The Greater Terre Haute NAACP Branch will present a forum on Death Penalty Resistance to encourage community dialogue about the impact of federal executions on the Terre Haute community. Branch President Sylvester Edwards explains that “the NAACP has historically opposed the death penalty. We have advocated for the abolishment of the death penalty at the state and federal level, as well as in the military.”
Recent national events will thrust the Terre Haute community into prominence again, because the Federal Penitentiary at Terre Haute houses death row inmates and the federal execution chamber. Since U. S. Attorney General William Barr issued an order to reinstate the federal death penalty, after almost two decades, many leaders and organizations have been mobilizing to condemn that decision.
Edwards observes, “this is happening in our community, but it is not who Terre Haute is. We call on our leaders and citizens to join the discussion about the issue of resisting the death penalty.”
Abraham Bonowitz, co-director of the national organization, DeathPenaltyAction.org, will be a featured presenter at the forum. He will share his own experiences of shifting from being for capital punishment to being against it. He will help guide discussion on various perspectives on the death penalty, including those of family members of victims, the executed, and the wrongly convicted.
The NAACP meeting will be on Monday, November 18 at the Vigo County Public Library at 6:30 p.m. It is open to the public.
Bonowitz’s group is supporting the efforts of the Terre Haute Death Penalty Resistance network, which is co-hosting a convocation on the death penalty in Terre Haute on December 8, the day before the first scheduled execution.
“Join us to share your thoughts about the death penalty and about all of the events planned for our community,” said A. Theressa Bynum, Publicity chair.