Alaskans Against the Death Penalty
Alaskans Against the Death Penalty (AADP) is a coalition of individuals and organizations who educate the community and policy makers about the facts and myths of the death penalty. Our mission is to keep Alaska free from the death penalty.
2013 AADP Annual Chili Feed!
Chili provided! Side-dishes and beverages welcome!
March 17th at 5:00 PM
Cost: Donations encouraged
Our special guest speaker will be Terry Steinberg. It is our hope that her son, Justin Wolfe, will be released from Virginia's death row after his recent exoneration, and will join his mother in Alaska.
At the age of 20, Justin Wolfe, ex-high school football player and normal, average, all American, suburban kid was sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. He has been on Virginia 's death row since 2002 and has had two stays of execution.
Location: 1401 West 11th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska
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FREE JUSTIN WOLFE!
Justin Wolfe was wrongfully convicted and was denied the right to due process pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment during his trial.
View the facebook page hereBig News in Maryland!
There is big news in Maryland today! Governor O'Malley pledged his support for death penalty repeal in Maryland in a meeting with NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous and Maryland NAACP State Conference President Gerald Stansbury!
Contact Governor O'Malley to show your support for death penalty repeal legislation in Maryland, Thank him for his leadership on this issue, and urge him to sponsor the death penalty repeal bill.
Call Governor O'Malley now at 410-974-3901 or 800-811-8336.
Big News in Maryland!
There is big news in Maryland today! Governor O'Malley pledged his support for death penalty repeal in Maryland in a meeting with NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous and Maryland NAACP State Conference President Gerald Stansbury!
Contact Governor O'Malley to show your support for death penalty repeal legislation in Maryland, Thank him for his leadership on this issue, and urge him to sponsor the death penalty repeal bill.
Call Governor O'Malley now at 410-974-3901 or 800-811-8336.
Day of faith in action!
Thanks to everyone who attended and participated in the "Day of Faith in Action" on Sept 29, 2012
Thanks to Everyone who attended!
Thanks to everyone who attended the "Save California Event! Watch our calendar page for future events.
"Crime Victims' Bill of Rights" Signed into Law!
Hours ago Governor Christie signed the enhanced "Crime Victims' Bill of Rights" legislation into law. NJADP advocated for this proposal for two years. It was part of our objective to affect substantive public policy change to benefit surviving relatives of homicide victims and exonorees. The goal is to create a more just and compassionate community in which executions are no longer desired nor acceptable. The proposal signed today will ensure:- Victims are notified about the progress of their case, including any changes in the court schedule, and status of plea bargain negotiations earlier in the process.
- Protection from harassment or abuse by defendants or their supporters.
- Medical assistance that is related to the crime.
Thank you to those who worked on the passage of this bill!
Another "even in Texas" moment!
Here's another "even in Texas" moment for you: This afternoon, the Texas Democratic Party endorsed repeal of the death penalty in its 2012 Platform!! Here's a rough transcription of the platform language:Despite 41 DNA exonerations in Texas in the last 9 years, Rick Perry says he never loses sleep over executing the innocent. Perry has overseen 235 executions in Texas. Detailed research shows that the Texas death penalty system cannot insure that innocent and undeserving defendants are not sentenced to death. Death penalty exonerations have already revealed deep flaws in our State's criminal justice system.
Evidence - including scientific evidence, extensive studies by the Innocence Project, major newspaper and university research strongly suggests that Texas has already executed innocent defendants including Carlos DeLuna, Ruben Cantu, and Cameron Todd Willingham. Former Governor Mark White has stated we must take every step to ensure there is never another innocent man executed.
The application of the death penalty in Texas is disproportionately applied to the poor and minorities. The system has allowed in the past the execution of juveniles, the mentally ill and poor defendants who had such inadequate counsel that their lawyers literally slept through their trials. Other states are increasingly rejecting the death penalty as evidenced by the legislatures in New Jersey (2007), New Mexico (2009), and Illinois (2011).
In order to promote public confidence and fairness in the Texas Criminal Justice system, Texas Democrats call for the passage of legislation that would repeal the death penalty in Texas and replace it with the punishment of life in prison without parole.
Connecticut Repeals death penalty!
(Huffington Post) - Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) signed a bill into law on Wednesday that repeals the death penalty, making Connecticut the 17th state to do so...read more
Thomas Arthur is convicted of a crime that another man has confessed to!
Thomas Arthur is on Alabama's death row, convicted of a crime that another man has since confessed to committing.
Despite this confession and many other irregularities that have surfaced, the state has set his execution date for March 29, just weeks away.
Write Governor Robert Bentley and urge him to allow Thomas Arthur's legal team to conduct the DNA testing that could spare his life.After the confession, the Alabama Supreme Court stayed Mr. Arthur's execution and remanded his case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing. The court ordered limited DNA testing of the wig that all parties agree was worn by the perpetrator. Although DNA was found on the wig, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences lacks the technology to develop a profile. Thomas Arthur and his attorneys want to re-test the wig, using more advanced DNA technology. But the state of Alabama won't allow it, even though the defense is willing to pay for the testing!
It is unacceptable that the state of Alabama is prepared to put a potentially innocent man to death rather than let him conduct a simple test that could prove his innocence.
David Kaczynski, Linda Patrik, Bill Babbitt
Click Here for pictures and a special thanks from AADP for all of your support.
Photo of David Kaczynski, Linda Patrik, Bill Babbitt Iditirod 2012 Anchorage Alaska
AADP Newsletters and Highlights
2013 Winter Newsletter
Our special guest speaker will be Terry Steinberg. It is our hope that her son, Justin Wolfe, will be released from Virgina’s death row...
Journey of Hope Update
- Bill Pelke told the story last week of the brutal killing of his sweet, white haired grandmother and how her death made a life change for him...
Web Sites of Interest
Struck by Lightning
The Continuing Arbitrariness of the Death PenaltyThirty-Five Years After Its Re-instatement in 1976...
Equal Justice USA
Equal Justice USA is a national, grassroots organization working to build a criminal justice system that is fair, effective, and humane, starting with repeal of the death penalty and increased services to families of homicide victims...The Abolition Times
Later this month, NCADP's Alaska Affiliate, Alaskans Against the Death Penalty will celebrate the defeat earlier this year of HB 9, a bill that would have introduced the death penalty to Alaska for the first time since the territory became a U.S. state in 1953...Death Penalty Information Center
Providing information about the application of the death penalty in the United States. This site has eye opening information regarding the death penalty in the U.S. Complete with a searchable Execution Database.National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) was founded in 1976 in response to the Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia which permitted executions to resume in the United States. Our mission: abolish the death penalty in the U.S. and support efforts to abolish the death penalty world wide.Shouting from the Rooftops!
Did Texas execute an innocent man?
The New Yorker has put together this group of articles that accurately portray real situations in which hind sight tells us that the Death Penalty was obviously not the right solution.Ohio's Lethal Injection Fiascos!
At a recent event at Willamette University in Oregon, various state leaders in the fields of law and criminal justice spoke critically about the state's death penalty. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul De Muniz (pictured) said the death penalty was "bad public policy," almost never resulting in an execution. He spoke of having defended a murderer sentenced to death in 1988. Twenty-five years later, the Justice noted, he is now retired after a full career in the law, while the inmate is still in the midst of his appeals on death row. Noting the $28 million spent annually on the death penalty, Justice De Muniz said, “The death penalty is getting a ‘pass’ from legislative scrutiny, when looking for ways to trim Oregon’s budget to fund starving schools and public safety.” The former Superintendent of the State Penitentiary, Frank Thompson, who presided over the last executions in the state, called the current system a “failed public policy.” Thompson said that he was concerned about his staff, who had the responsibility of carrying out executions, and about the risk that some innocent people have been executed in the U.S. Retired Supreme Court Justice Edwin Peterson also announced at the sold-out event that he would begin speaking out publicly against the state’s death penalty. 
The British manufacturer Hikma Pharmaceuticals recently announced new rules to restrict the supply of its products for unintended uses, such as carrying out executions in the United States. Earlier this year, Reprieve, a legal advocacy organization based in London, found that a U.S. subsidiary of Hikma sold 100 grams of phenobarbital to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Arkansas decided to use the new, untested drug in their lethal injection process when they were unable to secure supplies of the drugs they normally use. A spokesman for Hikma Pharmaceuticals said the order had been made as part of the regular request for drugs for prison hospital services and did not raise any red flags because the drug had never been used in executions before. Arkansas has been contacted by the drug company and told that the subsidiary was closing the account. The state's current supply of phenobarbital is sufficient to carry out eight executions and will expire in October 2015. The state will need to seek alternative sources or different drugs when their current supply becomes unavailable. Other 
