From the enslavement of Africans, who were considered chattel property, continued through lynching and Jim Crow laws, capital punishment has been woven into the social and political fabric of the American South. Nearly 120 years ago, Frederick Douglass, a former slave and great African American orator, criticized the American criminal justice system in following statement, “Justice is often painted with bandaged eyes. She is described in forensic eloquence, as utterly blind to wealth or poverty, high or low, White or Black, but a mask of iron thick, could never blind American justice, when a Black happens to be on trial.”

In 1976, the United States reinstated capital punishment after a four-year hiatus. Since that time, the country has executed over 1,000 condemned prisoners. Globally, there has seen a decline in the use of capital punishment. However, the United States continues allow the cruel, and at times unfair practice of capital punishment. Concerns surrounding capital punishment includes its use, application fairness and accuracy. Since 1976, 123 individuals sentenced to death row have been freed based on subsequently presented evidence or systemic failures. These scenarios have prompted officials to believe that the conference of 123 death sentences were unwarranted.

The rise and fall of the anti-death penalty movement in the United States correlates with the political, social and economic shifts within the fabric of United States history. It is our contention that public opinion and public policy actions shaped the losses and gains in the anti-death penalty and moratorium movement across America. The focus of the panel will provide an overview of the historical aspects of the death penalty and its violation of the International Declaration of Human Rights. The panel participants will have a clear understanding of the historical and current state of the US Death Penalty system. Furthermore, the panel will examine the interconnections of the death penalty struggle with other social justice movements. Participants will develop advocacy and grassroots organizing tools, innovative public policy strategies, and easy to use death penalty actions to take back to their communities

The composition of the presentation represents the various faces impacted by the death penalty. We are a coalition of anti-death penalty and moratorium advocates, organizers, murder victim family members, death row attorneys, death row exonerees and concerned citizens. We will begin the panel with an interactive history wall linking the death penalty movement with other social justice movements. Next, the program offers an interactive small group story circle. There will be five small groups with a pair of presenters for each circle. The representatives within that circle would range from anti-death penalty advocates, murder victim family member, death row exoneree or death row attorney. The small group story circles will flow into a full group discussion and organizing training with an emphasis on the power of organizing. The organizing training will utilize role plays, small group discussions and games. The program will end with a collaborative art piece representing thoughts, ideas, and next steps. The presentation will be conducted in English complemented with handouts in English and Spanish for participants.