AMENDMENT PROJECT
PROPOSAL INFORMATION
Organization Name: Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Organization Address: P.O Box 3092. Louisville, KY 40201
Executive Director: N/A
Email: N/A Phone: N/A
Contact Name (if not ED): Russell Allen and/or Tialisha Lumpkin
Email: russell@kcadp.org/tialisha@kcadp.org Phone:859-
433-8147/708-778-1511
Number of People on Staff: (2) F/T (0) P/T
Organization Website: kcadp.org
Tax Status of Applying Organization or Fiscal Sponsor: [ x] 501(c)3 [ ] 501(c)4
EIN #: 61-1169551
Does your organization use a fiscal sponsor? [ ] Yes [x] No
Fiscal Sponsor Name (If Applicable):
Fiscal Sponsor Address:
Fiscal Sponsor Contact:
Email: Phone:
Has your organization made the 501(h) election under the Internal Revenue Code to have
lobbying measured by expenditures? [ X] Yes [ ] No
If applying as a 501(c)3, does your organization also have a 501(c)4? [ jYes [X]No
Grant Type: [X] General Operating [ ] Project Support
Grant Period: 01/01/2022 to 12/31/2022
Total Number of Months Covered by Grant: 12
Grant Amount Requested: $110,000
Organization Budget: attached
Project Budget (if applicable): N/A
Will your organization/project budget include any lobbying? [X ] Yes [] No
If yes, you must submit a bifurcated budget.
Which strategic area(s) have you been invited to apply for? (Please check all that apply.)
[] 1. Reduce executions/sentences (advocacy or litigation)
[ X] 2. Repeal (advocacy or litigation)
[] 3. Communications and/or unusual voices
Did you receive funding from this funding process last year? [X] Yes [ ]No
Grant Purpose
(In one to two lines, state how funding to your organization will assist the national strategy and
what you aim to achieve.)
Funding KCADP will assist the national strategy by highlighting and supporting a southern state that is in
the position to gain a win on abolition within the next 3-4 years. Funding will also allow us to mount a
coherent campaign to ban execution for mentally ill persons during the 2022 calendar year.
Background & Context
(Please give us an update as to where the state is on the use of the death penalty and the
prospects for change. In two paragraphs, tell us the three or four biggest accomplishments of
the organization over the last year.)
Only a handful of counties continue to pursue death penalty cases in the state. Kentucky hasn’t
executed anyone since 2008 and has not sentenced anyone to death since 2014. Republicans have
overwhelming control of both chambers of the legislature, while a Democrat controls the governorship.
The House of Reps. has 25 Democrats, 74 Republicans and 1 vacant seat. The Senate has 8 Democrats,
29 Republicans and 1 vacant seat. Several efforts have been made over the past few years to introduce a
bill that bans executions for mentally ill persons.
During the 2021 legislative session KCADP saw success in HB 148, a bill to ban death penalty for severely
mentally ill, passed the House 76:15. Garnering overwhelming bi-partisan support in the House. The bill
later stalled in the Senate after being blocked from getting a full Senate vote, specifically due to
opposition from Majority Floor Leader Senator Damon Thayer (R).
KCADP brought in two seasoned organizers to lead abolition efforts. This increased capacity has allowed
us to re-establish working relationships with KFTC and the ACLU of Kentucky, two invaluable partners for
advocacy in Kentucky. We have also established 15+ new relationships with organizations in strategic
areas across the Commonwealth.
KCADP erganizers-also initiated an image overhaul that will modernize the website and social media
presence. KCADPOrganizers also developed a strategic plan based on 8AP assessment that Kentucky is 3-
5 years away from a victory on abolition. This organizing plan is structured around Kentucky's election
cycles and will have KCADP pushing DP to the forefront of election conversations on a state and county
level.
Organizational Information
(Give a brief history of how the organization was started and the role it has played in the death
penalty abolition movement over the years.)
In the mid-1980s, the ACLU began bringing people together who opposed the death penalty. This
ultimately led to the formation of the current Coalition, which incorporated in 1988. Since then this
coalition of organizations and individuals organized rallies, press conferences, tabling events, Witness to
Innocence Tours (with the ACLU), and grassroots legislative action. Two legislative achievements include
the exclusion of mentally disabled persons from the death penalty (1990) and the Kentucky Racial
Justice Act (1998). The legislative focus after 1998 has been the exclusion of severely mentally ill persons
and abolition itself.
StafflOrganizational Bios
(Provide very brief bios of at least two to three key leaders who will oversee this work.)
Aaron Bentley, Chair of the KCADP Board of Directors. Aaron is a lawyer who litigates prisoners’ rights
and police misconduct cases. He is also a murder victim family member (his grandfather was murdered.)
Russell Allen, Co-Director of Organizing. Russell worked successfully as a union organizer securing
contracts for service workers. As the co-founder of Take Back Cheapside, Russell was instrumental in
the removal of confederate monuments.
Tialisha Lumpkin, Co-Director of Organizing. Tialisha has worked with grassroots/grasstops organizations
on criminal justice reform. Co-founder/policy analyst with Kentucky Criminal Justice Forum she is a
coalition member of Kentucky Smart on Crime.
Pat Delahanty, advocate/lobbyist. Pat has dedicated his life to Kentucky abolition work, most notably
working to advance and shape early 90s legislation around Racial Justice Act and limitations on death
penalty usage for severely mentally ill defendants in death penalty cases.
Proposal
(State the goals of the work that will be achieved over the next year. (i.e. We will reduce death
sentences in the state by providing litigation assistance to trial attorneys; we will build support
for legislative repeal by leading a broad-based public education campaign in key areas of the
state; we will lift unusual voices in the media calling for change.) If applicable, please explicitly
name the partners with whom you will be working to achieve your stated goal and the
geographical focus of your work. This should be as brief as possible since you will be asked to
give more detail in the Benchmarks section below.)
KCADP has a 3-4-year timeline for achieving repeal. We have identified several steps we need to take to_
be successful. We will achieve repeal by galvanizing the Black community through engaging with Black
clergy and existing racial justice groups in the state around data and historical facts highlighting
Kentucky’s devastating history with the Death Penalty and Black people. We will also mobilize in 3-5 key
senate districts (Scott, Bourbon, Boone, Kenton etc.) to put pressure on Senate Republicans to support
and/or allow a vote on a SMI ban and eventually a full abolition ban. Finally, we will find 2-3 allies among
current or former prosecutors and/or current or former commonwealth attorneys to decrease the
influence of the prosecutors on legislators and to curtail the use of DP in the remaining counties that
seek it.
Goals for 2022
@ Pass Severely Mentally Ill ban bill on a state level
KCADP€e-Birecters will lead a statewide campaign to galvanize KCADP’s current supporter base to
pressure their legislators to push the mental health bill through. Campaign will strategically focus
pressure on the Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R) to flip or neutralize his influence during the
committee and floor processes. This effort will bring the state closer to repeal by identifying Republican
lawmakers who can be further educated about the need to repeal the death penalty and by reducing
the number of new death sentences in the state. While the bill is prospective only, it may also provide
fodder for litigators trying to reduce the sentences of individuals currently on death row.
@ Increase knowledge and support for abolition statewide (with a focus on Black/Rural
communities)
KCADP€e-directers will work with data specialists to unearth narratives for KCADP’s
#TakeltOfffheTable campaign. This public education campaign will be ongoing until full abolition is
achieved. KCADPCe-directors will use data and historical facts, especially around race, to move
individuals and potential partners to support abolition. KCADPCe-directers will develop chapters within
strategically necessary areas and will empower others to help advance this work. WeCe-directors will
also run a media campaign (social, print, TV) based on the most compelling data collected.
@ Put pressure on the remaining counties that pursue death penalty to take that option off the
table in sentencing
By activating supporters in the handful of counties that still pursue DP cases we hope to fortify the
makeshift moratorium on executions by encouraging Commonwealth Attorneys to stop seeking the
death penalty until we can get a full abolition bill passed. Commonwealth Attorneys are elected
positions, we intend to make DP a top issue within these local campaigns. We also hope to identify 2-3
allies in the prosecutor community.
e Building a strong coalition
By bringing in clergy, racial justice groups, victims, victims’ families, and people who work within the
criminal justice system we will present a large, strong, supportive front against the death penalty in
Kentucky. We will utilize our relationships with criminal justice professionals as well as victims and their
families to create thought provoking events and content designed that brings in citizen supporters for
abolition. We will also utilize those relationships to reach rural communities we may not have a strong
foothold in.
Racial Justice Alignment
(In no more than one paragraph, please explain how your work advances racial justice, and
what efforts you are making to empower leaders of color and/or impacted persons to become
leaders in your campaign. Please name any leaders of color and organizations led by people of
color outside your organization that you partner with on your death penalty work.)
KCADP hired two Black organizers to lead the push for abolition within our organization. Our
organization is allowing them to shape the narrative on abolition in Kentucky. Since coming on, our co-
organizers have established connections with local NAACP chapters, grassroots police justice orgs and
Black clergy. All of these constituency groups have been instrumental in abolition victories elsewhere.
Our co-organizers have also begun to reach out to family members of wrongfully accused (see: Edwin
Chandler) to include them in a narrative they have historically been left out of in Kentucky.
Co-directors data push has been to excavate the unique racial narrative to Kentucky’s death penalty
history. So far the data of Professor Frank Bumgartner has shown a disparity in victim’s race as well as
an overall historical overrepresentation of Black people in executions. Co-directors will use these
narratives to reinvigorate the state level conversation on the death penalty.
Funding & Expenses
(Please briefly describe the other sources of income listed in your budget, including grants,
major donors and other fundraising efforts. Give a very brief outline of fundraising efforts
going forward (no more than three sentences.)
Currently the two other sources of income for our organization are projected board giving ($5,000) and
projected individual contributions from donors ($22,000). The organization has a $42,000 reserve that
has been built on those two streams.
-KCADP co-organizers will work with Chair Aaron Bentley and board member Patrick Delanhanty to
categorize and meet with past donors to re-establish their support. Co-organizers will also diversify the
money receiving applications KCADP utilizes (e.g Cash App, Zelle etc) so we can more readily solicit
donations via online or in person events.
Benchmarks
(What are the specific outcomes that will be achieved by the end of the year? Please list at
least three quantifiable outcomes. Example: We will have assisted in 30 pretrial cases, or we
will have conducted 20 public education events, or we will have placed 20 voices in the
media highlighting problems with the death penalty.)
KCADP ce-erganizers-intend to measure success through three different categories: Coalition Building,
Advocacy/Communications and Education/Outreach. We will then have a number of benchmarks we
intend to meet within those areas.
COALITION BUILDING:
tablishing- and-maintaini Jationships-with-suppert d-past-d -Co-directors We will
cultivate 8-20 partners over the next year. Those partners will be publicly supportive of abolition and
assist us in achieving our organizational goals. We will also rely on these partners for logo and name
support for events and actions. Finally, co organizers will bring in 400 new individual supporters to the
cause. This will be achieved by creating several points of entry to our organization for potential
supporters (e.g. social media campaigns, in person speaking events, tabling opportunities etc.).
FUNDRAISING
We intend to attract 4 large donors ($2,500+ gifts) per year. This will be accomplished by re-establishing
and maintaining relationships with supporters and past donors.
ADVOCACY/COMMUNICATIONS:
KCADP will grow our social media profiles by 15 percent in the next year. We will do this by developing
and adhering to a calendared posting schedule that informs people and highlights underutilized voices
to shape the abolition narrative. KCADP will host/participate in 16-20 public events/actions a year with
established partner organizations. Events will include educational, training and advocacy based, in-
person and/or virtual. KCADP will increase media hits per year with a focus on strategic campaign areas
to highlight abolition efforts in Kentucky.
EDUCATION & OUTREACH:
KCADP will hold 8-10 training sessions next year. These trainings may be a mix of virtual and in person
but will focus on broad based themes around abolition as well as how to get involved in the democratic
process. KCADP understands that conversation is important. We will complete at least 150 individual
meetings with potential partners, donors, individuals, volunteers, and legislators. Our faith communities
are especially important in this fight, and we will target meeting with at least 2 congregations per month
to speak about the death penalty. We will visit at least 12 counties in the next year to establish
relationships and carry out previously mentioned campaign goals.
Grant Report for Previous Year (2 Pages Max) - Complete Only If Applicable
1. Please share your benchmarks from the previous year and explain whether you were
able to meet each of them.
Benchmarks 2020-2021
1. Have we met with and engaged 3-5 Black-led organizations in conversations about how death penalty
repeal fits into the struggle for racial justice and criminal justice reform? Have at least three of these
organizations committed to prioritizing this issue?
We have met with 3-5 Black led organizations (KY CAVE, NAACP-Lexington/Louisville/Paris, Lexington
Area Pastors Group, Movement for Black Lives, Mission Behind Bars etc). Two of these organizations
(MA4BL, Mission Behind Bars) have agreed to prioritizing the issue. On a state level, organizations are
looking towards us for data and leadership before fully committing to the campaign, but prospects are
good.
2. Have we created opportunities for Black leaders to help shape the strategy and have input on the
campaign? Have any of the individuals taken on leadership roles within the campaign or organization?
KCADP’s co-organizers are shaping narrative and strategy and campaign focus. We are working everyday
to ensure they have the tools they need to execute that vision.
3. Have we identified 8-10 Evangelical or religious Conservative allies that are willing to be public in
favor of repeal? Are they from areas of the state where we need the most help?
KCADP'’s organization has a fair amount of established conservative ties. Co-organizers are reaching out
to these connections and intend to use them as surrogates to establish volunteers within strategic rural
areas.
4. Have we met with at least 10 Commonwealth Attorneys (out of 57), and identified 2 who could be
potential allies?
No. KCADP co-organizers have met with 2 commonwealth attorneys. Co-organizers have not yet
identified any commonwealth attorneys that could be an ally.
5. Have we increased our supporter list by at least 25%?
No. This goal could be achieved by the end of the calendar year.
6. Have we engaged with supporters at least twice a month through emails, events, and conference
calls?
No. KCADP’s co-organizers are recalibrating the organization's engagement strategy. This will be
achieved by the end of the 2021 calendar year.
7. Have we posted on social media several times a week and increased our following by at least 10%?
Yes:
8. Have we hosted at least 4 public education events (virtual or in-person) aimed at our target
constituencies?
No. KCADP is still determining who its target constituency is. KCADP will host at least 2 public education
events by the end of the calendar year 2021.
9. Have we had at least three op-eds and three letters to the editor published?
‘Yes:
10. Have we diversified our board and advisory committee?
Yes but KCADP is looking for additional ways to diversify the organization.
2. Did you face any unexpected challenges in the previous year? How did you address them?
KCADP also did not anticipate the need to revamp our digital footprint. KCADP is not ready from a
supporters numbers standpoint or an organizational structure standpoint to respond nimbly to
campaign developments, should they arise. Issues are being handled through productive discussion as
they present themselves. KCADP is using these opportunities to highlight and support the strategy
presented by our Co-directors.
3. What learnings from the previous year, if any, will you apply to future work?
Our organization learned that we need to update our strategies and approaches to seeking the abolition
of the death penalty in Kentucky. We will apply that to our future work by casting a wider net to track
down our coalition.
We also learned that while on the surface it appears that Kentucky’s death penalty issues are less tied to
race we have uncovered that those connections lied just beneath the surface. We will apply the
knowledge to our future work by being intentional about who we invite to our table. We will also apply
these learnings by remembering to be diligent in the face of setbacks.
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