Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

H.B. 215 is still waiting to be heard in front of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Until then we will take look at one of the key players in this debate…

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty(TCADP) is a well known professionally staffed grassroots advocacy organization that focuses on ending the death penalty (TCAPD, n.d.). Therefore, it is no surprise that they are one of the major supporters for H.B. 215 by Representative Moody. In 2004, the organization received support from a local organization that helped them established an office in Austin, where they hired a part-time Program Coordinator. In 2008, the organization received funding from the Tides Foundation, and they were able to hire a full-time Executive Director instead. Along with this one employee and the Executive Board, TCADP has more than 11,000 members and supporters, 32 Foundation Affiliates, and a large following on Facebook and Twitter.

After taking a look at their one-pager in support of H.B. 215, it is clear that they have many well-researched points to make during testimony. The first relating to the expense of a death penalty conviction. According to their research from the Dallas Morning News, the death penalty ($2.1 million) is three times more expensive than the cost of being incarcerated for life ($770,000). As a result, counties with larger budgets have more resources to seek the death penalty than counties with lower budgets. Moreover, proving that comparable crimes in different counties are likely charged or sentenced differently. Some counties have even had to raise taxes to keep up with the cost of death penalty trials. A few other arguments include, the decline of public support and the presence of evidence that the death penalty does not deter crime. For more information on the TCADP one-pager, check out their website linked below.

TCADP. (n.d.). Legislative advocacy. Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. https://tcadp.org/what-we-do/legislative-advocacy/