“From this day forward, I
no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death. For more than 20 years I have endeavored ... along with the
majority of this Court, to develop procedural and substantive rules that would
lend more than the mere appearance of fairness to the death penalty
endeavor. Rather than continue to
coddle the Court’s delusion that the desired level of fairness has been
achieved ... I feel morally and intellectually obligated to concede that the
death penalty experiment has failed.”
--U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun,
1994
May
2006
Dear
Friends,
In
1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down existing death penalty statutes. In Furman
v. Georgia,
the Court ruled that the death penalty, as applied then, was arbitrary, capricious
and discriminatory – as random as being struck by lightning. It commuted the sentences of all 629
people on death row, sending states scrambling to revise their capital
punishment statutes.
Four
years later, on July 2, 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gregg v.
Georgia
upheld some of the newly crafted death penalty statutes and took the position
that the death penalty did not offend “the evolving standards of decency which
mark the progress of a maturing society.” Gregg essentially held that a properly written statute could guide
the discretion used to make death penalty decisions. By the time the court
ruled, death rows had already begun to fill up. Executions resumed in 1977; by the
end of 2005, more than 1,000 people had been executed.
The
30th anniversary of the Gregg decision provides an excellent
opportunity for grassroots activists to call for a thorough and frank
assessment of whether the expectations of a fairer and less arbitrary death
penalty have, in fact, been fulfilled. Today, given the growing body of research and scientific
developments related to the death penalty, society should be asking these important
questions:
·
Is
today’s death penalty any fairer or less arbitrary than it was in 1972?
·
Is
the death penalty truly reserved for “the worst of the worst”?
·
Do
race, geography, and the quality of representation make the real difference in
capital cases?
·
Why
are so many death penalty cases found to be fraught with error requiring costly
re-trials and uncertainty?
·
Why
have innocent people been wrongly accused and sentenced to die?
·
Is
the money we are investing in the death penalty taking away valuable resources
from programs that could prevent crime?
·
Why
have numerous faith leaders and public officials called for an end to the death
penalty?
As
the 30th anniversary of Gregg v. Georgia approaches, groups that
work on the death penalty should provide guidance on these and other important
questions so that the public has the opportunity to reflect honestly on the
death penalty’s track record over the past three decades. Groups should also
encourage state and national lawmakers to examine the death penalty and halt all
executions while they conduct such studies.
We
encourage you to use these materials as you prepare to mark the 30th
anniversary of Gregg. This kit
contains the following resources:
·
Key
messages and talking points about the Gregg decision
·
A
sample letter to the editor
·
A
sample press release
·
Fact
sheet on 30 years of the “modern” death penalty
·
Major
milestones in the U.S. death penalty since the Gregg decision
·
Ideas
for local action
·
Information
relating to the Annual Starvin’ for Justice Fast & Vigil at the
U.S. Supreme Court
·
A
letter from Sister Helen Prejean regarding the “Dead Man Walking” Album and
Concert DVD
·
Step-by-step
instructions on how to pass an abolition or moratorium resolution, plus a model
resolution
·
A
sample bulletin insert for faith communities
·
Supplementary
resources for action
A
study guide on the Gregg decision and its aftermath, produced for Amnesty
International USA by Professor Michael L. Radelet, accompanies this organizing
kit. It is also available online
at http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/gregg.
We
hope that you find this organizing kit useful and that our combined acts of
solidarity marking this anniversary attract significant attention and action
from both the public and elected officials. Thirty years since Gregg, the death penalty is still
arbitrary,
still
capricious, and still discriminatory. This is the moment to evaluate whether we
have truly evolved as a society. We
thank you for raising this important question in your respective communities.
In
Solidarity,
The
Gregg30 Working Group
Members
Abolitionist Action Committee
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP)
Equal Justice USA
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP)
“Revisiting the Death
Penalty: 30 Years after Gregg”
Messages and Talking
Points
The
death penalty today remains arbitrary:
- It is still
arbitrarily applied to non-guilty defendants. In the 30 years since Gregg, 123 people have
been freed from death row after evidence of their wrongful conviction
emerged.
- It is arbitrarily
applied within death penalty states, with a significant geographic
disparity. For example, in
1999:
Ø
Hamilton
County, Ohio, which contains Cincinnati, had 50 people on death row, while
Franklin County, which contains Columbus, had only 11 people on death row,
despite having a larger population and twice the murder rate.
Ø
Baldwin
County, Georgia had a population of 42,000, and 5 people on death row. This was more death row inmates than
Fulton County, which had a population of 722,400.
Ø
Harris
County, Texas (Houston) had 140 death row inmates. Dallas County, with a higher murder rate, had only 37 death
row inmates.
- Nearly half of the
executions that have taken place in the U.S. have occurred in two states,
Texas and Virginia. The South carries out 80% of all executions; most
states with the death penalty have not executed anyone in recent years.
· Despite the claim that the death penalty
is reserved for the “worst of the worst,” history clearly demonstrates that
this is simply not true. In recent years, both the BTK serial killer in Kansas
and Gary Ridgeway, the Washington state man who confessed to committing 48
murders over a 20-year period, received life sentences for their crimes.
· Approximately
two percent of those convicted of crimes that make them eligible for the death
penalty actually receive a death sentence, and far less than one percent are then
executed.
The
death penalty today remains discriminatory:
- More than 80 percent
of those executed were cases that involved white victims, despite the fact
that nationally, only 50 percent of murder victims are white. Almost all those executed were
poor, many had shoddy representation, and frequently they suffered from
mental illness. Many, too, like those with mental retardation and juvenile
offenders, were executed under laws that have since been declared unconstitutional.
- A 2002 University of
Maryland study found that even after controlling for the jurisdictions and
characteristics of cases, the probability that a prosecutor would seek the
death penalty against someone convicted of killing a white victim was 1.6
times greater than someone convicted of killing a black victim.
The 30th
anniversary of Gregg v. Georgia comes at a time when Americans are becoming increasingly
skeptical about the death penalty. Recent data indicates that a growing segment
of the public does not think the death penalty is working and believes it is time
to step back and reexamine capital punishment:
- Support for the death penalty is at a
post-Gregg
low. Death sentences have declined by more than 60 percent since the late
1990s. Executions have decreased 40 percent since 1999. The size of death
row has declined every year since 2001.
- Legislators across the nation have
recognized that serious problems exist with the death penalty. Earlier
this year, lawmakers in New Jersey voted to halt executions while a review
of capital punishment takes place. Elected leaders in other states, such
as New York and Illinois, also have halted executions.
- 123 innocent people have been released
from death rows across the country, and in Texas and Missouri,
investigations are underway into whether two innocent people were
executed.
A growing
number of new voices are challenging the death penalty in this country because
it is costly, inaccurate, and unfair. Gregg v. Georgia did not address the
emerging problems of costs, the frequency of human error, the divergent views
of victims, or the impact that carrying out executions has on everyone who
plays a role:
· The American Bar
Association has called for a national moratorium on all executions because the
system is so seriously flawed.
· Many organizations of
victims’ family members, such as Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, have
rejected the death penalty as part of the healing process. Individuals such as
Bud Welch, whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City Bombing, have stated
that it does nothing to ease their pain and there is no such thing as “closure”
after an execution. The billions of dollars spent on the death penalty over the
last 30 years could have been better invested in programs that assist victims’
family members and help to prevent crimes in the first place.
· Leaders from nearly every
religious denomination in the country have called for a halt to executions
because the death penalty remains seriously flawed. The Catholic Church has
embarked on a national campaign to end the death penalty, and other
denominations are increasing their efforts as well.
The United States
today is increasingly isolated in its use of the death penalty:
- While the U.S. has
carried out more than 1,000 executions since Gregg, in this same time
period, 70 countries have abolished the death penalty.
·
The United States continues to be one of the top executing nations
in the world and is out of step with the majority of its global allies on this
issue (Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, and Italy
have all abolished the death penalty; Russia has had a de facto moratorium
since 1999).
- In all, a total of 123
countries have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Europe and Central and South
America are nearly death penalty-free zones, and in Africa, there has been
significant progress toward abolition.
Sample Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
should be submitted based on the newspaper’s guidelines. Generally, these
guidelines can be found on the newspaper’s website. Regular submissions should be limited to between 200-250
words. They will only use your
contact information to verify the author of the letter. It will not be published in the
newspaper.
The following template
will provide you with language that might be useful in preparing your own
letters. Consider sending a letter
in the week leading up to the July 2 anniversary. We encourage you to personalize your letters and to adapt
the key messages, talking points, and facts to the specific situation in your
state.
***
Gregg
at 30: Still Arbitrary, Still Capricious
On
July 2, 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 ruling in Gregg v. Georgia, decided that executions
could resume after a more than 10-year break. Yet today the death penalty still remains arbitrary,
capricious and discriminatory. At least 123 people have been freed from death
rows across the country after evidence of their innocence emerged. The exorbitant
cost of the death penalty hungrily consumes our tax dollars and has even
bankrupted some counties. More and more Americans are turning away from capital
punishment, including religious leaders, murder victims’ family members, law
enforcement officers, and leading conservatives.
And
the U.S. finds itself increasingly isolated when it comes to this peculiar
phenomenon: Since the Gregg decision was handed down 30 years ago, 70 countries
have abolished capital punishment. The question for us to ponder today is not whether
but when
we will
join them.
Sincerely,
<Name>
<Affiliation>
<Address>
<City,
State, Zip>
<Contact
Number>
Sample
Press Release
(Local Letterhead)
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
INSERT NAME
DAY,
MONTH, DATE, YEAR
TELEPHONE, EMAIL
SKEPTICISM ABOUT THE
DEATH PENALTY GROWS AS
30th
ANNIVERSARY OF GREGG V. GEORGIA DECISION APPROACHES
Growing Concerns
About Arbitrariness and Accuracy Lead to
Declining Public Support for Capital
Punishment
TOWN, STATE – As the 30th anniversary of the
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gregg v. Georgia approaches, members of INSERT
ORGANIZATION NAME
note that concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty
continue to linger decades after the Justices ruled to uphold newly crafted
state death penalty statutes. The
group notes that a close examination of the death penalty around the country
reveals that it remains as ineffective and arbitrary as it was when the U.S.
Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1972, a fact that underscores the
need to repeal the death penalty or halt executions in INSERT STATE.
“Public support for the death penalty is at its
lowest point in 27 years, death sentences have declined by more than 50% since
the late 1990’s, and executions in the U.S. are down by 40% since 1999, ” said INSERT
NAME, INSERT TITLE of the INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME. “The trend is clear.
People are turning away from the death penalty because it has proven to be
costly, ineffective, and unfair. The 30th anniversary of Gregg v.
Georgia
is the perfect opportunity for our state lawmakers to listen to the public’s
concerns and reevaluate capital punishment in INSERT STATE.”
INSERT ORGANIZATION
NAME
notes that the practice of the death penalty has also become more isolated in
the U.S., a fact that calls attention to the arbitrary nature of the capital
punishment. Nearly half of the executions that have taken place in the U.S.
have occurred in two states, Texas and Virginia. The South carries out 80% of
all executions, and most states with the death penalty have had no executions
in recent years. In addition, more than 80% of those executed in the U.S. were
sentenced to death for crimes that involved white victims, despite the fact
that nationally 50% of murder victims are white.
“The
arbitrary nature of capital punishment is not only evident in the number of
states carrying out executions and in a closer examination of the race of the victims
in these cases, but studies across the country have revealed that within death
penalty states who lives and who dies depends more on where a capital crime is
committed than on the specifics of the case,” stated INSERT NAME, INSERT
TITLE of the INSERT ORGANIZATION.
In addition to the unfairness of capital
punishment, ORGANIZATION NAME members have also voiced concerns about the issue
of innocence. Since 1973, 123 innocent people have been freed from death row,
including INSERT NUMBER in HOME STATE. In recent years, ORGANZATION NAME has urged state
lawmakers to take steps to avoid future mistakes by INSERT LOCAL STATE
ACTION SUPPORTED. (This
paragraph should be used when applicable, and local groups should decide what
efforts to highlight, etc.)
Nationally,
similar concerns about innocence and other issues have prompted state
legislators to halt executions or abandon the death penalty altogether. For
example, a moratorium on executions is in place in Illinois and New Jersey, and
lawmakers in New York have decided to drop the death penalty after a series of public
hearings revealed that capital punishment does not serve any legitimate purpose
and may never be able to work accurately and fairly.
“There
is a lot that can be learned by examining the death penalty over the past three
decades and by reviewing the experiences of other states that are working to
address capital punishment concerns. The problems uncovered by legislators in
New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and other states are not unique to those
jurisdictions. As more and more questions are raised about the death penalty
throughout the country, our state should also conduct a careful review of its
death penalty laws,” concluded NAME, INSERT TITLE of ORGANIZATION NAME.
# # #
Fact Sheet: 30 Years of
the “Modern” Death Penalty
Since the Gregg decision, there have been…
- 34 people with
evidence of mental retardation*
- 119 “volunteers”
(including the first execution after Gregg, that of Gary
Gilmore in Utah)
- 22 juvenile offenders*
- 20 foreign nationals*
- 11 women*
- 854 by lethal injection
- 152 electrocutions (the
last one took place in 2004)*
- 11 by gassing (the
last took place in 1999)*
- 3 by hanging (in
Washington State and Delaware; the last occurred in 1996)*
- 2 by firing squad
(both in Utah; the last took place in 1996)*
- 3 executions under
federal law, which resumed under George W. Bush. Two of the three federal executions were of offenders
who were Gulf War veterans.
43 prisoners remain on federal death row in Terra Haute, Indiana.
- 0 executions
under military law. 9
prisoners remain on the military death row at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
·
The oldest
person at the time of execution was John Nixon, who was killed by
the State of Mississippi at the age of 77, in 2005.*
- The youngest
person
at the time of execution was Scott Dawn Carpenter, who was killed by the
State of Oklahoma at the age of 22, in 1997.*
- 152 occurred under
George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas (1995-2000)*
- 124 have occurred
during the administration of Governor Rick Perry of Texas (since 2001)
- The crimes for which
these men and women were executed involved more than 1,500 victims.
Racial
Discrimination and the Death Penalty
- 38 white defendants have been executed
for crimes involving victims of an ethnic or racial minority.
- 264 defendants of an ethnic
or racial minority have been executed for crimes involving white victims.
- 558 white defendants have been
executed for crimes involving white victims.
- 180 defendants of an ethnic
or racial minority have been executed for crimes involving victims of an ethnic
or racial minority.
- In 12 cases, a white
defendant
was executed for a crime involving a black victim.
- In 210 cases, a black
defendant was
executed for a crime involving a white victim.
Note: In
some cases, there were multiple victims of different races and the above
execution statistics reflect this.
This was the case in 18 instances.
Inconsistencies of Executions across the USA
Since the U.S. Supreme
Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 80% of all executions have taken place in the
South. The
Northeast accounts for less than 1% of executions. Specific numbers for each
state are available on the DPIC and AIUSA websites.
South
(810)
This information is based
on 1,022 executions
.
Executions since the Reinstatement of the
Death Penalty, by Year
Most executions in a single year: 98 in 1999
Major Milestones in
the Death Penalty Since the Gregg Decision
June
29: Furman v. Georgia invalidates existing death penalty statutes July
2: Gregg v. Georgia upholds the constitutionality of new death penalty
statutes that provide for guided discretion December
7: First lethal injection takes place - Charles
Brooks in
Texas McCleskey
v. Kemp:
Racial disparities are not recognized as a constitutional violation of
“equal protection of the law” unless intentional racial discrimination against
the defendant can be shown Whitmore v. Arkansas makes it impossible in most circumstances
for a "next friend" to litigate even winning constitutional
issues for an inmate who wishes to waive all appeals, leading to a huge
increase in the number of state-assisted suicides of
"volunteers", many of whom were seriously mentally ill Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act expands the federal death penalty to
over 50 offenses New
York becomes the 38th state to adopt the death penalty President Clinton signs the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act, which greatly curtails the ability of death row inmates whose
constitutional rights were violated to secure relief in federal courts
1996
ABA
calls for a moratorium on executions until the death penalty can be
administered fairly and impartially in accordance with due process Illinois
Governor George Ryan declares a moratorium on executions First
federal execution takes place in more than 30 years Illinois
Governor Ryan commutes the sentences of the state’s entire death row
population Death
penalty laws of New York and Kansas declared unconstitutional Moratorium
on executions instituted by legislative mandate in New Jersey
Ideas for
Local Action
Be
sure to alert your media contacts as to any
activities you are planning to mark this anniversary!
In the days and weeks leading up to the anniversary…
- Read the accompanying
study guide on the Gregg decision and its aftermath. (Also available online at http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/gregg.)
- Send letters to the
editor.
- Take
action to make sure that your elected officials, the public, and the media
are aware that the death penalty is still
arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory. Organize teach-ins, forums, and discussions about why
the death penalty is so flawed and what can be done to continue the
momentum of restricting its use.
- Host a viewing party
and show “The Exonerated,” the new “Dead Man Walking” Concert DVD (see
page 17 for more information), or any other appropriate film to generate
discussion and action.
- Pass a resolution
endorsing abolition or a moratorium on executions in your local church,
school, business, or organization, and encourage other groups to sign on,
as well. Each
group that passes a resolution represents people who elect officials at
the local, state and national level. When ratified resolutions reach those
elected leaders, we exert grassroots pressure to put a halt to executions.
To see the over 4,300 groups
around the country that already endorse a moratorium, visit the National
Tally
at www.ejusa.org. See pages 18-19 for more details.
- Visit
one of the following anti-death penalty blogs – or start your own!
There are many personal, local group, and state coalition blogs run by
activists throughout the United States. There are also several national blogs. Read and comment
on these often to build involvement from the growing online community:
Ø
Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Blog: http://blogs.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty
Ø
Abolish the Death Penalty, NCADP: http://www.deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com/
Ø Against Death
Rows: www.againstdeathrows.blogspot.com
Ø
Capital Defense Weekly: http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/
Ø
The Lonely Abolitionist:
http://www.lonelyabolitionist.blogspot.com/
Ø
TCASK :: On the Road (to Abolition): http://tcask.blogspot.com/
With your own death penalty blog, you can share your thoughts,
personal experiences, interesting news stories, or favorite websites; you can
also link to other blogs. There
are several websites that offer free blogs, including:
Ø www.blogger.com
Ø www.typepad.com
Ø
www.blogstream.com
- Be visible in your
community with AbolitionWear!
Call 800-973-6548, visit www.AbolitionWear.org,
or email abe@abolition.org for more ideas and specifics on visibility
actions.
·
Take action to stop upcoming executions! Visit http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/actions.do
or http://www.ncadp.org/execution_alerts.html.
On
or around July 2…
·
Stage
Solidarity Actions
(rallies, demonstrations, vigils) at your state Supreme Court building, your
State Capitol Building, or some other federal or state building. Invite members of the legal and/or
prison community, exonerated death row inmates, murder victims’ family members,
and family members of those on death row to speak. See pages 21-22 for contact information for groups that can
help you find a speaker.
·
If
you are a member of a faith community, place a notice in your bulletin, ask
your faith leader to mention the anniversary of the Gregg decision, and/or toll
your bells to mark the occasion. Ask other local churches to toll their bells for two
minutes and to let their members know why with a notice in the bulletin and a
comment from the pulpit. This is a
great way to introduce communities of faith to the "For Whom the Bells
Toll" campaign! (see http://www.curenational.org/~bells/). You can also set up an
information table and disseminate materials on the death penalty that weekend. See page 20 for a sample bulletin
insert.
- Come to Washington
DC! This will be the 13th year in a row that abolitionists will
stage protests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on July 2. See next page for more details.
If
you can’t come to DC, consider participating in a
solidarity fast with the annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty
at the U.S. Supreme Court. Ask
friends and families to join you by donating the amount of money they would
spend on food for one day to the abolitionist group of your choice.
- [For
international groups] Stage rallies or demonstrations at U.S. embassies and
consulates and alert the media in the weeks ahead regarding the
anniversary. Make a
presentation of petitions or other items to the relevant consular
office/embassy.
Please let us know about your activities!! Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/gregg/
to post information about your local events and/or send information to
aac@abolition.org.
Starvin’ for
Justice ‘06
Join the Abolitionist
Action Committee for
the
13th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish
the Death Penalty
at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington,
D.C.
June 29 to July 2, 2006
|
|
June
29th — The 34th anniversary of the Furman v. Georgia decision in which the
U.S. Supreme Court found the death penalty to be arbitrary and capricious. More than 600 condemned inmates had their
death sentences reduced to life.
All states were required to re-write their death penalty laws. July 2nd will be the 30th
anniversary of the Gregg v. Georgia decision, which allowed the resumption of
executions in the U. S.
The Abolitionist
Action
Committee
is
an ad-hoc group of individuals committed to highly visible and effective public
education for alternatives to the death penalty through non-violent direct
action.
The
Annual Fast & Vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court is always June 29 to July
2. Everyone is encouraged to
participate for part or all of this event. Fasting is optional. This is a good
opportunity to meet other abolitionists and to re-charge your batteries. If you can come for the entire fast,
please plan to arrive in Washington, DC prior to 7 pm on June 28th and leave
after 2am on July 3rd. For
REGISTRATION FORMS, INCLUDING details on lodging, travel and other logistics,
to help with funding or to volunteer, please contact the Abolitionist Action
Committee
c/o CUADP.
The
Abolitionist Action Committee
c/o CUADP: 800-973-6548
PMB 335, 2603 NW 13th
St (AKA Dr. MLK Jr. Hwy), Gainesville, FL
32609
<aac@abolition.org>
<www.abolition.org>
