South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

03/15/2024

Join us for the 27th annual Good Friday Vigil on 3/29! Come together for prayer, song, and messages of hope at this interfaith service. A Notary Public will be available for those wishing to sign a "Declaration of Life."

02/07/2024

Friends,

I am sorry to announce that last Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, our repeal of the death penalty failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 3 for the repeal to 4 against, and the bill was moved to the 41st day.

I had hoped that the bill might possibly move to the Senate floor for debate, but it did not happen.

We had excellent testimony from Dan Pacholke, a former warden and chief of the DOC in Washington state. Dan oversaw ex*****ons and powerfully told us how much damage this method does to the staff who have to carry it out.

Our own Art Rusch also testified. Art is a former judge here in SD who presided over a capital case in Rapid City. He sponsored all our death penalty bills over the past 8 years and is now retired from the Senate.

Finally, Steve Hickey, a professor at Alaska Christian Collage, testified. Steve was our first sponsor in the House in 2014, and he spoke to the Evangelicals about how wrong it is to kill.

Thanks to all of them for their effort.

SD Attorney General Marty Jackley spoke in favor of the DP, as did Lynette Johnson, whose husband was a prison guard that was killed by two inmates over a decade ago.

Thank you to all who wrote or called their legislator to move this bill forward. This effort could not happen without your help.

I continue to talk about the DP anywhere I am asked to speak and to have hope that someday this barbaric method of taking a life will end.

23 states have now abolished the DP, and it’s possible Ohio will move toward abolition this year.

I believe every time I go to Pierre, we make a difference for life. Our greatest success is to show up to make a crack in the hard shell of indifference. Thanks for helping me to do that.

Blessings to all.
Denny

07/14/2023

Breaking: The Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act was reintroduced in Congress today by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL).

The bicameral legislation would prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level, and require re-sentencing of those currently on the federal death row.

CMN Executive Director Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy responds:

"CMN applauds this act, which would eradicate the flawed and morally bankrupt federal death penalty system. As Catholics, we understand that we cannot build a culture of life with a federal government that can put people to death.

Three years ago the Trump administration broke a 17-year hiatus from federal ex*****ons and took the life of Daniel Lewis Lee. The administration went on to kill a dozen more people, disregarding ample evidence that the federal death penalty system is racially biased, arbitrary, and fraught with errors.

There is little doubt that capital punishment will one day be abolished in the United States, but time is of the essence.

As long as ex*****ons are legal, human lives are on the line. It’s time for Congress to exert the political will and moral courage needed to abolish the federal death penalty once and for all."

03/31/2023

Hello! The annual SDADP Good Friday Vigil is happening April 7th at noon. It will be held at the flag pole at Jameson Prison Annex in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Any and all are welcome to join!

02/23/2023

Donald Dillbeck is scheduled for ex*****on in Florida on February 23, 2023 for the 1990 murder of Faye Vann in Tallahassee. Join with Death Penalty Action for a live, informative and prayerful on-line vigil beginning at 5pm CT. We'll check in with live on-the-ground vigils around the state and at th...

02/04/2023

BREAKING: death row prisoner files actual innocence claim citing newly discovered evidence. Sanchez faces ex*****on 9/21/23. Learn more & sign the petition at bit.ly/AnthonySanchezOK

Since his conviction, Sanchez has raised numerous issues, including the fact that DNA evidence in the case was handled by an employee overseen by disgraced Oklahoma City Police Department chemist Joyce Gilchrist*. Gilchrist was fired from her job based on having helped prosecutors secure numerous fa...

12/20/2022

Las Vegas, NV – The death penalty has a troubled history in Nevada and it is time for that history to end. The Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty and our partners were elated to hear the Board of Pardons is considering commuting all existing death sentences in the state of Nevada to life w...

09/06/2022

Pope Francis is praying for the global abolition of the death penalty throughout the month of September. Will you join him?

"This September, Pope Francis calls on the whole Church to pray for the global abolition of the death penalty. This prayer, while indeed worldwide, is especially poignant here in the United States. The U.S. is one of only 55 countries to retain the death penalty, and it contributes to many of the total ex*****ons each year."

Pledge to Pray with Pope Francis for the month of September for the global abolition of the death penalty. Add your personal intention to be lifted up in communal prayer.

05/04/2022

Missouri has executed Carman Deck. It is the fifth ex*****on in the US this year.

These are the Carman’s final words, before he was executed tonight:

“My hope is that one day the world will find peace and that we all will learn to be kind and loving to one another. We all are a part of this journey through life, connected in every way. Please give love, show love, BE LOVE!”

04/21/2022

Here are some photos from the Good Friday Vigil held on April 15th.

04/04/2022

Hello Again Friends,

On Good Friday, April 15, 2022, we will meet again for the 26th year at the flagpole on the Jameson prison campus for a one-hour prayer vigil. We meet every year in prayer to end the death penalty. Also, prayer for all victims of crime as well as perpetrators. All are included in the Cross of Christ.

Jameson prison is at 1600 North Drive in Sioux Falls, SD. The flag pole is just east of the old prison, you can’t miss it. We gather at noon and are finished by 1PM.

It is often chilly and windy so wear warm clothing. It you need a chair please bring one with you.

The last two years we have not been able to meet in person due to Covid, but this year, in person is possible. Please be safe, and if you need to wear a mask, then please do so.

If you are not able to come in person, please pray with us during that hour of prayer wherever you are.

Hope you can join us in this solemn hour of prayer. All faith traditions are very welcome.

Blessings,
Denny