{news} Fw: ACLU-CT Action Alert: Abolish the Death Penalty in Connecticut

[David Bedell]

ACLU of Connecticut Action AlertThis is an important part of the Green
Party's nonviolence and social justice platform.

David Bedell

----- Original Message ----- 
From: ACLU of Connecticut
To: dbedellgreen@ hotmail.com
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 3:25 PM
Subject: ACLU-CT Action Alert: Abolish the Death Penalty in Connecticut


In a historic vote yesterday evening, the Connecticut House of
Representatives voted to abolish the death penalty.  Thanks to all of your
phone calls and e-mails the bill passed by a wide margin (90 to 56).  Our
State Representatives heard, and answered, our calls for a fair and equal
justice system (click here to see how your Representative voted).  The bill
now moves on to the State Senate and we urgently need you to contact your
Senator and urge him/her to support this bill.

Please call Senator _________ at 800-842-1420 [for all Democratic State
Senators.  800-842-1421 for Republicans.]

Tell your Senator that you are a constituent and that the death penalty is
unfair, racially biased, disproportionately punishes the poor, and that you
hope he/she supports HB 6578 An Act Concerning The Penalty For A Capital
Felony and abolishes the death penalty in Connecticut.


Here are some facts about the Death Penalty:
The Death Penalty Kills the Innocent:
Since 1976, 123 death-row prisoners have been released because they were
innocent. In addition, at least seven people have been executed since 1976
even though they were probably innocent.1 Wrongful convictions often result
from false confessions, which are frequent among people with mental
retardation, mistaken eyewitnesses, jail house snitches, junk science and
prosecutorial abuse.

The Death Penalty is Racially Biased and Punishes the Poor:
Most defendants are poor and are forced to depend on incompetent or token
representation. Some lawyers have slept or appeared drunk during trials.
Those who kill white people are far more likely to get the death penalty
than those who kill black people.

The Death Penalty is Unfair:
The death penalty has never been applied fairly across race, class, and
gender lines. Who is sentenced to die often depends on the attitudes of
prosecutors, where one is tried, the prejudices of judges and juries, and
the abilities and commitment of defense attorneys.

The Death Penalty Cost More than Life in Prison:
Prosecuting a death penalty case is extremely expensive for a state and
drains money that could be used for education and social programs. Capital
punishment costs more than sentencing a prisoner to life without parole. The
most comprehensive death penalty study in the country found that the death
penalty cost North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution over the costs
of sentencing murderers to life imprisonment. The majority of these costs
occur at the trial level.2 In its review of death penalty expenses, the
State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than
comparable non-death penalty cases, including the costs of incarceration.3

The Death Penalty is Not a Deterrent to Crime:
Since 1977 over 80% of all executions have occurred in the South, the region
with the highest murder rate. The Northeast, the region with the lowest
murder rate, has accounted for less than 1% of the executions. Although the
issue of deterrence has been studied extensively, there is no credible
evidence that capital punishment deters murder or makes us any safer.

1) Staff of House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights on the
Judiciary, 103rd Cong., Innocence and the Death Penalty: Assessing the
Dangers of Mistaken Executions available at
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty-assessing-danger-mistaken-executions
2) Duke University, May 1993
3) Kansas Performance Audit Report, December 2003
ACLU Capital Punishment Project, http://www.aclu.org/capital/index.html


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