The co founders and directors of CCADP are Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie.

We asked Dave and Tracy some questions.

How did your organization get started ?

We formed the CCADP in May of 1998. After some research we had done into the use of the
death penalty in the US; how often it is used, the amount of executions, the types of cases and
lack of representation for prisoners sentenced to death, the conditions in some of these prisons,
and especially through our involvement in the case of Jimmy Dennis*, a completely innocent man
on death row in Pennsylvania.

We formed the CCADP with the intention of educating in Canada to counter occasional political
calls for the death penalty, and to shine international light in the dark corners of America’s death
rows.

How did you become involved ?

We are the co founders and directors of the CCADP. We feel this is an extension of previous
human rights work we have been involved in – anti racism issues, anti poverty issues, police
abuses, the homeless, etc.

We feel that the fight against the death penalty encompasses a lot of these issues, and that if more
people in those areas took a good, long look at the death penalty, they too would feel compelled to
get involved in stopping it for good.

Do you know someone personally who has been sentenced to death ?

Not prior to our forming the CCADP and beginning correspondents with several death row
prisoners. However, we are now in regular correspondence with approximately 20 death row
prisoners, some of whom have become good friends. We are most involved with Jimmy Dennis;
we speak to him weekly by phone, and to his family regularly, as we are the international
coordinators for the Justice For Jimmy campaign, which has been garnering international attention,
though the interest from mainstream media in the US has been minimal.

In addition, we field mail from 5-10 prisoners a day asking for web pages and pen pals.

What is the general feeling about the death penalty in the U.S. among Canadians ?

It differs. There is much, much less support for it than in the U.S, though Canada’s Reform party
– far right! often tries to drum up support for a referendum to bring it back. We have discovered
though, that even Canadians who initially express support for the death penalty, are often sickened
when they hear the reality of how it is carried out.

People are often under the impression that there are maybe 100 or so people on death row in the
US, and that they are all high profile serial killers with recognizable names. Canadians are often
shocked to find out there are almost 4,000 men and women on death row, most of whom no one
has ever heard of, and with the type of legal representation provided, even the fact that DAs and
judges are political positions there and people campaign on how many death sentences they get.

People find this repugnant, and usually end up taking several steps backward on their support of
the death penalty once they learn some of the realities.

How many people on death row have you spoken to ?

We are in communication with dozens of prisoners regularly from across the USA.

How do they feel (inmates) about death row ?

In the words of Amos King, Florida death row prisoner, "most people aren’t on death row because
they necessarily had the worst crimes – but because they had the worst lawyers.

What is your opinion about justice and the death penalty ?

We do not believe the death penalty is a justice issue or a crime and punishment issue. There can
be no justice with the death penalty – just revenge.

What are alternatives to the death penalty ?

Each case should be looked at on a case by case basis. In the case where there truly is a danger
to society, there should be life without parole as there is in every other country – except for a few,
like the US, Iran, Iraq, China, the Sudan … (not great company to be in when it comes to human
rights issues).

And the US kills more juveniles than all of these. Even East Timor just banned the death penalty,
but the US still embraces it!

What does your organization do to help inmates ?

Our number one intention at this time is to be a conduit between the prisoner and the world. To
bring activists and concerned citizens together with people who need their help – whether just a
letter and an encouraging word, or helping distribute a leaflet or pamphlet regarding a particular
case, helping to raise awareness, helping to manage a defense fund.

We also look things up, i.e. legal information, etc. on-line and send it to them. Upon request, we
accept, publish on-line and try to raise awareness of abuses going on in the prison system, assist
the prisoner and their family to remain in touch when the family does not have ‘collect’ on their
phone and thus, the prisoner cannot call them. Supply them with stamps when we can, we try to
do a lot of small things to help the prisoners.

Have any inmates been "helped" by your organization? Have any death row inmates
been "saved" from execution from your help ?

Two prisoners now have proper legal representation for appeals from donations sent – almost all
funds donated from outside of the US.

How many members belong to your organization ?

Approximately 200. As well, we are affiliated with the ACADP in Australia and the ECADP in
Europe. (*note :this information was printed in this article, and referred to plans some Australian citizens  had at the time to form a coalition against the death penalty under this name. (See letter from Debra Rees in Dec 1999 article on http://www.ccadp.org/news1999.htm )  Since that time, in June 2000, a group called the ACADP has formed & registered in Australia, that is NOT affiliated with the CCADP, we are unaware of what they may or may not do in the anti death penalty movement, but they are not active in any of the many campaigns or issues that the CCADP works on and is involved with.  The ACADP formed in Australia in June 2000 is not the organization referred to here - the activists who had planned to form that organization continue to be active against the death penalty but don't wish to be affiliated with the ACADP.)

Do you have rallies or regular meetings ?

No, as our membership is spread out, and we are based in the Toronto area.

What are the feelings about the death penalty among members ?

It is unacceptable in all cases.

What do you hope to ultimately accomplish ?

To raise enough awareness about the realities of the death penalty so that those in the US become
just as disgusted by the practice as those of us outside – who look upon the death penalty in the
way we look at slavery, at apartheid, at the way the mentally ill were treated a century ago – it is
wrong, and it must stop. US politicians must end their reliance on using the fear of the populace as
an easy vote getter.

What is your hope as we enter the year 2000 ?

That the US will join most of the rest of the world in ending this practice so we can attempt to
solve the true problems behind crime instead of putting on band aid solutions that solve no
problems.

How do you personally feel about the death penalty ?

As we feel about slavery, apartheid, torture. If someone is for it – they’re wrong. We do not feel
that it is an issue, that it is acceptable to ‘agree to disagree’ on. In fact, we don’t call it an issue, a
debate, at all. It’s murder. It’s wrong.

What would you like to say to those who support the death penalty ?

I challenge them to research it – really research it. To read the recent state decisions that come
right out and say it is ok to execute you -–even if you are innocent – if you cannot prove
prosecutorial malicious intent – in other words, several courts have decided that once you’ve been
found guilty, even if later evidence clears you, unless you can prove that the DA lied on purpose,
hid evidence, convicted you willfully though he knew you were innocent – you can still be
executed.

Research why some are on death row and others doing life or a term of years, when the severity
of the crime obviously is not what sent one guy to death row and the other to general population.
Research the truth behind the spin about how much it ‘costs taxpayers’ to keep someone in prison
– the reality is, prisons are profit making enterprises on a grand scale.

What would you like to say to those who find themselves on death row ?

You are not forgotten, the eyes of the world are watching now.

How many other countries do you hear from supporting your efforts ?

As a result of our web pages exposing the realities of some of these cases and the evils of the US
justice system, in Denmark, Germany, and Australia, organizations have actually been founded as
a direct result, to add their voices to the worldwide campaign to abolish capital punishment.

As far as individual supporters, we have had people contact us from as far away as Singapore,
Kuwait, Malaysia, South Africa, Slovenia, India … throughout Europe…..

What would you say to someone in the US who said "You’re from Canada. Why don’t you
mind your own business ?"

The same thing we would have said years ago to someone in South Africa who was defending
apartheid, in light of international attempts to ‘dictate to South Africa their internal policy’.

A human rights abuse is a human rights abuse, and America has no more right than any other
country to tell the world it’s none of our business. It is.

What would you say if someone told you that some inmates are too dangerous or pose
too much of a threat to other inmates to have life without parole ?

I would say that this is not a problem elsewhere in the world – if the correctional system does not
have adequate protection in place for high risk offenders, then obviously it is the correctional
system that needs to be reappraised, not individuals that need to be executed in order to solve the
problem.

If an inmate is deemed too dangerous, should he/she be confined to solitary
confinement? Some people would say that would be cruel and unusual punishment ?

Solitary Confinement the way it is applied in many US prisons is in itself a direct violation of
international law. Putting a person in a isolation cell on a long term basis (in some cases, years) in
fact contributes to their violent and angry behavior.

In a very extreme case – i.e. a violent individual who has lost their faculties and is constantly
attempting to harm others, needs some sort of medical care instead of being subject to the kind of
conditions that would make even the sanest of individuals crack and become violent and
disconnected with reality.

What do you think about the assumption that death row inmates are "bad" and grew up
in a poor environment ?

As far as growing up in a poor environment, not always the case – though most death row
prisoners do have in common the fact that they are from low income backgrounds. Some come
from close families with a lot of support, some can tell the most horrible stories of abuse and
circumstance.

Since you oppose the death penalty in all cases, what would you say to the victims’
families who think true justice will only come from taking the suspects’ lives ?

The purpose of the criminal justice system is not to provide vengeance for the victims’ families. It
is to ensure the safety of society from the offender. This is why it is "state of XXX vs Defendant
X", not "Family of Victim X vs. Defendant X."

Do you hear from victims’ families and what kind of messages do they give you ?

We have had some emails from victims’ family and friends. In a recent episode, we had several
emails from the friends of the victim of a recent Texas murder – the person on death row for it
has a page on our site. We got several angry messages from friends of the victim, and then one
from the teenage son of the victim. He was initially quite angry, but we emailed him back letting
him know that we are a human rights group, and that we would not have a page for him but that
he was sentenced to death. We told him that it is a not for profit site and that we are simply
providing a forum where information that is not clear from the prosecution or news reports can be
told.

The teenager emailed us back that he apologized for any nasty messages any of their friends may
have sent, but that they were just upset. We have a lot of respect for this teenager.

In other cases, victims’ family members have not been so understanding. In one initial message
after hearing from the media that we have a webpage set up for the killer of his child, a father
emailed us that we were ‘cyberwhores’ and ‘death row groupies’ and that he was going to fight
this initiative, and that we do not know what we are involved in, that our parents would disown us
if they knew what we were doing, that we should be made to spend a night with these killers. etc.

He did not respond to our message back to him in which we made clear our activist/human rights
background and that we consider this to be an extension of that work, and also that if these
sentences were commuted to life tomorrow, there would be no more need for these pages, etc.

A friend of a victim in Texas emailed us, basically threatening us that she would do anything she
could to get the pages removed, that she had already sent them to the DA, etc.

How do you feel when victims’ families insult or degrade your efforts ?

Completely understand that they may not be able to initially understand our efforts.

Because in the US this is presented as a crime and punishment issue, and not the human rights
issue that it is, they somehow feel that ‘defending’ the perpetrator from the death penalty is
somehow advocating what that individual did or taking the killers ‘side’ against the victims.

This is obviously not the case, but it is difficult for someone who is in the emotional position of
having lost a loved one to a violent crime, to see this as a human rights issue.

Do you have any victims’ families or friends as members ?

We are affiliated with groups like Murder Victims Families For Reconciliation, and Anne Coleman
of Amnesty, who lost her daughter to a murder and is now active against the death penalty in
Delaware.

We have appeared on local television with a man who lost both parents to separate violent
murders and is against the death penalty, to debate capital punishment with the Reform party.

Any personal messages you want to send to families that have lost a loved one to
violence ?

That all we are trying to do is to intervene and stop another human life from being lost. If we were
able to intervene and stop the original crime from being committed, of course we would do so.

We need to end the cycle of violence, hatred, and vengeance, and allow the healing to begin.

Regarding the Jimmy Dennis case, do you have any updates or info you want to add ?

We are looking for musicians and activists willing to help us put together some benefit concerts for
this fellow musician, innocent on death row in Pennsylvania. British metal band, One Minute
Silence (OMS) on V2 / Virgin records, are very active in the fight for Jimmy’s life and have been
helping us a lot recently, at this summer’s European leg of the Vans Warped tour, by encouraging
Jimmy’s supporters to come out to the shows and pass out leaflets and information.

If anyone else can help, please contact us … funds also desperately needed to help pay for legal
representation.

Is there anything Jimmy would like to say to his supporters ?

It’s pretty much just thanking people and saying hello to supporters in Europe and the U.S.

How do you feel the death penalty in the US affects school age children who hear and
read about it ?

It certainly doesn’t increase their understanding that our society has respect for life. It reaffirms
the idea that in current instances revenge is not only justified, but encouraged and necessary. They
are taught to learn that there is no ‘justice’ without revenge.

In the words of a prisoner who wrote to us, "we don’t steal from the thief, we don’t rape the
rapist, or run down the drunk driver." Why only in the case of murder, do we insist ‘the
punishment fit the crime’?

Are there any steps we can take to protect our children from taking the "wrong path" ?

We need to teach respect for life, respect for each other, tolerance. We need to put money into
education, etc. We need to open up the world and its possibilities to everyone.

The bottom line always seems to come down to money – but it’s not about money – it’s about
investing in people.

Is there a way for supporters to lend support to inmates through mail ?

People can visit our pen-pal pages from our main page at http://www.ccadp.org where they can
find over 500 death row prisoner pen-pal requests from across the US. They can send a letter, a
few words of support, a Christmas or holiday card.

People can join the CCADP or contribute to our efforts to help us maintain the web page
outreach. This is an all volunteer, not for profit, venture and all costs – mailing, internet, telephone,
stationary, etc. come out of pocket; so donations to the web page outreach are truly appreciated.

Separate prisoners, such as the International Justice For Jimmy campaign, desperately need
donations toward legal expenses as well and that can be done for those who wish to contribute
financially.

Has your organization written correspondence to any official in the U.S., and what has
been the response ?

Wrote George W. Bush many times asking him not to allow the execution of Canadian citizen
Joseph Stanley Faulder in Texas in June, against all international law and treaty (the Vienna
Convention). Months later, received a form letter back - the same letter many of our members
received.

Does your family and friends support your efforts ?

Yes. Even the ones who thought they were pro death penalty at the beginning have heard so much
now they have turned abolitionist.

Has there ever been a death penalty in Canada ?

Yes - the last execution was a double hanging in Toronto’s Don Jail in 1962. The death penalty
remained on the books till the mid-seventies.

If you know, what does the Canadian government feel about the death penalty ?

The last two governments have said they will not consider a return to the death penalty; however,
they do not stand up to the US enough about it. We have an extradition treaty with the US that
allows us to demand that someone we return to the US will not face death if convicted, but
Canada frequently sends prisoners back to the US without insisting on this clause, in stark contrast
to European countries.

The Reform party – the official opposition – often calls for a return to the death penalty."