The Reframing of Mass Incarceration and the Right to Vote

Philanthropy And The Death Penalty

Savvy philanthropists know that change takes time. Whatever your political or philosophical beliefs, moving the legal or cultural norms of a country is no mean feat. A case in point: the campaign against the death penalty in the United States. It’s an effort to change deeply entrenched values and policy in the face of very long odds. The modern history of the fight to abolish the death penalty in the United States began in 1976 when the Supreme Court restored capital punishment, after having ruled in 1972 that as then structured it was unconstitutional. In the decades following its restoration, which were marked with widespread concern about law and order, a large majority of Americans supported capital punishment and states continued to impose and administer it. So why did Atlantic Philanthropies—one of the nation’s biggest foundations—decide to invest nearly $60 million over 10 years in a campaign to end the death penalty in the United States? Policy change on this issue has been striking, though Atlantic’s ultimate goal remains far from being achieved. Since 2007, seven states have abolished the death penalty, at least partially due to campaigns funded by Atlantic. Four other states have placed formal or informal moratoriums on executions. In 2015, states carried out the lowest number of executions (28) and new death sentences (in the mid-50s) in modern history. Other factors besides philanthropy have played a role, such as dramatically lower crime rates in many jurisdictions, as well as highly publicized mistakes, including exonerations based on DNA evidence and botched executions. While advocates continue to hope for a Supreme Court ruling abolishing the death penalty, there is no way to predict if or when this will happen. Read the source article at Forbes Welcome