Death Penalty

"Science has shown that our death penalty system is deeply flawed. Now the U.S. public needs to see those flaws."
-- Philip Yam, news editor, Scientific American magazine

A Partial List of Objections to the Death Penalty

Innocence
The simple fact is that some of those sentenced to death are innocent. Since 1973, over 120 convicted death row inmates have been proven innocent. It's unknown just how many innocent men and women have been executed. Learn more.

Arbitrariness
The death penalty is unpredictably applied to a small number of defendants. There is no consistency in the capital punishment system. Some very violent crimes do not result in death sentences, while less vicious criminals get the death penalty. Without uniform criteria for the application of the death penalty, judges and juries rely on their prejudices about defendants and victims. Geography, race, gender, and access to adequate counsel all affect a defendant's chances of being sentenced to death. Learn more.

Deterrence Doesn't Work
Evidence shows that the death penalty doesn't reduce the incidence of murder. Learn more.

Representation (or, No Death Penalty for Defendants with Expensive Lawyers)
A primary determinant of whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of his or her legal counsel. Virtually all defendants in death penalty cases cannot afford lawyers. Quite often, the defendant's court-appointed attorney has an unmanageable case load or is inexperienced in capital cases. Defense lawyers appointed in capital cases have arrived at the court drunk or slept during the trial. Learn more.

Learn about these and many other objections to the death penalty at these sites:

Death Penalty Information Center
Amnesty International Death Penalty page
Death Penalty Focus

Download the ACLU/AFSC report The Forgotten Population, A Look At Death Row In the United States Through The Experiences of Women (a 1.2 MB PDF document), which outlines the way the death penalty is applied today, points out problems with the system, indicates the social factors in the death penalty system, looks at conditions on death row and offers recommendations for change.

Check out Prison Legal News (PLN), an independent 48 page magazine which reports on the human rights of prisoners primarily in United States detention facilities but also of prisoners around the world. PLN has the most comprehensive coverage of detention facility litigation of any publication. In addition to reporting on the rights of prisoners, PLN also reports on the rights of crime victims, prison and jail employees and prison and jail visitors. This website is the most comprehensive and complete compendium of information related to prison and jail litigation and news in the world.

State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633

To send an e-mail to the governor, please visit: http://www.govmail.ca.gov.

For rides to San Quentin to demonstrate on the evening of and preceeding executions please call Victor at (707) 778-7302 or Steve Thornton at (707) 544-8115.

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