It has been 50 years since Florida reinstated its death penalty following the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Gregg v. Georgia and Proffitt v. Florida. Since then, the state has maintained one of the nation's most active death chambers and attempted to test the bounds of the constitution at every chance. In recognition of this anniversary, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty will gather with those who were there to discuss what happened in 1976, what it means for 2026, and what comes next.

FADP Executive Director Grace Hanna will moderate a panel including:

• Michael Radelet, PhD: Michael Radelet is a professor emeritus of Sociology at the University of Colorado - Boulder. He took this role in 2001 after 22 years at the University of Florida, where he was active in Florida death penalty scholarship and with the capital defense community. He has written or edited eight books and some 100 scholarly papers focusing on such problems as erroneous convictions, racial bias, and ethical issues faced by health care personnel who are involved in capital cases and executions
• David Kendall, Esq.: David Kendall has had a diverse and lengthy legal career in criminal representation, commercial arbitration, and First Amendment realms. After studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating from Yale Law School, and clerking for Justice Byron R. White, he spent five years as associate counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., litigating a variety of civil rights cases and defending a large number of death penalty cases. He represented clients at trial, before state supreme courts, in the Supreme Court of the United States, and in state and federal post-conviction proceedings. He argued Coker v. Georgia, in which the Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional for rape. He represented Florida Death Row inmate John Spenkelink in extensive appellate and post-conviction proceedings and represented Utah inmate Gary Gilmore's mother in seeking a stay of execution from the Supreme Court. Today, he continues to practice at Williams & Connolly LLP.
• Susan Cary, Esq.: Susan Cary Susan Cary's first meeting with a death row inmate was December, 1974, when she was a first year law student at Florida State University. The inmate was 15 years old. She has been working with inmates and their families since that time: pre-trial when difficult decisions must be made, during incarceration, and at the end of life, whether by natural causes or execution. She was a member of the legal teams representing many of the first individuals facing execution after Gregg and Proffitt, and remains active in the national capital defense community.

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