Mothers in Prison
 Position Statement on Offender Reentry
 Creating Effective Offender Re-entry Programs
 Community Corrections As A Safe Alternative to Incarceration
 Needs of Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children
 Opposition to the Death Penalty
 Abolition of all Mandatory Drug Sentencing Laws in Delaware
 Restoration of Voting Rights for Ex-Offenders

Delaware Center for Justice Affirms Opposition to the Death Penalty and Calls for a National Moratorium on State and Federal Executions
February 9, 2000

Governor George Ryan's suspension of all executions in Illinois on January 31, 2000, citing "a shameful record of convicting innocent people and putting them on death row," is an important first step in a can for a national moratorium on state and federal executions. The Delaware Center for Justice supports the first such moratorium in the nation and, at the same time, reaffirms its long-held position in opposition to the death penalty.

In Illinois, since 1977, 13 men were sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. Ultimately, they were exonerated and freed by the courts, more in number than have been executed in that state. The release of these men was not evidence that the criminal justice system works. Exoneration in death penalty cases in Illinois and elsewhere largely has been the result of an unusual and unremunerated commitment on the part of defense attorneys, unorthodox investigations, and/or DNA evidence. In Illinois, for example, 3 of the 13 men were exonerated as a result of investigations undertaken by journalism students at Northwestern University.

Nationally, since 1973, 85 people have been found to be innocent and released from death rows in the United States. In Florida, 18 death row cases have been reversed, more than any other state. Expressing concern about executing innocent defendants as well as racial disparity in sentencing, the Nebraska legislature passed a moratorium on executions last year, but the governor vetoed the bill. Bills that would halt executions are pending in 12 states. In Oregon, Mark Hatfield, a former Republican senator and governor, hopes to put a measure on the ballot that would eliminate executions and instead provide for sentences of life without parole. President Clinton is considering a moratorium on the federal death penalty.

In Illinois, one of the leading voices for a moratorium has been that of Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, who, while Cook County State's Attorney, prosecuted some of the death penalty cases that subsequently were overturned. He believes that the problems did not rest with his office, but with defense lawyers who often were poorly financed and sometimes incompetent. He has a point: in Illinois, as well as throughout the nation, those who are poor are more likely to be sentenced to death. The American Bar Association, favoring the repeal of the death penalty, maintains that minority and poor defendants nationwide often lack the financial resources to mount an adequate defense and that they usually are saddled with inexperienced attorneys.

Although Illinois is not unique in the problems faced by men and women sentenced to death, Governor George Ryan's action is unprecedented. His imposition of a moratorium was accompanied by his appointment of a special panel to study the state's capital punishment system. It is interesting to note that the Governor's action has met with little public criticism. Commentators interpret this as a measure of how public outrage over the wrongful convictions has changed the political landscape on the issue in Illinois.

After many years when public opinion has resoundingly supported the death penalty, there has been a recent shift. Gallup polls in the early 1990's indicated an 80 percent support for the death penalty; in 1999, that number decreased to 71 percent.

There are other concerns. Opponents of the death penalty point out that we are spending billions of dollars to execute a very small number of our most marginalized and dysfunctional citizens. They also note that most nations of the world do not have a death penalty.

Then there are the issues of racial disparity, age, and/or mental or developmental competency. Studies conclude that defendants are 4 to 7 times more likely to receive the death penalty if they are black and have murdered someone who is white. According to a study by David Baldus and George Woodworth, prosecutors in Georgia sought the death penalty in 70 percent of the cases where black defendants killed whites, but in only 19 percent of the cases where white defendants were accused of murdering blacks. Another study they conducted in Philadelphia produced similar results. The young are becoming more at risk as well. There is a trend toward trying youth as adults and executing the young. We also execute the mentally ill and the mentally retarded. Only 12 states have laws prohibiting the death penalty for those with an IQ under 70.

 Back to top