A regional conference about abolishing the death penalty will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Rainbow Mennonite Church, 1444 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Kan.
The Kansas City Regional Abolition Conference will include appearances by former death row inmates. Ray Krone, who was freed after DNA testing cleared him, will be on a panel discussion. Before his arrest, Krone had no previous criminal record, had been honorably discharged from the military, and had worked in the postal service for seven years.
Krone was the 100th former death row inmate freed since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976, according to the Kansas Coalition against the Death Penalty.
The conference will include two panel discussions. The first panel discussion is with Krone and Reggie Griffin, the 143rd person who has been exonerated since 1973, after spending 30 years in prison in Missouri. Also on this panel will be Darryl Burton, who spent 24 years in a Missouri prison for a murder he did not commit.
In a legislative and legal panel discussion, Donna Schneweis, KCADP board chair; and Ron Wurtz, former federal death penalty defender and KCADP vie board chair; will share their knowledge about the death penalty from their years of experience in the abolition movement.
The conference is free and open to the public. To make a reservation for the conference or for more information, contact Mike Fonkert, KCADP KC area community coordinator at [email protected] or at 913-230-6643.