The future of Nevada's death penalty the topic at Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Fri, 03/19/2021 - 8:21am
Event Date:
March 22, 2021 - 12:00pm Featured speaker at Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon will be Mark Bettencourt, Project Director for the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty (NVCADP). The Coalition is a diverse group of community members and organizations who use the voices of impacted individuals to shed light on the darkness of capital punishment and why it must be repealed.
Mark Bettencourt points to the fact that 40% of death row inmates and 60% of those exonerated after review of DHA evidence are Black to argue that the death penalty “serves to uphold the system of white supremacy.” He also argues that the considerable sums being spent on Nevada's death row every year could be much better spent on the state's other needs. Besides, according to the Innocence Project, the advent of DNA testing has led to the exoneration of 375 prisoners since 1989, all of whom were found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
NVCADP has also addressed the issue of how the pandemic has affected Nevada's prison population – particularly those currently on death row. In Mark's words, “Folks on our death row are kept isolated for 22 or 23 hours a day. And even these men are getting COVID. If our state can’t keep some of our most isolated prisoners safe, what are they doing the rest of the time?”
Mark has been organizing communities and leading field campaigns for most of the past decade, spearheading community-focused field organizing efforts around clean air, clean water, and public lands, and coordinating successful grassroots lobbying efforts during the 2017 and 2019 legislative sessions.
Born in California and raised in Las Vegas, Mark is a University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) alumnus who draws on his study of American cultural history to craft an intersectional approach to community organizing, political strategy, and issue advocacy.
Before joining NVCADP, Mark served four years at the League of Conservation Voters, first as a Field Organizer, then as Regional Field Director, and before that worked as a docent at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas.
Sponsored by the Democratic Men's Committee, this event is scheduled for noon on Monday, March 22nd, and will be held online via Zoom teleconference due to social distancing restrictions at in-person venues. Those wishing to be on distribution for these Zoom links should email Rich Dunn, Men's Committee Events Coordinator, at richdunn@aol.com.
