Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

New testimonial to abolish the death penalty: ‘I supported the death penalty’

Pat — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:16:30 +0000

Al Bennett served in Kentucky’s General Assembly in 1976. He voted to reinstate the death penalty in December of that year. Since then he has changed his position and now speaks out against its use and urges others to do the same. Al is a member of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty [...]

Families of murder victims speak out against the death penalty

Pat — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:07:42 +0000

Despite what you might hear in the media and from some politicians, many family members of murder victims oppose the death penalty (KCADP has several such people on its board of directors). Highlights from testimonials in the Dallas Morning News’s Death Penalty Blog’s in “Victims families speak out against the death penalty” include “The system didn’t [...]

Bowling Green Daily News lays out the problems with Kentucky’s death penalty

Pat — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:59:05 +0000

These excerpts from the Bowling Green Daily News’s “Stinnett sentencing process begins: Death penalty an option, but it wouldn’t mean a swift execution,” do an excellent job of explaining why the death penalty should be abolished in Kentucky. Victim’s families deserve more care and concern The appeals process for inmates sentenced to death in Kentucky works differently [...]

Update on HB 16 to abolish the death penalty for people with severe mental illness

Pat — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:03:58 +0000

Kentucky’s General Assembly has passed the halfway mark and time is running out to get bills heard and passed in both chambers. HB 16, which abolishes the death penalty for people with mental illness, is still in the House Judiciary Committee, but we have enough time to pass the bill. Chairman John Tilley (D-Christan and Trigg) [...]

The death penalty doesn’t provide murder victims’ family members with closure

Zach — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:10:19 +0000

So says Bud Welch, who’s daughter, Julie Marie, was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing: You legislators hear a lot about the phrase, “Victims needing closure.” I’m here to tell you, that is nothing but a myth perpetuated by politicians and news media. Six months after the bombing a poll taken in Oklahoma City of victims’ [...]

Catholic Conference in Kentucky (CCK) calls for an end to capital punishment in Kentucky

Pat — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:49:11 +0000

The Feb. 4 edition of The Record, the Archdiocese of Louisville’s publication, details the Catholic Conference in Kentucky’s testimony against the death penalty at the Kentucky Department of Corrections’s public hearing about its execution protocols: The Catholic Conference in Kentucky (CCK) called for an end to capital punishment in Kentucky at a hearing last week on [...]

New testimonial to abolish the death penalty: ‘A life of non-violence’

Pat — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:39:19 +0000

Margie Stelzer lives in a rural area of Madison County near Richmond, Kentucky. From childhood she has actively stood up for the sanctity of human life in all its phases. Believing that violence to punish violence is not acceptable she speaks out against the use of the death penalty in Kentucky and urges all Kentuckians [...]

Kentucky Department of Corrections responds to public comments about lethal injection and electrocution protocols

Pat — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:51:24 +0000

The Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty received the Kentucky Department of Corrections’ response to comments regarding its lethal injection and electrocution protocols (.pdf) on Feb. 15, 2010 and is reviewing it in detail. Titled “Statement of Consideration Relating to 501 KAR 16:001, 16:290, 16:300, 16:310, 16:320, 16:330 and 16:340 Amended After Comments,” this [...]

Tell your legislator why he or she should support HB 16 to preclude the death penalty for individuals with severe mental illness

Pat — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:00:36 +0000

Please share this information with your legislator. You also can download this information in a .pdf file here. HB 16 only applies to those who are determined by a judge to have been severely mentally ill at the time of the offense. Severe mental illness results in diminished capacity to appreciate the consequences of one’s conduct [...]

Public News Service radio’s ‘Clock Ticks on Kentucky Execution Protocol’ includes KCADP’s thoughts

Zach — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:12:21 +0000

Visit Public News Service’s “Clock Ticks on Kentucky Execution Protocol” to hear the entire radio broadcast. Here’s a transcript of the part in which Rev. Pat Delahanty, KCADP’s chair, shares his thoughts on Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol. Opponents, like the Rev. Pat Delahanty, chair of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, say the protocol [...]