Volume 2, Issue 1
December 2002
ABOLITION NOW!
(502) 585-2895
Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 3092 Louisville Kentucky 40201-3092
email: kcadp@earthlink.net — website: www.kcadp.org
Inside This Issue
Senator Neal Files Juvenile Bill | 1
The Capacity to Forgive... 1
Rally Flier for Duplication 2
Volunteers Needed for 2003 3
Stop Killing Kids Rally Sign-up | 3
Abolition Now! DirectorColumn | 4
The capacity
to forgive...
December 15, 2002
Dear Governor Patton:
| write to you today on the
morning of my 38th birthday to
appeal to you to spare the life of
Kevin Stanford. This morning | was
served "breakfast in bed" by my
two young daughters and my loving
wife, a trivial personal anecdote
perhaps, but an occasion which
caused me to ponder larger mat-
ters.
As a deeply flawed average
man, | wondered, what in the world
have | done to deserve such won-
derful companionship and love?
I'm not a particularly religious per-
son, but such things certainly give
me cause to reflect.
To the matter at hand: as the
Governor of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, you now have before you
a terrible responsibility, a decision
that |, with all my faults and frail-
ties, would not wish upon any other
man. | would like to try to persuade
you, with no other force than those
my words may carry, to be merciful
and forego the execution of Kevin
Stanford.
In 1981, at the age of seven-
teen, Kevin Stanford committed a
(Continued on page 4)
Neal files bill to end
death penalty for juveniles
Senator Gerald Neal has pre-filed a bill to end the death penalty for those convicted of
capital murder before turning 18-years old. This would end the practice in Kentucky of exe-
cuting 16- and 17-year old adolescents convicted of capital murder. KCADP expects Rep-
resentative Robin Webb to file the same legislation in the House of Representatives for
consideration during the 2003 meeting of the General Assembly.
Children’s advocates welcomed the filing of this bill and have called for a demonstra-
tion of support for its passage on February 5, 2003, at Noon in the Rotunda of the state
capitol building in Frankfort. This is a legislative day and participants at this important rally
will have an opportunity to visit legislators and urge them to pass this bill and get it to the
governor's desk as soon as possible.
In his Nobel Lecture, President Jimmy Carter, declared that he “finds hope in a grow-
ing consensus that the generally accepted goals of society are peace, freedom, human
rights, environmental quality, the alleviation of suffering and the rule of law.” Referring to
international agreements that call upon nations to achieve these essential goals, he sin-
gled out several and included, “...prohibition of the death penalty, at least for children...”
And then President Carter added, “Those agreements already adopted must be fully
implemented, and others should be pursued aggressively.”
The proposed legislation in Kentucky inches our nation another step closer to full im-
plementation of U. N. treaties banning juvenile executions.
KCADP finds hope in the fact that, earlier this year, Indiana enacted legislation to ban
the execution of juveniles. Also, the University of Kentucky recently found that 67% of Ken-
tuckians want our General Assembly to pass legislation to end the executions of juveniles.
In addition to those organizations that seek to abolish the death penalty completely,
several other Kentucky organizations are joining this effort to protect the lives of our young
citizens: the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, Mental Health Association of Ken-
tucky, Kentucky Psychological Association, Kentucky Psychiatric Association, Children's
Alliance, Kentucky Youth Advocates, Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency, The Juvenile Jus-
tice Advisory Committee of Kentucky, and Kentucky Academy of Child and Adolescent Psy-
chiatry.
The Senate and House leadership will undoubtedly assign this legislation to the Senate
and House Judiciary Committees for consideration. Senator Robert Stivers and Represen-
tative Gross Lindsay refused to allow committee members an opportunity to vote on this
same legislation in 2002.
It is imperative that KCADP members raise their voices more loudly and demand that
this legislation be considered in 2003. Please contact your State Senator and your State
Representative as soon as possible and urge them to support this new law.
And, please get out your new 2003 calendar, turn to Wednesday, February 5, and
schedule yourself to be in the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building at NOON. Then, find
several friends to join you at this very important rally. Please help advertise this
rally by duplicating page 2 and posting it wherever you can.
THE COALITION TO
STOP KILLING KIDS
INVITES YOU TO
RALLY
NOON
FEBRUARY 5, 2003
IN THE
CAPITOL ROTUNDA
FRANKFORT, KY
Take 1-64 from the west or east Please j join uS to urge our
fumaghtons F6ve (US g £& legislators to pass legislation
Spigieuteniod /7 ending the death penalty for
etter parking garage cn your if G "juveniles in Kentucky.
left. Take elevator to top and
exit. Go to the capitol building.
Rotunda is in the center.
4 For more information visit us at:
... WWw.kcadp.org
Phone: (502) 585-2895
Volume 2, Issue 1 Page 3
Volunteers Needed Again FEBRUARY 2003
For the past two sessions of the General Assembly, literally scores of | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
KCADP members have traveled—some for great distances—to Frankfort to
meet with legislators and urge them to take up important bills related to 4 5 6
the use of the death penalty in the Commonwealth. 11 12 13
Your efforts may seem fruitless, but they are not. So, once again, you
are needed, a voice that cries out for justice and begs the State to cease 18 19 20
killing in our names.
After the big rally, legislators will know how serious we are when their 25 26 27
constituents show up, day after day, requesting their support for passage qq
of bills to end the death penalty.
Participants meet at the office of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky at 9:00 am for a briefing on the issues. After the brief-
ing everyone goes to the legislative offices for the visits. Following the visits, there is a time to report back what you learned dur-
ing your visits. An inexpensive lunch is available in the cafeteria.
We are asking organizational members to select a minimum of two dates in February to bring a group of their members with
them. Individuals may select to visit as often as they wish. After visiting their legislators during one visit, they can come back and
visit the chairpersons of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and members of leadership in both houses.
So, choose dates, clip out the calendar and send it to our office in the envelope provided with this mailing. You can really
make a difference in the outcome of these bills.
KCADP recognizes that there are members unable to travel to Frankfort to visit legislators. Therefore, we urge you to set up a
meeting with your State Representative and Senator in his or her district. If you want us to help, our staff can be with you when
you meet with them. It is important that all our members contact those who represent them in State government. Your voices,
especially when united in this common cause, are vitally important and very much heard.
This newsletter is too crowded to use a lot of space asking you for money. Put bluntly, we need it. As you can see there is a lot to be done and it
costs money, more than the amount we have from grants, and even major donors. Your membership dues and generous gifts add up and express
# your commitment to this issue. We take, cash, bonds, stock, checks, and credit cards. KCADP is a 5013 not-for-profit organization. This means
your generous gift might be tax deductible, Your accountant can work that out for you. To get a tax break for 2002, sit down today and send us
your gift. For help with contributions of stock or by credit card, please call the office at (502)585-2895 or email us. Thank you very much.
Count on me Eo help w ake
Kentucky _top Killing Kids.
Mapsa Pe. - -
? ?Write Governor Paul Patton and urge him to commute the death sentence
of Kevin Stanford.
? Attend the Stop Killing Kids Rally in Frankfort, KY, on February 5.
Name
Address
City ST Zip
Phone ( i} Email
? ? 1 will need transportation to the Reilly!
Wail Chis Go us m Ghe enclosed envelope!!!
The capacity to forgive
(Continued from page 1)
horrible crime. For the murder of Ms. Baerbel Poore, Mr.
Stanford has forfeited his right to walk freely among us, and
rightly so. As a society of civil people we have an obligation
to separate from our presence those guilty of such acts in
order to prevent further harm to the innocent. There may
have existed a time in history when execution was the only
way to guarantee this security, but presently we have crimi-
nal justice institutions which can ensure this protection.
Having said this, the question | would like you to think
about is this: what benefit will the people of this Common-
wealth gain by executing Mr. Stanford that has not already
been accomplished with his incarceration.
| am sure by now you have received many petitions de-
tailing well considered reasons for clemency. The death pen-
alty suffers from the following deficiencies: it has no deter-
rent effect, it is irreversible, the men and women sitting in
judgment are not perfect, it costs more to pursue execution
than to provide for life in prison, it sets a bad example be-
cause it implicitly endorses the use of violence to remedy
past violence, it places us in the company of other nations
whose human rights records are abysmal. In this particular
case, reasonable people have also raised legitimate con-
cerns about the age of Mr. Stanford at the time of his crime
and his ability to fully comprehend the gravity of his actions.
His history of substance abuse and the brutal reality of the
sexual and emotional damage he sustained in his childhood
years are also factors to be weighed. These arguments are
all worth considering. However, | believe that when we pene-
trate the heart of the matter, it is only the capacity for hu-
man beings to forgive each other that offers us a chance to
break the cycle of violence and retribution. The following,
quote from the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. expresses
Kentucky Coalition
to Abolish the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 3092
Louisville, Kentucky 40201-3092
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Louisville, KY
Permit No. 110
Please check your mailing label and, If there is no date,
come a dues paying member of KCADP. If there is a date prior
to 12/31/02, i
viduals; $25 for families; $5 for seniors/students.
is time to renew your membership: $15 for indi-
this truth much more eloquently than | can:
"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of
the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the
worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less
prone to hate our ene-
mies. Forgiveness is not
an occasional act; it is a
permanent attitude."
Sincerely,
Christopher M. Coyle
Please, write your letter and ask the Governor to
commute the death sentence of Kevin Stanford:
Governor Paul Patton
State Capitol Building
Frankfort KY 40601
Greetings from our Abolition NOW! Director
As you well know from e-mails, letters, newspaper articles, and this Newsletter, the emphasis at this time is on Kevin Stan-
ford and the abolition of the death penalty for juveniles. KCADP is in solid support of the broad coalition that has developed on
the juvenile death penalty issue and in persuading Governor Patton to commute Kevin Stanford’s death sentence.
If we are successful in saving Kevin Stanford's life and in the effort to pass legislation abolishing the death penalty for juve-
niles, it will be a major step toward the ultimate abolition of the death penalty for all offenders.
In planning our strategy for 2003, and in continuing our support of the juvenile effort, we need to recognize the additional
pressure this puts on KCADP working for the complete abolition of the death penalty.
Implicit in the arguments of the juvenile coalition, and in the considerations of Governor Patton, is the issue of culpability.
Children under the age of eighteen do not have the experience and emotional or intellectual development to be held as fully ac-
countable for their acts as we hold adults. Hence, we should not execute juveniles, whereas we would an adult.
This may be a perfectly good and valid argument for the juvenile coalition, but it is not the argument nor position of the Ken-
tucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Executions are barbaric, unjust, immoral, and increase, rather than reduce, violence in our society. Age is immaterial. That is
the message of KCADP and that is the message we have consistently taken to the Kentucky Legislature and will continue to
take to the Kentucky Legislature.
No, we don’t have all the votes we need yet. No, we don’t have the support of leadership and committee chairmen to bring
our issue to the fore. Yes, with your help, we will keep pounding the issue day after day, legislator after legislator, in the 2003
session, and beyond.
The abolition of the death penalty is an issue that is so clear, so just, and so morally right, we will triumph - because you and
| will continue to believe in our mission and will work to achieve this laudable goal.
Have a fine holiday.
| look forward to seeing you on February 5t, and thereafter.
Carl Wedekind
Abolition Now! Campaign Director
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