December 2000/
January 2001

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Moratorium 2000

"Assuming knowledge of all the facts presently available regarding capital punishment, the average citizen would, in my opinion, find it shocking to his conscience and sense of justice."

The late US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote those words in 1972, and it has taken the American public almost 30 years to finally wake up and hear what he was trying to tell us. In recent years there has been a ground swell of public opinion raising fundamental questions as to the fairness of our capital punishment system, and an ever increasing number of people are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty in our country. As with many of the social issues of our time, leading the charge in this area is the religious community.

The leadership councils of almost every major religious organization in the United States have stated their support of the death penalty moratorium movement. But you would be very surprised at just how little of that support has actually filtered down to individual congregations. For example, look at the initiative called "Moratorium Now!" which collects and keeps track of ratified death penalty moratorium resolutions. In the Summer/Fall 2000 newsletter they printed out the national tally of those groups who have passed resolutions calling for an immediate moratorium on executions. More than 1000 groups, included 27 local governments (Baltimore Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco, to name a few), have passed such resolutions. That sounds great, until you take a closer look at the list and notice just how few local church congregations are listed. For example, if you look at the three states with the largest death row populations, you will find only eight churches. So few that I can easily list them here (and may God bless each of them): California--Humbolt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, St. Joseph Church, and St. Philip the Apostle Parish; Florida--Mary Mother of Mercy Church and St. Matthew Church; and Texas--First Unitarian Church of Houston, St. Anthony Church, and St. Thomas Aquinas Church. And that is not the worst of it, for there are many states who do not have even a single church involved in Moratorium Now!

It is very important for the leadership of any religious denomination to take a public stand on important social issues, but if the lay membership does not follow through, then that stand, no matter how important or how noble, becomes essentially meaningless. I call on you to act on your feelings against capital punishment by doing two things: First, bring a resolution calling for an immediate moratorium on executions before your local church council. Sample resolutions can be found at <www.quixote. org/ej> or by calling 301/699-0042. Second, contact Religious Organizating Against the Death Penalty and for a copy of their Moratorium 2000 petition: <www.moratorium.org> or at 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia PA 19102; 504/864-1071.

Please join us, for together we can make a difference.

--Michael B. Ross, Death Row, Northern Correctional Institution, Somers, CT

Light the Colosseum

On Monday, December 18, 2000, Sr. Helen Prejean, representatives from the Community of San'Egidio in Rome, Italy, and others will meet with Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, in New York to present more than 2.5 million signatures calling for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty. This process will be ongoing, but if you want your signature or that of your organization or municipality to be included on December 18th, write Moratorium 2000, Box 13727, New Orleans 70185 or <www.moratorium2000.org.>The colosseum will be lit up Dec. 18 in recognition of this anti-death penalty achievement, and all are encouraged to hold rallies, religious services, candlelit vigils, visits to local legislators, or other events in honor of and solidarity with this action.

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