FACTS ON THE DEATH PENALTY

The FACTS ON THE DEATH PENALTY

*Murder rates are lower in states that have abolished the death penalty than in states that still execute.

*Innocent people are executed. Between 1900 and 1985, 139 innocent people were sentenced to death; 23 were executed.

*Many family members of murder victims don't want the death penalty. "The taking of another life by state killing only continues the cycle of violence." -Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation.

*Public opinion supports alternatives to the death penalty. When offered a range of sentencing options, respondents in public opinion polls have consistently shown a preference for imprisonment rather than execution.

*The death penalty costs more than life imprisonment. A 1982 New York study showed that the cost of litigating a capital case is $1.8 million; the cost of 40 years of life in prison is $602,000.

*The death penalty is racist. Defendants of color are more likely to be sentenced to death than white defendants, for the same crimes. The death penalty is used primarily to punish those who kill whites.

*The death penalty is mainly used against the poor. Using the death penalty keeps society from finding effective ways of reducing crime.

-National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

NCX FEB/MAR 1996

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