Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty
FormationMarch 12, 2013
HeadquartersBrooklyn, New York, US
Websitewww.conservativesconcerned.org

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP) is a national network of conservative Republicans and Libertarians calling for a re-examination of the American system of capital punishment.

Organization[edit]

CCATDP engages in advocacy, education, and outreach to conservative, Republican, and Libertarian leaders and organizations. CCATDP provides a national forum for them to express their concerns about the death penalty.[1]

CCATDP is a project of Equal Justice USA, a non-profit organization working on criminal justice issues.[2]

Activities[edit]

CCATDP officially debuted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2013.[3] Since that time, its national coordinators have been meeting with conservative, Republican, and Libertarian leaders across the country and they have exhibited and spoken at the national meetings of the Republican Liberty Caucus,[4] the Young Republican National Federation, Young Americans for Liberty,[5] the Liberty Political Action Conference,[6] State Policy Network, CPAC St. Louis,[7] CPAC,[8] and the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference.[9] They have also attended several evangelical conferences.

Since CCATDP's launch in early 2013, several states began forming their own state-level Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty groups, including Texas,[10] Ohio, Louisiana, North Carolina,[11] Nebraska,[12] Washington,[13] Kentucky,[14] Tennessee,[15] Georgia, Florida, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah.[16]

History[edit]

CCATDP was first created in Montana in 2009 when individual Republican legislators realized that they were not alone in having concerns about the death penalty. As word spread outside of Montana, there was interest in forming a national group.[17]

March 14–16, 2013 CCATDP attended the first of eight consecutive Conservative Political Action Conferences.[18]

In August 2013, Ron Paul supported CCATDP's efforts.[19]

October 2013, CCATDP formed a strategic partnership with Young Americans for Liberty.

April 15, 2015, the Nebraska CCATDP held a news conference at the capitol in Lincoln with several Republican state senators to announce they would support a bill to repeal the state’s death penalty.[20] On May 27, 2015 Nebraska’s unicameral legislature voted 32-15 in favor of LB-268 to override the governor’s veto and eliminate the death penalty.[21] In a November 2016 referendum Nebraskans voted to reverse the repeal measure.

January 19, 2017, the Georgia CCATDP was launched in a news conference at the state capitol in Atlanta.[22]

June 14, 2017, the Florida CCATDP was launched during a news conference in Orlando.[23]

February 19, 2019, CCATDP’s national manager testified before the New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on HB455, a bill to end the death penalty in the state.[24] On March 26 CCATDP’s national manager returned to The Granite to testify in favor of the same bill before the state Senate Judiciary Committee. On May 30 both houses of the New Hampshire Legislature voted to override the governor’s veto of the bill (40% of the senate Republican caucus voted for repeal) and end capital punishment.

The First Annual National Meeting of CCATDP was held in New Orleans, Louisiana September 6–8, 2019.[25] Conservative activists from a dozen states discussed the growing movement of conservatives and Republican state legislators who believe the death penalty violates the basic tenets of their beliefs.

October 28, 2019, CCATDP released a Conservative Statement of Support to End the Death Penalty signed by more than 250 politically active conservatives from 44 states.[26]

January 2, 2020, the Wyoming CCATDP was launched at a news conference in Cheyenne.[27]

January 27, 2020, CCATDP’s national manager testified before the Colorado Senate Committee on Judiciary about SB20-100 a bill to repeal the death penalty.[28] On January 31 the Colorado Senate passed the bill and three Republican votes made passage possible.[29] The House approved the bill in February and on March 23 Gov. Jared Polis signed it into law, ending Colorado’s death penalty.

February 5, 2020, the Louisiana CCATDP was launched at a news conference outside of the state capitol.[30]

February 18, 2020, the Ohio CCATDP was launched at a state capitol news conference with the group being endorsed by conservative Republican leaders such as former Gov. Bob Taft, Attorney General Jim Petro, and Congressman Pat Tiberi.[31]

Summer 2023, Texas CCATDP was launched.[32]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Who We Are". February 8, 2013.
  2. ^ "About EJUSA". Equal Justice USA.
  3. ^ "Small Government Conservative? Group Says You Should Oppose Death Penalty". US News & World Report. March 22, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  4. ^ "Press release: Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty at the Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention". May 3, 2013.
  5. ^ "A Conservative Tidal Wave for Repeal". August 12, 2013.
  6. ^ "Press Release: Death Penalty to be Discussed at LPAC". September 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "Press Release: Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty to be at CPAC St. Louis". September 26, 2013.
  8. ^ "Press Release: Conservatives Bring Death Penalty Concerns Back to CPAC". February 28, 2014.
  9. ^ "The Atlanta Journal Constitution". Archived from the original on June 24, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  10. ^ "Texas Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty – TCADP". tcadp.org. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  11. ^ "Home". NC Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty.
  12. ^ "Conservative Concerns".
  13. ^ "Washington". May 8, 2014.
  14. ^ "Northern Kentucky Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty". www.facebook.com.
  15. ^ "Tennessee Conservatives Concerned - Home". tnconservativesconcerned.org.
  16. ^ "Who We Are". Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. February 8, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  17. ^ "Senator on national stage fighting death penalty | Government and Politics | billingsgazette.com". January 18, 2010.
  18. ^ "Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty » Search Results » cpac 2013". Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  19. ^ Fitzgerald, Dain (August 8, 2013). "Ron Paul Comes Out Against Capital Punishment". Politix.
  20. ^ "An unexpected win for death-penalty opponents in Nebraska". MSNBC.com. May 28, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "Nebraska Legislature - Legislative Document". nebraskalegislature.gov. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  22. ^ "Georgia". Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. January 22, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  23. ^ "Conservative group forms to challenge Florida's death penalty". Equal Justice USA. June 29, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  24. ^ "New Hampshire HB455 | 2019 | Regular Session". LegiScan. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  25. ^ "Conservative foes of death penalty meet in Louisiana". The Washington Times. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  26. ^ "Hundreds of Conservatives Sign Statement to End the Death Penalty". Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. October 28, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  27. ^ Eagle, Margaret Austin, Wyoming Tribune (January 3, 2020). "New advocacy group wants to end the death penalty in Wyoming". Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Retrieved November 24, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "6FED13211AA5C718872584FC007151C0 Hearing Summary | Colorado General Assembly". leg.colorado.gov. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  29. ^ "Repeal The Death Penalty | Colorado General Assembly". leg.colorado.gov. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  30. ^ editor, MARK BALLARD | Capitol Bureau (February 5, 2020). "Louisiana Republican conservatives band to abolish capital punishment". The Advocate. Retrieved November 24, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  31. ^ Schmidt, Zachery (February 20, 2020). "Ohio Conservatives Launch Branch of Organization That Aims to Repeal the Death Penalty". Tennessee Star. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  32. ^ "Texas Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty – TCADP". tcadp.org. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
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