Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a national network of conservatives and libertarians questioning the alignment of capital punishment with their principles, will be part of a panel discussion on capital punishment at Cleveland State Community College on Thursday, April 14 at 6 p.m. in the George R. Johnson Auditorium on the Cleveland State campus, 3535 Adkisson Dr.
Ray Krone, the 100th death row exoneree in America, will share his story of being sentenced to die for a murder he did not commit.
Mr. Krone’s talk will be followed by a panel discussion about the financial and human rights issues raised by the continued use of the death penalty in Tennessee and a shrinking number of other states, officials said.
In addition to Mr. Krone, other panelists will include Justin Phillips, associate director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and Marc Hyden, national advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, who is also a native of Cleveland.
“As a child, I remember being asked if I supported the death penalty while I was on the Prospect Elementary School playground in Cleveland, of all places. I responded, ‘of course I support the death penalty’ because I came from a conservative Republican family. At the time, it just seemed like a foregone conclusion,” Mr. Hyden said. “But that mindset is rapidly changing as conservatives like myself are applying our principles to the issue of capital punishment. We don’t trust the government to do many things properly, so why would we trust it to get the death penalty right?”
"At last count, 156 individuals nationwide – including three in Tennessee – have been freed from death row due to wrongful convictions. The death penalty often costs states millions of dollars more per year than the alternative of life without parole," officials said.
The event will include a screening of To Honor Life, a short film about the death penalty in America.
For more information contact Jon Crane at 203-982-4575 or email joncrane@criticalpr.com.