Home : Death Penalty

Delaware Pushes for Death Penalty Moratorium (06/21/2000)
DELAWARE -- Several Delaware lawmakers would like the state to follow the actions of the Illinois governor, George Ryan, by calling for a moratorium on executions and a study of the death penalty. Sen. F. Gary Simpson, R-Milford, introduced Senate Joint Resolution 10 last week, which would establish an impartial commission to study all aspects of the death penalty in Delaware. "Next year marks the 25th anniversary since the death penalty was resumed in the United States and now is an appropriate time to revisit this emotionally charged and sensitive issue," Sen. Simpson said.

ACLU Applauds Legislation To Protect the Innocent on Death Row (06/20/2000)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded legislation under consideration by a House panel that would address the national problem of innocent people being sentenced to death.

Latest ACLU Advertisement Highlights Execution of Innocent Prisoners on Death Row (06/16/2000)
NEW YORK--In the midst of mounting evidence that America's system of capital punishment is seriously flawed, the latest American Civil Liberties Union advertisement highlights the price of this injustice: the execution of innocent prisoners.

ACLU Urges Committee to Broaden Examination of Death Penalty (06/13/2000)
"We must not send another person to the grave without allowing a simple test that could once and for all resolve any questions of whether they committed a crime," said Diann Rust-Tierney, Director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project. "But allowing DNA evidence is only one piece of the puzzle. Inexperienced, incompetent -- or even sleeping -- lawyers are often the only thing standing between many Americans and death row." 

In Historic Vote, New Hampshire Lawmakers Pass Bill to Abolish State Death Penalty Law (05/18/2000)
CONCORD, NH -- Responding to emotional testimony from murder victims' families -- two of them state representatives -- New Hampshire's 24 senators today gave final passage to legislation to abolish the state's death penalty law.

ACLU and Arkansas Anti-Death Penalty Coalition Decry Execution of Mother Slated to Die Tonight (05/02/2000)
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- At a time when Americans nationwide are voicing grave concerns about the fair and appropriate application of the death penalty, Arkansas today stands poised to execute a woman for the first time in more than 100 years.

Report Denounces Death Penalty in Virginia as Capricious, Unbalanced and Racially Biased (04/07/2000)
RICHMOND -- A coalition of civil rights, legal, and religious organizations joined the ACLU of Virginia today to issue a report faulting every significant aspect of the death penalty in the Commonwealth.

ACLU Endorses House Legislation To Protect the Innocent on Death Row (03/30/2000)
"This bill demonstrates that there is growing understanding among both political parties that many people on death row are innocent, and that an inadequate defense is a reason they were sentenced to death in the first place," said Diann Rust-Tierney, Director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project. "The only thing that often stands between Americans and death row is an inexperienced, incompetent - or even a sleeping - lawyer. 

Gay Death Row Inmate to be Freed in Texas (03/03/2000)
Harris County, TX -- It wasn't bad enough that the prosecutor argued for execution because prison is "fun" for gay men. Calvin Burdine's conviction was finally tossed out because his lawyer slept through the defense, Planet Out reported.

Slated Release of Gay Texas Inmate Further Reveals Death Penalty's Injustice, Merits Statewide Moratorium (03/02/2000)
NEW YORK -- Citing the release of a gay man yesterday whose sexual orientation was used as a basis for sentencing him to die, the American Civil Liberties Union today called on the Governor of Texas to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty statewide.