This weekend, Pax Christi USA national staff and members will join a vigil and action in Washington, D.C. calling for the abolition of the death penalty on the 45th anniversary of the first modern-era execution in the United States. Click here to see the PSA our national field organizer Lauren Bailey curated to support this event.
To see the line-up of speakers for the vigil and action, read the press release from Death Penalty Action here.
Click the links below to register for the livestreams (or watch on Death Penalty Action’s web page or on their Facebook page starting at the indicated time):
- Sunday, January 16, 2022 starting at 6pm EST (ending by 8pm)
- Monday, January 17, 2022 starting at 9am EST (ending by 12pm)
Note that Monday’s program will open at 9am with a panel discussion featuring:
- SueZann Bosler, Murder Victim Family Member and DPA Advisory Board
- Richard Dieter, Retired Executive Director at Death Penalty Action
- Magdaleno Rose-Avila, Advocate and DPA Advisory Board
- Austin Surrat, Professor & Death Penalty Expert
If you are in the Washington, D.C. area and will join us in-person on Monday, please register here. (Everyone committed to peaceful direct action is welcome. We will march, hold signs and banners, sing and chant. Some may choose to risk arrest under the banner of the Abolitionist Action Committee, but you need not do so or worry about being present. We are in direct communication with the SCOTUS and Capitol police ahead of time. They work with groups like this all of the time.)
Read these two latest op-eds calling for an end to the death penalty as part of MLK’s legacy:
- OP-ED by Death Penalty Action Board Member, Rev. Sharon Risher: FOR KING’S LEGACY, ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY, DEMOLISH THE DEATH HOUSE
- OP-ED by Death Penalty Action Advisory Board Member, Professor Rick Halperin: America should honor MLK’s vision by halting the death penalty
This year Pax Christi USA will join our partners in the death penalty abolition movement to present THIS NEW PETITION to all three branches of the U.S. government on the 17th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR NAME NOW!
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Click here for a folder of graphics you can download and use. Or share from our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.