National Death Penalty Archive

The National Death Penalty Archive (NDPA) is a partnership between the University at Albany Libraries and the Capital Punishment Research Initiative (CPRI) at the University's School of Criminal Justice. In 1999, researchers at the School of Criminal Justice formally established the CPRI. Its overarching goals were research and education -- initiate capital punishment research activities, facilitate collaboration among researchers, and make findings and information available to legal and criminal justice policymakers, practitioners, and the public. One of the original goals of the CPRI was to establish and maintain a collection of archival materials documenting the important history of capital punishment, and to provide resources for historical scholarship. This growing collection of archival materials is housed in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, which is located in the University's state of the art Science Library. Open since 1999, the new archival repository includes climate-controlled storage for more than 25,000 cubic feet. The following collections have been acquired for the NDPA through the collaborative efforts of the CPRI and the University Libraries; work is continuing to build this important link to the history of capital punishment in the United States.

For reference queries contact Grenander Department Reference staff or (518) 437–3931

Additional related collections are available at the Department's subject page for Criminal Justice and Prisons.

THE ABOLITIONIST ORAL HISTORY PROJECT (AOHP)
The AOHP is an ongoing research effort conducted under the auspices of the CPRI. Through interviews with a wide variety of death penalty abolitionists, the AOHP is building an oral history of the post-Furman movement to end capital punishment in America. This collection entails audio- and video taped interviews with abolitionists, biographical information, and personal documents and/or papers associated with these interviews. As of November 8, 2004 interviewees include: Demaris Maguire, former Executive Director, New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty; Scott Christianson, historian and author Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing Death House; Jonathan Gradess, Executive Director, New York State Defenders Association; David Kaczynski, Executive Director, New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty; Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director and Co-Founder, Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty; Bill Pelke, Board Member, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, Journey of Hope, and National Coalition Against the Death Penalty; Juan Melendez, former death row prisoner; and Steven W. Hawkins, former Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

BABBITT, BILL
Collection, 1990–2006, 3.5 cubic ft. (APAP–204)
The Bill Babbitt Collection primarily consists of material related to the execution of Bill's brother, Manny Babbitt, in California on May 4, 1999. The collection includes material collected by Bill Babbitt as part of his activism with Murder Victims' Families For Human Rights and the contents of Manny Babbitt's cell at the time of his execution.

BEDAU, HUGO ADAM
Papers, 1961–2000, 36 cubic ft. (APAP–199)
Bedau (Ph.D., Harvard, 1961), is a current commentator and active opponent of the death penalty. Bedau was a Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University from 1966-1999 and author of Current Issues and Enduring Questions (4th edition, 1996); Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing (2nd edition, 1996); In Spite of Innocence (1992); editor, Civil Disobedience in Focus (1991); Death is Different (1987); The Death Penalty in America (4th ed., 1997); and contributor to many other volumes. His Romanell - Phi Beta Kappa lectures delivered at Tufts in the spring of 1995, were published by Oxford University Press under the title, Making Moral Choices. Bedau was recently the chairman of the board for the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty and a member of the board for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.

BONOWITZ, ABRAHAM J.
Papers, 1985–2003, 25 cubic ft. (APAP–186)
Photographic prints, negatives, digital images, clippings, and records from Bonowitz' time as Director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP), an organization that works to end the death penalty in the United States through aggressive campaigns of public education and the promotion of tactical grassroots activism. There are also materials from Bonowitz' time as a board member of the Journey of Hope ...From Violence to Healing, Inc., and as a board member of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and pertaining to his participation in anti-death penalty activism with Amnesty International USA, the Abolitionist Action Committee and others.

CAPITAL JURY PROJECT
Records, 1990–2002, 60+ cubic ft. (APAP–196)
The Capital Jury Project was initiated in 1991 by a consortium of university-based researchers with support from the National Science Foundation. The Project is administered nationally by Dr. William Bowers, Principal Research Scientist, Northeastern University. The findings of the CJP are based on 3 to 4 hour, in-depth, interviews with persons who have served as jurors in capital trials. Phase I of the Project has completed over 1,200 interviews from jurors in 353 capital trials in 14 states. These interviews chronicled the jurors' experiences and decision-making over the course of the trial, identify points at which various influences come into play, and reveal the ways in which jurors reach their final sentencing decision. This project is being continued by the Capital Jury Project II (CJP2), a program of research on the decision-making of capital jurors.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT CLEMENCY PETITIONS
Collection, 2004-2005, 6 cubic ft. (APAP–214)
The collection includes approximately 150 clemency petitions filed by inmates from across the United States. The clemency process varies from state to state and typically involves the governor, a board of advisors, or both. Clemency refers to the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The act of clemency is a reprieve.

CORRECTIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK STATE
Records, 1844–1988, 31.33 cubic ft. (APAP–014)
Includes microfilm of the printed annual reports, 1844–1979; scrapbook, ca. 1915; Board of Directors' files, 1962–1988; subject files, 1962–1980; and prison visit reports, 1974–1980; Narcotics Committee files, 1949, 1962–1972, 1975; Program and Bureau Files, 1967–1983. The Correctional Association of New York was founded in 1844 by John W. Edmonds, President of the Board of Inspectors at Sing Sing Prison. Originally named the Prison Association of New York, the organization was formed to ameliorate the conditions of criminal defendants and prisoners, improve the discipline and administration of local jails and state prisons, and furnish assistance and encouragement to reformed convicts after discharge. It is the only private organization in the state that has the power to conduct on–site examinations of state and local correctional facilities and report its findings and recommendations to governmental authorities. Since 1846, it has been charged with submitting an annual report on prison conditions in New York State to the New York State Assembly.

DEATH PENALTY IN NEW YORK TESTIMONY
Collection, 1965-2005, 1.6 cubic ft. (APAP–206)
The Death Penalty in New York Testimony Collection includes testimony given to the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Codes, Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary, and Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, on December 14, 2004, January 21 and 25, 2005, and February 8 and 11, 2005. The collection includes testimony from 137 witnesses, including officials from grass roots organizations, practicing lawyers, law professors, concerned citizens, religious leaders, former inmates, and families of victims. The collection also includes the Public Hearing reports for each day of hearings, recorded verbatim; a copy of the 1965 Committee for the Revision of the Penal and Criminal Legal Code Special Report on Capital Punishment; and an amicus brief ("friend of the court"), People v. McCoy, filed by Stewart F. Hancock.

THE ENGAGED ZEN FOUNDATION
Records, 1990-2004, 10 cubic ft. (APAP–208)
The Engaged Zen Foundation is an independent organization originally founded to foster zazen (seated contemplative meditation) practice in prisons. The experience of working in prisons throughout the United States over a dozen years has compelled the Engaged Zen Foundation's efforts to focus on the "complete circle of human rights imperatives." The Foundation is "committed to the abolition of punitive incarceration in any form, the dismantling of the prison industrial complex, and the adoption of alternative, restorative, methods of dealing with what is colloquially known as "criminal justice."" The collection includes the case file and correspondence of Frankie Parker and Daniel Patrick Hauser, material related to Rev. Kobutsu Malone's work at Sing Sing Prison, death penalty books and reports, origami created by Frankie Parker and an empty vial of the second drug used in the execution process.

FORD, ALVIN
Collection, 1965–1995, 5.4 cubic ft. (APAP–159)
Alvin Ford was convicted of first-degree murder in Broward County, Florida on December 17, 1974, and sentenced to death on January 6, 1975. He appealed his murder conviction and death sentence to the Supreme Court of Florida, which upheld both in Ford v State (1979). After spending years on death row during which Ford became incompetent, his case eventually was heard by the United States Supreme Court. In Ford v. Wainwright (1986), the Court concluded that the 8th Amendment prohibits the State from inflicting the death penalty on a prisoner who is insane. This collection includes the legal case file created by Ford's legal team during the period 1974-1990.

GROSS, ROBERT
Papers, 1985–2006, 11.4 cubic ft. (APAP–291)
The records were created during Gross' work with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), Journey of Hope, Lighting the Torch of Conscience, and other activities in opposition to the death penalty. The NCADP leads and coordinates the movement to end state killing in the United States. Its 120 member organizations include civil and human rights groups, legal advocacy and public interest groups, and virtually every major church or religious denomination in the country. Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing is an organization that is led by murder victims' family members. It conducts public education speaking tours and addresses alternatives to the death penalty. The collection includes: NCADP state files, programs, and organizations; Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing administrative files, videotapes, photographs, and press packets related to speaking tours; and material from the Lighting the Torch of Conscience march in 1990.

HALPERIN, RICK
Papers, 1982–2000, 11.1 cubic ft. (APAP–108)
Since 1972, Rick Halperin has been actively involved in the effort to abolish the death penalty in the United States. He works with many anti-death penalty organizations, capital defense attorneys, representatives of various communities of faith, newspaper editorial boards, victims' rights groups, members of the families of the condemned, and many death row inmates throughout the country. The collection consists of news clippings, newsletters, campaign materials, letters of plea, flyers and notices of rallies, research materials, organizational reports, and publications about the death penalty and death penalty issues.

HAWKINS, STEVEN
Papers, 1991–2003, 3.2 cubic ft. (APAP–188)
Steven Hawkins and his staff created these papers during his tenure as Executive Director of the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, now called the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The papers contain meeting subject files that include extensive minutes of board meetings, speeches, travel arrangements, fundraising and reception notes, and pamphlets and other papers relating to his attendance at various board and committee meetings with related organizations, such as the Death Penalty Information Center and Amnesty International. The papers also contain copies of police reports, witness and investigator statements, and defendant testimony regarding the cases of certain high-profile death row inmates, such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Delma Banks Jr., Kenneth Reams and Keith Versie, which were retained by Steven Hawkins and his staff in order to provide legal advocacy in court hearings to obtain commutation, clemency, or exoneration for these inmates.

JOURNEY OF HOPE/BILL PELKE COLLECTION
Records, 1993–2005, 29.25 cubic ft. (APAP–205)
Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing is an organization that is led by murder victims' family members. It conducts public education speaking tours and addresses alternatives to the death penalty. This collection contains organizing material for Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation (MVFR) and Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights (MVFHR). There are also materials from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), Amnesty International and materials related to Juveniles and the death penalty. "Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing" is an organization that is led by murder victims' family members. It conducts public education speaking tours and addresses alternatives to the death penalty. The collection includes public materials from the Journey of Hope cofounder, Bill Pelke; descriptions of events; t-shirts; and videos of marches. It also includes personal letters with death row inmates (e.g., Michael Ross, Karla Faye Tucker and others), Paula Cooper files, files on forgiveness and miscellaneous additional materials including newspaper articles, newsletters, and pictures from abolition events in the United States and foreign countries.

MELLO, MICHAEL A.
Papers, 54 cubic ft. (APAP–287)
Michael A. Mello is an internationally recognized authority on the death penalty and capital punishment issues. Examples of cases that he has been involved in or in which he has served as an informal advisor include those of Theodore Kaczynski, Joseph Robert “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, Theodore Bundy, and Paul Hill. Professor Mello's courses taught at Vermont Law School have included Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Ethics, a Capital Punishment seminar, and a Search and Seizure seminar. The collection includes material related to Professor Mello's publications; research files; files related to individual capital punishment cases including Spaziano and Kaczynski; publications including Death Work, Dead Wrong, Re: Capital Punishment; and related material.

NATIONAL COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY
Records, 1975–2002, 34 cubic ft. (APAP–110)
The records include information that documents NCADP’s mission and activities such as conference materials, publications, and death row and clemency case files. NCADP was founded in 1976 in response to the Gregg v. Georgia Supreme Court decision, which reinstated the use of the death penalty in the United States.

NEW YORK STATE DEFENDERS ASSOCIATION (NYSDA)
Records, 1975–1998, 12 cubic ft. (APAP–110)
The New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA) is a not-for-profit, membership organization, which has provided support to New York's criminal defense bar since 1967. The NYSDA collection is composed of news articles about capital punishment and related issues.

SOUTHERN COALITION ON JAILS AND PRISONS
Records, 12 cubic ft. (APAP–200)
Organized in 1974, the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was formed to promote greater awareness of the problems of prisons and corrections, improve communication between the prison population and the outside world, and advocate for alternatives to the death penalty. The Coalition was active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, and Kentucky through the early 1990s. The records are primarily the files of Joe Ingle, co-founder of the Coalition.

TELESCO, MARIA
(APAP–220)
Maria Telesco donated the book Words from the Row by Steven King Ainsworth and edited by Margo Schulter and audiotapes of sessions from the National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty held November 13-15, 1998, at the Northwestern University Legal Clinic. This material is part of the Department of Special Collections and Archives book collection.

VAN DEN HAAG, ERNEST
Papers, 1935–2000, 11.45 cubic ft. (APAP–135)
Ernest van den Haag (1914-2002) was a conservative commentator of social issues, especially crime, and one of America's foremost proponents of the death penalty. The publications in this collection include articles in published form, drafts, and related correspondence. Types of publications include transcripts from appearances on television shows in the 1970s and 1980s, files on the books which he authored, rough drafts for chapters, and hundreds of articles written for various journals, magazines, and newspapers from 1950-2000. The collection's publications cover a wide array of social science issues of the mid to late 20th century from an intellectual conservative's view. Topics include American culture, criminal justice, education, conservatism versus liberalism, and American politics. Van den Haag had a special political interest in U.S. foreign policy and commented on the Vietnam War, foreign wars, and the issues of the Cold War.

VON DREHLE, DAVID
Papers, 1975–1990, 7 cubic ft. (APAP–213)
Collected during Von Drehle's writing of Among the Lowest of the Dead, a history of Florida's experience with the death penalty between the Furman decision and 1989. For 11 years, Von Drehle covered Florida's death row for the Miami Herald and the collection consists of a comprehensive record of that period and Florida's experience with the death penalty. The collection includes virtually every relevant newspaper clipping from a Florida newspaper in that period, plus notes from 100-plus interviews, government reports, law review articles, and some ephemera, copies of inmate letters and diaries, transcripts of testimony in major appeals and clemency hearings.