Witness to an Execution: A New CEDP Tour

This fall, the CEDP is launching a national tour, "Witness to an Execution," featuring the voices of those who have lost a loved one to execution or faced the prospect of execution themselves. As the national debate about lethal injection continues, this tour will expose the barbarity of the death penalty. With these firsthand accounts and experiences of executions, we aim to show that capital punishment is "cruel and unusual" punishment. As witnesses to execution, the voices featured in this tour will share their stories of loss, struggle, and hope for an end to the death penalty.

Barbara Becnel, who spearheaded the fight to save Stanley Tookie Williams from execution last fall, will be a featured speaker on the tour. As a witness to Stan's personal transformation on death row, his struggle for justice and his execution, Barbara's story is incredibly moving. In her own words, "On December 13, 2005, I stood and watched for 35 agonizing minutes while the state of California tortured my friend Stan Tookie Williams to death. I want people to know what I saw and to join the growing movement to end the death penalty in this country."

Other speakers on the tour include former death row prisoners Billy Moore, Madison Hobley, and Darby Tillis; death row prisoner Kevin Cooper who came within 3 1/2 hours of being executed before he won a stay of execution (live from his prison cell via telephone hook-up); and Bill Babbitt who witnessed his brother's execution and is a board member of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights.

For more information about hosting a tour stop in your community please e-mail cedp@nodeathpenalty.org or call (77) 955-4841.