KCADP
Kentucky Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty
NEWSLETTER NO. 7
January 1989
Opportunities and challenges for 1989
ach new year offers new opportunities and challenges to those who work
E: abolish the death penalty. KCADP, Inc. Board members have already
begun to face a very real challenge: increasing paid membership. As a
reminder, your mailing label now contains your membership renewal date.
However, if your dues are not current, no date appears and you are asked to use
the enclosed form to renew your membership. (Legislators receive complimen-
tary copies of this newsletter, so no date appears there.) You can help increase,
even double, paid membership by recruiting at least one other person.
ANNUAL FASTATHON: For centuries persons have fasted from food and/or
drink as a means of purification and protest. The National Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty invites us to fast in some way between February 23 and
March 1. If for personal reasons, you cannot fast, participation can take the
form of donations in the names of those who do fast. Send donations to the
NCADP, 1419 V. St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20009. Those who want to receive
a complete packet of materials explaining the Fastathon can write NCADP.
ABOLITION DAY: Match 1, 1989 marks the 141st anniversary of the beginning
of the end of the death penalty in the United States. It began in Michigan and
continues in our efforts now. Abolition Day is a time to commemorate the
victims of violence at the hands of murderers and of our executioners. This
year’s theme is "It’s easy to believe in the death penalty - if you ignore the facts."
A series of 16 fact sheets is available for distribution. For example, fact #13
is this: the death penalty costs more than life imprisonment. Several states are
adding up the costs of capital punishment. They are finding that it is costing
taxpayers from $2 to $5 million per execution. By contrast, imprisonment costs
run about $25,000 per year. Write to KCADP for additional information about
ways to celebrate Abolition Day, 1989.
Lighting the Torch of Conscience Cam-
paign: On April 14, in Atlanta, Geor-
gia, leaders of \various faiths will
gather to express unified, moral op-
position to the use of the death pena-
Ity in this nation. Amnesty Interna-
tional, NCADP and the Interreligious
Task Force on Criminal Justice are
sponsoring this year-long Lighting the
Torch of Conscience Campaign to
expose evil and to call upon people
who believe in God and in the sanct-
ity of human life to actively resist it
by demanding abolition of capital
punishment.
ior Ted Schwinden by Dec. 23. G
den has since granted clemency.
On drugs and death
Certainly no responsible person
thinks this nation does not face a
serious problem of illegal sale and
use of drugs. Congress has now
passed a bill - the Anti-Drug Abuse
Act of 1988 - which includes the
death penalty as one possible pun-
ishment. Readers of this newsletter
may have missed some important
comments made after its passage.
Mr. Robert M. Morgenthau is Dis-
trict Attorney for the County of New
York. His comments appeared in an
op-ed piece published in the New
York Times.
", . .at every level of Government,
thetoric outstrips resources and com-
mitment. The recently enacted Anti-
Drug Abuse Act of 1988 is no excep-
tion. The Act includes a much bal-
lyhooed death penalty provision and
harsh civil sanctions for users, but it
allocates precious little money for
the essential tasks of treating users
and punishing dealers. .. .
"The choice is clear: either we pay
now for effective treatment and law
enforcement, or we pay far more
later to cope with the destruction
caused by illegal drugs.
"No one convicted of peddling drugs,
even first offenders, should go un-
punished. Because of scarce resour-
ces, too many drug dealers are plac-
ed on unsupervised probation. Far
more important than capital punish-
ment for a few offenders is swift and
certain punishment for all offenders."
(Italics added.)
Page 2
January, 1989
Confrontation and resistance for abolition
Today we confront an injustice deeply entrenched in law and
supported by mammoth social prejudice. Society not only
denies that its acts against the minority we defend are evil but
denies the very humanity of this minority. How can we respond
creatively in such a circumstance?
Looking Back
These conditions are not unprecedented. we should take
by Professor Bruce Ledewitz
from office rather than to enforce an immoral law. Those
persons familiar with the dispute between Phillips and Spooner
marvel at the depth of their legal analyses and the sophistica-
tion of their political programs. The fact that they attacked
each other bitterly itself suggests the incredible breadth of
learning among the abolitionists.
Similar, rich contributions to the theory of abolitionism were
made by the movement in Ohio and Wisconsin.
heart from the fact that more than
@ century ago the anti-slavery
movement - the abolitionists from
whom we, consciously or subcon-
sciously, take our name - faced
a similar social context, with injus-
tice even more firmly rooted.
Their example would be our in-
Spiration and their thinking should
inform our discussions.
The movement to abolish slav-
ery can teach us about tactics,
timing and leadership. But, above
all, abolitionists were, as we have
not yet become, an intellectual
force in American life. Abolition-
ists, who confronted a thoroughly
legal, thoroughly evil practice,
were forced to develop a theory
of the State, of the Constitution
and of the obligations of citizens,
lawyers, and judges to a State
and Constitution that could em-
body a malignancy such as slav-
ery.
The responses of the abolition
movement to these chdllenges
were never monolithic. The aboli-
tionists never achieved an organi-
zational hierarchy, never agreed
on a statement of intermediate
goals, and never affirmed a com-
mon theory of. abolitionism. In
fact, one deep division in the
movement, familiar to us today,
was the conflict over reform of
existing conditions versus a mili-
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Midwest Regional Conference
On June 2nd and 3rd, at Bellarmine College,
Louisville, Kentucky, abolitionists and others from
fifteen midwestern States will gather in Louisville to
discuss issues such as those raised in the surrounding
article. In many of these States, there have been no
executions since the Furman decision, but time is
running out for several persons now on death row.
Full details describing speakers and workshops
will be published in the next newsletter. However,
below is the current list of co-sponsors and readers
are invited to solicit additional co-sponsors or to
send names of organizations to the office.
American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky
Amnesty International, Group 196
Catholic Conference of Kentucky
Council on Peacemaking and Religion
Dominican Sisters, Congregation of St.
Catharine of Siena
Kansas Catholic Conference
Kentucky Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers
Michigan Catholic Conference
Network in Kentucky
Peace and Justice Commision
Archdiocese of Louisville
Sisters of Mercy Cincinnati Province
Justice Committee
Moder Day Paraliels
Consider how little thought we,
in contrast, have devoted to the
sorts of questions they confron-
ted. The United States Supreme
Court and most State Supreme
Courts have upheld the death
penalty as constitutional. Do we
accept these decisions as per-
suasive interpretations of cruel
and unusual punishment clauses?
If not, to what conceptions of
cruslty do we appeal? Are these
decisions binding on State Legis-
latures and Governors, or is a
Governor free, for example, to
veto a death penalty bill because
s/he views it as unconstitutional?
What obligation do citizens owe
to a system of legal killing?
Should we obey all laws while we
seek to persuade the nation io
our view? Should we engage in
symbolic protest, legal or illegal?
Should we attempt to disrupt the
legal system openly; should we
do so secretly, by perjury? Why,
precisely, do we oppose the
death penalty? Is it always wrong
to take human life? If so, what
about self-defense, or war, or
abortion?
The abolitionist movement raised
questions like these and gave
varied and conflicting answers.
tant demand for an immediate end to slavery.
The lasting influence of the abolitionist movement derived in
no small part from the quality of their thought even when they
were divided. One story illustrates the quality of that thought.
In 1845, Lysander Spooner argued that, properly interpreted,
the Constitution prohibited slavery. Spooner called upon
judges to declare the existing system unconstitutional.
Thereafter, Wendall Phillips, a noted abolitionist figure, berated
Spooner's scholarship and reasoning, concluded that the
Constitution was pro-slavery, and called upon judges to resign
These conclusions can serve as our starting points. So history
should inform our theory.
Serious thinking is not an intellectual exercise alone. Theory
without practice is sterile. But practice without theory is usually
pointless and self-defeating. Nor are such efforts the sphere
of a social movement's elite. As one abolitionist petition put it,
"This is a political and moral and not a legal or constitutional
question. . .and it is, comparatively, unimportant what Judge A,
or Professor B, or Governor G thinks of it. . . ." (T. Morris,
Free Men All, 211, (1974)).
January 1989
Page 3
Good News!
THE Congregation of St. Catharine of Siena of the
Dominican Sisters issued a Corporate Statement in
December opposing the death penalty.
After two months of study, discussion and prayer,
this 399 member Congregation passed a resolution
opposing the death penalty on any grounds. In order
for a corporate statement to be made, at least 2/3 of
all those who vote must support the statement. The
Congregation has its Motherhouse in Springfield,
Kentucky, and has sisters in 18 states, Mexico, Peru
and Belize.
For further information contact Sr. Judy Morris,
OP, Saint Catharine, KY 40061. Phone: (606)336-
9303, Ext. 230.
SOLACE is a newly formed organization which
provides a voice for victims’ families who oppose the
death penalty. The group will work against the death
penalty on several fronts: to meet the needs of vic-
tims’ families both before and after trial; and to
provide a forum for public education on the death
penalty.
SOLACE membership is open to all family mem-
bers of victims of murder and execution. As SOL-
ACE co-founder Elissa Shutz said, “every murder
victim’s family is a potential SOLACE member,
including families of the executed. Therefore, our
membership is unique in this respect and is the only
group that can take the wind out of the sails of the
revenge argument. After all, it is in the name of our
loved ones that these death sentences are carried
out.”
Those interested in learning more about SOLACE,
or in becoming members, should contact SOLACE
Director, Camille Bell, co SOLACE, P.O. Box 92282,
Atlanta, GA 30314. To learn more about the
companion group, FRIENDS OF SOLACE, write
Elissa Shutz at #6 Dudley Heights, Albany, New
York 12210.
KCADP Board member, Dr. Mike Endres, author of The Morality of Capital Punishment, will deliver an address
at the opening plenary session of Amnesty International’s Midwest Regional Conference, March 3-5 in Minneapolis.
- oupie $15
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MEMBERSHIP FORM
Check dapunnae Box and enn Form with Dues to
712 E. Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Louie, KY 40202.
, under 25 Members, a ove
we
My Repres tative. in Coneress i is.
WE: URGE ALL MEMBERS "TO SEND US TUE ABOVE INFORMATIO
Page 4
January, 1989
Quotable and Notable
From the Taras Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants
Newsletter, December 1988
Former Chief Justice Warren Burger has
said: “Of course, what we call the sys-
tem of ‘prison furloughs’ is useful and
should be continued." Does anyone think
of him as one of those "L" persons? A
liberal? Hardly!
Regarding the barely-presidential de-
bates, Burger says: ‘There really wasn’t
any debate on corrections here. (during
the campaign); there was the single
episode that was referred to. He went
further: "... the U.S. should move away
from ‘prison warehouses’ and build ‘fac-
tories with fences’ in which inmates learn
a marketable skill so they can earn a
living after release. He continued: "So
long as we continue to casually allow so
many prisons to be simply warehouses,
we can anticipate that many of the in-
mates will be worse when they leave than
when they entered." In the same report
he said.that the American People have
"got to be prepared to spend a lot more
money on corrections, but 30 years of
experience convinces me it would pay off
in the long run.!"
Prison Chaplain rejects death penalty: by Rex Comolius Ayan,
‘Death Flow chaplain, in CURE rewsietior clted above.
| did not always oppose the death penal-
ty; now | do. | began to visit Death Row
a year ago and now | have put away my
Childish views: deterrence, a life for a life,
as nonsense. Most people on Death Row
did not premeditate their act. Crazed by
drugs, some did not know that they did
kill or were an accessory. Those who did
premeditate their crime were also crazed:
lust, greed, fear, confusion. The human
spirit out of hand. Most on Death Row
are shocked by their crime. If they could
only do something to express their sor-
row!
This is the plea from Death Row: “Let
us try to compensate for our crime; let us
spend our days in profitable work; let us
make some compensation to the families
of our victims; let us pay for our incar-
ceration and not be a tax burden on
society; let us support dependents and
keep them off welfare, more tax dollars;
above all, give us the opportunity to heal."
Janice Netharland, Member of Amnesty Internationa, in a letter
to the editor of The CourlersJournel.
Killing prisoners, for whatever reason,
is a violation of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which prohibits, "cruel,
degrading and inhuman punishment" and
calls for nations to abolish the death
penalty,
We cannot condemn drug torture of
prisoners in the Soviet Union but approve
drug killing of prisoners in Texas. We
cannot call for an end to torture by elec-
tric shock in Chile, but approve death by
electric shock in Kentucky. We cannot
call for an end to executions in Iran when
we have executed 7,000 prisoners since
1900, and now have scheduled to die
over 2,000 people who are mostly the
poor, the minorities, the retarded, the
abused and sometimes the innocent.
According to a Dec. 20 article, the
indigent do not even have effective repre-
sentation; these people do not have due
process.
As U.S. Supreme Court Justice John
Paul Stevens put it, "Electrocution is the
technological equivalent of burning some-
one at the stake." Hurting a chained-up
prisoner is degrading and disgusting.
Killing one is inexcusable.
Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?
KCADP
KENTUCKY COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY
712 EAST MUHAMMAD ALI BOULEVARD
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 40202
