To the Editor:

The fact is that close to 60 percent of Americans favor life without parole when given that option. And the death penalty is not a deterrent. Every country in Europe has abolished the death penalty, and they all have a homicide rate lower than ours.

Last month the American Bar Association released a report saying that Pennsylvania's death penalty is unjust and seriously flawed by racial and class bias and a lack of adequate legal representation for defendants. More than 90 percent of those on the state's death row could not afford an attorney at their initial trial.

Today more than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, a higher percentage of the population than any other country in the world. Approximately 3,500 of those people are on death row.

Death row inmates are not being “let out the back door.” In fact, since 1976, 123 innocent people have been released out the front door from death rows across the country. Pennsylvania so far has freed six innocent people from its death row. These releases were in spite of the system, not because of it. And, most importantly, we will never be able to guarantee that we will not execute an innocent person.

Abolition of the death penalty is being seriously considered or is already in place in most neighboring states. West Virginia has abolished the death penalty. New Jersey is expected to abolish it before the end of the year. New York's Legislature has refused to pass a new death penalty statute after its statute was found to be unconstitutional. Maryland's Legislature failed to pass abolition by one vote.

What does our use of the death penalty say about what we value as a society? The more heinous the crime, the more imperative it is that we remain true to values of justice, life and human rights.

Maria Weick

Amnesty International's State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator

Springfield Township (Bucks)

Article's URL: 

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/319-11272007-1447179.html