Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty

graphic that reads "anti-death penalty"

Arthur Thexton is active with the Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty as they oppose the upcoming state referendum. Arthur speaks not only as a religious individual, but as a former District Attorney and Deputy Sheriff.

Arthur does his work against the death penalty with dedication and thoughtfulness, seeing state-sponsored executions as a serious erosion of civilized society. In addition to his personal experience with law enforcement and the legal system, he draws on a wide variety of sources for his informational and persuasive work. Some sites you might want to check out are No Death Penalty Wisconsin and Death Penalty Info.

Arthur is a life-time Unitarian Universalist and a member of the James Reeb UU Congregation in Madison.

Music featured on this program includes: 

Dead Man Walking - John McCutcheon

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Spirit in Action

Episode Number

SIA-000049

First Air Date

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Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty - Arthur Thexton
About us
How capital punishment issue is not about the condemned as much as it is about the society that condemns them.
Murder case he prosecuted
the killer was cruel but lacked the ability to comprehend the consequences of his actions.
DNA
All dna really proves is that the defendant was present at the crime scene.
Law enforcement non-support for death penalty
Not all law enforcement personnel support the death penalty. In his case because he sees that it drags society down to the level of the very ones that they condemn.
He is not a pacifist
He is not afraid of using violence when necessary. He considers self defense as a good thing but not killing of people that are born alive who are not actively trying to harm others.
Thoughtful police officers dont support the death penalty
for the simple reason that a man that knows he might be executed is more likely to fight to the death rather than allow himself to be captured alive and executed.
Political climate in Wisconsin on the death penalty
It is not a partisan issue. With conservatives opposing it and so called liberals supporting it. There is a great diversity in the sides of the issue.
History in society of racism
Minorities get more severe penalties for crimes than whites including the death penalty in states with that option.
Punative trends
Our society is on a bad trend of becoming more punative and angry rather than being a more thoughtful society.
How he was brought up and his spiritual path that led him to his beliefs
His upbringing included rules against toy weapons and against fighting with his siblings. His family and spirituality was influenced by the nonviolence of Martin Luther King.
death penalty
Arthur Thexton
Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Broadcast Date(s)

Guest:

Arthur Thexton

Comments

Steve Kastner (not verified) Wed, 10/04/2006 - 13:26
Hello Mark, Thanks for an excellent radio show and an interview with great depth. Thanks as well for providing it on-line in a format that is archived and able to be shared with our audience. I will link to it on the WCADP.org Web site and plan to use the link in article to be published in The Door County Compass and the Wisconsin Progressive sites. Your shows are a great discovery with a lot of other titles that I plan to access.

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