The death penalty is the ultimate denial of civil liberties. In the past 35 years, 129 inmates were found to be innocent and released from death row. The ACLU Capital Punishment Project is fighting for the end of the death penalty by supporting moratorium and repeal
movements through public education and advocacy. We are engaged in systemic reform of the death penalty process, and case-specific litigation highlighting some of its fundamental flaws.
An estimated 14,000 Americans have been executed since the inception of the death penalty dating back to colonial times. The sanction of death for the punishment of a murder in the United States has declined in recent years. In 2006, the number of death sentences was 114, the lowest level in 30 years. Still, the United States remains the only advanced Western democracy that fails to recognize capital punishment as a profound human rights violation and as a frightening abuse of government power.
Capital punishment in the United States:
(1) is fraught with error;
(2) discriminates on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, and geography;
(3) costs taxpayers far more than life imprisonment without release;
(4) does nothing to protect people from crime;
(5) seriously harms the survivors of homicide victims;
(8) greatly diminishes the worldwide stature of the United States and its ability to work to end human rights violations in other countries.
The Impact of 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 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 $2.16 million more per execution over the costs of sentencing murderers to life imprisonment. The majority of these costs occur at the trial level.[2]In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases, including the costs of incarceration.[3]
The Death Penalty is Not a Deterrent to Crime
Since 1977 over 80% of all executions have occurred in the South, the region with the highest murder rate. The Northeast, the region with the lowest murder rate, has accounted for less than 1% of the executions. Although the issue of deterrence has been studied extensively, there is no credible evidence that capital punishment deters murder or makes us any safer.
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[1] Staff of House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights on the Judiciary, 103rd Cong., Innocence and the Death Penalty: Assessing the Dangers of Mistaken Executions available at: http://www.deathoenaltyinfo.org/article.php$scid=45+did=535
[2] Duke University, May 1993
[3] Kansas Performance Audit Report, December 2003
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Published: Sunday, September 28, 2008 in the Nashua Telegraph
Group gathers for silent vigil protesting capital punishment
By KAREN LOVETT Staff Writer
klovett@nashuatelegraph.com
CONCORD – Michael Addison is accused of killing a police officer in cold blood. John Brooks is accused of orchestrating a kidnapping and a murder.
Both men could face the death penalty if convicted, an action that hasn't been carried out in the state since 1939.
A group of people from around the state stood before the Statehouse last week to show support for keeping those men alive.
More than a dozen members of the New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty held a silent vigil Friday afternoon, quietly holding signs for an hour in the pouring rain.
The group of civic and religious leaders has been rather "dormant" for the last few years, said Barbara Keshen, coalition chairwoman. But with the state's two capital cases emerging for trial at the same time, Keshen said, "We've felt a different kind of urgency."
"Hopefully," said Nancy Greany, of Merrimack, "it will make people think about what the states are doing as far as inflicting violence on our citizens."
The Legislature has come close to repealing the death penalty twice in the last eight years. The House and Senate voted to repeal the death penalty in 2000, but then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen vetoed the bill. Last year, under the threat of a veto from Gov. John Lynch, the bill failed by 12 votes in the House.
Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, who sponsored the 2000 bill and two others in the last three years, said in an e-mail that he isn't planning to repeat next year. Splaine does want to sponsor a bill that would form a 17-member commission to examine the death penalty. He will propose that it include people who are family members of murder victims, various types of attorneys and public defenders, police and others.
Keshen said she would support Splaine's legislation.
"We have this law, and we've never looked at it closely to see if it makes sense in New Hampshire," she said.
The state's capital murder law applies to half a dozen crimes, including killing a police officer, murder for hire and killing during a kidnapping, prisoners who kill another while serving a life sentence, murder during a rape and certain drug crimes also qualify.
Staff photo by Karen Lovett
Members of The New HampshireCoalitionto Abolish the Death Penalty stand in front of the Statehouse Friday during a “silent vigil.” The Rt. Rev. V.Gene Robinson, New Hampshire’sEpiscopal bishop, second from right, participated in the demonstration.
Wakefield, who's also running for governor, spear-
headed a bill earlier this year to add multiple killings
to the list of crimes for which capital punishment can
be a consequence.
He said the Conway shootings last summer, in which three people were killed at a military surplus store, prompted the bill, which is being studied by a judiciary committee.
"The reason why I brought it forward was to give justice to victims' families," Kenney said. "Often, they're overlooked, as far as the perpetrator is suddenly the focus, and the victims' families . . . they've lost loved ones. No justice is brought to them."
Carol Stamatakis, a former state representative from Lempster who stood outside the Statehouse on Friday, seemed to disagree.
"Too often we hear that the death penalty is a quick way to give solace to victims," she said. "But I think the needs of victims are complex and many."
Stamatakis said her father was shot and killed about 10 years ago while he was manning his furniture shop in Canton, Ohio. Authorities never caught the killer, whom they say intended to rob the store.
Even if they'd caught the killer, Stamatakis said, she wouldn't have favored capital punishment. She said what's needed are more resources and support for victims and investigators.
Like his opponent, Lynch also supports the state's death penalty.
"He believes our death penalty statute is appropriate," said Colin Manning, Lynch's spokesman.
Keshen said those who don't agree will keep fighting until the trials are done or the death penalty is history.
