With populations around one million people, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco and Pittsburgh are the largest U.S. cities to date to call for a moratorium on executions. Each city’s action came within a month of Governor Ryan’s declaration of a moratorium in Illinois. Eight other local governments have also asked lawmakers to stop and take a closer…
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On January 31 – the day Governor George Ryan announced a moratorium in Illinois – Senator Russ Feingold took to the Senate floor to urge President Clinton to impose a moratorium on federal executions. “The problems of inadequate representation, lack of access to DNA testing, police misconduct, racial bias and even simple errors are not…
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Governor George Ryan declared an indefinite moratorium on executions in Illinois on January 31. Calling the prospect of executing an innocent person “the ultimate nightmare,” Ryan declared, “Until I can be sure with moral certainty that no innocent man or woman is facing lethal injection, no one will meet that fate.” Illinois has exonerated more…
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It is 6:00 pm, January 24, 2000, and I am walking across the open space between the “Justice” Building and the Walls Unit, Huntsville, Texas. Thirty State Troopers, in full uniform, stand at attention to my left. I have come to witness the execution of my friend, Billy Hughes, convicted of killing a police officer…
Read More2000 is the year to bring home the movement for a moratorium! To date, 12 local governments have passed moratorium resolutions. Your town, city or county can be the next addition to the ever-growing tally of municipalities calling for a halt on executions! Bringing a resolution before your local government is probably easier than you…
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