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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern
July 21, 2007

Slide 1

Head:
The Death Penalty
Subhead:

Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 2

Slide 2

Head:

The facts right now - July 2007

Copy:
e 40 people on death row in Kentucky; two dead
e Mixed judicial and legislative record
e Growing opposition to capital punishment
¢ Growing support for life without parole and expanding
restrictions
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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 3

Slide 3

Head:
Recent history
Copy:

e 2 put to death in Kentucky since Furman v. Georgia reversed,
1976
Harold McQueen, Richmond, executed 1997
Eddie Lee Harper, Louisville, gave up appeals and executed
1999

e 2002, Larry Osborne (17 at the time of conviction)
exonerated, found not guilty by a second jury after the
Kentucky Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY ruled he was unfairly
convicted.

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 4

Slide 4

Head:
Facts elsewhere
Copy:
12 states and D.C. have abolished capital punishment.
New _+York~+ declared its death penalty unconstitutional in
2004
e West~ Virginia_-~ (no death penalty), murder rate of 3.6 per
100,000 persons
* Kentucky~ Murder rate is 5.8 per 100,000_persons
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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 5

Slide 5

Head:
Public opinion changing
Copy:
e More Kentuckians prefer a sentence other than the death
penalty
2006 survey by the UK Research Center
Asked to select the most appropriate punishment in capital
murder cases
* 67% chose sentences other than the death penalty
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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 6

Slide 6

Head:

Arguments against
Subhead:

Unjust

Copy:

e THE DEATH PENALTY IS UNJUST
o Since 1987, 8 innocent people have been executed
o 118+ have been exonerated from death row since 1972
o 108 (including 12 death row inmates) in U.S. exonerated
by DNA tests since 1972
o Illinois had an error rate of at least 4.5%
o 3.5% federal error rate

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern
July 21, 2007

Page 7

Slide 7

Head:

Arguments against

Subhead

Unneces

Copy:

sary

e THE DEATH PENALTY IS UNNECESSARY

o Kentucky has life imprisonment without probation or

parole in capital cases

o Nearly 7 out of 10 Kentuckians believe other penalties
are more appropriate than capital punishment

KY Death Penalty Attitudes 2006

30.5%

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Death

Other than Death None of the
Above

@ Not Sure
= 20-50 Years
mw LWOP for 20

LWOP for 25
Yrs

« Life WO
Parole

Death Penalty
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 8

Abolition in Kentucky

Slide 8

Head:

Arguments against
Subhead:
Expensive

Copy:

e THE DEATH PENALTY IS EXPENSIVE

$1 million to $3 million per case

Some studies say $7 million

$500,000 average for life imprisonment

82% of “death-penalty” cases convert to life without
parole

Cuts into resources for other public needs

ooo°o

fo}

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 9

Slide 9

Head:
Arguments against
Subhead:

Not a deterrent

Copy:

e THE DEATH PENALTY DOES NOT DETER MURDER

o Canada: 40% drop in murder since abolition (1976)

o 48% to 101% higher homicide rate in U.S. death penalty
states

o “I am not convinced that capital punishment, in and of
itself, is a deterrent to crime because most people do
not think about the death penalty before they commit a
violent or capital crime.” Willie L. Williams, Police
Chief, Los Angeles

o 2 out of every 3 law enforcement officers do not
believe that capital punishment decreases the rate of
homicides

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Doug Stern
July 21, 2007
Page 10
Slide 10
Head:
Victories
Copy:
e Mentally retarded ineligible in Kentucky, 1990
e Atkins v. Virginia, 2002, U.S. Supreme Court bans execution
of mentally retarded
e Kentucky Racial Justice Act, 1998
e First state to outlaw race as a factor
e Juvenile bill, came close in Kentucky in 2002
¢ Roper v. Simmons, 2005, U.S. Supreme Court banned execution
of anyone under 18
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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 11

Slide 11

Head:

Legislative agenda

Copy:
e Juror Bill of Rights
e Makes those who doubt or oppose capital punishment eligible
for death-penalty juries
e Excluding mentally ill from the death penalty
e First in the nation
* Creating a study commission
e Looking at effectiveness, fairness, need, etc.
e Electronic recording of interrogations
e Abolishing outright
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 12

Slide 12

Head:

Faith in action

Copy:

* KCADP organizing death-penalty opposition in faith
communities
Targets members of House and Senate judiciary committees
Builds on the traditions and statements of religious
organizations
Statewide network, connecting over 80 abolitionists
“I’m encouraged by this strategy. It proves that it takes
just a little organizing to mobilize the deep-felt
opposition we know exists.” Rev. Phil Hoy, Zion United
Church of Christ, Henderson.

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 13

Slide 13

Head:

For more info

Copy:

There is a vast amount of information about capital punishment—
for and against. A Google search of “death penalty” indexes over
11 million pages.

There are, however, a few, key sources.

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 14

Slide 14

Head:

For more info

Copy:
Key sources...

e Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
http: //www.kcadp.org/

* Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty
http://www.deathpenaltyreligious.org/

e Amnesty International http://www.amnestyusa.org/Our_Issues/
Death Penalty/page.do?id=1011005&n1=3&n2=28

* National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
http: //www.ncadp.org/

* Death Penalty Information Center
http://www. deathpenaltyinfo.org/

e ACLU Capital Punishment Project
http://www. aclu.org/capital/index. html

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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 15
Slide 15
Head:

For more info

Copy:

Key sources...

¢ The Second Grave
e Politics, Religion and Death: Memoir of a Lobbyist
* Both by Carl Wedekind
e Available on the KCADP Web site and eBay
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Abolition in Kentucky
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Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Doug Stern

July 21, 2007

Page 16

Slide 16

Copy:

This presentation was prepared by the Kentucky Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty with the support of its members and a
grant from the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Abolition in Kentucky

Version 3