Amsterdam receives National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's Lifetime Achievement Award

University Professor Anthony Amsterdam received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty at the NCADP's annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 16, in recognition of Amsterdam's "lifelong commitment to justice and extraordinary contribution to the cause of challenging and ending capital punishment." Only eight people have previously received the honor, including former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who issued a statewide moratorium on executions, and actor Mike Farrell, president of Death Penalty Focus.

The NCADP provides its network of more than 100 state and national affiliates with support in their efforts to end executions in the U.S. The organization was founded in 1976 in response to Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court case in which Amsterdam unsuccessfully argued for the continuation of the nationwide moratorium on capital punishment that he had persuaded the Court to implement in the 1972 decision Furman v. Georgia

Posted on January 19, 2010