|
"If (Charles) Munsey spent three years on death row for a crime he didn't commit, how many other innocent people are still
<br />there? And how many has North Carolina already executed? Those and other uncertainties-concerning full disclosure of exculpa-
<br />tory evidence and equal access to high-quality legal representation, for example-build a strong case for halting use of the death
<br />penalty. At the least, its. use ought to be suspended until the issues can be studied and citizens-in whose name executions are
<br />carried out--can be reasonably assured that the death penalty is not being applied in discriminatory ways."
<br />-The News & Observer, Raleigh (June 1, 1999)
<br />"What happened to (Charles) Munsey is a textbook example of why the death penalty is so arbitrary and capricious.... The
<br />attorney general's office owes him and everyone else in North Carolina an explanation of how something that should happen only
<br />in the movies not only came to life, but came very close to death." -The Herald-Sun, Durham (May 25, 1999)
<br />"What happens when someone unjustly convicted has no one to raise questions? This ought to concern every fair-minded
<br />person. Since the development of DNA testing, scores of inmates on Death Row have had their convictions revered.... How many
<br />others have been wrongly convicted? How many have been executed? That's why legislative proposals for a moratorium on
<br />executions make sense.... Nebraska's legislature has approved such a moratorium. So should North Carolina...."
<br />- The Charlotte Observer (May 25, 1999)
<br />"I think that our [city council's] concern with crime and our concern with reducing violence in our community does make it
<br />appropriate for us to support this moratorium. I think that we have a vested interest as city council members, our staff, our police
<br />department, in fact, all citizens in the City of Durham have a vested interest in this issue. It's an issue that needs to be addressed so
<br />that we can find more appropriate ways... to reduce the violence in our society." -Pamela Blyth, Durham City Council
<br />"I certainly am in favor of criminals being punished, but we all know that death is irreversible. If a person is found innocent
<br />following an execution there's nothing that can be done. So I certainly think that this is something that needs to be studied and that
<br />something better can come out of the process." -Mary Jacobs, Durham City Council
<br />"I have come to believe that such support for the death penalty as there is in this state is, as I have said before, a mile wide and
<br />an inch deep. I think there is a lot of sort of surface support, but it doesn't really go all that deep. That the state administers the
<br />death penalty hardly diminishes its brutality.... When the state says this or that human being is not worth saving, it cheapens the
<br />rest of us; it brutalizes the rest of us; and we become a more violent society"
<br />-Honorable James Exum Jr., former Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court
<br />"In the [23] years since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, the evidence is incontrovertible that the application of
<br />the death penalty has been biased towards minorities. In the same period, it is also incontrovertible that the death penalty has
<br />often been applied to defendants who were innocent. I do not believe that a penalty so final and flawed should continue. I ap-
<br />plaud the American Bar Association for calling for a national moratorium on~the death penalty."
<br />-Honorable Melvin L. Watt, Member of Congress, Charlotte
<br />"When you look at the fact that African-Americans make up a disproportionate share of our prison population, that they are
<br />unfairly represented in our courts, that they are unfairly represented in penalties by death, where does it stop? African Americans
<br />have been looking at the death penalty for a number of years, and we look at it basically as a legalized way of killing African
<br />Americans.... Any time there's an innocent man, an innocent woman, being put to death, that's something you can't correct. And
<br />that happens. So where will the next time be that an innocent person will be put to death and all of a sudden we find out that he or
<br />she shouldn't? How can we correct that wrong? We can't." -Skip Alston, President, State Conference of NAACP Branches
<br />"The death penalty is clearly discriminatory.... Numerous studies have documented this fact. If a suspect is poor or a member
<br />of a minority group, the death penalty is much more likely to be imposed." statement of Senior N.C. Religious Leaders
<br />"Any legal system claiming to represent what is most noble in a society fails when embracing and welcoming the cruelty of
<br />planned death for a member of that society." -Clyde Edgerton, Author
<br />"There's something here that's often lost when we look simply at the statistics. When we look at the large numbers of people
<br />[on death row] and we see things are out of balance; when we look at the numbers of people of color on death row and when we
<br />look at the numbers of people from small, rural counties who land on death row, we can se from a racial point of view, from a
<br />geographical point of view, certainly from an income point of view-here are the disproportionate effects."
<br />-Henderson Hill, Attorney, Charlotte
<br />"Apparently we want to be able to execute minors in this country, and even though almost all of the rest of the world are
<br />signing conventions that it's wrong, the United States is not one of those countries. It's a disgrace in my view that this country,
<br />which is supposed to be the premier country in the world, does not recognize that it's immoral and wrong."
<br />~ -Tom Loftin, Attorney, Durham
<br />"We get one thing for the death penalty for our money. We get more rage and violence, more anger, and more killing. The
<br />death penalty is an embarrassment. It is a failure. It is a waste of resources. It is a blight upon us as a civilization."
<br />(FOR MORE INFO CONTACT PFADP (919) 933-7567) -Wade Smith, Attomey, Raleigh
<br />
|