World Day against the Death Penalty

To mark World Day against the Death Penalty, Reprieve is hosting two breakfasts featuring people whose lives have been touched by the death penalty directly.

The battle for universal abolition of the death penalty underpins all Reprieves’ work, and we will be hosting two breakfasts in the week leading up to the World Day Against the Death Penalty. Reprieve is also appearing at the Lifelines annual conference. If you are interested in attending  any of these events please email laura@reprieve.org.uk.

Tuesday 6th October– breakfast with Rev Cathy Harrington

On November 1, 2004, only three months after accepting a call to serve at the People’s Church in Ludington, Michigan, Cathy received the devastating news that her 26 year-old daughter and her roommate had been brutally murdered. The months and years to follow presented endless challenges as Cathy and her family attempted to survive tremendous grief and trauma in the midst of media exploitation, police investigations, and the judicial process. Cathy began to search for a better way.
Cathy continues to serve her congregation while working on an MA in Conflict Analysis and Engagement at Antioch University, McGregor and a Doctor of Ministry degree with a focus on Restorative Justice at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. Cathy now speaks out against the death penalty.

Friday 9th October – breakfast with John Thompson and Emily Maw

John Thompson is the founder and director of the fledgling non-profit, Resurrection After Exoneration (RAE). John is from New Orleans and spent 18 years wrongly imprisoned (14 on death row) for a crime he did not commit because the prosecutors in his case deliberately withheld evidence of his innocence. When he was exonerated in 2003, John quickly saw that fellow exonerees coming home from prison were struggling and that they needed a stronger support network than many had if they were to succeed and be real advocates for change in the criminal justice system. In response to this, he founded RAE, the first exoneree run re-entry initiative in the country.
Emily Maw is the Director of the Innocence Project New Orleans and litigates cases of wrongful conviction in Mississipi, while directing operations for the rest of the organization. Before she began at IPNO, Emily worked with the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center for several years as an investigator for capital cases in Louisiana , Mississippi and Texas. She also worked at the Texas Defender Service. Emily received her LL.B. from the University of Edinburgh in 1999 and her J.D. from Tulane Law School in 2003.

Saturday 17th October -Reprieve’s Death Penalty Director Sally Rowen will speak at the Lifelines Autumn Conference