Vigil Against the Death Penalty Held as Support for Moratorium G

Transfered from old site

 
By Elaine Russell, R-IMC
 

 
(April 11, 2003) Advocates for an end to the death penalty gathered this noon for a vigil in front of the Hall of Justice. They prayed for the recently executed, including a minor in Oklahoma, and for the families of those executed and those murdered. They carried signs reading, “Revenge is not the answer.”
 

 
These vigils have been held every month since September 1995 when George Pataki, elected to his first term on a pro-execution platform, signed the death penalty into law.
 

 
Justice activist Clare Regan who led the rally explained that while there is growing public support for alternatives to executions, there are men in high places who favor them. “Fifty community groups in Monroe County signed a petition asking for a moratorium on the death penalty. Ten local church leaders support the moratorium and further asked for no more capital murder trials. The moratorium is also supported by The New York State Democratic Committee, the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association. Rochester City Council was the first city council in the state to sign on to the moratorium.”
 

 
Along with Pataki, there were other governors who enjoyed executions. “George W. Bush, when Governor of Texas, ordered 152 executions, more than any other governor in the history of the United States,” Ms. Regan added. “Tom Ridge, when Governor of Pennsylvania, ordered the execution of Mumia Abu Jamal.” (Mumia is recognized as a political prisoner by international human rights organizations.) “John Ashcroft is trying to impose the death penalty in 13 cases where the prosecutors didn’t want it. All of the defendants were non-white; one was mentally retarded.”
 

 
“New York State now has seven people sentenced to death. There have been three capital murder trials in this county; two of them prosecuted by Assistant DA Mike Green, an avid supporter of the death penalty. Both defendants were given life sentences instead. Now Mike Green wants to run for DA. He is a Republican and his party has a candidate, so he will have to change parties.”
 

 
The many consequences of executions are being felt in our communities. “The total cost to New York State taxpayers since 1995 is over $180 million. A single death sentence costs taxpayers about $50 million.”
 

 
“There is obvious racial disparity in these cases. Blacks and Latinos constitute more than half of death row prisoners although they constitute only 18% of the population in the U.S. Prosecutors are 60 percent more likely to go for the death sentence if the victim is white.”
 

 
These vigils are held every second Friday of the month at noon in front of the Hall of Justice. Ms. Regan stated that people who would like to help stop the executions are encouraged to contact their county legislators and urge their support for a moratorium on the death penalty.