– By Ben Jones, Exec. Director, CNADP

When the House voted 86 to 62 last week to repeal Connecticut’s death penalty, it was the culmination of decades of work by CNADP members and volunteers. Reaching this goal has not been easy. Since the CNADP first came together in 1986, we have seen attempts to expand the death penalty, a rise in executions in the 1990s, an execution in Connecticut in 2005, and efforts to repeal Connecticut’s death penalty fall short on numerous occasions. Despite these setbacks, you remained committed to supporting the CNADP in its mission to repeal the state’s death penalty. Because of your commitment, we finally achieved our goal.

The scene when the House repealed the death penalty was truly remarkable. It was a microcosm of the diverse and committed coalition of individuals and groups that have worked tirelessly for repeal.

Due to the perseverance and commitment of amazing individuals, Connecticut took the prudent step of moving beyond its broken system of capital punishment. We now wait for the Governor to sign SB 280, our repeal bill, into law. It is only a matter of days before Connecticut officially becomes the fifth state in five years to abandon capital punishment, and the 17th state nationwide to be free of the death penalty.

Tags: CNADP, Death Penalty

— Ben Jones, CNADP

 As hard as it is to believe, another year is coming to a close. Looking back, there are many reasons to be optimistic that the death penalty is on its way out in Connecticut. Developments during the past year have put Connecticut closer to repealing the death penalty than ever before in the state’s history.

This past March, an effort in the Judiciary Committee to “fix” the current death penalty went nowhere, as legislators realized that the death penalty is broken beyond repair. Jeffrey Deskovic, who spent 16 years imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, best summarized the mistaken logic behind efforts to reform the death penalty in his testimony before the Judiciary committee: “There is no ‘fixing’ the death penalty other than abolishing it all together, because no matter how many reforms are passed aimed at preventing wrongful convictions, in the end the system is operated by human beings, and human beings make mistakes. The only way to be sure that an innocent person is not executed is to abolish the death penalty.”

The focus of 2010 was not the legislature, however, but building support for repeal at the grassroots level. Throughout the past 12 months, thousands of Connecticut residents at CNADP-sponsored events have heard from those directly impacted by the death penalty how it is failing all of us. In April, author and death row chaplain Dale Recinella shared the pain of witnessing an execution. In May, Randy Steidl traveled across Connecticut, sharing with churches and universities how corruption sent him to death row and kept him wrongfully incarcerated long after evidence emerged pointing to his innocence. Then in CNADP’s busiest month on record, Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights Chair Vicki Schieber, and death row exonerees Kirk Bloodsworth and Juan Melendez all were in Connecticut sharing the harm inflicted by the death penalty and the urgent need to repeal it.

Finally, the elections this fall saw Connecticut select for the first time in decades a Governor who publicly supports repeal of the death penalty. This break puts us in an excellent position to move forward with repeal legislation. We now must capitalize on this rare opportunity.

Our work, building a true grassroots movement, is the key to success. The death penalty will come to an end as you and people across the state continue to stand up and say enough is enough – Connecticut deserves better. Thank you for your support throughout the year.

CNADP, 56 Arbor Street, Suite 213, Hartford, CT 06106. 860-231-1489, www.cnadp.org.

Tags: CNADP, Death Penalty