RE: UN Resolution on a Death Penalty Moratorium
Dear President Biden:
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect civil and human rights in the United States, and the undersigned 48 organizations, we write to urge you to keep your promise of ensuring equality, equity, and justice in our criminal-legal system by abstaining from or voting for the forthcoming UN resolution on a death penalty moratorium. Any criminal-legal system truly dedicated to the pursuit of justice should recognize the humanity of all who encounter it and not sanction the use of a discriminatory practice that denies individuals their rights, fails to respect their dignity, and stands in stark contrast to the fundamental values of our democratic system of governance.
As The Leadership Conference has made clear, state-sanctioned killing as a form of criminal punishment is, in all cases, both inhumane and in conflict with our country’s most fundamental principles. A cruel and unusual punishment, the death penalty fails to comport with either the 8th or 14th Amendments and violates our obligations under international law. Since 1973, more than 190 individuals have been sentenced to death and exonerated on innocence grounds, demonstrating the high propensity for error in our criminal-legal system and the unfathomable consequences that may follow. The only way to eliminate the...
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