CCDPW Honored with Abolition Award

On July 2nd, at the closing ceremony of the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide (CCDPW) was honored with the prestigious Legal Representation Award from the ECPM (Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, or Together Against the Death Penalty) which organizes the conference every three years. Civil society organizations must first be nominated by a member of the abolition community, who collectively decide candidates that are then reviewed by a jury composed of members of ECPM, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, and other partners of the Congress. The criteria for the award stipulated that candidates demonstrate “remarkable work of abolitionists” who have succeeded in promoting “significant achievements in terms of moving towards abolition of the death penalty.”

The Legal Representation Award, also known as the Defense Award, recognizes individuals or organizations that have “consistently worked to defend the legal rights of prisoners or their families” and who are “actively involved in assisting people on death row and/or their families.” The criteria also stipulate that the work contributes to the broader abolition movement while affecting the political, legal, and social barriers to abolition of capital punishment.

The CCDPW is deeply proud to be recognized with this award after over a decade of work fighting the death penalty through litigation, advocacy, research, and training of advocates. We are grateful for the recognition of our impact, and as always, our deepest gratitude is extended towards our clients, who remain our biggest teachers and most valued partners in this struggle. In her acceptance speech, CCDPW’s Founder and Faculty Director Sandra Babcock recognized the indelible impact our clients have had on lives and on this work by naming each of them individually, recognizing them as the reason why we are all involved in this work.  We remember in particular our clients who have been executed or have passed away, including Lisa Montgomery (U.S.), Alice Nungu (Malawi), Hector García Torres (TX), Edgar Tamayo (TX), Humberto Leal García (TX); José Medellín (TX), Javier Suárez Medina (TX), Ricardo Aldape Guerra (TX), Stanley Faulder (TX), and Terry Washington (TX). We have not forgotten you.