NVCADP

As the Nevada State Legislature enters a special session, the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty (NVCADP) addresses the issue of the death penalty and its costliness. 

On Wednesday, July 8th, the Nevada State Legislature began its 31st Special Session to address its budget deficit. In addition to this, the committee is also coming together when the issue of systemic racism is being addressed. 

Due to the protests occurring since George Floyd’s death at the end of May issues of police brutality and how it ties into systemic racism lead the national conversation. Likewise, this includes the criminal justice system as a whole, and by proximity, the death penalty. 

As such, NVCADP, a statewide group comprised of both communities and individuals, works to abolish the death penalty here in Nevada. Due to the pandemic and the resulting loss in revenue for the state, NVCADP took the opportunity to shed light on the death penalty’s costs. This special session offers an opportunity to address this issue while also saving the state money.

Mark Bettencourt, Project Director for NVCADP, shared a press release on their intentions to have the special session repeal the death penalty while addressing the budget. 

NVCADP Press Release

In order to argue their case, NVCADP explained in the release that “This costly program does not justify its own existence. It’s time to end it and reinvest those funds for programs that do deter crime or empower victims”. The release then outlines a couple of reasons why we need to repeal the death penalty.

Cost

Nevada will have to make some difficult choices in determining its priorities. This is because the state has almost a $900 million shortfall this fiscal year and an expected $1.3 billion shortfall next fiscal year. 

“As our State considers which services are essential, which employees to furlough, and which projects to pause, now is the time to root out waste and inefficiency,” NVCADP wrote, adding that the government’s attempt to seek the death penalty is a massive waste to the state’s resources. 

NVCADP then outlines what the cost of the death penalty is in our state, citing a 2014 legislative audit which “indicated that a death penalty case, from arrest through the end of incarceration, costs about $532,000 more than other murder cases where the death penalty is not sought.”

The reasons for the high expense of death penalty cases include “higher defense costs, more pretrial activity, jury penalty hearings, more rigorous and complex appeals, and higher incarceration costs mainly prior to, but also after sentencing.”

NVCADP went on to say that the extra costs of pursuing a death sentence are not worth the outcomes. The death penalty does not better serve victims’ loved ones than life imprisonment. In addition, deterrence is not accomplished by the death penalty, and the death penalty does not afford fairness.

Racism

The monetary impacts of the death penalty’s cost aren’t the only concern that justifies its abolition. The organization then addresses how the practice also “inevitably disproportionately affects individuals of color.” They continue by writing, “The death penalty has a documented lineage of racism and is a continuation of racial terrorism.” 

To clarify the issue, NVCADP shared a quote by Bryan Stevenson, an American lawyer, social justice activist, and the Equal Justice Initiative founder. He was recently highlighted in the 2019 film ‘Just Mercy,’ played by Michael B. Jordan.

In this quote, Stevenson discusses the death penalty’s history by saying, “America’s embrace of speedy executions was, in part, an attempt to redirect the violent energies of lynching while assuring white southerners that black men would still pay the ultimate price.”

Moreover, NVCADP continues with, “This racist history is reflected in Nevada’s current death row, where Black Americans are disproportionately represented.”

In their conclusion of their release, NVCADP wrote that “Considering the exorbitant cost of Nevada’s death penalty and its embedded racial bias, the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty and its partners urge the Governor and members of the Legislature to include the abolition of the death penalty during the special session.”

To learn more about NVCADP’s efforts, visit their website.

Partner Organizations Endorsing NVCADP

Partners of NVCADP who endorse the repealing of the death penalty in Nevada include the following organizations and individuals: 

ACTIONN

A’Esha Goins, Founder of CEIC –

Cannabis Equity and Inclusion Coalition

American Civil Liberties Union – Nevada

Amnesty International – Nevada Chapter

Black Law Students Association, William S. Boyd School of Law

Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants – Nevada Chapter

Darin Imlay, Clark County Public Defender’s Office

Federal Public Defender, District of Nevada

JoNell Thomas, Clark County Special Public Defender’s Office

John L. Arrascada, Washoe County Public Defender’s Office

League of Women Voters of Nevada

Life, Peace & Justice Commission of the Diocese of Reno

Marc Picker, Washoe County Alternate Public Defender’s Office

Minister Stretch Sanders

NAACP Las Vegas Branch 1111

National Association of Social Workers – Nevada Chapter

National Lawyers Guild – Las Vegas Chapter

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada

Sarah Hawkins, Vice President of NACJ –

Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice

Reno Sparks NAACP 1112

Make It Work NV

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Our organization, Millennials in Motion Magazine, added our endorsement in this endeavor to repeal the death penalty in Nevada.

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To learn more about NVCADP and get involved in their mission to abolish the death penalty here in Nevada, please visit their site at http://nvcadp.org/