Last weekend hundreds of Wesleyan students crowded in to the WestCo café to see Anthony Nikolchev’s production of “The Exonerated.” “The Exonerated” features the stories of five men and women who were condemned by the state to die only to be released, years or decades afterwards, when their innocence was finally proven. The performance reminded Wesleyan students of the many flaws in the law enforcement and judicial system and the way those flaws end or destroy lives on a daily basis. At the end of Saturday’s performance, a representative from the Connecticut Network Against the Death Penalty (CNADP) offered students a way to put the sadness and frustration they felt after seeing the show to good use. She invited students to a rally and vigil Sunday, Nov. 13, which the CNADP is staging as part of a nationwide initiative to mark the 1000th execution in our nation’s history. The execution is scheduled to take place on Nov. 29th and anti-death penalty groups in each state are marking the event in their own way (for more information, go to 1000executions.org). The CNADP is drawing attention to the upcoming execution, and the existence of the death penalty in Connecticut, with a rally beginning at 3 p.m., followed by a march, a short interfaith service, and a screening of a documentary about the death penalty called “The Empty Chair.”
In Connecticut, this rally will be especially important and effective. Last spring, the Connecticut House of Representatives faced a legislative initiative to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut. Thanks to the work of groups like CNADP, the bill to abolish the death penalty was rejected by only 15 votes. A big turnout at the Nov. 13 rally will show representatives that their constituency, which includes Wesleyan students, does not want the death penalty in Connecticut.
Wesleyan’s chapter of Amnesty International is working hard to get as many Wesleyan students as possible to come to this demonstration in Hartford. Two years ago, over three hundred Wesleyan students spent more than 12 hours on the bus getting to and from the NARAL Pro-Choice’s rally in Washington D.C. Hartford is only a half an hour’s ride from Wesleyan. So when you see sign up sheets for the Nov. 13 anti-death penalty rally, sign up and get a spot on the buses going to Hartford.
We have a chance to impact state policy and save the lives of the 8 people currently on death row and the countless others who will be put there in the future if the death penalty remains a part of Connecticut law. Let’s not miss this bus.
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