Race & The Death Penalty: 25 Years After the McCleskey v. Kemp Ruling

April 22 marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in McCleskey v. Kemp. 

In 1987 the Court denied relief to Warren McCleskey, an African American man who had been sentenced to death for the murder of white Atlanta Police Officer Frank Schlatt during a furniture store robbery. McCleskey’s claim was that his death sentence was the product of racial bias in the administration of the death penalty. He argued that but for the race of his victim, he would have received a long prison sentence instead of death.

McCleskey backed his claim with state-of-the-art statistical evidence, which in any other context the Court would have, and in fact had, taken as proof of discrimination. The Court, literally fearing the consequences of “too much justice,” declined to recognize McCleskey’s proof of discrimination. It opined that to grant relief to McCleskey might topple the death penalty entirely, if not the whole criminal justice system which itself is rife with disparities.

We mark the anniversary of McCleskey v. Kemp to remind ourselves that addressing racial bias in the administration of capital punishment is still unfinished business.

There is no federal remedy for racially skewed death sentencing and only two states, Kentucky and North Carolina, have passed legislation to address the problem.

Connecticut House Passes Abolition Bill: Governor Pledges to Sign It!

Last week the Connecticut House of Representatives voted 86 to 62 to pass SB 280, which repeals the death penalty in that state for future crimes. Governor Malloy has pledged to sign the bill, and as of this writing he is expected to do so sometime this week or next, although he has not yet announced a specific date.

On behalf of Abolitionists everywhere, Abe Bonowitz (the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's Director of Affiliate Support) was present in Hartford  in support of our Connecticut Affiliate and its allies. Click here to read Abe's reflection following his return to Washington, DC.

Following the vote last week, The Coalition encouraged individuals to submit letters to the editor of their local newspapers, highlighting the momentum this vote demonstrates. Marty Price of Ohioans to STOP Executions wrote this letter, which was published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Sunday. It's not too late to use our on-line tool to craft your own letter to the editor. Please let us know if your letter is published by sending a link to abe@ncadp.org and/or an original copy of the letter to our office at 1705 DeSales St., NW, Washington, DC 20036.

When Connecticut ends the death penalty it will become the 5th state to do so in five years, following Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, and New York. Death sentences and executions are down dramatically over the past decade, as more and more Americans have growing concerns about the system and how it is working.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty again applauds the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty and its allies for their hard work to bring about this historic moment - a next step toward ending executions in the United States. Follow @ncadp on Twitter for updates as news unfolds.

Oklahoma Execution Stayed; Your Petitions Delivered.

On Thursday last week, petitions signed by nearly 6,000 people were hand delivered to representatives of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, calling on her to reconsider her refusal to show mercy to a mentally ill man who had been scheduled for execution that day. This despite a rare recommendation by the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole, which voted four to one to spare Garry T. Allen, who was sentenced to die for his murder of Lawanna Gail Titsworth.

While the execution had previously been stayed by a Federal judge, members of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's Oklahoma Affiliate accompanied Shante Allen, Garry Allen's daughter to present the petitions, and they filed this iReport on CNN.com.  

There is still time to add your name to the petition - the action alert with links to more details and the petition itself is here.

Remembering John Payton

We send our condolences to his wife Gay McDougall, his family and our colleagues at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.   We continue our work today in his honor.

 

Coalition Briefs

The Winter/Spring edition of Lifelines, the newsletter supporters of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty receive in the postal mail, is now available on our website, here. This edition features a focus on the 35th anniversary year of the National Coalition, profiles of movement leaders including Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quentin who now leads California's Death Penalty Focus, and much more!  

Jeremy Schroeder, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's National Strategy Counsel, with be in Florida later this week for a series of meetings and events with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Details are here.

Former Texas death row prisoner Kerry Max Cook is asking people to help him win a full pardon by signing this petition. Despite an Appellate ruling throwing out his second conviction with findings that “Police and prosecutorial misconduct has tainted this entire matter from the outset,” the Smith County District Attorney’s Office was more interested in saving face than justice. Unwilling to drop the charges on the eve of his fourth trial, prosecutors offered a plea-bargain: plead no-contest with no admission of guilt, and go free. "By this time my only brother had been murdered, my Dad had died of cancer, and my mother had abandoned me," says Cook. "I took the offer and walked out of the courtroom. But I have never been free...."  Read more and take action here.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network's April newsletter is out with features related to North Carolina, including a backgrounder on the Racial Justice Act and a profile of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty's Kairos Campaign.

Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights' Spring/Summer newsletter is now available here, with accounts of our members' work in Asia and Africa, a report from MVFHR's Seminar in New Orleans for new victims' family member activists, a special feature on how exonerations affect victims' families, and our usual "MVFHR in Action" and "Victim Opposition to the Death Penalty in the News" sections.  Check it out!