Welcome from CADP
Coloradans Against the Death Penalty (CADP)
is a non-profit organization dedicated to abolishing
the death penalty in Colorado. We are concerned
citizens, religious leaders, political leaders,
criminal defense lawyers, and relatives of murder
victims. Subscribe today to
our free e-mail list.
The Chase family made it clear Monday that Susannah Chase would
not have wanted the death penalty for the man who brutally killed
her with a baseball bat 12 years ago. "She wouldn’t have hurt anything," Susannah’s
mother, Julie Chase, said. "Even her killer. She was a very sympathetic
soul. She would not have killed him." Diego Olmos Alcalde, who
was convicted of first-degree murder Friday in the December 1997 beating
death of Susannah Chase, was sentenced Monday to life in prison with
no chance of parole. (6/30/09, The Camera)
The U.S. Supreme Court just called
Troy Davis' lawyer - there will be no decision
(which also means no execution date) until their
court reconvenes in September. Our movement must
have struck a chord with someone. We remain committed
to maintaining the momentum here and are grateful
for the additional time, months! that Troy will
now have with his family and friends. We will
post more information on next steps soon. Please
see the article below about today's press conference
in Savannah delivering thousands of petitions
to District Attorney Larry Chisholm. (6/29/09,
NCADP)
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Improve your wardrobe, or your bookshelf
- while helping CADP. Visit the new CADP
online store to
order t-shirts or Dead Man Walking:
An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty
in the United States. This is the
best selling book by Sister Helen Prejean,
the guest speaker at the 2005 CADP Dinner. |
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The Abolitionist Action Committee (AAC) is holding
its 16th annual
"Starvin' for Justice" 2009 Fast & Vigil
in Washington, DC, from June 29th to July 2nd.
The four-day event takes place on the sidewalk
in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, considered
by many to be the heart of the legalized killing
machines in this country. Visit
AAC site for details. (5/28/09, AAC)
As a drug kingpin and his bodyguard, both black,
faced the first death penalty trial in Manhattan
since the days of the Rosenbergs, their lawyers
argued that the practice of capital punishment
was racist. "We’re doing what the
death penalty has always done historically, which
is target minority people," one of the lawyers
said in 1998 as he asked a Federal District Court
judge to declare the penalty unconstitutional.
That judge was Sonia Sotomayor - a Bronx-born
woman of Puerto Rican descent who as a young
lawyer had leveled much the same attack on capital
punishment. And as she listened to the arguments
that day, she acknowledged there were many unresolved
"tensions" surrounding the death penalty.
But she flatly told the lawyers she had no power
to resolve them. "I don’t as a judge," she
said. "They are not up to me. Ultimately,
they are up to Congress and the Supreme Court." (6/24/09,
New York Times)
Eighty-eight percent of criminologists do not
believe the death penalty deters murder, according
to a study by University of Colorado sociology
professor Michael Radelet released Tuesday. Radelet,
who completed the study with attorney and CU
sociology graduate student Traci Lacock, surveyed
77 leading criminologists on the death penalty's
effects on murder rates. The study was
published in the Northwestern University School
of Law's Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
(6/17/09, The Camera)
Take Action
Get involved
- see CADP's suggested actions against
the death penalty
Members of CADP are also available to speak
to your group about the death penalty, or its
effect on victims. To arrange for a free speaker, e-mail
info@coadp.org
Browse Other Recent Stories
Quote
"I think the system is so badly flawed
that all executions should be stopped. ... Let's start with the basic concept of a fair
trial. We are so far away from that in every
state in this country."
-- John Grisham, Author
Donate today to support CADP. Help us educate
the public, lobby for bills, and promote a statewide study of
the death penalty. You can donate securely
online - just click the Donate to CADP button.
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