it's suits joining me now live from that rich nation twenty twelve in providence
rhode island
is a bond with cd is the director of the philly its support for the national
coalition to abolish the death penalty it thanks for joining me
recordings how to be here
uh... so any no dino over the past um...
and i will talk about the the issue will let let's talk about uh... let's start
weeds
this state of the death penalty in this country
it seems to me that was starting to see
some progress
that we hadn't seen really
over the past i don't know
are concession has been around for thirty five years phiri started in the
wake of the correct decision in nineteen seventy six bridge
uh... upheld near-death helmet laws that were written after the firm indecision
in seventy two struck down all the tough on the lines
so
you know it's been quite a struggle and through the nineties yet
almost a hundred execution some years
but now were actually
side of the way
we have in the past five ee five years seen five states
abandon the death penalty
new york new jersey new mexico illinois and just to be exco kinetic energy
who've been sitting right across the aisle from us is the speaker the
connecticut house who help make that happen uh... during interview with
somebody else so it's elem you know it is silly
uh... it
it's an issue that more and more people are understanding
politicians artists and it's not the third rail
uh... but more important
people are getting
we've got a story stand on whether or not we should kill murderers that the
system is working with the system can't be trusted
that it's a terrible waste of money
of barbecued battered for a victim family members we can do better for law
enforcement at that dirt rules to actually prevent crime
psalm unsolved crimes rather than waste the money on something that we're not
releasing any way
as the had the games in terms of
for those of us who arm oppose the death penalty
have the games been the games been a function of technology
congested
magazines a couple weeks ago i saw a report that showed
thousands of people have been wrongly incarcerated in every later released now
those words but i don't have little to do
those because we're definitely cases
is not animals
if you could make a mistake in any case you can make a mistake and it definitely
for exactly and and put dot is a new database that was just launch date
but that is looking at all it's operations
uh... refocus of course on people exonerated who were sentenced to death
um... almost dead of three one hundred and forty on the official most i think
only fourteen or fifteen work d_n_a_ examinations
so in other words it took d_n_a_ to get them off
um... in most of the case of some other devastated witness identification uh...
of police misconduct a a combination of a number of things
very uh...
but luckily there was
some mechanism
uh... for that challenge we looked at
but technologies a part of it
really what's happening is people are just realizing it's not working to fill
public park that's fascinating to me because
i would have the maj in that it was a function of d_n_a_ that it was
technology that was changing it so well
what is happening are there
are there more instances where people are going back in trying to exonerate
people
izzy
means
well the innocence issue
is one that's they are very powerful issue former print for people especially
the aren't yet with us opposed to the death penalty um... and
we actually had a campaign about that shouting from the rooftops dot org
uh... is the web page which actually that comes from justice scalia and two
thousand six an opinion actually wrote
that if there was the first program at the everyday
executed a person who is innocent babies shouting his name from the rooftops
so was trying to do that tonight i plan
carlos nuno
uh... we can say is absolutely innocent but troy davis was coverup attached act
with that was
too much doubt
um... and uh... that's those things have really exploded this movement in a way
specialist right davis case
uh... to attack a technology like you know group that night he was killed
try davis name the ashtec too much doubt we're trending topics on twitter
occasions
i mean this is what we're seeing in in that we see the roll back uh...
uh... the death penalty
it really is mostly about
the notion of its efficacy right i mean you know there's dick beget as opposed
to
i find it philosophically abort um...
uh... but
the it seems that
there hasn't been a
massive change in that but there is a far greater there has been a change in
terms of the perception that is just doesn't work to exactly and admitted
what is starting to move it is the fact that
actually conservatives and other unlikely allies are coming to the table
this is the only issue the e_c_ flooded nations to see the a_c_l_u_ and a
catholic conference sitting together through the line
but we have uh... a number of conservatives have his taken aside in
kansas the bill that's going to be running
uh... this coming up on the legislative session is sponsored by republicans and
for them
it's a fiscal issue
if for some of that it's also the pro-life catholic or otherwise
and much um... i'd put them it's about being consistently pro-life but uh...
but that the main impetus for that bill was that budget-cutting that they have
to do in the recognition that
it you know when i came on a county prosecutor decides that he or she is
going to seek the death sentence
thing i spend a bunch more money
and it's a crap shoot because half of all death sentences were overturned
during the appeals process
uh... so if he could be wasting all that money eventually
in california we're coming up in november go see a ballot initiative
it's called the safe california campaigning
they have a have figured out that they're going to spend in california
the start of our stuff but it's going to spend other billion dollars in the next
five years just to maintain its death row for than seven hundred people how
are you working for uh...
international coalition to abolish dot probably about working for about four
years as an employee of his on the report previously
apana a supporter of a member of the organization since i got involved in
this in error in the late nineteen eighties
so if you think at that time that
v
the pushing in the momentum to uh... abolished the death penalty
would be driven by any issues like costs and efficacy or do you think that
blog a tight for me i'd came to this issue as a person ready to pull the
switch myself i was for the death penalty
and
yeah i went to a meeting on the campus five state university of a group called
amnesty international and there was a speaker
everybody amnesty as a group of trust three prisoners of conscience people
imprisoned for the public's ability was down with that but
there was a speaker talked about the death row in the united states
i said well this is the united states with the fast justice system in the
world
referred out on its final help pull the switch myself tonight set up to try to
prove those people who are
and doing site downtown dot everything at the lift up the death penalty the
truth is the opposite
and i think that
birla jumping from one side of the fence to the other was learning that you have
to kelowna county vicuna for a couple of the trial
i'm from a house where corrupted and in ohio you gotta kill somebody in hamilton
county franklin county coyote account at cincinnati columbus
cleveland
tomato
acronym come dayton
the big cities
those counties have enough tax revenue to pay for it up on the track
the rural counties can afford it and if we can't get that sense
except in ohio the only condition
where the state pays for the trial
is at the murder occurs in a state institutions such as the press
so fascinate for me it was his question
burnett's
across the county line in the stands unique checked at the office times but i
thought that was wrong
now reno
fewer than one percent
if you look at a map of the whole country
broken down by county
and where at the death sentences were the executions come from by county
we see that fewer than one percent of all the counties in this country
have sent people to absolutely exclude
again if you think about the system that's fair
you know a lot of people have a star trek trip floridians for alternatives to
the death penalty bureaucrat politicians that jeb bush was governor then of they
would say but we're doing this for the victims' families
and if we have a commodity
for any subset of us in this case dictum families a couple of these executions of
commodity for them
what we're saying to the vast majority of the two family members whose rule of
the most valuable enough
fewer than one percent of all the people who are eligible for the death probably
actually get a death sentence they are death row to the point of execution
so we have a system that's not equal or fair
and carved into the face of the u_s_ supreme court building or the words
equal justice under law and we don't have to
paint how do you come to see it
um...
are you still at the point where if it was fair
if the federal government said we're gonna find any death penalty case that
any county anywhere once the bread
hadn't had that
have bureau thoughts on the uh... the to evolved digest because that's the best
part of my my story is uh... in nineteen ninety three i
went on in the back of the journey of hope for my own stimulant which was
sponsored by a group called murder victim families for reconciliation which
is one of the groups and i'm afraid
that is made up of murder victim family members who checked the death penalty in
that was a speaking to ours to the state of indiana
endeavors like by the contaminant perspective might by the families of
people on death row
and the families of the people have been executed
and also people who are
wrongly convicted and sent to death row
and
meeting them
and coming to understand
there are stories new family member stories are not the killer in the victim
but the people around them
the collateral damage to the death penalty understanding at the top of my
heart so the facts in this fairness issue change my head
meeting the people understand the collateral damage to the death penalty
move my heart
and now especially
tightening get test for a long time because
we've come to understand something called uh...
uh... secondary trauma
which is what happens to people
at cleanup murder scenes
people like prosecutors and judges said
defense attorneys have everyone involved in actually executing the excuse above
the executioner's chip
one other thing
whenever something is happening like my friend bill pelkey
who let that journey of hope bios dealing in indiana his grandmother was
murdered
and he supported the fifteen year old girl who did that get that since she was
with the understanding on death row in the country time
back when we executed juvenile offenders
he would talk bout how every time the kids who come up
the picture they they'll prob
uh... not a picture of beautiful picture of his grandmother or what you look like
in life
but they would show the picture of her body being
thrill out of the house that she was killed
he talks about how that retry times too
went on to the wards
we now have a momma's
you know the the executive director of our california affiliate dot delhi focus
california so many jeannie woodford
she used to be
were in the sand crime checks if you did for people
uh... and she's now the executive director of an organization working to
abolish thoughtful in california
uh... we've got six or seven or active eight now
former executioners former corrections officials who oversaw executions who are
saying
this does not work for prison workers erotic andrew conduct at the the highest
elected kit chair executions in florida
and of the first lethal injections as ward move
of followed uh... even crack sharon stone reforms tape-recorded but one of
the movie executions of
so i'm blanking on that me uh... he talks about
the presidency killed
listing him in the streets by
they got together the first action at this group of war atmosphere
prior to the execution of troy davis
beatty gather wrote a letter that they said to be georgia
uh... corrections officials basically saying look
you should go back and ask the board of pardons to reconsider
but if they don't then at least say to the workers in the prison
you do not have to participate in this execution
because our experience is that the most haunting of executions are the ones with
the prisoner who said i'm not guilty
and he said oh louisiana one last thing on this
louisiana just recently passed unanimously that they are
date outhouse prison workers to not participate mexican shaadi
i wasn't aware that you didn't have an option
i mean that's wanted most places you don't but i can tell you i'm sorry
stunning
present workers you know
this people save up take away the t_v_ takeaway all the president's rights
people don't get paid
making sure there are a good incomparable conditions in prison is
what keeps prison workers say
right and if you want to have a present condition
where we're treating a person worse than we were treated an animal
then
yoyi you cannot be surprise when that person strikes back
and if you want to have people position where they can strike back to talk about
super segregation
but that is the most expensive type of incarceration sue
you have to give and take some more it but we just have uh... a minute left
where where king people were working people go online
to get involved
most importantly shopping from the rooftops dot org
is where you can take the pledge to uh... too
to to and executions to be involved in the mood for no sign you up
will be able to connect you to the state organization
um... instinct that you live and that's what we'll have to cater for people to
be involved with the state level
moving legislation state-by-state
uh... because that's how we're gonna end up getting rid of the death of his state
by state
and give us some one has a uh... a friend or relative who's order of the
death penalty and they wanna convince them you want to know the facts
as to why the death penalty doesn't work
uh... wartime at whatever what what their motivation is for support of the
death penalty and i'm going to confirm ation that refuted making
kind i don't page or of the death on the information center showed great resource
for all of us dot poly info dot org
uh... but that's still a bit
yet but here's the best part of the best news of this we don't need to change
anybody's miles all we need is for the people who are with us actually do
something to john organization
two people acted in a state to contact your legislators and say
i want you to abolish dot on the industry
if if everybody who has requested that
repeat dot
well uh... abe monoliths thank you so much for joining expert extravaganza
extra caution