Raleigh Friends Meeting
Re: The Moratorium on the Death Penalty
The Society of Friends, Quakers, recognizes that there is "that of God" in every person. We believe that all persons are deserving of opportunities for redemption as long as life continues. We assert that all human lives are precious. We renounce violence as a solution to violence, whether in war or in punishment.
Therefore, we hold that the death penalty is wrong in any conceivable circumstance, and we call for its final abolition in the United States.
Contributing to the public debate on abolition, we believe that the following are true.
- There is racial disparity in capital case indictments, in sentencing, and in the imposition of the death penalty.
- There is class disparity in capital cases, leaving the poorest people least able to afford legal representation and most likely to face the death penalty.
- Limits on appeals have left such people even more vulnerable and with even less legal representation.
- There is growing evidence that innocent people are being sentenced to death and a growing probability that some of them may be or are being executed. The death penalty does not allow for human error. Our sad history in the United States is that innocent persons have been executed, at least 23 in the past century. We are appalled that the U.S. Supreme Court has voted, in cases involving new, post-trial evidence indicating possible innocence, that such evidence does not constitute grounds for retrial or for halting executions.
- Capital punishment is destructive of the social fabric within which we live.
Religious and professional organizations, including the American Bar Association and the NC Academy of Trial Lawyers, are calling for a halt to executions. Therefore, we join in a call to Governor Easley of North Carolina, to our state and federal senators and representatives, and to President Bush to enact and adopt legislation imposing an immediate moratorium on executions.
Sincerely,
Sharon Kirmeyer, Clerk
Raleigh Friends Monthly Meeting
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
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