NATIONAL COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT:

David Elliot, NCADP Communications Director

202-543-9577, ext. 16

cell phone: 202-607-7036

delliot@ncadp.org

www.ncadp.org

920 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Washington, D.C. 20003

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NCADP JOINS LAWSUIT TO PROTECT

FREE SPEECH RIGHTS OF CONNECTICUT PROTESTORS

Jan. 11, 2005 – The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Wednesday announced it is joining a federal lawsuit this week on

behalf of its Connecticut affiliate that seeks to uphold the First

Amendment rights of both pro- and anti-death penalty demonstrators

who plan to protest during Connecticut’s first scheduled execution

in more than 40 years.

Michael Ross is scheduled to be executed at 2:01 a.m. on January 26th.

Connecticut prison and law enforcement authorities are planning on

keeping both pro- and anti-death penalty demonstrators on a remote

field bordered by a quiet country road a mile and a half from the

prison where the execution is scheduled to take place. Officials have

stated their intention to close public roads leading to and from the

prison, and to keep both media representatives and protestors more

than a mile away from the execution site, possible with the use of

heavily armed guards.

“There’s no free speech if it can’t be seen or heard,” said Diann

Rust-Tierney, NCADP executive director. “When the government executes

its citizens, people who want to demonstrate – whether for or

against – should be allowed to protest within sight of the public eye.

Government works best when under public scrutiny. Government works

worst when shrouded by secrecy.”

Among the groups already signed on to the lawsuit and represented by

the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut are Amnesty

International and Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. The

lawsuit challenges the restrictions placed on both pro- and anti-death

penalty protestors by the Connecticut Department of Corrections,

the Connecticut State Police and the town of Enfield, Conn. the

night of the execution.

Robert Nave, executive director of the Connecticut Network to Abolish

the Death Penalty, an NCADP affiliate, said there is a large group

of people who disagree with the state’s death penalty statute.

“Protestors pose no security risk to authorities,” he said. “Therefore,

the only reason Connecticut can offer in banning free speech near

the site of the execution is embarrassment over what is taking place

or fear of negative publicity.”

Rust-Tierney added, “There is a great deal of debate and concern about

whether the death penalty is administered fairly and whether capital

punishment itself is moral. Integral to that debate is the ability to

effectively voice this concern to government officials and to the public.”