The Bill of Rights specifically protects against “cruel and unusual punishment” domestically.Yet the U.S. remains one of the only developed nations in the world to use the death penalty as a means of punishment.Until a Supreme Court decision in 2005, the U.S. still allowed people to be executed for crimes they committed before the age of 18; the only other countries to allow this are Bangladesh, China, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. There is overwhelming evidence that death penalty sentences are heavily correlated to race. In 1999, law professor David Baldus and statistician George Woodworth analyzed the impact of race on the death penalty in Philadelphia and found “the odds of receiving a death sentence are nearly four times (3.9) higher if the defendant is black.”Other studies have shown that the race of the defendant and the victim often matter more than the facts of the case when determining whether the death sentence is applied. The death penalty is the ultimate denial of civil liberties, and the ACLU is committed in its opposition to this cruel and unusual punishment. upcoming eventsWhy Oppose the Death Penalty?- Innocent people are being sentenced to death. In the past 30 years, 124 inmates were found to be innocent and released from death row, including six in Pennsylvania. The most recent exonerated inmate in PA is Harold Wilson of Philadelphia who was acquitted at retrial on November 15, 2005. Harold spent 16 years on Pennsylvania's death row.
- Almost all people on death row could not afford to hire an attorney. The quality of legal representation is a better predictor of whether or not someone will be sentenced to death than the facts of the crime.
- Race often plays a role in determining a capital sentence, in multiple ways. First, over 80% of capital cases involve white victims, even though nationally, only 50% of murder victims are white. Second, Pennsylvania's death row has the dubious distinction of having the highest minority population in the country at nearly 70 percent, among states with at least ten people on death row. Finally, for years, the Philadelphia District Attorney's office has trained its prosecutors on how to strike minority jurors during jury selection, despite a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled it unconstitutional to strike jurors solely on the basis of race.
- Where a death sentence is sought often determines whether a defendant is sentenced to death more than the circumstances of the crime.
legislatioNThe death penalty and persons with mental retardation
In 2002, the United States Supreme Court banned the execution of persons with mental retardation but left the states with the responsibility of crafting the procedure for determining if a defendant has mental retardation. Pennsylvania has yet to pass legislation that would create that procedure. Senate Bill 751 and House Bill 1370 contain provisions that empower the trial judge to determine if a person has mental retardation before the start of the trial. This provision is supported by the ACLU of PA, the Arc of PA, nearly a dozen additional disabilities advocacy groups, and Governor Rendell (per a 2006 interview with the Arc of PA (pdf-594 K)). On October 29, 2007, the state Senate passed SB 751 by a vote of 45-3. The legislation now awaits action in the House. It was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Death penalty study commission and a suspension of executions
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 850 would create a study commission to thoroughly examine capital punishment and would suspend executions for two years while the commission conducts its investigation. SB 850 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9, 2007. To support these bills, contact your representative and senator by visiting the website of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Action Alertsresources
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