Executed May 25, 2001

The Delaware Board of Parole
Carvel State Office Building
820 N. French Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19801

Re: Abdullah Tanzil Hameen, a/k/a Cornelius Ferguson

Dear Board Members:

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we respectfully ask you to decide against the death sentence for Mr. Abdullah T. Hameen in favor of commuting his sentence to life imprisonment without parole.

Mr. Hameen is not the same man who committed the crime for which he was sentenced to death. He has expressed a desire to repent for his actions, and to make amends for his crime. While in prison he has sought to educate others and dissuade them from committing crimes similar to his own.

The ACLU opposes the death penalty, on Constitutional principle, in all cases. In recent years, increasing numbers of the most highly respected nations, religious leaders, and members of the public have concluded that state executions have no place in a truly civilized world. There is growing understanding and support for life without parole as an alternative to death. Moreover, we believe that the change Mr. Hameen has undergone and his desire to help others makes his case particularly worthy of mercy on your part.

We do not believe that justice will be better served by the deliberate ending of a life, even the life of the perpetrator of a vicious crime, especially when the perpetrator shows a definite desire to help others, improve himself, and make penance for his crime, as is the case with Mr. Hameen, with the obvious and laudable help of others.

It is important in this situation that society speak clearly and decisively against violence. This Board has a power greater than the power of violence - the power of mercy. Choosing life without parole for Mr. Hameen is a better way to truly break the cycle of violence.

Thank you for considering our views on this very important matter.

Respectfully yours,

Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punishment Project

Judith Mellen
ACLU of Delaware