accreditation and Auditing of Forensic Laboratories

8.       Providing Post-Conviction DNA Testing

9.       Reforming Eyewitness Identification Procedures

10.     Creating Pilot Programs and Task Forces for Eyewitness Identification

11.     Costs Associated with Capital Cases as a Reason to Repeal the Death Penalty?

12.     Electronic Recording of Interrogations

 NCADP affiliates and others are invited to use the model legislation in whatever way is most useful to their

 work. To obtain copies of the model legislation, please email Rachel King at rking@dcaclu.org or call her 

at the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, 202-715-0833.

NCADP
 
ACTION
 
CENTER

As of this writing, two executions are scheduled for the month of February, one in 
Oklahoma
 and one in 

Texas

. Go here to protest these executions:

      
February 17: Dennis Bagwell, 

Texas

. http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=350 

February 26: John David Duty, Oklahoma . http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=351

JOIN NCADP AND TELL A FRIEND!

NCADP's e@bolitionist listserv now contains more than 11,000 email addresses! But we need to continue to significantly expand our paid membership in order to build a powerful state and national movement. We need YOUR support! If you have never joined NCADP but believe, as we do, that the death penalty violates the most basic principle of human rights, please consider becoming a member today!

https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/shop/ncadp/custom.jsp

SAVE THE DATE!

NCADP 2005, NCADP's annual conference, will take place in Austin , Texas Oct. 27-30. This year's conference will emphasize grassroots mobilization and training like never before! Please keep an eye on our web site at www.ncadp.org for details as they emerge.

FEATURED EVENTS

Have an anti-death penalty event you'd like to publicize? Or do you just want to find out what's going on in the abolition movement? Visit here:

http://www.cuadp.org/upevents.html