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Summary

Abstract:
The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP) formed in 1976 as the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty by Mary Alice Rankin and other activist groups and organizations to try to prevent passage of capital punishment legislation in Illinois. After the state adopted the death penalty in 1977, ICADP expanded its grassroots legislative, education, and communication activities to try to inform the public about flaws and injustices in the Illinois capital punishment system and promote humane alternatives to the death penalty.
Extent:
0.6 cubic ft.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Papers, 1963-2011. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Records).

Background

Scope and Content:

The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP) donated its records in 2011 following repeal of the death penalty in the state. The archivist retained the original order of the files and the collection includes annual reports, newsletters, clippings and press releases. ICADP gained national attention with its campaign to rid Illinois of capital punishment; this is evident with materials documenting the case of John Wayne Gacy, executed in 1994, and the murder of nine year old Jeanine Nicarico in 1983.

The collection also contains the 2002 documentary film Too Flawed to Fix: The Illinois Death Penalty Experience which explores the legal flaws in the capital punishment system in Illinois and materials pertaining to Amnesty International. There are clippings of Northwestern University School of Law's National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty during which former Death Row inmates later found innocent of their crimes participated on a panel. In addition, the collection features clippings about the 2000 moratorium on the death penalty by Governor George H. Ryan and the 2011 signing of the bill SB 3539, Abolition of the Death Penalty, by Governor Pat Quinn.

There are materials related to key ICADP members Mary Alice Rankin, Miriam Wilson, and Dick Cunningham.

For additional files pertaining to ICADP, please see its collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Richard J. Daley Library of Special Collections and Archives: http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/findingaids/MSICAD11.html.

Biographical / Historical:

The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP) formed in 1976 as the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty by Mary Alice Rankin and other activist groups and organizations to try to prevent passage of capital punishment legislation in Illinois. After the state adopted the death penalty in 1977, ICADP expanded its grassroots legislative, education, and communication activities to try to inform the public about flaws and injustices in the Illinois capital punishment system and promote humane alternatives to the death penalty.

ICADP helped have a dramatic impact on the successes in the Illinois capital punishment conversation, promoting campaigns that highlighted flaws with the death penalty to the public and legislators in the state and forming strong bonds with other groups that also believed the abolishment of the death penalty is the best solution for the public. These groups included the Illinois Bar Association, ACLU, Amnesty International, Catholic Conference, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, League of Women Voters and others.

In March 2011, ICADP's campaign succeeded in passing legislation that repealed the death penalty in the state, and as of July 1st, 2011, Illinois became the sixteenth state to be death penalty-free.

ICADP's work is not finished. Recently members of the Illinois legislature introduced bills in the General Assembly to reinstate capital punishment. ICADP is now focused on fighting reinstatement efforts and maintaining a death penalty-free state.

Acquisition information:
The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty donated its materials in 2011 to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives.
Processing information:

Processed in 2012 by Melissa McMullen.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized alphabetically. There are no series.

Physical location:
The materials are located onsite in the department.

Contents

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Using These Materials

ACCESS:
The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
RESTRICTIONS:

Access to this record group is unrestricted.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Papers, 1963-2011. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Records).

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