EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING
Ending the death penalty starts with learning and sharing information with Missouri constituents. For more than 20 years, Missourians for Alternatives to the Death penalty have been driving down the use of the death penalty by telling the stories of those on death row. We’ve helped stop executions and shed light on wrongful convictions. But in order to Abolish the death penalty in Missouri, we must continue to tell the truth and honestly confront our history.
To aid those seeking to learn more about the death penalty, we host year round events and programs to learn, share, and talk to each other about the death penalty in Missouri. These events highlight unique impacted voices such as Missouri death row exonerees, murder victim families, former executioners, legislators, renowned litigators, research specialists, and leaders in racial justice and abolition movements.
*We have taken steps to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 by holding meetings online, and suggesting face masks and social distancing during all in-person events.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Looking for an interesting program? Consider booking a Missouri Death Row Exonoree, or others impacted by the death penalty to share their stories, and the case against the death penalty.
MADP has provided speakers qualified to discuss capital punishment from many different perspectives. We have hosted: parents of persons on death row, death row exonerees, families of murder victims, attorneys who have defended death row inmates, law enforcement professionals, clergy who bring a moral and theological perspective, educators who bring a social and philosophical perspective, and witnesses to executions.
We are happy to join or facilitate: panel discussions, lectures and Q&As, informal discussions, study groups and book clubs, film screenings, workshops, and more.
Various issues we focus on include: the status of pending executions, wrongful convictions and innocence, concerns about lethal injection, how the death penalty prolongs the agony of victims’ families, how the death penalty focuses on vengeance and retribution rather than healing, the death penalty as an extension of racial terror lynching, and regional patterns in racial terror lynching and execution across the state.
Consider these programs for your group or church:
A general overview of the death penalty
The costliness of the death penalty
The moral problem of the death penalty – it’s ineffective, it’s not a deterrent
Unequal administration and arbitrariness: race and income discrimination in the death penalty
Killing innocent people
Witness of parents of persons under death sentences
Witness of chaplains working with death-sentenced prisoners
If you would like to book Missouri Death Row Exonorees for a speaking engagement please view our Honorarium information below. For more information contact us at info@madpmo.org
EXECUTION WATCHES AND VIGILS
Death warrants in Missouri are typically given 90 days in advance of executions. At MADP, those 90 days are a critical time in which we amplify both our educational programs as well as calls for clemency for those scheduled for execution. Through social media campaigns, correspondence with elected officials, and petitions for clemency, we address specific issues within each person's case.
Watches and vigils for those scheduled for execution are held by Missourians across the state on the day of executions.
Typically these events take place in Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia/Jefferson City, and St. Louis. Watches and Vigils also take place on the ground for every execution in Bonne Terre, Missouri at the Eastern Reception Diagnostic Correctional Center (ERDCC) where the Missouri execution chambers are located.
If you have questions about our upcoming events please email us at info@madpmo.org.