The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty gathered in Fairfax, Virginia last October for its annual conference and to mark its 30^th year as one of the nation’s leading anti-death penalty organizations.

NCADP 2006: Abolition Rising kicked off on Oct. 26 with a Council of Affiliates meeting. At that meeting affiliates from approximately two dozen states gathered to exchange ideas and discuss strategy.

That evening, early arrivals to the general conference were treated to the world premiere of Race to Execution, a 54-minute documentary produced by acclaimed filmmaker Rachel Lyon. Race to Execution is a provocative and haunting portrait of two death row inmates – Robert Tarver of Russell County, Alabama, and Madison Hobley of Chicago, Illinois – as well as a larger look of how race affects the death penalty system in the U.S.

“Race to Execution was inspired by a murder case my sister, Andrea Lyon, was handling on appeal,” Rachel Lyon explained. “Fifteen years after beginning the appeal, it seemed as though then-Governor Ryan might act to exonerate her client, Madison Hobley. At the same time, amazing new research was being conducted about race and gender of juries in capital cases, and I was inspired to create a film that addresses the specific issue of race in the death penalty.”

Indeed, the issue of race and the death penalty received a comprehensive hearing at NCADP 2006. When the conference formally opened Oct. 27, participants heard from keynote speakers Hug Bedau, professor of philosophy emeritus at Tufts University; attorney George Kendall; Tamar Meekins of Howard University’s Clinical Law Center; and Christina Swarms of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

In a subsequent workshop moderated by NCADP Executive Director Diann Rust-Tierney, participants discussed new approaches to addressing racial bias in the death penalty system, and how this issue plays a role in state campaigns geared toward abolition, moratorium or other reform legislation. This model -- scheduling a nuts-and-bolts workshop immediately after a “big picture” plenary session – reflected NCADP’s goal at the conference – to give activists the knowledge and tools they need to pursue effective and successful strategies in their home states.

Networking has always been an important component of NCADP’s conferences and NCADP 2006 was no exception. Over a working lunch, attendees exchanged stories and discussed tactics with murder victim family members, family members of loved ones who are on death row, and family members of those who have been executed.

Friday evening, participants in NCADP 2006 were treated to a reception in honor of Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing, which, with NCADP’s assistance, had just completed a two-week speaking tour through the state of Virginia. At the end of the reception, the audience heard a special reading by Etan Thomas, human rights activist, center for the Washington Wizards professional basketball team and author of More than an Athlete, a collection of his poems.

On Saturday, another plenary session examined innocence and the death penalty. This program was led by Ted Shaw, leader of NCADP’s Legal Defense Fund, and included Richard Dieter, head of the Death Penalty Information Center and the 99^th and 100^th death row exonerees in modern U.S. history, Juan Melendez and Ray Krone. In a workshop following the plenary, NCADP officially released Innocent and Executed: Four Chapters in the Life of America’s Death Penalty in a workshop that examined how the issue of innocence can be used in state campaigns and how recent developments alter the way abolitionists discuss and debate the death penalty (see related story, page 6).

A highlight of NCADP 2006 was the 30^th Anniversary Awards Dinner. Emceed by human rights activist Magdaleno “Leno” Rose-Avila, this event offered conference participants an opportunity to honor individuals and organizations that, along with all of us, made a difference in the abolition movement in 2006.

The following morning NCADP’s conference ended with a nondenominational rededication ceremony in the Mexican Dia de los Muertos tradition. Participants shared stories, flowers, poems, letters and pictures of loved ones. And that concluded another highly successful NCADP conference.

NCADP’s 2008 conference is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 17 to Sunday, Jan. 20 in San Jose, California. We’ll provide more details as the conference program develops. Note: There will not be a conference in 2007.

Celeste Fitzgerald, director, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, Emeritus

Hilary Shelton, director, Washington Bureau, NAACP

Gwen McKinney, president and founder, McKinney & Associates

Jonathan Bruns

Kathryn Lea

Hogan & Hartson

Jonathan Abram, Hogan & Hartson

Ronald J. Tabak, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Kevin Walsh, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Janet Kittlaus

Harriet Ziegler (posthumous)

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey

James V. Dick

J.R. Clark

Michael Kosmas