The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) recently changed their 40-year pro-death penalty position, noting serious concerns with the death penalty and acknowledging growing opposition and differing views on the issue among Evangelicals. NAE’s board of directors voted for the resolution giving guidance to the NAE’s more than 45,000 congregations from nearly 40 different denominations, serving millions of Americans.
The media took notice.
Today the National Latino Evangelical Coalition voted unanimously to support an end to the death penalty. EJUSA’s Heather Beaudoin joined NaLEC’s President, Rev. Gabriel Salguero and other Latino Evangelical leaders for a press conference in Orlando, FL to announce the news.
Below are videos from that event.
In English:
The National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC) became the first national association of Evangelical congregations to join the effort to repeal the death penalty. NaLEC’s board of directors voted unanimously for the resolution and is urging its 3,000 member congregations to support efforts to end capital punishment across the country.
The President of NaLEC, Rev. Gabriel Salguero, said, “As Christ followers, we are called to work toward justice for all. And as Latinos, we know too well that justice is not always even-handed. The death penalty is plagued by racial and economic disparities and risks executing an innocent person. Human beings are fallible and there is no room for fallibility in matters of life and death.”
In 2014, the United States saw its fewest executions in twenty years. Now, less than a quarter of the way into 2015, two new governors – Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania and Kate Brown of Oregon – have declared a halt to executions in their states. In other states, lingering questions over lethal injection are also keeping executions on hold.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf made his announcement in mid-February, shortly after he took office. In an eloquent, multi-page statement, he said he would not allow executions to go forward in Pennsylvania until the recommendations of a forthcoming study on Pennsylvania’s death penalty are fully addressed.
Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown stepped into the Governorship after the resignation of John Kitzhaber last month. As soon as she took office, she promised to continue the moratorium on executions that Kitzhaber imposed in late 2011. Brown said she believes there needs to be a broader discussion about the death penalty in the state, and she will not consider going forward with executions until that time.
Pennsylvania and Oregon join Colorado and Washington as states where governors have imposed moratoria. Elsewhere, the courts are stepping in.
Executions in Florida, Oklahoma, and Alabama are all on hold while the states wait for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling over their specific execution protocols. Ohio has canceled all executions in 2015 because they cannot get the necessary drugs needed for their lethal injection procedures. And Georgia – where the execution procedure is an official state secret – has indefinitely postponed all of its upcoming executions while they look into why their lethal drugs appeared “cloudy” when they should be clear.
When the Supreme Court announced it would once again take up questions over lethal injection, Attorney General Eric Holder offered his own opinion that the entire country should put executions on hold. Beyond the specifics of execution methods, Holder admitted, “there’s always the possibility that mistakes will be made…There is no ability to correct a mistake where somebody has, in fact, been executed. And that is from my perspective the ultimate nightmare.”
Every doctor that ever examined him found Warren Hill to be intellectually disabled. His attorney said he had the “emotional and cognitive functioning of an 11 year old boy.” And on Tuesday, he was executed, despite the protest of the victim’s family and thousands of others.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to execute someone with intellectual disabilities (formerly referred to as mental retardation). But in Georgia, where Hill was executed, people on death row must prove these disabilities “beyond a reasonable doubt” – a nearly impossible standard to meet in a case like this.
A powerful and diverse group of voices opposed the execution, including the family of Hill’s victim, jurors from Hill’s original trial, local and national advocacy groups for the intellectually disabled, the European Union, and over 5,000 individuals who submitted individual letters to the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons.
But the Board refused to act.
“The clemency board missed an opportunity to right a grave wrong,” said Hill’s attorney Brian Kammer.
Shortly before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute stay.
“Today, the Court has unconscionably allowed a grotesque miscarriage of justice to occur in Georgia,” said Kammer. “Georgia has been allowed to execute an unquestionably intellectually disabled man…in direct contravention of the Court’s clear precedent prohibiting such cruelty…[T]he memory of Mr. Hill’s illegal execution will live on as a moral stain on the people of this State and on the courts that allowed this to happen.”
Earlier in January, Georgia carried out another controversial execution in the case of Andrew Brannan, a decorated Vietnam veteran with diagnosed Bipolar Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
EJUSA National Organizer Heather Beaudoin will be traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina later this month to attend the Christian Community Development Association’s (CCDA) conference. The annual gathering brings together more than 2,500 young, dynamic faith leaders who are making change in underserved communities around the country. CCDA will hold its first dialogue on the death penalty after EJUSA’s proposal for a workshop was accepted.
The workshop will bring Heather together with Reverend Billy Moore (pictured, left) and will include an overview of the flaws in the death penalty from a Christian perspective and an in-depth look at Moore’s experience of redemption after spending over 16 years on death row.
The NAACP has been an essential partner in our most recent campaigns to end the death penalty. This year marked their 105th National Convention, and EJUSA National Organizer Cherrell Brown traveled to Las Vegas to participate.
In addition to catching up with some of our strongest allies in the organization, Cherrell made new connections with national, state, and local NAACP leaders who are working on or are interested in joining efforts for repeal and criminal justice reform.
One person Cherrell wanted to track down was Oklahoma State NAACP President Anthony R. Douglas. Back in early May, Cherrell and Anthony participated in a conference call following the botched execution of Clayton Lockett. Cherrell wasn’t even sure if he would remember her or the phone call, but Cherrell wanted to be sure to reconnect and to put a face with the voice and the name.
Douglas remembered the call. In fact, he was delighted that she found him and introduced herself, after catching a glimpse of his name tag next to his blinking-light Texas-shaped button.
“Cherrell was so valuable in helping us understand what was going on and brainstorming ways we could support efforts on the ground,” Douglas said. “I look forward to our continued collaboration.”
Cherrell thrives on connections that allow her to support local repeal efforts, and especially to bring in the voices and experiences of communities of color.
Cherrell plans to work with Anthony to gather a larger group of Oklahoma State NAACP Chapter members and moderate a discussion about getting more involved in ending the death penalty.
The State of Oklahoma has three executions scheduled before the end of the year, even though the April botched execution of Lockett is still under investigation and has had several delays. State officials recently ordered the Department of Public Safety to expand its investigation to look at the botched executions in Ohio and Arizona.
The National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC), a coalition of over 3,000 Hispanic evangelical churches, released a call yesterday for “Hispanic evangelical leaders to closely examine their stance on capital punishment and mass incarceration.”
President of NaLEC, Rev. Gabriel Salguero, says that the death penalty is “too broken to ensure that innocent persons are not executed.” He also sees how the system can “disproportionately and negatively impact people based on race, color and economics.”
EJUSA has been working together with NaLEC to sponsor more national conversations on the death penalty amongst Latino and faith communities. Last year, Rev. Salguero, joined 27 prominent evangelicals and Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty in raising concern around fair sentencing hearings in a capital punishment case in Texas.
Name: Colleen Cunningham
Position: Campaign Strategist
Years on the team: 4
Why is EJUSA’s work important?
EJUSA works. Before I was on staff, I benefited from our services as a state partner. When you are working for a small state organization, the support, mentorship, and resources that EJUSA provides are truly invaluable. It’s more than what we’re doing, it’s how – we’re building strong coalitions representing many viewpoints working to make sure our justice solutions work for victims’ families, law enforcement, conservatives, liberals and everyone in between.
What’s the best part about your job?
The best part of my job is the people. Our state partners are tenacious and smart and it’s an honor to work with them. Murder victims’ families have taught me more than I can articulate about what justice really looks like, and are some of the strongest people I know. And I am continually inspired by the vision and dedication of my colleagues at EJUSA. I am so grateful for the many people I interact with and the different perspectives and tools they bring to our work.
Why are you joining the Make Room for Justice Challenge?
I’m excited to use my monthly donation to join a community of others who are eager to ensure that EJUSA stays strong!
Join Colleen and take Make Room for Justice Challenge today by making a monthly gift!
Recently, I gave a talk at the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s annual conference about words we should stop using when we talk about the death penalty. They’re words like: controversial, courageous, brave, hard.
These words send the wrong message. They give the impression that only a few people can change the conversation about justice in this country. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. All of the incredible progress that we’ve made this year is because of supporters like you.
And it has never been easier to participate. That’s why we’re launching the Make Room for Justice Challenge.
Can you make a little room in your monthly budget – $5, $10, or even $25 – for justice?
I’m going to make my lunch at home this month in order to make a little extra room to pledge a monthly gift to EJUSA, in addition to my regular giving. All of our staffers are taking the challenge as well.
We’re making incredible progress, and with your help, we can make room for more. In Maryland, the end of the death penalty brought an important opportunity for the families of murder victims. A bill to help them just sailed through the legislature!
We’re bringing the movement to new places and audiences every day, from African American sororities to booth number 717 at the biggest conservative political conference in the country.
If you join the Make Room for Justice Challenge today, you’ll have twice the impact. A generous donor will double your monthly gift for an entire year!
Thank you.