Executed October 22, 2001

Mr. Gerald Garrett, Chairman
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Price Daniel, Sr. Building
209 W. 14th Street, Suite 500
Austin, Texas 78701

Re: Gerald Mitchell

Dear Chairman Garrett:

Gerald Mitchell is scheduled to be executed on October 22, 2001. On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we urge you to commute Mr. Mitchell's sentence of death to life imprisonment. Gerald Mitchell's execution would be a complete departure from the norms of international law and notions of human rights.

Mr. Mitchell was seventeen years old when he committed a murder for which he is now sentenced to die. In addition to being a minor at the time, Mr. Mitchell has a below-average reasoning capacity, a condition that had been aggravated by his drug use.

There is wide recognition in the world that execution of people who were minors at the time of the crime is barbaric. Banning such executions, much like slavery, has become a norm of international law, which is reflected in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today, only one third of the people of Texas support the executions of juvenile offenders.

The ACLU opposes capital punishment in all cases as a barbarous anachronism and in violation of the U.S. Constitution. In Mr. Mitchell's case, the extraordinary relief of clemency is particularly warranted because his execution would be a complete departure from the modern norms of morality of justice.

Sincerely,

Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punishment Project

William Harrell
ACLU of Texas

Vladimir Kouznetsov
Pro Bono Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP