Home : Death Penalty

ACLU Condemns Texas Execution of 62-Year-Old Great Grandmother (02/24/2000)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union opposes tonight's scheduled execution of Betty Lou Beets, a 62-year-old great-grandmother who will be only the fourth woman executed since the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976.

PA Police Veteran Testifies in Favor of State Death Penalty Moratorium Bill (02/22/2000)
HARRISBURG, PA -- At a public hearing today, Leslie Seymore, President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and a 26-year veteran of the City of Philadelphia's Police Department, called on the state General Assembly to enact a death penalty moratorium and undertake a study of how the death penalty is implemented in the state.

ACLU Challenges San Quentin's Secret Execution Procedures (02/14/2000)
SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California goes to federal court today to argue that journalists and public witnesses have a First Amendment right to witness executions in their entirety and that there is no evidence that media presence jeopardizes prison security or the safety of prison personnel.

ACLU Endorses New Legislation To Protect the Innocent on Death Row (02/11/2000)
"Countries that routinely provide nothing more than a sham defense for those who face execution are condemned by our government for human rights violations," said Diann Rust-Tierney, Director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project. "Yet today the only thing standing between many Americans and death row is an inexperienced, incompetent - or even a sleeping - lawyer. 

ACLU of Illinois Praises Governor's Courage in Suspending State Death Penalty System (01/31/2000)
CHICAGO, IL--The American Civil Liberties Union is pleased by Governor Ryan's action today suspending application of the death penalty in Illinois. The sad and discredited capital punishment system in this state deserves not only a moratorium, but all-out abolition.

ACLU of Illinois Urges Support for Legislative Ban On Executing the Mentally Retarded (01/27/2000)
CHICAGO, IL -- Heralding an important "first step" in establishing fairness and humanity in Illinois' discredited death penalty system, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois today endorsed legislation filed in the state House and Senate to ban the execution of mentally retarded persons.

ACLU Objects to Ohio Proposal to Deny Condemned Prisoners Their Final Words (01/05/2000)
COLUMBUS, OH -- Saying that condemned prisoners should have the right to offer their last words, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today objected to a proposal that would allow wardens to edit or completely suppress final statements. 

Reporters Expose Cruelty, Flaws in Death Penalty (12/09/1999)
Washington - Activists against the death penalty, including the ACLU, often feel that they are fighting a losing battle. But in recent months, abolitionists have been heartened by articles opposing the death penalty which have appeared in several major newspapers.

ACLU Welcomes Supreme Court Review of Florida's Gruesome Electric Chair Executions (10/27/1999)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to review the use of the electric chair in executions and said that it will likely file a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.

ACLU Calls for Moratorium After Gruesome Electric Chair Execution (07/08/1999)
MIAMI -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today called on Gov. Jeb Bush to halt all executions until officials can ensure that they can be conducted humanely and until greater fairness and due process in the imposition of death sentences can be assured.