Stop Child Executions!


Action Ideas

Note: All of the actions and activities in this document are marked with an estimated level of time/planning necessary: 1) Easy, 2) Moderate, 3) Complex

For All Participants
- Help save the life of Nanon Williams! (LEVEL 1) Nanon Williams is a juvenile offender on death row in Texas; there are serious doubts about his guilt in the crime for which he was sentenced to die. Write the Texas Attorney General, the Harris County District Attorney, and Texas newspapers. Use the action circular included in this packet, or visit the AIUSA website for action alerts on this and other upcoming cases involving juvenile offenders.
For Participants in States with the Juvenile Death Penalty*
- Organize a legislator call-in day! (LEVEL 1) Set up a table at a central location on your campus, and have cell phones available for those who stop by to make calls to their state legislators right then and there. Provide them with call-in information and the talking points included in this packet. Go here for state legislator contact information.
- Urge your student council or other governing body to pass a resolution calling for the abolition of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. (LEVEL 2) See the talking points and sample resolution included in this action packet.
- Schedule a meeting with your state legislators to encourage them to sponsor/support a bill to abolish the juvenile death penalty! (LEVEL 3) To find out if this legislation has been introduced in your state, visit www.ncadp.org/legislative_action.html


Want to Do More?

Educate your peers!!!
- Watch a video on the death penalty or organize a film series and host a discussion afterwards on why the death penalty should be abolished for juveniles. (LEVEL 1) See the “Additional Resources” sheet for video suggestions.
- Approach your professors/teachers in relevant departments about discussing the juvenile death penalty in class. Give them a copy of Amnesty's latest report, included in this packet. (LEVEL 2)
- Host a speaker on the juvenile death penalty issue. (LEVEL 3) Contact the PADP, your State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator (SDPAC), or the state coalition listed on the contact sheet for potential speakers. Click here to find more information on how to host a speaker.
- Stage a reading based on the stories of murder victims' family members who oppose the juvenile death penalty, based on the report, I don't want another kid to die, included in the action packet. (LEVEL 3)
- Organize a teach-in on the juvenile death penalty, with various speakers and workshops on different aspects of this issue. (LEVEL 3) Have actions available for participants. For more information on how to do this, go to AI's activist toolkit.
Make a statement!
- Organize a candlelight vigil in remembrance of all those impacted by the juvenile death penalty. (LEVEL 2) Call out the names of juvenile offenders executed in the United States, and the names of their victims. Click here to find more information on how to do this.
- Pass out “Not in My Name” bracelets to symbolize campus-wide opposition to the juvenile death penalty. (LEVEL 3) The bracelets can be your school or state colors – anything that will create a bond among youth/students. Either write “Not in My Name” on the bracelets, or let the bright colors stand for themselves!
- Create a visual image on your campus to symbolize all of the juvenile offenders who have been executed in the United States – or worldwide – since 1990. (LEVEL 3). Here are some ideas for images:

+ Create silhouette paper cutouts. Your group can string a cutout representing the number of children executed since 1990 (19) or the number of juvenile offenders currently on death row. They could be done in brown to represent the bias toward children of color. You could also put a black X across the lower part of the face to show this as a way of silencing youth, who aren't represented by a jury of their peers. These are very simple to make; each fold in the paper would give you one figure. Then after cutting the shape into the folded paper, simply pull both ends, and you get the accordion look with several figures strung together. Or, use a picture of a rag doll, which is often associated with children, applying the same symbolism as above.

+ Create black armbands with the number of juvenile offenders executed in the United States since 1990 (19) in red, written in bold. Pass armbands out to everyone who stops by your table.
Get the word out!
- Call into a school or public radio show – or host your own radio show (if you have the capability) – to express your outrage about the juvenile death penalty. (LEVEL 1)
- Send an email comment regarding the juvenile death penalty to a radio or TV talk show.(LEVEL 1)
- Write letters to the editor of your school or local newspaper – or submit articles/opinion pieces – expressing your outrage that the United States is one of the only countries in the world that executes juvenile offenders. (LEVEL 2) See the sample letter to the editor enclosed in this action packet. Please send copies of any letters that get printed to the PADP! Join others!
- Contact your SDPAC and/or your state's anti-death penalty coalition to find out how you can support ongoing efforts to abolish the juvenile death penalty. (LEVEL 1) Check out the contact sheet for phone numbers and/or email addresses for SDPACS and state and local groups in your area.
- Collaborate with other Amnesty student groups in your area on a public event, such as a poetry slam, a benefit concert, or a rally, to bring attention to this issue. (LEVEL 2)









* States that have the juvenile death penalty: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming.