A Virtual Conference on the Death Penalty
December 6-12, 2020
A Virtual Conference on the Death Penalty
December 6-12, 2020
A week of live/interactive on-line panel discussions and events. Featuring Amanda Knox, Sister Helen Prejean, Shane Claiborne, Liliana Segura, Dejuan Correia, and others.
Background: Five federal executions have been scheduled between December 10, 2020 (International Human Rights Day) and January 15, 2021 (Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday), and more could still come before Trump leaves office. The week long series of on-line panel discussions took place December 6 to 12 to address this unprecedented federal execution spree and hear more about the state of the death penalty in the United States today.
Held in honor of international human rights icon Bill Pelke, founder of Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing
Convened By:
Our Featured Presenters
Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox is an exoneree, journalist, public speaker, and author. She spent nearly four years in an Italian prison and eight years on trial for a murder she didn’t commit. In 2015, she published her book, Waiting to be Heard. Visit her website, listen to her podcast: Labryinths, and watch the Netflix documentary (trailer on YouTube).
Sister Helen Prejean
Catholic nun Sister Helen Prejean is known around the world for her tireless work against the death penalty. She has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on capital punishment, most notably know for her 1993 book Dead Man Walking, and the subsequent film adaptation by the same name (watch the YouTube trailer). Visit her website, and find her newest book River of Fire (2019) here.
Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne is a Christian activist, author and speaker, and one of the founding members of the non-profit organization, The Simple Way. Visit his website, follow on Twitter, and check out his newest book, about the death penalty, Executing Grace (2016).
Liliana Segura
Liliana Segura is an award-winning investigative journalist covering the U.S. criminal justice system, with a longtime focus on harsh sentencing, the death penalty, and wrongful convictions. She currently works for The Intercept, and you can read her articles here. Follow her on Twitter.
Co-Sponsor the Conference
Co-sponsors are still invited to endorse the conference, even though programming has ended. Funds are still needed to cover costs, and to prepare for the next round of actions around federal executions in January 2021. Confirm your financial sponsorship here. Organizations wishing to be listed as an in-kind sponsor should send an e-mail to info@deathpenaltyaction.org.
Co-Sponsors To-Date
* = $100-$499 sponsor, ** = $500+ sponsor
Abolitionist Action Committee
Amnesty International USA *
Bernard Batto *
Kay Beehler *
Ashley Burelison
Catherine Coluzzi
Consistent Life Network **
Heather Cornwell *
Lisa Curran
Rich Curtner *
Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona
Death Penalty Focus *
Death Row Soul Collective
Death Row Support Project
Democrats For Life of America *
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
Equal Justice USA *
Cory Eve
Colleen Feehan
Feminists Choosing Life of New York
Franciscan Action Network
Elena Muller Garcia
Crystal Garcia *
German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty *
Shannon Gittemeier
Kathleen Gmeiner
Kirby Grein *
Greater Dayton Christian Connections
Rick Halperin
Aubrey Harris
Jessica Hawkey
Nancy Haydt *
Joanne Hessmiller *
Human Rights Dallas
Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center (Cincinnati, OH)
InterFaith Council of the Wabash Valley
International CURE
Jewish Abolitionist Society
Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Group at Sacred Heart Church in Prescott, AZ
George F. Kain, Ph.D. *
Kevin Cooper Defense Committee
Jacky Kim
Don Koppes
Delia Perez Meyer
Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
National Death Row Assistance Network of CURE
Peter Nerone
Rev. Dr. Charles Packer *
Pax Christi USA
Bill Pelke, Presente!
Dan Peitzmeyer *
Picture Social Justice, Inc
John Price
Andreas Rau
Red Letter Christians
Reed Justice Initiative
Rehumanize International *
Charlotte and Bob Ronan
Ngaide Roughiatou
Dorothy Schwendinger, OSF
Sam Reese Sheppard
Sister Helen Prejean's Ministry Against the Death Penalty
Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, IN *
Margaret Smith
Southern Methodist University Human Rights Program
Margaret Steiner
Liliane Sticher *
Paul Stolz
Bob Stoughton
Texas Moratorium Network
Together Against the Death Penalty, France (ECPM)
Colleen Tracy
Dianne Tramutola-Lawson *
Uri L'Tzedek
Vote Common Good
Kelsea Woods
Angie Yaggi
Kathleen Yanks